Pastor John Isaac and his wife have been working within the slum community of Vijayawada City for the last 10 years, sharing the Word with children and young people and doing what they will to offer them a vision and a hope for the long run grounded within the Christian faith.
Although India is now the fifth biggest economy on this planet (per GDP), slums are still a reality they usually are home to hundreds of thousands of individuals.
There are many government and church-based programmes trying to boost standards of living and lift people out of the grinding poverty that has blighted such areas for generations.
Pastor John and his wife see a spiritual gap, which they’ve been working to fill since they first began their work in 2016 – breaking the cycle of spiritual and emotional poverty.
This is connected to the fact of physical poverty. Although this isn’t universal across India, within the slum where Pastor Isaac ministers, some children still exit to work as an alternative of ending their education in class.
“Because of family poverty, the parents want their children to go to work at an early age. Some children within the slums can start working from as young as 10 years old, so the cycle of poverty is repeated for generations. The impact of poverty on education is an enormous issue,” he says.
Not surprisingly, the pressures of poverty take their toll on families. Family dysfunction and breakdown are common problems, leaving to single parent households. In some particularly sad cases, moms turn to prostitution to make ends meet.
“Some parents don’t care about their children, and this creates wounds in the youngsters. They feel hopeless due to that,” says Pastor John.
Given that the streets are a well-liked hangout for youngsters living within the slums, that is where much of Pastor John’s ministry lies. Together along with his wife they exit and organise easy activities for the youngsters, like singing Christian songs together and hearing the Gospel. Other times, they gather in a church constructing. As many as 100 children might gather and Pastor John estimates that around 70 per cent of those that come are non-Christians.
Much of the couple’s work is just chatting with the youngsters about God and the Christian faith, providing a listening ear, and attempting to steer them through any problems they’re having at home or in class.
Sometimes that easy work has been life-saving. One time they saw a young girl crying and distressed on the road because her mother was drunk and had gone off with two men. When they spoke to her, she told them her mother did this every single day. So they comforted her and prayed along with her, reassuring her that God was along with her.
“We told her that even if you happen to don’t have a mother or father, God is there for you. Even in case your mother is doing all types of things, Jesus is there for you. As we prayed for her, peace got here into her heart and he or she could trust in God that all the things was going to be okay,” says Pastor John.
When that they had the prospect, they spoke to her mother and pleaded along with her to stop what she was doing for the sake of her daughter. After a while, they were capable of get through to her and he or she accepted Jesus as her Saviour, and the connection along with her daughter was restored.
With high levels of poverty within the slums and spanning generations of their very own families, it could possibly be hard for some young people to assume a brilliant future for themselves. In one other harrowing case, Pastor John recalled a time when he and his wife needed to talk a teenage girl out of suicide. She had no parents and was living with clan however the environment was abusive and he or she was so miserable that she had lost all hope and just desired to die.
“We shared the Word along with her and prayed for her because we ourselves are usually not those who can bring healing,” he says.
“Only God can bring healing into someone’s life. So we prayed for her and the Holy Spirit touched her and gave her hope in Jesus and he or she not desired to die. Instead of wanting to die, she desired to see how her life could be transformed by the Lord.”
Pastor John and his wife continued to counsel her and nurture her spiritually, guiding her to hope and browse the Word every single day, and connecting her with a church. Their relationship along with her has continued over a few years and today she herself volunteers with them, helping to counsel and mentor other children and young people within the slum. She can also be a happily married mother with a young boy.
Amazingly, even many non-Christians in the world are appreciative of their work, says Pastor John. One time, when local police began giving them a tough time, even Muslim parents stood up for them.
“The police got here and the Muslim families said no, no, no, these people have been here for years; they don’t seem to be converting our family or children, they’re teaching values. They’re doing good throughout the families. So that is amazing,” he said.
One time, some Muslim parents even got here and thanked them because that they had seen such a difference of their children’s behaviour.
“They told us, ‘Sometimes they don’t hearken to us. We do not know what you shared with them, but they’re obeying what we are saying now.’ The encouragement they offer helps us to maneuver forward within the ministry, although we face challenges.”
As their very own means are limited, the main target for Pastor John and his wife until now has been on providing easy activities and spiritual guidance to the youngsters and young people within the slum. But their plan is to do more, starting with an afterschool programme to assist children with their studies. Whatever comes next, the Isaacs are committed to long-term spiritual investment of their community.
“When we picture all of those young people in 10 years, we picture them as disciples and as godly leaders with godly character who can positively influence their communities,” says Pastor John.
“If we start with the foundation causes now, we are able to end this cycle of physical and spiritual poverty. That is my commitment to God.”
