Kalavati’s Story

There is no greater violence than to deny the dreams of our children – Kailash Satyarthi, founder of GoodWeave

Imagine what it would be like if your son or daughter was forced into child labor.  On the Voices of America (VOA) site I saw a photo of five year old Pakisthani girl named Naginah Sadiq.  She worked in a brick factory.  In the photo she was resting on a bed next to her 8 month old sister Shahzadi on World Day Against Child Labor on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan on June 12, 2012.  She was wearing dirty clothes and was barefeet.  Her hands and feet were dirty.  She looked so tiny.  How could she work in a brick factory?  This photo was taken three years ago.  Is she still working there?  Will her baby sister be forced to work once she turns five?  Millions of children are forced into child labor in order to support their families.

I’m sure that Naginah would rather be like other children who get to play, have no responsibilities and go to school–things that our own children take for granted.  Growing up, I didn’t have to worry about anything.  There was always food on the table, clothes for me to wear and I went to school.  I didn’t do any housework.  I played with my friends or spent most of my time reading and writing.  Life was good for me.  I had a decent childhood.  This is the kind of childhood that children like Kalavati could only dream of.

Can you imagine how eleven year old Kalavati felt when she saw other children playing without a care in the world while she worked alongside her mother?  She had been working since she was eight years old.  At eight I was probably still playing with dolls.  Kalavati had to work in order to support her family.  She had no choice.  Her father lost his job because someone had performed witchcraft on him, causing him to be mentally disturbed.  He stopped showing up for work and then he disappeared.  Days, weeks, months and a year passed but there was still no sign of him.

Then one day, while walking through the village, Kalavati’s mother, Bhama saw a crazed looking man, sitting under a tree.  He was naked and alone.  He had a long beard and at first she didn’t recognize him.  Then she realized that it was Deval, her husband.  She took him home where he was welcomed by the family who were relieved and overjoyed to see him.  The joy didn’t last, though.  Deval was not in his right mind.  They took him to the hospital to be treated but that didn’t work.  He was violent and no one could control him.  His story reminded me of the one about the man who was living among the tombs in the country of the Gadarenes because he had many demons.  He was violent and no one went near him.   Deval began to throw stones at the villagers.  He was not the same because of the curse someone put on him.

Tired of dealing with Deval’s violent behavior, the villagers drove the family out of their home.  Life went from bad to worst for Kalavati.  Now she had no home or support from the neighbors.  The family went to the big city where Bhama hoped to find work.  For days they lived and begged on the streets until Bhama finally found work as a maid in a farmhouse.  Unfortunately, this job was not enough.  It didn’t provide the family with the relief they needed.  Bhama worked day and night but it was not enough to provide two meals a day.   Kalavati helped her mother with the laundry and cleaning of the utensils in the house but all the while she wished she could be like the owner’s children.  She saw them studying and wished she could do the same.  At that moment education seemed far out of her reach.  It was merely a dream that would never come true.

What touched me as I read this story was when Bhama became so discouraged because her husband was not getting well in spite of the treatment he was getting with the money she had borrowed from her employer that she was convinced that the only way to save her family from the ever-growing burdens was to poison them and herself.  It was at that moment when God intervened.

It was around this time that the Bridge of Hope staff members visited the family.  They listened as Bhama told them that she didn’t believe in God and revealed her plans to commit suicide.  They told her about Jesus and prayed with the family.

Bhama had a change of heart about God after her encounter with the believers and when she saw some improvement in Deval.  She knew that this miracle could only have been the result of the believers’ prayers.  This prompted her to visit the Bridge of Hope center the next day and ask if they would enroll Kalavati.  The dream that had seemed impossible for Kalavati became a reality!  She attended the center the following week.  The staff members continued to ask God to heal Deval and for Bhama to find stable work so that she could provide for her family.  God answered their prayers.  Bhama found a stable gardening job at the local hospital.  Kalavati helps her sometimes but not because she has to.

Kalavati can be like other children.  She plays and draw pictures.  And she is getting an education.  She has something far better than what the children of her mother’s ex-employer had–she has Jesus in her life.  Thanks to the Gospel for Asia workers, Kalavati and her family learned about Jesus.  She is thriving at the Bridge of Hope center.  She has reason now to dance and play with her classmates.  The love of Jesus has transformed her world.  There is hope now when there was so much despair.  Her father is improving a little at a time.  He is no longer aggressive and violent toward others.  He eats meals with his wife and daughter and attends church with them.  Together they worship the One who saved their lives.

Just think, there was a time when Bhama thought there was no hope.  She saw no way out of her despair.  She saw no end to the family’s struggles.  But God does not give us more than we can handle.  He sees what we are going through and He intervenes.  Thanks to the Gospel for Asia Bridge of Hope ministry, Bhama came to know the God she had not believed in.  He had revealed Himself through the changes He had brought into her life.  God revealed Himself in a very profound way and helped Bhama to do what she could not do in her own strength.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble – Psalm 46:1

Pray that God will intervene in the lives of other children who are trapped in child labor or families who are forced to beg in order to survive.  You can make a difference.  You can sponsor Gospel for Asia’s Bridge of Hope ministry so that they are able to reach out to families like Kalavati’s and share with them the hope that they can find only in Jesus.  Or you can sponsor a child like Kalavati and change a family.

With God’s help, you can help Asian boys and girls to be like other children who are free to play and draw and do the things that children do.  You can help to protect them from those who would rob them of their childhood and innocence, deny them a bright future and crush their hopes and dreams.

