Arulmozhi

Hello everyone!

I meant to bring this incredible story to the blog while I was still in Kodaikanal, but I didn't have the time or computer equipment to do it. Now that I can sit down for more than an hour to write I hope that, with the Lord's complete help, I've been able to do it justice.

This isn't the easiest story to read. Many of its moments fill me with disgust and anger. Nevertheless God has made it a redemptive story, and His sovereign Hand is evident in the power of the blessings that He has purposed in Arulmozhi's and Papitha's suffering.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

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Arulmozhi (pronounced "Aroo-molee") was born in the village of Cuddalore on the coast of Tamil Nadu. Cuddalore is a fishing village that was impacted by the 2004 tsunami. Fortunately Arulmozhi and her little sister Papitha were relatively unaffected by the disaster; but their troubles were of a different kind.

Arulmozhi's mother left her when Arulmozhi was very young to marry another man; her mother's fifth "husband," though she had never in her life been properly married. Her mother disowned her daughters to run off with this new man, and Arulmozhi was sent to live with her grandmother, who was too old to work or give adequate care. In fact Arulmozhi became almost entirely responsible for the survival of herself, her sister and her grandmother. At the time she was only 9 years old.

Working as a "rag-picker," Arulmozhi was paid for the trash she would collect on the streets for about 5-10 rupees per day (less than 25 cents). When she could not make enough money collecting trash, Arulmozhi would sneak into Hindu temples to steal the milk, eggs and rice offered to the idols and temple snakes. She would also steal from the blind beggars who couldn't catch her when she made off with their few coins. Sometimes Aulmozhi would collect liquor bottles thrown in the street simply to sip the leftover alcohol. But she rarely kept what she found to herself. Most of the food she obtained she would carry off to her grandmother and sister, and the three of them would divide it between themselves. The food was usually rotten and covered in dirt.

Arulmozhi's mother had many lovers. One of these had sent his own son, Kishore, to live in the Bethel Boys home in Kodaikanal, and told Arulmozhi's mother about Bethania's Shalom Home, where servant-hearted Josephine looked after 19 tsunami-affected girls (since its founding shortly after the tsunami, Shalom Home has grown to support 35 girls!). Arulmozhi's mother wouldn't bother about her children, and was even unwilling to admit that she was their mother. So Kishore's father brought Arulmozhi and Papitha to Shalom Home himself and left them in Josephine's care.

At first Arulmozhi struggled to adjust to her new life, and had a number of behavioral problems; she would bully the other girls and frequently use foul language. She also refused to eat her food, to clean herself and to engage in daily prayers. Arulmozhi struggled in school as well. She had no understanding of the alphabet, was unable to read, write, or do simple math problems. As a result she was demoted from 4th grade to 1st grade.

Nevertheless, God accomplished His gracious work. Arulmozhi began to excel in school, and was promoted back to the 4th grade after only one year. Her behavior also improved, and Arulmozhi, now 14 years old, is a leader and role model for the younger girls. She has become a born again Christian, and she shares her love of God and His Word with anyone willing to listen.

In 2007 Arulmozhi heard the tragic story of a German missionary, Graham Stein, who had been serving lepers in the North-Indian province of Orissa. Stein was driving home with his two sons when Hindu terrorists accosted their car, doused it in oil and set it on fire. As she listened to this story, Arulmozhi felt the Spirit moving her to action. Arulmozhi can now say with confidence that she has felt the call to serve as a missionary to Orissa, one of the most impoverished and dangerous states in India.

But how can she be so sure? Because Arulmozhi has had this calling confirmed for her in an incredible way.

This past month many Bethania children were given the opportunity to take a short, two-week trip home before school resumed. Arulmozhi and Papitha shared a desire to visit their mother, even though she had ignored them for most of their life. On invitation their mother came, took them down the mountain to their old home... and promptly left them in the care of her neighbor while she ran off to who-knows-where.

This man forced the girls to work daily on his cashew farm. For more than two weeks, Arulmozhi and Papitha were made to climb cashew trees and pick nuts. In the morning they would harvest the cashews, and in the afternoon they made the three-hour walk to sell the nuts in a town miles away across the plains. The nuts they sold were sent to retail factories and packaged for wholesale.

For their work, the sisters were served a breakfast of leftover rice. There was no lunch or dinner. Aside from working with the cashews, Arulmozhi and Papitha were forced to do other menial chores around the house. This included anything from washing the clothes to cleaning human excrement off the floor with their bare hands.

After fifteen days of slavery, Arulmozhi decided that she could not live this way anymore. So she set out for a telephone booth with the intention of calling her mother. She wanted to go back to Kodaikanal, to be where she was loved. But on the way to the phone her neighbor caught her. He grabbed her by the hair, threw her down on the road and kicked Arulmozhi repeatedly in the chest. When this abuse was finished, and Arulmozhi found herself back under her neighbor's roof, she despaired. She got some rope and prepared to hang herself.

But as she was about to place the rope around her neck, Arulmozhi saw "in front of me and in my heart" the words: "Whom will I send to Orissa?" At that moment Arulmozhi was reminded of her calling, of the life that God had planned for her to live, of the hope she had in a destiny that was not ruled by suffering, but by a God who loved her more than she could understand.

Arulmoshi threw away the rope, and tried again to call for help with prayerful determination. This time she took her sister and made for phone-booth. But instead of calling her mother, she called the one person she knew would not fail her or leave her forgotten: Josephine.

Josephine got the call while in church, and immediately set out down the mountain to retrieve her lost daughter. Arulmozhi has been back at Shalom Home for the past 3 weeks, and is so happy! She is thankful to the Lord for delivering her not just once, but again and again. As she says, her testimony keeps getting better and better!

Her favorite Bible verse is drawn from Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2:

The Lord raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them He has set the world. - 1 Samuel 2:8

Hope this story has captured your hearts with the power of God's faithfulness and love. God bless!

Max