You may have read a recent blog
post about the Dalits, who are the lowest in Indian’s caste system. I seem to
not be able to get these people off my heart or mind. I picked up a book the other day to read
called “No longer a Slumdog” by K.P Yohannon, which I knew was about India but
didn’t realise it was specifically about the Dalits.
This book was a very interesting
read, because not only does it inform but it also included stories from the
Dalits. These stories from the suffering
Children of Asia showed the anguish they live with but also sees them rejoice
in their triumphs.
“No longer a Slumdog” is also
about an organisation called Gospel of Asia who have sent up Bridge of Hope
Centres in India which is their way of reaching out to the Indian children and
offering them Hope.
GFA Bridge of Hope is an outreach
which educates children, reaching out to them especially to the lower castes
and the Dalits (The Untouchables). The
centre offers the children a chance to receive an education, a warm notorious
meal each school day, textbooks and uniforms, a yearly medical check-up as well
as a chance to hear about Jesus and how He loves them.
Children have been transformed
through these centres, however through them adults have also been transformed -
in fact whole communities have been transformed by the children who are
attending these centres.
A story is told about a man who
came to one of the centres asking if the ‘medical doctor names Jesus” would
come and help his sick wife. This man’s
son Nilbun attended one of the Bridge of hopes centres and had been listening
intently to his teachers when they spoke about this man Jesus who healed the
sick, cast out demons an fed the hungry.
When his mother became sick and
his father was desperate for a cure, Nilbun told his father about the amazing
things that this man Jesus has done.
Nilbun’s father thought there was an actual medical doctor named Jesus
who worked at the centre. How sweet is
that? And how great it is that his son was listening to these stories and
realised how wonderful Jesus was.
As there was no actual ‘medical
doctor’ called Jesus’ two missionaries went with Nilbun’s father to help, they
prayed for his wife and that God would heal her. And the Lord, he did just that he healed Nilbun’s
mother. This great news about this
miracle spread all over the village and from this not only did Nilbun’s family
become Christians but so did many others in their village. Before this no one was interested in Jesus
but seeing the work that prayer in the name of Jesus did changed their minds.
Through one child nearly a whole
village had hope and faith in Jesus. To
me this is amazing, through Gospel for Asia and their Bridges of Hope Centre
they not only reached out to children and their physical needs, health needs, spiritual
needs, they also provided hope for the families and the communities the
children came from. To this day they are
still working in India among the Dalit's and others.
neat
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