Participants:
Series Code: JFAN
Program Code: JFAN000070A
|
00:01 (dramatic orchestral music)
00:21 - Hello and welcome to Jesus for Asia now. 00:24 I'm Natalie Wood and today my husband John is with me. 00:27 We're going to take you to a little village in India. 00:31 Welcome to the show, dear. 00:32 - Hi, darling, it's good to be here. 00:34 - You know, we're going to a little village in India today. 00:36 But it's an outcast, very poor village. 00:40 - Yes. 00:42 - And the only reason we could go there was... 00:44 - One of our Bible workers put in many months 00:47 of reaching out to connect with this village. 00:50 - Okay. 00:52 - Because the first time she went, they were afraid of her. 00:54 they've been abused and taken advantage of 00:57 by the outside world and so when she came in, 01:00 they didn't trust her. 01:01 And so they wouldn't talk to her. 01:03 And they wouldn't work with her. 01:04 - Wow. 01:06 - And so we've actually, we learned about this village 01:08 a couple years ago. 01:09 And we really wanted to go in and help this village, 01:12 but they were afraid of us. 01:14 And so over time, we've established a relationship 01:18 with this village through our Bible work. 01:20 And it's an amazing story, what she ended up having to do 01:23 to actually gain their trust. 01:24 - Right, and it shows the power of God. 01:27 - Yes. 01:28 - And the power of the love that God has given 01:29 to this Bible worker, that we're meeting today, 01:33 for these people. 01:34 - And that's exactly where this comes from. 01:36 That's the origination of the story. 01:39 Is in the heart of God there is love for people 01:42 that we don't even know. 01:44 - Right. 01:45 - In fact, that's the origination I believe, of missions 01:49 is that love that's in the heart of God, 01:51 for a people that don't know that He exists. 01:54 - That's true. 01:55 - And when we get close to him, 01:58 then he puts that love in us. 02:00 And we go for him. 02:02 Then after we meet them, often we fall in love with them. 02:05 But many times people or all the time people that 02:08 start that journey, have no idea who they're going for, 02:12 or don't know the individuals. 02:13 They may have an idea of the type 02:17 of people that that's there. 02:18 - Right, some vague understanding. 02:20 - Right. 02:21 - Of the culture, maybe and the lifestyle, 02:24 but to really put names and faces together, 02:27 you have to go there. 02:28 - You have to go there. 02:30 And and until you go there, you know, 02:31 all the mission statistics are just numbers. 02:34 - Right. 02:35 - But after you've been there, 02:36 - Then they have names and faces and stories. 02:40 So we're going to go with our Bible worker. 02:42 Her name is Salvi. 02:43 And we're going to go to the village of Amaravathi. 02:46 - Yes. 02:47 - We have a picture of it here. 02:49 And you can see the kind of village that it is. 02:52 - That's not much of a village. 02:54 There's about 45 families that live there. 02:57 All in small huts like that. 02:59 - Okay. 03:00 So Selvi, the Bible worker. 03:03 We're going to meet her in this video. 03:05 She went back after a year. 03:08 And well, let's start with her story. 03:11 Let's watch the video. 03:12 - All right. 03:23 - My name is Selvi. 03:24 I teach Bible for the children in this evening school. 03:32 In the beginning, it took three months of time for her 03:36 even to get the ladies to talk to her. 03:39 That if she could come, they would all go away. 03:42 They would hide themselves. 03:44 It took three months of time for her in the beginning 03:47 for them to understand that she has come to help them. 03:53 I go to each house. 03:55 I put my hand on their shoulder. 03:58 I tell them, I am also like you a human being. 04:01 I'm a female like you. 04:03 Don't be scared, don't feel shy. 04:05 I have come here to tell you good things. 04:08 So I am one of you. 04:09 That is how they became very friendly. 04:12 Now they're very friendly to her. 04:14 And she used to bring the used saris 04:17 and some dresses for the children. 04:20 And that is how she became very close 04:22 and acquainted with these community people. 04:27 Before we could even start this tuition, 04:29 I used to bring rice and cook for them and feed them. 04:34 Now this has become a great blessing 04:37 for the children and the community here. 04:39 They are very happy about it. 04:44 She has a request. 