“I’m hungry and my stomach’s still growling”, little Satish whined quietly to his brother.  He didn’t want the other kindergartners to hear and think he wasn’t doing his part.  His older brother, Shankar, (not their real names) responded with a quick finger to his lips, “Hush!  I’m hungry too, but it won’t be long until lunch.  Besides, I’ll bet they make an extra special lunch today.”

Both brothers had missed breakfast, but not because they weren’t ready in time.  They had actually chosen to miss breakfast this morning, as impossible as that seemed.  Coming from a leprosy colony, the boys had learned early in life that food was life.  They and their parents had been beggars.  If the day on the streets had not been productive, the children went hungry.  Their family was not a stranger to hunger.

But then, Rising Star Outreach had come to Tamilnadu.  Their parents started hearing from other leprosy-affected beggars that there was now a school for their children.  And in this school the children would be fed three full meals a day.  FULL meals!  EVERY day!  It was almost too good to believe.

Their parents were quick to act on the rumor.  They went immediately to register their children.  And it was a good thing they did.  The classes filled up quickly and other more hesitant parents found their children on a waiting list.  But Satish and Sankar had thankfully made it in.

In some ways, it was a tough change.  Mostly, they missed being with their parents.  But living on the Rising Star campus had advantages, in addition to the most obvious advantage—food three times a day—there were friends to play with.  So many new friends!  And these friends didn’t despise them or spit at them, because these kids were also from families affected by leprosy.

Satish and Shankar had to learn to use a toilet, and they had to shower every day.  This was a new discipline.  When they had arrived, neither boy had ever had a shower.  They’d never had soap—so what was the use of washing?  Being clean was a privilege of the rich.  But now, they not only had to wash themselves, but they also had to wash their uniform every morning.  Each boy had two uniforms.  The one they wore yesterday would have to be washed before breakfast and hung up to dry, so it would be ready to be worn tomorrow morning.

Even their teeth had to be cleaned!  They were given toothbrushes and toothpaste and taught how to use them.  They were taken twice a year to a dental school where their teeth were cleaned for free and checked for cavities.  Their hair was cut, instead of left long and unruly.  They even had to be treated for lice.  This was a surprise.  Everyone they knew on the streets simply lived with lice and assumed that the perpetually itching scalp was part of life on the streets.

The doctor on the campus checked the boys and then treated them for scabies and for parasites.  All this was so new!  Once treated, they were able to quit scratching their skin until it bled, and their stomachs quit hurting.  No more diarrhea!  They discovered that they liked feeling clean.

The best of all, though, was the school.  Every day, they were learning new things that they had never before even imagined.  Shankar had learned to read.  Satish was learning the alphabet and was confident that one day, he would also be able to read, just like his brother.  No one in their family had ever learned to read.  He knew instinctively that his parents would be very, very proud.  Satish didn’t like that they had to learn a new language.  English was hard!  But bit by bit he was understanding more and more.

On Parent’s Day once a month, when their parents came to spend the day with them, their parents were stunned at how “smart” their boys were becoming.  They were indeed proud!  The boys were even talking about going to college when they graduated, just like the other graduates from Rising Star.  There was now a future to dream about, instead of to fear.

But then, all of a sudden, they were told that all these wonderful blessings were at risk.  The leaders at the school explained to them that there was a license, the FCRA license, that had to be renewed every five years with the government.  This license was the right to bring in foreign funds for charitable purposes.  The boys knew that the money to run the school came from America, so it was clear the school needed an FCRA license.

Without a FCRA license, the school would have to be shut down.  What would happen to all the students?  All the Rising Star Outreach medical clinics would have to be shut down.  Who would be able to provide the necessary surgeries and wound cleanings needed by the leprosy-affected?  And what about all the small businesses that were being created through micro-finance?  How would they all succeed without the support given by Rising Star?  Would their parents have to go back to begging again?  A sense of panic began to settle in.  Their entire new life that they had worked so hard for, was threatened.

