A Friend and Brother on the Far Side of the World

I first met Pramod (pronounced "Prah-moad") as I served up the "bhajjis" (onion fritters) at the dinner following the ordination of Children's Fellowship of India's Director, P.C. Thorat. I noticed this certain man kept coming back for another handful of bhajjis. Finally, toward the end of the dinner when he returned for one final handful, he sheepishly looked at me and said, "I really like these!" I was more than happy to give him another supply! And he was more than happy to give me a HUGE smile in return.

That all occurred on Sunday, August 15th in Naya Akola. Fast forward to Friday, August 20. We were pulling up to the house of our host family for the weekend (I was preaching at Norton Memorial Christ Church in Daund, located some 300 miles from Naya Akola). So you can imagine my surprise when standing at the front door to welcome us was not only the man and woman of the home -- but also Pramod! I could not believe my eyes. Here, staying in the same house with us for the weekend was the bhajji man!

Across the course of the next few days, my admiration and respect grew by leaps and bounds for this man. Pramod grew up at Boys Christian Home, an orphanage now located close to CFI. He went on to Bible school and became a pastor. But when it came time for him to marry, an arranged marriage for him was hard to come by. As he related, "All the women turned me down because I was short (Pramod is only 4' 11" tall), I was a poor pastor, and I was an orphan." When he had almost lost hope of ever being married, God provided a very special woman for him. And today, he and Agnes are the parents of two grown daughters.

When we left Dound to begin our return trip to Mumbai (and eventually the States), I looked at Pramod and said to him, "Pramod, you may be small in stature - but you have a BIG heart!" All throughout the weekend he was busy serving us .... encouraging us ... and always with that big beautiful smile on his face. I am amazed at how much I grew to love this man in such a short time.

Would you please offer up a pray right now for Pramod. He pastors a small church in Nagpur in central India. And his ministry and life is not an easy one. And as I pray for him ... I am asking God that I might become more like him! (By the way, his name means "Delight!")

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj