Cities of Hope

Call2Compassion & Justice Conference

Mumbai – Nov. 2013

Deepak Mahtani

Cities of Hope

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Matt. 5 v 15

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God. Psalm 46 v 4

Maslow’s HierarchyOf Needs

Cities of Hope

FAITH

HOPE

LOVE

Cities of Hope

Health & Housing

Opportunity

Peace & Prosperity

Education & Economic

Education & Economic – Vocational Training

In February 2004, Vijay David began vocational training ministry with the support and encouragement of Dr Raju. He came to Kachhwa Christian Hospital in August, 2003 to use his technical skills and training to serve the Lord. He served as the campus electrician and driver for some time, during which time he noticed that many of the people coming and going from the campus to do various tasks – building, painting, cleaning, gardening, grass cutting, etc. were young, and had no qualification and very limited skills. They had little ambition and little hope, and they had no-one to help them. Vijay’s vision and desire was to work among these young people giving them skills and hope.

In 2005, the ministry expanded with the introduction of a sewing course and the subsequent opening of village-based sewing centres, and so Vijay began to build his team. Instructors were also engaged subsequently for new courses like screen printing, kitchen gardening, plumbing, air-conditioning technician, mobile repairing, technical helper, Nursery Teacher Training, adult literacy and computer classes.

By 2008, training was primarily campus-based, with the exception of village sewing centers. Vijay continued to teach the electrical course while working full-time for the hospital. Students enrolled in the 6-month course would receive instruction from 4am-8am, then practical experience working with Vijay throughout the day, finishing up with evening classes.

In 2009, training expanded to include paramedical courses such as laboratory technician, nursing assistant, ophthalmic technician, dental technician and Operating Theatre technician.

With the vocational training ministry continuing to grow, in 2011 Vijay began working full-time in the training unit.

Education & Economic – Vocational Training

One of the great strengths of the vocational training unit is its participation in government projects. All of their courses are recognised and approved by Jan Shikshan Sansthan, which is a project of the Government of India’s Department of Human Resources Development in Adult Literacy. This means all students receive a government recognised qualification on graduation. Over 13000 students have been trained by Vijay and his team so far!

100% of the graduates from technical courses such as electrical and air-conditioning repairing have received job placements. The training unit was given an electrical contract for 120 government schools. 51 sewing graduates now have jobs as sewing teachers in government primary schools. Many students have started their own small business. As a result of this training, some graduates have even been successful in gaining employment overseas!

Surpassing all of this, is the satisfaction of seeing the spiritual fruit that has come to bear. Spiritual classes have been an important aspect of the training courses. Commitment to teaching and distribution of the Bible has been constant - over 120000 New Testaments have been distributed so far, both to, and through, the students! Many students have become believers, a number of graduates are now active members of church ministries and some host house churches in their home. Two graduates are also involved in youth ministry overseas.

We give thanks to God for the work he is doing.

Reuters Market Light RML is a pioneering mobile phone-based agri information service provider.[1] 

service is designed to provide farmers with personalised timely and actionable agricultural information from pre-sowing to post-harvest stages through SMS on their mobile phones in their local language.[2] 

About 1.2 million Indian farmers from an estimated 50,000 villages have used this service across 17 states. Through sharing among farmers, it is estimated to have reached 5 million farmers.

RML covers over 450 crop and crop varieties and more than 1300 markets.[3] With this service, individual farmers gained up to INR 200,000 ($ 4000) of additional profits, and savings of nearly INR 400,000 ($8000), marking a significant return on their investment.[4]

Peace & Prosperity

Jeremiah 29 v 7

Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

Jeremiah 17 v 7-8

But blessed is the man (family, church, city, nation) who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.

He (they) will be like a tree planted by the waterThat sends out it roots by the stream.It does not fear when heat comes;Its leaves are always greenIt has no worries in a year of droughtAnd never fails to bear fruit.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. The road to Heaven is paved with good actions.

The smallest action is better than the largest intention.

Don’t let what you cannot do, stop you from doing whatyou CAN do, and we can all do something.

Let’s all be change makers not change dreamers!

The world at its worst needs the church at its best!