You are invited to be a blessing and transform individuals, families, and communities by providing opportunity and hope for a better future through literacy, strategic education, and empowerment. You have the power to move people from oppression to a place of hope and a brighter future.
F Murmu was born into a poor family which did not value education. She never went to school. At the age of 13, she began working in the paddy fields to support her parents and help meet their family’s needs. She was married at the age of 19. Life taught her how to cook, clean, work, and endure, but not to read and write!
Every day, F Murmu felt the weight of her illiteracy. She used to travel for work and always faced problems because she could not read the signs on the bus. She could not count her wages correctly because she could not add, and did not understand currency. When people handed her papers to sign, she gave her thumbprint, but had to trust them blindly because she could not read what she was signing. She could not even sign her name, and felt ashamed.
One evening she noticed a small gathering in her village when she returned home from work. When she inquired about what was happening, she was told about the adult literacy center. She wondered if she was too old to learn? Would people laugh at her? But something overcame her fear and she decided to enroll in the literacy classes. At first, every step was difficult. Even holding a pencil felt strange and her hand trembled as she tried to write her first letters.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Slowly Murmu began to recognized letters, then words. The first time she wrote her name, tears filled her eyes. She felt seen for the first time. She was active in the class and even though she was still working in the fields, she never missed coming to the center. She can now calculate her wages confidently and refuses to be cheated. She can read the bus signs, and even opened a bank account with her own signature. She has become a volunteer, guiding others who were like her and has a burden to teach other illiterates. Murmu wants every woman to know that education can change a life at any age!
Every $25 sponsors a woman for literacy, empowerment, and more!
$750 sponsors a class of 30 women!
Your gently used Bibles and Christian books will bless people and ministries in South Asia.
Collection centers in Texas and Southern California.
Mr. C is 59 years old, married, and has 6 children. He never learned to read because there was no school in the area where he grew up. He and his wife both work as coolies (daily wage laborers) in the forest. When the Village Literacy Rehabilitation Project (VLRP) literacy class began in his village,…
From the project officer of a women’s literacy project which requested and received borewells for two villages where classes were taught for 10 months: “We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for your generous support in providing funds for the installation of a borewell in our area. This initiative has brought a great transformation…
The leaders of K village wrote: “The villagers want to express their sincere appreciation for the life-changing support provided to their community. Our village consists of 235 households, primarily belonging to the cobbler community. For generations, we have navigated the harsh realities of social marginalization and economic hardship, which often left us without basic necessities.…
Unable to read and left widowed by an alcoholic husband who died of malaria,
