Our Newest Evening Schools Are Open!
Over the last year, we have more than doubled our number of JFA Evening Schools in India!
During the summer of 2021, God inspired several donors to sponsor new evening schools to provide Indian children with food, education, and exposure to the Gospel. Now, nearly all these evening schools are open.
With these new schools, we were able to expand this ministry in areas where we were already working and start schools in several completely new areas.
We had the opportunity to visit a number of these new evening schools earlier this year, and we are so excited to share with you how God is working in these places.
Where Are the New Evening Schools Located?
South India
Church leaders in one region (like a conference) in Tamil Nadu, where we have sponsored Bible Workers for many years, requested evening schools in their area. We were able to open five there.
In some of the locations where the new evening schools are located, the Gospel work is relatively new, and they don’t have church buildings yet. So the evening schools are being held on porches...
And in community centers!
The kids were so happy to be at the evening school.
And eat the delicious food the cooks made for them.
Brother Robert is the evening school principal for his area, and he is so thankful that he can work for God and serve these kids.
Some parents, like this mother, came when we visited this new evening school. They were so happy that the evening school was there to help their kids!
North India
We also received a request to start evening schools in North India!
In 2020, Jesus for Asia started sponsoring Bible Workers in North India to serve in places where there was no Seventh-day Adventist work. We were able to open some of our new evening schools in these places.
North India can be a hard place to work for several reasons, but we know God has a plan for these evening schools to bless these precious children and their families.
Please keep these North India evening schools in your special prayers.
Andaman Islands
We were also able to open an evening school in the Andaman Islands! This February, Israel Prasad, our JFA Director in India, was able to visit the Andaman Islands to meet the Bible Worker and her family who were selected to run the evening school.
Israel Prasad with the Bible Worker (the third lady from the left) and her family.
A few years ago, this Bible Worker was diagnosed with cancer. Her family wanted her to move to the mainland for treatment, but she chose to stay and do God’s work. Every day she shared Jesus with people in the darkness of sin. The doctors said she could die any day, but she prayed: "Lord, if You want Your work to progress in the Andaman Islands, please give me my life and my health, but if You want to take me, that is okay."
God answered her prayers, and now she is working cancer free, welcoming children into her home for the evening school where she is serving as the spiritual leader. Her daughter is also helping as the teacher.
The Andaman Islands are an expensive place to live because much of their food and other goods are imported. The healthy food from the evening school is a great blessing for these children from poor families.
New Schools in Existing Areas
Last year at this time, we had 18 evening schools running. God has been blessing those evening schools, but even in those areas, we found a need for more. In fact, for some, these new evening schools were a direct answer to prayer.
Here are some testimonies from leaders of our new evening schools:
“In our area, the majority of people are Hindu. Even next door to this church where I am serving as pastor, we have a big Hindu temple. We cannot go and preach to the Hindu people directly about Jesus; they will not accept it. For the last one-and-a-half years, since we were appointed to this church, we have been praying for God to open a way through the children to reach them and the adults as well. This was an answer to our prayer. We are very happy about it.”
— Richard, JFA Bible Worker
“When I was young, I used to gather the kids in my village to teach them. I am happy to be the teacher at this new evening school, and I don’t care that I could be making more money somewhere else.”
—Shamala, JFA Evening School Teacher
”The burden has been on my heart to spread the evening schools to various other villages since I saw the impact on the churches where the evening schools were present. It was amazing! In these villages, most of the parents are uneducated. They work on farms, and their children are not disciplined or educated. Their future is a big question.
“Nowadays so many children are into bad habits like smoking, chewing tobacco, or taking drugs. When I see this it hurts my heart. When the children come to the evening school, we don’t just help them with their studies, but we teach them how to take care of their health and develop good character. The children are reflecting what we teach them in their homes, and their parents are very happy. Many peoples’ homes have been opened through the evening schools.
”That is why I was praying for evening schools in other churches where there were no evening schools. I was very happy when I heard my prayer was answered. The church pastors and members are happy as well, because they know that through these evening schools, their church is going to grow, and their society will be helped.”
— Brother Baskar, JFA Evening School Principal
Along with these pastors, church members, principals, and Bible Workers, we are so happy that God has provided these new evening schools, and that He is going to change the lives of so many families through this ministry.
Please join us in praying for these new JFA Evening Schools and for the children of India.
It only costs $7 a month to support the education of a child at a JFA Evening School. If God is leading you to support this ministry, please click the button below.