Meenaben's story

This is how you write my name!

Can you write your name? Some people might think it is such a simple thing to do. But we know that learning to write our names is just the beginning of an exciting adventure!

My literacy class has changed my life, in so many amazing ways. Writing my name was just the beginning. Now I can write long letters to my husband, Karsenbai, to tell him everything that is happening in our family while he is away working as a Border Patrol guard.

I tell him funny stories about our sons, Ravi and Suresh, and all the news from our village. I talk about Sangita and my other friends who keep me from being so lonely when he is away.

I also talk to him about my Savior, Jesus. When Karsenbai came home for a visit a few months ago, I told him everything that had been happening in my life since he was last home. I showed him how I could read and write, and even brought him to the literacy class one night! He was so amazed at everything that I had learned. I could see in his eyes that he was proud of me.

I told Karsenbai that now I was following Jesus. I told him about the stories from the Bible that Sangita reads with us and how Jesus loves us so much that He died so our sins could be forgiven. I told Karsenbai about Jesus' miracle — that He is still alive today and that He wants us to follow Him.

Before he left again, I gave Karsenbai a New Testament book and asked him to read it. Now I pray for him every night, and ask God to open Karsenbai's heart...just like God opened my heart.

There are other women in my literacy class who are also following Jesus. Before class, we pray together and sing songs to praise Jesus. On Sundays, I bring Ravi and Suresh to the small group that meets in Sangita's home. Her husband is a Church Planter and every week I learn something new about God.

I am teaching my sons how to pray and we ask God each day to take care of us and to watch over us. Karsenbai was so surprised to discover when he got home that I had thrown away all the gods in our house. But now I know that those are just idols of stone and metal — they don't have the power to help me or to hurt me.

I know only the One True God has the power to answer my prayers.

Not everyone in my village is happy to hear about Jesus. Some of the villagers got very mad at Sangita for telling the Bible stories during the literacy classes. They said she is stirring up trouble for everyone by making the village gods angry when she says that only Jesus is the True God.

Some men in the village even told their wives that they aren't allowed to talk to me or the other women who are following Jesus. I think they are afraid they won't be able to control their wives anymore if they know about Jesus. Then the women would know that Jesus loves them too, and that they are not worthless like everyone tells them. Sometimes people are afraid of the truth....

No one has ever hurt me for being a Christian. But Sangita has told me stories about people in other villages who have been forced to leave their families for following Jesus. In some villages, people have even been forced to go back to worshipping the idols. Some have been beaten or even killed. It makes me so sad.

Will you pray with me that someday everyone in my country who wants to follow Jesus will be able to without fear?

Enjoy this week's activities. Don't forget to check your email again next week, when you'll read the final part of Meenaben's story!