Deliver the poor and needy;  Free them from the hand of the wicked – Psalm 82:4

 

Sources:  Gospel for Asia; AZ Quotes; VOA

When Sister Mary Prays

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up – James 5:15

When Sister Mary prays, results happen.  God hears her prayers and answers them. People are healed and lives are transformed.  And God is glorified.

Mary became a prayer warrior after she was healed more than ten years ago from a terribly painful stomach disease.  She and her husband had searched for a cure and had spent large amounts of money for a cure but nothing worked.  Her story sounds remarkably similar to that of the woman who diseased with an issue of blood twelve years.  Like Mary, this woman had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any.  One day, she decided that she would go to Jesus for healing.  She said in her heart, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole” (Matthew 9:20, 21).  In faith she reached out and touched His garment and was healed.

Unlike the woman in the Bible, Mary didn’t know anything about Jesus.  For her, there was no one who could help her.  After several years of pain and no hope of a cure, Mary planned to kill herself.  But Jesus interceded.  He spoke to her in a vision and she experienced God’s power to heal.

Since her healing, Mary has walked in faith and obedience to Jesus by praying for the people in her community.  She knew the incredible power of prayer and how it can change lives.  God worked through her to heal others like Jona.  Jona was in a terrible accident and the prognosis was that he didn’t have a chance to live. But God had other plans for Jona and He healed him.  Now Jona serves Him as a pastor and missionary, bringing others to Jesus just as he was reached by Sister Mary.  Jona vows, “I will carry this good news the rest of my life and serve Him with all my heart.”

Sister Mary is a simple woman who placed her faith and trust in God and now in faith, she is praying for the sick and suffering in her remote village in South Asia.  Watch the rest of her amazing story.  It will encourage you and move you to reach out to those who need to know about the awesome God you worship and serve.

Prayer is a very powerful tool and when it is done in faith, it can move mountains and do the impossible.  Join Sister Mary and others in praying for the people of Asia.  “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).

For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their prayers – 1 Peter 3:12

Jesus is among Us

“And I tell you once more that if two of you on earth agree in asking for anything it will be granted to you by my Heavenly Father. For wherever two or three people come together in my name, I am there, right among you!” (Matthew 18:19-20, Phillips).

It is important that people are of one mind, purpose when they come together to pray for something.  They must have faith and not doubt.  They must be of one accord.  In Acts 4:24-30, the apostles came together and prayed to God in one accord.  When they were finished, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness (English Standard Version).  They agreed to pray and ask God to give them the boldness they needed to spread the Gospel and God answered their prayer. 

When we come together in Jesus’ name or in a manner which He approves, He is there with us.  We must be in harmony—not arguing about who is the greatest as the disciples did among themselves on one occasion or thinking about ourselves and ambitions like James and John when they wanted to sit on either side of Jesus.  We must love one another as Christ commanded us.  We must have the mind of Christ which consists of love, peace, obedience. 

Jesus is the link between earth and heaven so when we come together in His name, we are using the name which gives us the authority to do what we must on earth and what will be accepted in heaven.  It was in the name of Jesus that the disciples came together and were filled with the Holy Spirit, giving them the courage they needed to carry out Jesus’ great commission. 

We have Jesus’ assurance that He will be with us.  We are not alone.  He is always present.  He said so before He parted from His disciples. (Matthew 28:20).   

Jesus taught us what effective prayer is.  It must not only be offered in faith but it must be persistent.  Don’t be discouraged when an answer does not come when you expect.  Keep asking, seeking and knocking until the door is opened to you.  My fiance once prayed for a family.  This was in 2003.  Three years later God answered his prayer.  During the three years, my fiance did not give up.  He prayed everyday.  He asked in faith and persistence and it was given to him.  Sometimes answers to our prayers are delayed because God has to work on other things in order to make our plans come true (Genesis 39:20-41).  Sometimes our prayers are not answered because the things we ask amiss (James 4:3).  And sometimes our prayers are answered right away (Genesis 24:15). 

It is encouraging to know that whether it is one person praying or two or more, Jesus, our Intercessor is present and our prayer will be answered according to the Father’s will.

God’s Word is Sure

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;  But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry (Habbabuk 2:3).

We can trust God’s word.  No matter how long it may take, in His good time, it will come to pass.  God promised Abraham and Sarah that they would have a son.  It took it years and years.  It took so long that Sarah decided to speed things up.  She made her own plans for a child by involving her maid Hagar.  Of course, things did not work out.  Hagar ended up leaving and Sarah was back to square one.  God again told Abraham that he would have a son but this time, He made it clear that the child would be with Sarah.  And at the appointed time, God’s word came to pass and Sarah was gave birth to a son.  God’s vision for Sarah tarried but it came at the right time.  Sarah had a child in her old age, proving that nothing is impossible with God.

Joseph had to wait more than two years for his dreams to come to pass.  During that time, he was sold to into slavery; was falsely accused of attempted rape and sent to prison.  He spent two years in jail before his life changed for the better. 

Simeon waited a long time to see God’s Savior and it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.  One day, he received word from the Holy Spirit that the Child was in the temple.  Simeon held Him in his arms and said, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;  For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

Jesus promised that He would return one day.  He said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2, 3).  We know that we can trust Him.  If He says He will come back, we can be absolutely sure that He will.  We don’t know when He will come.  Only the Father knows but we know that just as He sent His Son here at the appointed time to save us, He will send Him at the appointed time to take us home.  In His Word, He promised, “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry (Hebrews 10:37).