The Talented Tailor
27 Jun 2016
Rakesh has been one of the pillars of the Restore India project in Delhi since it started four years ago. Serving now as one of the Project Coordinators, he and his family began work at the centre initially as volunteers but are now staff members in the community development work and lay leaders in the church.
Rakesh and his wife, Seema came from a Hindu background. One day Rakesh was visiting his sister’s home to see her brother in law, Anoop who was critically ill and had just been discharged from the hospital. The doctors had told the family that Anoop was not going to survive for long. It happened at that time that our Managing Trustee, Ps. Deepak would visit the area to share the gospel with families and pray for them. Rakesh heard the gospel in those meetings and came to believe that only God could save Anoop’s life.
Rakesh requested Ps Deepak to pray for Anoop. By the grace of God, he was healed and by the next morning he was absolutely well. After witnessing this miracle in Anoop’s life, Rakesh was totally convicted that Jesus is a living God. He then started coming to church and one day he decided to give his life to Jesus. Rakesh was so touched and passionate in his new faith that he began to get very involved in the church. His gift of serving was evident at those early stages.
Rakesh came from a poor family who lived in a semi slum area of Delhi and due to family circumstances, the children in the family could not attend school. Rakesh left his studies when he was in grade 7 and became a master tailor in an export company. These same skills are now being used to train women in our sewing centres as well as Project Sahyog – the income generating project which allows women to make some money with the sewing skills they have learned. In the four years that the program has been running, 300 women in Delhi have completed their six-month diploma courses in sewing and 180 women have then gone on to complete a three months diploma in Beauty Culture.
Rakesh was passionate for God but he always thought that his limited education and timid personality meant that the Lord could not possibly use him. One day Ps. Deepak realised that God had given Rakesh such useful skills in tailoring and he asked Rakesh if he would be willing to serve in a new Restore India project. Restore India wanted to start a sewing center in Delhi and Rakesh’s availability was timely.
The sewing school has been running for more than four years. Every morning Rakesh starts the day with prayer and worship with the ladies in the sewing centre, encouraging them with a passage from the bible. He prays for those who bring prayer requests and God in his mercy and grace has given them many testimonies and answered prayers. Many girls and ladies have started to come to church. Many of them were impacted by the prayer and worship and eventually a small house church was started which meets on Saturdays for prayer and worship. The sewing centre has become the means by which the gospel enters the small Delhi community, and people like Rakesh and Seema are the people whom God uses for this.
Editors Note: India Restore Trust including the Sahyog Project was founded by Pioneers Australia workers who have now handed the leadership over to Indian Christian brothers and sisters.