My Calling In Life: Serving God Amongst The Poorest Of The Poor
In Delhi, I was ministering to some young people through my prophetic school. One of them is Birender Kumar. He is the first fruit of my ministry in Delhi. The other day, we were led of the Holy Spirit to visit the colony where he lives with his family. He lives in a slum area in Delhi.
With very great difficulties, we entered the hutments. You cannot reach the same by any vehicle at all. You cannot go there riding on your two-wheeler. There is a dear servant of God, namely, Birender Kumar, who has his wife, three young children and aged father. All of them live in a single-room hut which lacks all the above amenities. During the rainy season, the rainy water enters their living room. During the summer, the fresh air cannot enter their hut because there is no window. However, there is a ceiling fan but it is within the reach of the children because of the low roof.
If they have to answer the call of the nature, they have to go to the open space, preferably under the cover of darkness. In this hut, this servant of God lives happily with his big family. He ministers to the people living in his neighborhood. After visiting his house, I have decided not to ask the Lord for adding any more comfort to my life here. Many of you do have a house to live in with the basic amenities like toilets, etc. Do not fall into the snare of the devil who is tempting you to covet the best limousines, the best dresses, the best houses, the best gadgets, etc.!
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This is my testimony.
I am Birender Kumar. I am 29 years old and in the prime of my life. Before I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord, I had been living in sin. Though I had not committed the abominable sins in my life before I met Jesus Christ, I was not saved. I was from the Hindu background, living in an obscure village in the District of Azamgarh, State of Uttar Pradesh , India. We were worshipping the Hindu gods and goddesses.
When I was three years old, my mother passed away due to asthma. My father remarried another woman who became my stepmother. My stepmother did not love me at all. She meted out step-motherly treatment to me. However, my father loved me. As such, I grew up in my childhood without experiencing a mother's love. But I studied well and stood first in my class passing out the examinations in first division during my elementary school education.
When I was studying in 6th Standard, my father shifted his family to a slum colony (known as Jhugi and Jhombri Colony) Samaipur, Delhi. My stepmother hated me all the more. I used to weep many times due to my loneliness.
I was not given any pocket money or the school fees when I began to study in a Government school in Delhi. One elderly person suggested me to earn money by pulling a cycle Rickshaw (a three-wheeler cycle meant for carrying passengers). Most of the poor people in Indian cities earn their livelihood by this kind of self-employment. Normally, an able bodied man or a youth can earn unto Rs.100/-(about $2/-) per day. Out of this amount, he has to pay the hiring charges of about Rs.20- to the owner of the three wheeler. If two people are seated on this three wheeler, it is very difficult for the puller to pedal the tricycle.
From 6 th standard to 10th standard, I was working with my own hands by driving the tricycle and earning money for meeting the school fees and my expenses. But my stepmother did not allow to study further. As such, I could not score good marks in my examinations from 6th standard to 10th standard.
After passing out the 10th standard, I started working as a supervisor in a calculator manufacturing factory and then in a shoe manufacturing factory. Thus I was able to stand on my own legs financially and saved a very good sum of money. With this money, my parents arranged my marriage.
Though I was living in a slum area where most of the youths were addicted to all kinds of bad habits like smoking, gambling, drugs, alcohol, adultery, etc., God had saved my body from any of these abominable sins.
When I was saved, God spoke to me through Jeremiah 1:5 "5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Really, God knew me when I was in my mother's womb and preserved my body from the contamination of these grievous sins.
In 1999, one evangelist Pastor Dinesh visited our slums and preached the glorious gospel. At that time, I was suffering from Asthma as I had contracted this disease due to the overwork of my driving the tricycle.
When he prayed for my healing, I got some relief from my breathing problem. Then I started attending his church and then accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. On one Sunday, when I partook of the Lord's Table, I was completely healed by the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Then I heard the call of God in my life to serve Him. Then I underwent a short-term evangelical course in a Christian organization called "Serve Bharat" for two years. Afterwards, I was trained for one year by "Global Action Ministries". After all these trainings, I began to pasture a church in my colony.
During the middle of the year 2006, God brought my elder brother in Christ, Job Anbalagan into my life. He taught me and other young people through his prophetic school. God opened my heart to the deeper truths taught by him. He taught us many truths in a practical manner.
Interalia, he taught me how I should be faithful to God in money matters. Today I have the great privilege of working with him in Delhi. One day when Brother Job Anbalagan laid his hands on me and prayed for God to use me mightily. At that time, I saw an open vision of my preaching to the multitudes. After this vision, when I was seeking the Lord for His plan and guidance for my ministry, I saw a wonderful vision. That vision led to the birth of a mission field in India, called "Hope For India Ministries".
My wife is a housewife. Though she is illiterate, she loves the Lord. We have been blessed with three children, 2 boys aged 6 and 8 years respectively and one daughter aged 5 years. We are living happily in the Lord. The Lord is meeting all our needs.
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You can electronically transfer your precious gift so that the Kingdom of God in righteousness, peace and joy can be experienced in the poorest of the poor slums. Please send your gifts to:
Name: Birender Kumar
Savings Bank Account: 1070498947-6
Bank's Branch No. Code 6667
Bank's Name: State Bank of India located at Samepur, Delhi-110042 India.
For more information on Birender Kumar, please visit this website created courtesy of concerned Christians to this work. Hope For India website
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