God Appointment

I mentioned the other day about my feeling that God had appointments for all of us whilst we were here in Kolkata. For me it was to go and talk to those living on the street outside the BMS compound. If you remember in earlier blogs I was looking for a translator to help me speak to them but this didn’t happen. Today, with prompting from the Lord, I kept that appointment. I bought some milk and other basic provisions and went to meet the family not knowing how to talk to them and a little worried about how I was going to fare. Oh me of little faith! Like Philip on the Jerusalem to Gaza road God already had it sorted out. There are three sisters - one middle-aged; one in her late twenties and one who is twelve – and the youngest two spoke very good English, well more than enough English for us to hold a long conversation. I was joined by another student Sam (a man with a bigger heart you will not find) and we spent about thirty minutes with them just asking them questions about their lives and their prospects. They had always lived on the streets, their parents had lived on the streets and their children were learning how to live on the streets. Like millions of Indian’s it was too expensive even to live in the villages, which is why they lived as they did. It is amazing that there is such wealth in India yet little of it find its way down to the poor and unfortunate. The Christian mission’s here do an amazing about of good work with meagre resources, but the caste system that is endemic in Indian culture constantly works against this. However, it was a little encouraging to hear that the youngest sister was going to school and learning English – demonstrated by her reciting the alphabet and counting to twenty – which is essential if you want to get a good job. I just hope and pray that her new found knowledge gives her a new found freedom away from a life on the streets.