We are now in the city where the Children's Home is located. Everytime we've traveled here in the past we have gone by train. This time we traveled by car. Along the route to the Children's Home is a town called Tuni. This town was very significant to Raj when he was growing up. After his father left him, he along with his mother and grandmother moved to this town in search of a new beginning. Raj was five at the time. They settled in the corner of a small village located off the river bank and built a 5 X 5 thatch roof hut and started life over again. He began working here in this village selling firewood and cleaning floors in reastraunt. It was in this village that he accompanied his grandmother for miles on foot sharing the Gospel and evangelizing the villages. A few years later a major flood came and wiped away the entire village along with their hut. Once again they they were left without anything and had to start all over again. It was at that point that his grandmother decided to send him to live at the orphanage.
As we neared this town Raj decided to take a detour off the main road and go see the village that he remembered as a child. It had been twenty five years since he had left this place yet he recognized everything as if it was yesterday. When we arrived at the village he showed us the exact site where their hut had been before it was washed away. The village looks exactly like it did 25 years ago. We parked our car on the road in front of the village and as soon as he got out a man started waving to him, as if he knew him. The man stood at a distance and when Raj waved to him he ran up to us all. The man told Raj that he looked familiar but that he couldn't place him. All of a sudden the entire village came up to our car. We were surrounded by people curious of who he was. One older woman then said, "aren't you the grandson of Nirmalama?" (That was his grandmothers name). He told them yes and that he used to live here in this village as a boy. They ALL REMEMBERED him! They then began to tell stories about his mom and grandmother. They remembered how she had witnessed to them 25 years ago and how they had rejected her message. Today they are ALL Born Again Christians! The entire village!
I have heard my husband talk about this time in his life, but actually see it made it all the more real. Also, to see his grandmothers legacy is special. To many people her life may seem insignificant. She is one of those whom the verse "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" was written about. She was just a simple woman, poor and uneducated, but she had a message....the message of salvation in Christ. She traveled barefoot for miles to proclaim that message. The world may have never heard her name, she may have never had a big platform to preach from, but to this village she is remembered.... even after all these years.
As we neared this town Raj decided to take a detour off the main road and go see the village that he remembered as a child. It had been twenty five years since he had left this place yet he recognized everything as if it was yesterday. When we arrived at the village he showed us the exact site where their hut had been before it was washed away. The village looks exactly like it did 25 years ago. We parked our car on the road in front of the village and as soon as he got out a man started waving to him, as if he knew him. The man stood at a distance and when Raj waved to him he ran up to us all. The man told Raj that he looked familiar but that he couldn't place him. All of a sudden the entire village came up to our car. We were surrounded by people curious of who he was. One older woman then said, "aren't you the grandson of Nirmalama?" (That was his grandmothers name). He told them yes and that he used to live here in this village as a boy. They ALL REMEMBERED him! They then began to tell stories about his mom and grandmother. They remembered how she had witnessed to them 25 years ago and how they had rejected her message. Today they are ALL Born Again Christians! The entire village!
I have heard my husband talk about this time in his life, but actually see it made it all the more real. Also, to see his grandmothers legacy is special. To many people her life may seem insignificant. She is one of those whom the verse "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" was written about. She was just a simple woman, poor and uneducated, but she had a message....the message of salvation in Christ. She traveled barefoot for miles to proclaim that message. The world may have never heard her name, she may have never had a big platform to preach from, but to this village she is remembered.... even after all these years.
Raj talking to his former neighbors
The Villagers remembering who he is....
This woman remembered him as a young boy.
The villagers were so excited to see that one among them is now living in America and is living a great life. The woman in the picture above recalled all the hardships that he and his family had gone through. It was a testimony to Jesus of His reedeeming power.
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