Report from BHW Partnership Facilitator Following Visit

Key people:  Molay and Anita Kanti Das 

Recent Events

Activities

I visited for two days in September 2019. It was the day after a Hindu Festival so some of the children did not come to the tutoring programme. Usually there are 45 children per day with two teachers plus Molay. This day 25 children came. The tutoring programme operates five days per week from 7:15–9:15 am. 

Each weekend there is a kids club with 75 children. Molay and Anita plus one helper run this programme from 4:00–5:30 pm on Sunday afternoon. At this programme they have Bible stories, action songs, colouring, games and competitions. Most of the children from the tutoring programme attend this plus others from the community. There are no Christian families in this community. 

They run one Vacation Bible School a year and normally about 180 children come but this year there were too many so they ran two, three days with 100 children and three days with 130. They were very encouraged. 

At Christmas they have a programme and many adults and parents come. They get Christmas boxes from Samaritan’s Purse to distribute. 

Personal Stories

We heard a number of comments about various children from Molay and were moved by their difficult home circumstances. Most of the men are daily workers or rickshaw riders. It is hard and miserable work and often they come home with little from a day’s work. Most mothers work in domestic jobs and often both parents leave home early in the morning. 

The children are left at home to get to school and of course often just don’t go. However, the tutoring programme gives them a real boost as they go from tutoring to school. They are motivated as they are now doing well at school and want to go. Many are topping their classes. 

We met one lovely young woman who came to the tutoring as we were leaving. Her sister is one of the tutors. Pushpita began coming to the tutoring programme as a standard 5 student. Her father and mother work for a security firm. She has just completed grade 10 and intends to go on to study journalism. She has become a believer and helps in the Sunday programme. She is very good at dance and coaches the children for their dramas. She wants to be baptized but cannot at the moment as she is too young and her family would throw her out of the family. 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

The programmes are making an impact and the local people are very happy to see the development of their children. Of course, there are some who don’t like the Christians doing things in their neighbourhood but they have not done anything about it yet. They live in fear that the changing political situation may see more opposition as radicals are emboldened. 

The children are generally doing well at school and some of the low caste children are topping their classes.

Ideas for the Future

The strategy is to continue with the programme as it is a great bridge builder to the community. They want to keep the numbers about the same, 45 is a good number for the size of the facility. 

Molay would like us to have a look at the budget and increase it slightly. The teachers currently get INR1,500 (US$21.50) per month and he would like to lift it to INR2,000 (US$28.50.) 

There are two other things he would like to do:
- To build a little room on the back of the building to use as a kitchen. They have a number of events at the venue for the community and it is very difficult to cater for the children and their families. It would cost about US$950.

- To purchase a data projector. It would be very helpful for all their programmes, the tutoring, the Sunday programmes, the VBS and also for regular church meetings. The cost is around US$500 for one that is bright enough for daytime use. 

Current Issues and Challenges

Many of the children and young people are believers but cannot come out because of fear and opposition from family.

The need for a few more resources for the children especially a data projector to help with the programmes.

Prayer and Praise Points

1) That the programmes continues to be popular among the families of this low-cost housing area.
2) That children are responding to the message of life.
3) That there is still no obvious opposition from the community and that it will not eventuate.
4) That these children will at some stage be able to come out in their faith despite the pressure.

Comments

This is a nice little programme and together with the church development is contributing to the development of a greater presence in the community. This is a long term investment and it is still early days. I think it is worth ongoing partnership. 

Molay and Anita are great. The work they are doing in the church is bearing fruit and there are now more than 40 people attending. This is a significant increase. On one of the days we were with them there was an evening meeting and 35 people came. A number were seekers and open to discuss the Christian faith. They were very encouraged. Ministry is their life, they live in the church building and are on call 24/7. It is very intense for them. This tutoring programme is a very important part of their overall strategy and there is a real connection between the two.