04:46 This is shed built with some Sunday-worshiper's help. 04:50 They have given us like a rent you know, 04:53 like to use the shed. 04:58 The pastor said, "you can use this for any cause, 05:01 but for the biblical cause." 05:03 But we are the remnant people. 05:06 We need to have a shed of our own. 05:09 So that is her request. 05:10 Through that we can boldly tell them about the truth. 05:15 Now we are in need of their help and their support. 05:23 She's saying, "we are teaching them Bible more, 05:26 "and they are also learning." 05:28 She says, "we cannot teach them doctrines." 05:31 We need to tell them small small stories, 05:34 like Esther like Naaman. 05:36 You know those stories. 05:38 They really love to hear stories. 05:40 So through that we are giving Bible study. 05:52 - Are you tearing up already? 05:54 - Getting close. 05:56 - This is the beginning of the show. 05:57 - It's just so beautiful, so beautiful. 05:59 She won them over. 06:01 And what the video does not tell 06:03 is that she went every day for three months, 06:07 to this village, and she took food 06:10 to share with the people. 06:11 - That she cooked them food. 06:13 - Right? 06:13 - Yes. 06:14 - And she won them over. 06:17 Can you imagine cooking for people every single day, 06:20 that didn't want to talk to you 06:21 - Wow! 06:23 - That's such an amazing show of patience and love. 06:26 - Persistent love. 06:27 - Right. - Yeah. 06:28 - And they were afraid of her 06:30 because she had such a nice sori on. 06:32 - Yes. 06:33 And her sori, was probably $5. 06:36 - Yeah. 06:37 - It's not a fancy sori, by any stretch of the imagination. 06:40 - Right. 06:42 - Anyway, we're just really thankful 06:44 that she was persistent. 06:45 Because now there's opportunities. 06:48 - And this is what's amazing to me 06:49 is that we talked about what reaching to the poor 06:53 having the gospel preach to the poor. 06:54 It's very difficult actually to get to the poor. 06:59 It's difficult to find them. 07:01 And it's difficult to talk to them because 07:03 there's such a vast gap between, 07:07 you know, like an American, if I showed up in India, 07:10 you know, I'm automatically a super wealthy man 07:13 because I bought a plane ticket. 07:15 - Yeah. - You know. 07:15 - It's true. 07:17 - And so having these Bible workers that live there 07:20 that speak the language that understand the needs, 07:22 understand the culture. 07:24 They can go into places where that we never really could. 07:28 - That's true. - Yeah. 07:29 - That's true. 07:30 - Though we got to go there. 07:32 And that's what's exciting. 07:33 We fell in love with this village. 07:35 - Yeah. - Yeah. 07:36 Now that we get a chance to see the people. 07:38 They're comfortable with us, because of our Bible worker. 07:41 - Right. 07:42 We fell in love with them. 07:43 - Yeah. 07:45 And it's neat to see the changes in the children also, 07:47 but I'm getting ahead of the story. 07:49 - Yeah. 07:50 - First, we want to find out more about Amaravathi. 07:52 - Okay. 07:53 - So we have a little video that was put together 07:54 about how they work 07:57 and how they earn a living. 08:00 - And a little bit of their lifestyle. 08:01 - Right. - Okay. 08:13 - This place is called Amaravathi. 08:15 You can see there is a lot of mountains here. 08:18 These people has been living here 08:20 for more than 60-70 years. 08:23 They are just surviving living with a nature here. 08:30 35 families are living in this village. 08:36 She says our main job is collecting woods from the forest. 08:42 If you don't do that, no food. 08:46 We go into the village here nearby. 08:49 People come and get those woods from us. 08:52 They pay money for that. 08:53 She went morning to collect that piece of wood. 08:58 She took so long because, 09:00 there are so many wild elephants here. 09:02 They would fearfully take gather and see here and there. 09:06 And it took the whole day to gather this 09:09 small bunch of wood. 09:11 So, pity to see these people 09:15 how much they are suffering in this forest. 09:18 Her name is Palaniammal. 09:20 she and her husband they are staying in this house. 09:26 For more than 25 years, 09:28 we are staying in this house. 09:31 A very small, tiny house. 09:33 The kitchen and everything is together. 