At our Bible study tonight, which was held Rajesh and Anita's home, we heard two stories of lost sons. One has ended happily, the other is still open.
The stories came out before we actually got into the actual study - which was on "blessed are the peace-makers, for they will be called the children of God" (Mat. 5.9). We were sharing things that we wanted prayer for. There were the usual prayer requests for mothers who were sick, work related challenges, family members whose hearts need softening to the Lord.
And then Lukash and Neeta shared their stories.
They had gone yesterday to meet Laxmi, one of our support staff at the HBM Hospital who tragically lost her husband three months ago in a road accident. When they got to the home, however, the place was abuzz about what had happened to a neighbour of Laxmi.
Some six years ago, their young son had disappeared. He was mentally a bit challenged, and the neighbours looked high and low for him. No trace. He was gone. As the years have crawled by, they gave up hope and considered him dead. We will call him Sachin.
Last week Sachin returned.
Sachin had somehow ended up in Mumbai. And at some railway station, someone had brought him to a place of safety, where the boy had been cared for. Being mentally unstable, Sachin had not been able to tell where he was from, till just recently. When his caregivers found out that Sachin was from Lalitpur, they brought him here, and found his amazed parents.
"The people were Christians" said Laxmi. Sachin's family are just thrilled that he is back. They are so touched that there were people looking after their son. "How could they look after someone who is not their own family" was how Laxmi reflected what Sachin's parents had said.
Lukash and Neeta plan to visit Sachin's family to find out more about what happened. I have my guess about who it might be - having been blessed by some amazing people in Mumbai. SEAL Ashram would be my first bet. Pastor KM Philip and his team have rescued so many destitute people over the years. Some have died in their ashram, surrounded by love in their last days. Others have survived, many of whom are mentally disturbed and disoriented. And then, amazingly, some start to remember where they are from. The SEAL team then takes them home and reunites them with their families...
The picture below is by the wonderful Indian artist Frank Wesley. It's called the "Forgiving Father" and is of course a picture of the Father welcoming back his vagrant son. When I heard of Sachin coming home, this picture came to mind. The joy of the father reunited with his boy, no matter what had happened. The son is home.
The other story was also told by Lukash. This is fresh and still in process...
Our HBM Hospital Community Health and Development Programme (CHDP) organised a meeting between our village committee leaders and government officials today. One of our stars is a lady we will call Latha.
Latha is part of a Self-Help Group which with the help of the CHDP has started a store in their village which sells bangles and other petty items. The store has done so well that the members have gone further and further afield to get the materials. Amazingly, Latha has now started to go to Delhi to pick up whole-sale items to stock the shop.
Recently she was at the Delhi railway station and was talking to someone when a young man came up to her. Did he overhear her say she was from Lalitpur, he asked. Yes, she replied. Then he told her his story.
We will call him Manoj. Manoj can't remember exactly where he is from, but he knows it was Lalitpur. He had been separated from his parents some years ago and found himself on a train that ended up in Varanasi. There Manoj saw some terrible things and in great fear somehow got onto another train that brought him to Delhi. From what Manoj told Latha, it seems that he was taken in by a gang of professional beggars, and their conversation ended when a man came up and asked roughly who he was talking to and what he had told her. Latha sensed that Manoj was not fully in his right mind.
Latha has written down the names of whose first names Manoj told her about. He thought that his father was a rickshaw puller. And now to the real exciting part. Manoj gave Latha a photo of himself. A photo of himself as a little boy. He asked her to try and find his parents.
We are going to see if we can also be used to reunite Manoj with his family. We already prayed for him tonight, along with thanking God for bringing Sachin home. Since we just found out about Manoj today, the next step is to get a full written statement from Latha about her conversation with Manoj. We will probably reach out to the Child Welfare Committee and the police. If we don't find a likely match with their missing children reports, we may put up the story to the press.
Of course we have to verify and link up with Manoj too. Is this just a wild story, or is it the terrible reality that so many broken lives testify to in our vast urban wildernesses. Manoj seems to be another story of a young man who is mentally unstable, but very precious.
Our prayers on this cold night are centered around a young man in the biting cold of a Delhi night... and for whoever and wherever his relatives are in and around Lalitpur. May they be reunited. And may the happy news spill out all over the neighbourhood, with people marvelling at how Manoj has returned against all hope to his family.
The story of the two lost boys is not over yet. Sachin is home: Praise the Lord for His grace. We hope that for Manoj his part of the story will end, and continue, in joy.
