| | Pastor Ravi Mohan Pahadiya, MBA, began his career as a sales executive for Reebok Corporation. Although he was very successful, he felt the calling of the Lord to evangelize. He left his business career and was blessed with a small church building where he grew a community of believers.
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| | During the week the pastor went into the streets of Jaipur where he encountered the children who live in the slums. He began to teach them on the sidewalk about Jesus. With some bamboo and thatch, the Pastor provided shade for the children from the summer sun. | | |
| | He found the children were eager to learn. | | |
| | The pastor discovered that when these children are hungry, their parents often tell them to go into the city and beg for food. From his own resources, he began to feed those who came to his lessons. | | |
| | Their numbers soon grew. The children ate and learned under the shade of the makeshift thatch roof. | | |
| | A hail storm soon demolished the thatched-roof school shelter and sponsors funded the construction of a metal roof supported by steel poles. Pastor Ravi added a sign and the Children of Hope School was born on the sidewalk in Jaipur. | | |
| | The numbers continued to grow. Pastor Ravi also realized these children could not read nor write. | | |
| | With the help of some sponsors, he purchased reading materials for the children. The children were thrilled to get them. | | |
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| | One day, Pastor Ravi invited the parents to a "Teachers Day" open house, not knowing how many would actually come. The turnout was amazing. | | |
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| | Soon, however, anti-Christians came, tore down the school shelter and threatened Pastor Ravi, because he was teaching the children about Jesus and not about the accepted idols. Pastor Ravi knew he had to find a building where it would be safe to hold his classes. | | |
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| | With a donation of $1,800 from a Christian doctor who visited Pastor Ravi Pahadiya's church in Jaipur, this industrious young pastor found a suitable building, previously used for manufacturing, for just $200 per month. With the help of one of his church members, Ravi installed a new Children of Hope School sign. | | |
| | The children were grateful for the new, bright, clean school classroom. | | |
| | Individual classes continued, during which the children learned about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, got a good meal each day, and learned to read and write with a little math thrown in for good measure. | | |
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| | The doctor paid a visit and met with with the Children of Hope School's enthusiastic students which have now grown in number to 60 children! | | |
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| | The pastor prepares the meals in a small kitchen within the building. The cost each month for food is $500 (approximately $0.42 per child per day). A sponsor recently gave Ravi enough to purchase steel plates on which to serve the children. | | |
| | Several generous sponsors provided the funds to buy desks for the older students. This not only improved the teaching environment but also raised the confidence of the students. | | |
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| | We are now constructing classroom partitions at the request of the Education Department. Carpeting will be added to each panel to reduce the sound. | | |
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| | You can sponsor a student like Ajay for just $27.50 per month. Sponsored students receive a uniform (pants or skirt and shirt) with the school logo and the student's first name on the shirt pocket. They also receive full tuition, a backpack, reading and writing materials, plus a nutritious meal every day. There are just three simple steps to sponsoring, which you can learn about by clicking on CHILDREN above. God will bless you, and your sponsored student will thank you. | | |