09:35 So this is their lifestyle here. 09:39 - What a life. 09:40 I mean to have to collect firewood 09:42 and it took her half the day three quarters of the day. 09:46 And she's having to watch out 09:47 for wild elephants the whole time. 09:50 And she comes back with a bundle of firewood. 09:52 - Yeah. 09:53 - I mean, it's... 09:54 - And that lady's house. 09:55 - I know. 09:56 - That's actually kind of the head woman. 09:58 - Wow. 09:59 - And so... 10:00 - So she's important in this village. 10:02 And this is how she lives also. 10:04 - Yeah. 10:05 And when it rains they have to sit on a rock. 10:09 Because their ground, their floor turns into mud. 10:12 It's like wow, to live like that. 10:14 We have no concept. 10:15 - Yeah. 10:16 - No clue. - No. 10:18 - But to bring hope to people like that. 10:21 I mean, I can't imagine 10:24 the look on their eyes when they come into heaven. 10:28 - It's gonna be awesome. 10:33 - It's gonna be really good. - Yeah. 10:34 One thing we wanted to mention. 10:36 And right at the end of the video, 10:38 it was talking about how two children die every year. 10:40 - Oh, yes. 10:41 - From poor nutrition and poor food. 10:43 And we saw this also, in Mindora 10:46 in the Philippines in the project there. 10:48 How children would die every year. 10:50 And then we started a lunch program 10:52 where they get a good meal every day at lunch. 10:55 And now children haven't died 10:57 and they haven't had so much sickness 10:59 in the village. 11:00 So we're looking forward to seeing the results 11:02 of our evening school, 11:04 - Providing that. 11:05 - Providing food for the children. 11:07 Of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves, 11:09 because we're not quite there yet. 11:11 Anyway, I just wanted to mention that. 11:13 That when we can give them better food. 11:16 - Right. 11:17 - Then this changes completely. 11:18 - So it doesn't just help them economically. 11:21 - Right. 11:21 - It actually saves. 11:23 And there's a street children's lives. 11:25 - Right. 11:26 - But then there's the children that 11:27 grew up developmentally disabled. 11:30 They may not have died from lack of food, 11:33 but they grew up with some kind of disability. 11:37 - From the poor nutrition. - From the poor nutrition. 11:39 - Right. - Yes. 11:41 And so that saves, who knows how many 11:43 of those kids from that situation. 11:45 - Right, right. 11:47 Now, the next part is kind of sad. 11:50 And it's a look at what happens 11:52 to the girls in this village. 11:54 And, you know, the government education 11:57 for the poor villages. 11:59 From what we've seen is very sad 12:02 if there is any government education. 12:05 And so we want to be a part 12:07 of making a difference for their lives. 12:09 And this is part of the reason why. 12:11 - Yeah, a lot of these kids, when they go to school, 12:14 if they go to school, they'll have to sit in the back 12:16 because they're not of the same class. 12:18 - Right? 12:19 - And so they don't learn very well. 12:21 And so they get up to fifth grade, 12:24 in a very poor school system, 12:27 and they don't have much hope. 12:28 So we'll play this little clip about these girls. 12:35 - They get married when they are 12 years, 12:38 15 years here in this community. 12:44 They allow one only for elementary education. 12:48 Once they complete the fifth grade. 12:50 The next stage is marriage. 12:53 The girl who is sitting there with the baby there, 12:56 she has three children, 12:58 but her age now was 16. 13:06 During rainy season, 13:08 these people have very difficult time. 13:11 Because you can see the roof here, 13:12 it's completely broken. 13:14 It pours inside. 13:16 They tell me that they gather all the bricks 13:20 and big stones they put it inside. 13:22 They would sit on those big stones and rocks 13:25 because that floor will be fully wet. 13:27 They say during that time till the rain stops, 13:30 we would be just sitting under the roof 13:33 which is broken completely. 13:35 What to do, this is our life. 13:46 We eat morning and in the evening night, 13:50 if there is food we'll eat, 13:51 but afternoon we have never eat any food. 13:58 Per year two children die. 14:00 Without proper nutritious food, two children die. 14:06 And there was a year, maybe four or five years ago, 14:11 four children died without proper food. 14:22 - It's amazing. 