A week or so before Devan arrived, I had a dream that he was going to be attacked. I won't give the details, except to say that it was gossip and slander by a third party, whom I don't know, haven't met, and had never heard of. But I wrote to him and warned him, and when he got here he told me that exactly what I had warned him of had happened, but it seems that the damage has been minimized by our prayers, which is, I think, the reason I received the warning (Thank you, Lord). Also, just after I had the dream, a cobra tried to get into his house back in India where his wife and children were.
Then, while he was here, he told me that his wife had called him and told him that the Lord had told her that he should ask me to pray for the money to put the roof on the first level of the new orphanage they are rebuilding after losing the old building in a flood. So I did. We prayed, and I said I thought that somebody was going to just write him a check for the $5000 he needed. Well that night, I dropped him off for a meeting with someone here in Charlottesville, and someone wrote him a check for $5000.
It's very important that you understand that this isn't a story about me: it is about how God works all things together, through his servants, for their good and for the accomplishment of his will. Not unto us, O Lord, but to thy name be the glory.
It's no wonder the enemy wants to destroy brother Devan, when you look at the good work he's doing: feeding orphans and widows, caring for lepers, educating the poor, providing medical care for the sick, showing love to the outcast and the untouchable: in other words, actually doing all the things that Jesus told us to do.
Incidentally, if you're interested in helping someone less fortunate than yourself, all these children need sponsors:
These children are found wandering literally naked and starving on the streets. They are untouchable, and so Hindus believe that they are living out their bad karma from a previous life by being born to suffer, and consequently good Hindus are doing their religious duty by not helping them. Not to mention that if they touch one of them, they have to bathe seven times, and wash their house, their clothes, and everything they own seven times. And what a nuisance! Right? Some of them have been rescued out of the sex trade. Funny, how they can be touched as prostitutes, but not with compassion.
The beauty of God's kingdom is shown in the fact that my one friend, Peter, was born a Brahmin, in the priestly caste on the very top of Hindu society and the other, Devan, was born Dalit, or untouchable, at the very bottom. And now they are friends and brothers, and living very much the same life, as pastors and missionaries for Christ. Incidentally, brother Peter gave up his caste and all the privileges associated with it when he became a Christian: Christians have no caste at all, being in some ways below even the untouchables. Peter was obviously not his birth name: he took that after his conversion.
Anyway, for $47 a month, a living human child can be fed, clothed, housed, educated, and sent to the doctor when he or she is sick. This isn't one of those giant "children's fund" organizations: brother Devan actually lives and works with these orphans every day. And, incidentally, only eats one meal a day because he is surrounded by starving children. If you're interested, contact me and I will put you in touch with Devan and with the American organization which processes his donations (the president of which I know personally, and can guarantee you that 100% of your money goes to support the child). I'm currently supporting two myself.
"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." -- Matt 25:34-40
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