A… lives in a remote tribal village that is highly infested by Communists who follows Marxist-Leninist ideology, called Gajamendi. He lives with his parents who are very poor and survive on the meager income from his father’s daily wage. A… was told by his sister who came to Nagpur for Bible training about Prakash Institute of India. She personally came to Prakash in the heavy rains and acquired the form for her brother with the dream that he would get direction for his life.

A… was called for the admission interview at Prakash on India on 28th of July 2011. But due to the “Baand” call (a shut down of everything) by Naxalites (communists) in the district, all the transport facilities were stopped. There was a threat to the lives of people who would venture out during the specified period decided by this militant group. But with great determination A… said “Goodbye” to his family and started his 275 Kilometer (about 171 miles) journey to reach Nagpur. As there were no buses running and the telecommunications facilities were blown out from bombs, and with great risk to his life he began walking on the road. He had to walk 15 kilometers (a little over 9 miles) to find some kind of transport to reach a safer place. Somehow there was one private Jeep that brought him to the town where he could catch the bus to reach Nagpur.

Being in the remote area, the standard of education is not very high, still he has cleared his 12th standard. He is very much interested in doing the Electrician Course in Prakash. He is excited to study the Bible and grow in the Lord. He says, “This is a golden opportunity for me to study in a Christian school. I want to see my entire village of 85 households changed for Jesus Christ.”

As the new term starts let us remember to pray for the easy adjustment to campus life for all the students of both PBI and RGI.

I continue to be amazed by how hard life is for these students.

Lighting and thunder are not uncommon to Georgia and also not unusual in Nagpur during monsoon season. It is always sad when there is damage from a storm. Just as the new batch of students arrived, Prakash experience such an incident. The boys were quickly introduced to the work culture of PBI. Everyone works when there is a job to be done…rain or shine. A tree fell on the Trade Center during the storm and took off the window chhajja (concrete shingle eyebrow) so the students are put to work cleaning up the mess.

One good thing is that the smaller wood will be used in the outdoor kitchen and the rest sold. Don’t you just love the saw they have to use?

Nineteen year-old S….had just arrived and WOW this is life at Prakash! Joy, our General Director is always out in the middle of things so as he talked with S….he was intrigued by S….’s story.

Here is the dear boy’s account of his young life:

“I was born to a very poor family in a village on the border of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

I am the second child in the family. Even though we did not have a lot of money, we were happy. My father was a lorry driver

Whatever he was earning, that met the need of our family.

When I was studying in 4 standard, we lost the breadwinner of the family. My father was suddenly taken away from us due to gangrene of his leg. . It was very hard time for my mother to raise two growing children. To feed us she started working in the nearby chemical factory. She was allergic to the chemicals used in the factory and developed a very bad skin disease. The disease grew so much that she had to leave that job. Once again we faced very big financial problem. To meet the needs of the family, my mother started washing dishes in the neighborhood to take care of us. Somehow we both finished our school education. My sister got married to a nice Christian man and through him I am introduced and brought to Prakash Institute of India. I have a dream that I would experience complete change in my life and I would get right direction for my life as I study the Word of God this new thing Starting Point.

I have chosen the trade of Refrigeration/Air Conditioning. When I finish my studies I would like to help my family and contribute to building the Kingdom of God here on earth. I am eager to learn many things here at Prakash. I am so honored to be able to attend such a place as Prakash.”
Without YOU there would not be stories of transformed lives and opportunities for young men and women like S….

I will keep you all informed and will continue to try and write interesting and meaningful stories about India.

One of the things I will miss most about not being able to go to India now, is that we will miss seeing some of the people who are receiving the wonderful Christmas gifts of chickens, goats, cows, and sewing machines. Your generosity was… to put it mildly… OVERWHELMNG!!! Not all of the gifts have been given as of yet and as the stories come in I will endeavor to give you an inside peek at how lives are being changed by your bigheartedness.

Dr. Suresh is in charge of finding the needy who will receive the animals and here is the first recipient’s story.

“Once again it was really fun for me to go to several villages to select the proper pair of goats. There is so much inbreeding, that it takes many trips for me to find quality goats from different villages. I selected one female whose delivery due- date was close, along with a six-month male from a separate village. After giving each animal a series of vaccinations, I arranged for transportation to the village called Sychar, which is on the western side of Nagpur.

Suryakant is a very poor young man from this village who is unemployed. In 2005 through our Self-Reliant Training he studied Goat Keeping. But because of his parents poverty he was unable to start something of his own. Now he is very happy to have such wonderful gift. No one in his life has ever been so caring. (While doing his Self-Reliant Training, he also studied Starting Point and now knows about Jesus and His love.)

After reaching the Sychar village, the female goat gave birth to female kid. Suryakant and his parents are so happy that their happiness is beyond words.

I am really thankful to you and God’s loving people who share their love through this precious gift that will make one family self-reliant in future.”