Dirty, tattered clothes hung loosely over Kaling’s malnourished frame—poverty’s mark marred his appearance in many ways. Yet Kaling felt even more forlorn on the inside than he looked outwardly: Bitterness and insecurity churned in his young heart.
Death took his father when Kaling was only 5 years old. With no father, the burden of providing for the family fell heavily on his mother’s shoulders. His mother, Nadia, decided the best thing for the family was to send Kaling to live with his grandmother while she and her other son worked as daily laborers in another state.
Kaling’s grandmother also lived in poverty, and she couldn’t provide for the young boy or fill the void after his family left him. Kaling felt lonely and longed to see his mother and brother, but they knew no other way. Although Nadia meant well, a tangled mass of bitterness festered within Kaling.
A Place of New Beginnings
Then a team of staff members from a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope center met Kaling. Touched by his sorrowful plight, they invited the unhappy 8-year-old boy to enroll in the center. His first day in Bridge of Hope, December 14, 2012, marked the start of a new life.
Outward changes appeared first. A new school uniform replaced his tattered clothes, and he was given a backpack full of school supplies. The nutritious meal he received each day at the center helped his underfed body grow stronger and enabled him to fight off illnesses.
With the tutoring Kaling received from the Bridge of Hope staff, he grew academically as well. He eagerly applied himself to his studies and to the extra activities at the center.
“The Bridge of Hope staff takes care of us as their own children,” Kaling shared. “I was unable to get a good education and live a regular life, but Bridge of Hope made me able and made impossible things possible for me.”
Kaling’s grandmother watched her grandson mature under the care of the Bridge of Hope staff. Thankfulness swelled in her heart toward all those who helped her grandson, and she learned it was because of unconditional love that Kaling received such blessings.
Growth Within
Through Bridge of Hope, Kaling learned skills that would help him break out of the cycle of poverty. As he understood and learned moral values, Kaling exchanged his insecurity and bitterness for confidence and gratitude. Although he was a young child, Kaling recognized the blessings of Bridge of Hope, and he found joy and comfort even though his mother was absent from his life.
Read what God did in the life of another young boy through his Bridge of Hope teachers.
We are so blessed to be able to help support 3 bridge of hope children. I t is exciting to see the change in them through their letters. We see their physical growth and change of countenance in the pictures that we receive periodically.