14:23 I mean to be in a village and look around 14:26 and see a 16 year old girl, 14:29 who was the age of my daughter at the time. 14:32 Already had, 14:33 - Three kids. - Three kids. 14:38 - When you think about her life, from now on. 14:41 It will just be that of a mother. 14:43 a wife and a mother. 14:46 - I mean, not that that's bad. 14:48 Being a wife and a mother. 14:49 - Oh, no, but it's like she's a child raising children. 14:53 - And she's got no choice. 14:54 - Right. 14:55 - That's all she can do. 14:56 - Right. - yeah. 14:57 - And this happens over and over again in the village, 14:59 as we saw, 15:00 in the video. - Generation after generation. 15:02 We saw what kind of work they do. 15:04 But this village is blessed 15:05 because nearby is a government water source. 15:08 - It's not on all the time. 15:09 Comes on maybe once a day or once every few days. 15:13 But they don't have to walk far to get their water. 15:15 And I've never really seen somebody put water on their head. 15:21 So I want to play this little clip again. 15:23 This frail, thin, young lady. 15:27 This is how she does this. 15:28 I could not do this. 15:30 - No. 15:31 - Just saying I could not do this. 15:32 Look at that, she's just like, 15:33 Oh, I think I'll put this other 35 or 40 pound water thing. 15:37 I'll pick that up and put up on my head. 15:39 - Yeah. 15:40 - And then walk as if everything's fine. 15:42 - She's carrying 70-80 pounds right there. 15:44 - Yeah. 15:46 And she's walking and not even holding on to 15:48 what's on her head. 15:49 It's just balanced there. 15:51 - Amazing. - Yeah. 15:52 - Really amazing. 15:53 And unless you think that the men don't help. 15:58 I had to put this picture in there too. 16:00 Because he's carrying at least one. 16:02 - Right. 16:02 - So he's helping the family. 16:03 - He's helping too. 16:06 - As we were coming into the village, 16:07 we came across this man. 16:10 The villagers say that he's over 100 years old. 16:13 I don't believe it. 16:15 Because I can't imagine anybody living that long 16:18 in those conditions. 16:20 - Right. 16:21 - But he sitting in front of his home. 16:23 - That doesn't look like a home. 16:24 - No. 16:26 And this is him later, he is sleeping inside his home. 16:31 This is his home. 16:34 - Wow, we have no idea. - No. 16:38 I also made a friend there. 16:39 - Okay. 16:41 - And he was very kind. 16:42 He's very friendly, he show me around. 16:44 He's talking to me and I was talking to him. 16:46 We're having this whole conversation. 16:48 I didn't understand a word he said. 16:50 But I understood his intent. 16:52 - Right. 16:53 - And he brought me a goat. 16:54 - Okay. 16:55 - And he brought you several goats. 16:56 And I love goats. 16:58 I love animals. 16:58 These goats were so young 17:00 that they still had their umbilical cord connected. 17:05 Here's a couple other people from the village 17:07 that allowed me to take a selfie with them. 17:09 - Okay. 17:10 - Here's a shepherd. 17:12 - Sharon really enjoyed the goats also. 17:16 - Sharon works with us here at Jesus for Asia. 17:18 Some people may not recognize her. 17:21 But we did another show with her 17:22 right after she came back from this trip. 17:24 And she shared some stories. 17:26 And one of her stories is from Amaravathi also. 17:29 So you might wonna watch that. 17:32 - This is the teacher of our evening school. 17:36 And he's from this village. 17:38 And here's just one of the little kids 17:40 that is in our evening school. 17:41 - Oh Precious. 17:43 So we started the evening school after the Bible worker 17:46 was able to connect with the people. 17:48 We were able to start the evening school there. 17:51 So here's the teacher teaching in the new evening school. 17:55 (goats bleating) 18:00 - The children here in this community, 18:03 they don't want to go to school. 18:05 Moreover, the parents are not allowing the children 18:07 to go to school. 18:08 So I'm encouraging each and every one 18:11 to study through this evening school. 18:17 I am not only teaching them the worldly education, 18:20 I teach them also from Bible. 18:23 I teach them about Jesus. 18:25 I have a concern for these children. 18:27 Because I want to see them have a good bright future. 18:33 I asked her after going to the evening school hours 18:37 the changes in her grandson's character?. 