The stories came out before we actually got into the actual study - which was on "blessed are the peace-makers, for they will be called the children of God" (Mat. 5.9). We were sharing things that we wanted prayer for. There were the usual prayer requests for mothers who were sick, work related challenges, family members whose hearts need softening to the Lord.
And then Lukash and Neeta shared their stories.
They had gone yesterday to meet Laxmi, one of our support staff at the HBM Hospital who tragically lost her husband three months ago in a road accident. When they got to the home, however, the place was abuzz about what had happened to a neighbour of Laxmi.
Some six years ago, their young son had disappeared. He was mentally a bit challenged, and the neighbours looked high and low for him. No trace. He was gone. As the years have crawled by, they gave up hope and considered him dead. We will call him Sachin.
Last week Sachin returned.
Sachin had somehow ended up in Mumbai. And at some railway station, someone had brought him to a place of safety, where the boy had been cared for. Being mentally unstable, Sachin had not been able to tell where he was from, till just recently. When his caregivers found out that Sachin was from Lalitpur, they brought him here, and found his amazed parents.
"The people were Christians" said Laxmi. Sachin's family are just thrilled that he is back. They are so touched that there were people looking after their son. "How could they look after someone who is not their own family" was how Laxmi reflected what Sachin's parents had said.
Lukash and Neeta plan to visit Sachin's family to find out more about what happened. I have my guess about who it might be - having been blessed by some amazing people in Mumbai. SEAL Ashram would be my first bet. Pastor KM Philip and his team have rescued so many destitute people over the years. Some have died in their ashram, surrounded by love in their last days. Others have survived, many of whom are mentally disturbed and disoriented. And then, amazingly, some start to remember where they are from. The SEAL team then takes them home and reunites them with their families...
The picture below is by the wonderful Indian artist Frank Wesley. It's called the "Forgiving Father" and is of course a picture of the Father welcoming back his vagrant son. When I heard of Sachin coming home, this picture came to mind. The joy of the father reunited with his boy, no matter what had happened. The son is home.
The other story was also told by Lukash. This is fresh and still in process...
Our HBM Hospital Community Health and Development Programme (CHDP) organised a meeting between our village committee leaders and government officials today. One of our stars is a lady we will call Latha.
Latha is part of a Self-Help Group which with the help of the CHDP has started a store in their village which sells bangles and other petty items. The store has done so well that the members have gone further and further afield to get the materials. Amazingly, Latha has now started to go to Delhi to pick up whole-sale items to stock the shop.
Recently she was at the Delhi railway station and was talking to someone when a young man came up to her. Did he overhear her say she was from Lalitpur, he asked. Yes, she replied. Then he told her his story.
We will call him Manoj. Manoj can't remember exactly where he is from, but he knows it was Lalitpur. He had been separated from his parents some years ago and found himself on a train that ended up in Varanasi. There Manoj saw some terrible things and in great fear somehow got onto another train that brought him to Delhi. From what Manoj told Latha, it seems that he was taken in by a gang of professional beggars, and their conversation ended when a man came up and asked roughly who he was talking to and what he had told her. Latha sensed that Manoj was not fully in his right mind.
Latha has written down the names of whose first names Manoj told her about. He thought that his father was a rickshaw puller. And now to the real exciting part. Manoj gave Latha a photo of himself. A photo of himself as a little boy. He asked her to try and find his parents.
We are going to see if we can also be used to reunite Manoj with his family. We already prayed for him tonight, along with thanking God for bringing Sachin home. Since we just found out about Manoj today, the next step is to get a full written statement from Latha about her conversation with Manoj. We will probably reach out to the Child Welfare Committee and the police. If we don't find a likely match with their missing children reports, we may put up the story to the press.
Of course we have to verify and link up with Manoj too. Is this just a wild story, or is it the terrible reality that so many broken lives testify to in our vast urban wildernesses. Manoj seems to be another story of a young man who is mentally unstable, but very precious.
Our prayers on this cold night are centered around a young man in the biting cold of a Delhi night... and for whoever and wherever his relatives are in and around Lalitpur. May they be reunited. And may the happy news spill out all over the neighbourhood, with people marvelling at how Manoj has returned against all hope to his family.
The story of the two lost boys is not over yet. Sachin is home: Praise the Lord for His grace. We hope that for Manoj his part of the story will end, and continue, in joy.
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