Faith Grows in a Tea Garden

India

The impact of child discipleship isn’t only on the child; it changes the adult that child will become.

Jyoti was raised in an Indian tea garden, where poverty and a “Who cares about tomorrow?” mindset hung like a cloud over the community. But God had plans to show her a different way to live.

When she was 8 years old, she saw Jesus for the first time on a poster in a local shop. The sadness of that image of Jesus on the cross sparked her curiosity: Who is He? Why did this happen to Him?

As a teen, that curiosity led her to a nearby church, where she quietly watched from outside. “I was so happy to see with my own eyes how people worshiped Jesus, and I told my parents I wanted to go. But they warned me that if I went to church, no one would marry me.”

Jyoti may have felt stuck, but God didn’t stop pursuing her. Soon after her encounter with the church, a man in a local market was selling a Bible and noticed Jyoti’s interest in it. When she couldn’t afford it, he gifted it to her. “I wasn’t good at reading. But I was happy to own a Bible and go to that church — never inside, always from a distance — to hear singing.”

At age 15, Jyoti married and moved to a new village, again living near a church and listening from afar. “Finally, I collected all my strength and went inside, so happy to finally be part of the group!”

The church welcomed her with an Awana Clubs handbook. “It became my guide, my teacher and my school of learning. But most of all, it was where I found God, for whom I was searching since the age of eight.”

Today, Jyoti runs the Awana club at her church, as well as prayer and outreach programs.

“God has blessed us to be a blessing to others. I strive to bring people from outside into the church because I’ve lived that experience.”