18:46 She says he has changed a lot. 18:49 He's obedient now and that school is really helping their 18:53 character building. 18:54 And in their everyday life, 18:57 that school has become a very great blessing, she says. 19:04 My main aim is to reflect 19:08 and show the love of Jesus 19:10 to these children. 19:10 Because that is most important. 19:13 And that is why even the children 19:15 who come from Hindu background. 19:16 I'm teaching them. 19:18 We have so many oppositions but still, 19:20 I'm teaching them about Jesus 19:22 and also the worldly education 19:24 so that they will come up in life. 19:32 She has a passion for cooking. 19:34 So it is a blessing to cook for these children. 19:37 She's enjoying, she says. 19:39 I asked her how much it is useful for her grandson 19:43 the food what they are giving. 19:45 And she says, the evening food 19:47 what they give here is very good. 19:49 Children are enjoying the food. 19:52 It is a great blessing for them. 19:59 When they eat and then they come to me 20:00 they tell me, "brother, we enjoyed the food, 20:03 "thank you so much for the food. 20:05 "It was very tasty." 20:07 That really gives me so much joy. 20:10 I'm really happy 20:11 that you people are helping out this project. 20:14 It's a great blessing for the children. 20:19 The children, they used to tell me 20:22 we are very thankful for those people 20:24 who are made it possible so that we can eat the food here. 20:28 They used to say, million trillion times, 20:32 praise the Lord, for those people who are helping us 20:36 who are supporting us. 20:37 They always tell me that we need to pray for... 20:40 These little children, they are telling me 20:43 we need to pray for them. 20:44 Who are helping us to have this food. 20:46 God has to bless them abundantly. 20:55 The children, when they go tell their parents, 20:58 "we had a wonderful food. 21:00 "our stomach is full now." 21:01 The parents are coming and asking me, 21:03 "who is helping like this? 21:05 "We need to thank them. 21:07 "We are very thankful for that." 21:09 Through this, I am able to tell about Jesus to them. 21:13 Because of Jesus, you are getting this help. 21:15 Jesus is helping you. 21:17 And it is opening the doors 21:19 so that they can know about Jesus. 21:26 She says that, thank you so much. 21:28 That is all I can say. 21:30 Thank you so much for the help you're doing. 21:35 (soft orchestral music) 21:54 - Aren't they precious children? 21:55 - Yeah, what a beautiful opportunity it is 21:57 to help them. 21:58 - Oh my goodness, yes. 21:59 - And to see that they're so grateful. 22:03 - Yes. 22:04 - We just really want to thank the donors that help. 22:07 - Right. 22:08 - That give to help these schools especially. 22:10 To give these beautiful children 22:12 this food that they're so thankful for. 22:14 - And to see that these kids are praying for the donors. 22:17 - Yes. 22:18 - You know, they're praying for us. 22:19 - Right. 22:20 - God hears their prayers. 22:21 - Right. - Yeah. 22:22 Because they pray out of a sincere heart. 22:24 - Right. - Yeah. 22:25 - And their blessing upon the donors. 22:29 God has to bless them abundantly. 22:31 I love that. 22:32 That's so precious. 22:33 - It is. 22:34 And what's beautiful also is that 22:36 not only do they get the meal for their physical well being, 22:41 but the character development. 22:43 Even the parents are noticing that. 22:45 - Right, and the grandma. 22:46 - Yeah. 22:47 - So and it's giving opportunities 22:49 for people to know about Jesus. 22:51 That's the best part. 22:52 - That's the bottom line right there. 22:53 - Right. The best part. 22:54 - Yeah. 22:55 - So we're in this village and we're looking around 22:57 and we're thinking, man, 22:59 we've got to do something to help them while we're here. 23:01 And so we asked the head woman, 23:04 what does the village really need? 23:07 - Right? 23:08 - And this is what happened. 23:09 - Okay. 23:11 (soft orchestral music) 23:19 - We're at this village called Amaravathi 23:21 and it's a very poor village. 23:22 They make their living by cutting firewood and stuff. 23:25 And selling that. 23:26 Well we have a evening school here, 23:28 really excited about that. 23:30 Providing the children with a free meal, 23:33 as well as a couple hours of tutorials 23:35 and tutoring and stuff like that in the evenings. 23:42 - They don't have a good blanket. 23:46 There is no mat for them to sleep on. 23:52 That's all the real need for them. 23:54 Day to days need. 24:03 - Some kind people in America have donated the funds, 24:06 we went and bought some mats 24:08 and some blankets and we just gave them out. 24:11 And they were all very happy to receive them. 24:13 In fact, we had a little problem because 24:16 they received one and then go change their name 24:18 and get in line again and receive another one. 24:20 So we just hope and pray that they are 24:22 able to use these things to stay warm at night 24:25 and stay a little bit more out of the dirt. 24:27 (crowd applause's) 24:36 That's a lot of fun doing this kind of stuff. 24:38 And I hope that, you know, we didn't do much. 24:40 We're not going to make a huge impact 24:42 for the kingdom doing this. 24:43 But I'm hoping that this paves the way for the Bible worker 24:47 that's here every single day, every single evening, 24:50 providing the food 24:51 and the teacher that's providing the training. 24:53 I hope it gives them a little more clout 24:55 little more credibility 24:56 and allows the opportunity for them to work more, 25:01 with the Holy Spirit in breaking down prejudices 25:04 and opening up ideas, 25:05 opening up possibilities in the villagers minds that, 25:09 there maybe somebody out there that cares. 25:22 Can you guess what the total cost of getting a blanket 25:26 and a mat for every single family 25:27 in the entire village was? 25:29 - No. - About $240. 25:32 - Wow. 25:34 Well praise the Lord that we were able to help them. 25:36 - And we had some leftover that we were going to use 25:38 in other poor areas also. 25:40 - Okay. 25:41 - So as we were leaving the village, 25:42 I saw these girls sitting on a rock 25:43 and I took a bunch of pictures and stuck them together. 25:47 So this is... 25:51 You can just see their little personalities. 25:53 - Yeah. 25:54 And to think about if the school wasn't there, 25:57 if their life continues as it always has been 26:00 for however many years that they've lived in this village. 26:07 These girls will be married at the age of 13. 26:08 - Yeah. 26:10 - But with the school there, hopefully, 26:12 they can have more opportunities. 26:14 - Yes, this may give them some hope 26:17 of doing something different life. 26:18 - Right. 26:20 - As we were leaving, walking out of the village, 26:22 this little girl 26:24 came up and... 26:26 Just the light in her eyes. - She's so precious. 26:28 - You know that light. 26:29 And I've seen it so many times before 26:31 with these young kids, you know. 26:32 You look into their eyes and it's just black, just dark. 26:36 They find out that Jesus loves them 26:38 that they have value. 26:40 They get this hope and the lights come on in their eyes. 26:42 - Right. 26:44 - And like this little girl, I mean, she's just like, 26:46 I can see in her face, she's saying thank you for the food. 26:49 Thank you for the education. 26:50 Thank you for the hope that I can now do something 26:52 other than get married at the age of 12 or 13 and a have... 26:56 - It's such a privilege. 26:57 - It is a huge privilege. - To be a part of, 27:00 offering this to these kids. 27:02 - Yeah. 27:03 And you know, even Jesus, you know, 27:04 he went to the cross for the joy that was set before him. 27:08 He didn't go to the cross because he liked pain. 27:10 - No. 27:11 - But he saw the joy and he gives us these little 27:14 taste of that joy that he was going after. 27:16 - Right. 27:17 - When he went to the cross. 27:18 He didn't live on the cross. 27:19 He's not on the cross anymore. 27:21 And so the suffering is temporary. 27:24 But the joy is eternal. 27:26 - Right. 27:27 Well, what a blessing it's been 27:29 to go to Amaravathi today 27:30 and meet these dear people 27:32 that Jesus has always known. 27:34 - Yes. 27:36 - I would like to invite you 27:37 to be a part of giving hope to these young children, 27:40 and so many more like them. 27:42 Please contact us at Jesus for Asia. 27:45 P O Box 1221. 27:47 Collegedale, Tennessee 37315. 27:51 Call us at 423-413-7321 27:55 or visit our website 27:57 at Jesus4asia.org. 27:59 And as those young children pray for you, 28:01 we pray also, that God will bless you more abundantly. 28:05 Until we see you next time on Jesus for Asia now. 28:08 (dramatic orchestral music) |
Revised 2019-11-12