Normally, the license was renewed every five years without a problem,  But recently there had been some political unrest.  Some people began to worry that foreign charities might convert Indian people from Hinduism to Christianity.  This seemed to happen mostly to poor people who were being served by foreign charities.  So, the government began to deny FCRA license renewals to charities, especially to Western-based charities.  In fact, the last time Rising Star had to renew, eight years ago, there were more than 30,000 foreign charities that had their licenses suspended.  Thankfully, at that time, Rising Star got their renewal.

Now the time was past for Rising Star Outreach to again renew their license.  They had submitted their renewal papers as usual, three years ago.  But that year, the government announced that all due renewals would be put off for six months.  So Rising Star nervously waited.  But in six months, the government announced that they would put off the renewals for another six months.  That was more than three years ago.

The government had continued to extend the time for renewal an additional six months—for three years!  Every six months our hopes were dashed all over again.  Now 4/5 of all India’s charities were waiting for a license renewal.  Charities began to get very nervous.  No one was being renewed.  Then fears began to be realized as charities began to hear of many charities’ licenses being suspended.  Even Mother Teresa’s charity!  This was unthinkable!

A few charities were getting notices that their licenses would be renewed.  But these were mostly Hindu-based charities.  Each day brought more reports of western-based charities having their FCRA license suspended.  One of Rising Star’s partners had their license suspended.  The handwriting seemed to be on the wall that no Western charities would be renewed.

The two hungry brothers, Satish and Shankar, talked about how the evening before this, the school leaders had called all the student body together.  Rising Star leaders had explained that there was a crisis occurring in India for foreign charities.  They explained how it would be impossible for Rising Star Outreach to operate without an FCRA license.  The students would all have to be sent out from the school, back to their families.

This seemed too terrible to be true.  What about their classes?  What about all their dreams? But then, Prakash, the National Leader of Rising Star, began to talk to the students about the great tradition that India had of fasting.  He talked of how Gandhi led India to independence through the power of fasting, without bloodshed.

Prakash suggested to the students, that perhaps they would be willing to join their leaders in a fast the next morning.  This fast would be to ask God to bless Rising Star to get its FCRA renewal.  The students were being asked to go without breakfast.  This was a little tricky because the students were of differing religious traditions.  Most were Hindu.  A handful were Muslim.  Another handful were Christian.  So which God should they choose to pray to?  Prakash told them that each of them should pray to their own God.

That night in the dorms, the fast was all the children talked about.  Would they join in?  Each child had to make their own decision.  What they didn’t know was that Prakash and the other Rising Star leaders were expecting only a handful of older students would be willing to join in the fast.  Some of the children went to bed in tears, fearful of losing all in their lives that gave them hope.

The next morning, the cooks in the cafeteria made breakfast as usual.  To everyone’s utter astonishment, not one child showed up for breakfast!  Not even the pre-schoolers!  Prakash and the other leaders were in tears when they saw the resolve of the students.

At lunchtime, Satish and Shankar were among the first in line.  They could smell the lunch cooking.  By now Satish’s stomach was not only growling, it hurt.  The lunch staff had gone out of their way to reward the student’s faith by providing a fabulous lunch.  But as the first students entered the lunchroom, they noticed that Prakash and the other leaders were not getting lunch trays.  One student asked them, “Why not?”  Prakash explained that adults normally go 24 hours for a fast, which involves missing TWO meals, so the leaders and kitchen staff would not be eating lunch.

That came as a shock.  One of the older girls announced, “Then I will not be eating either.  I will also fast for two meals.”  A hush fell over the entire cafeteria.  One by one the older students all agreed that they would not be eating lunch.  They began to walk out of the cafeteria.  One of the middle school students raised his fist in the air, declaring, “I also will not be eating lunch.”  He started to walk out of the cafeteria.  His classmates fell in behind  him.  Satish and Shankar looked at each other.  It was just that they were so hungry!  Then the unthinkable happened; the primary students walked out of the cafeteria.  In spite of their hunger, Satish and Shankar walked with them.

The entire student body was united in this determination.  Of the roughly 300 students, with the exception of a very small handful of young students, no one ate lunch.  By now, all of our leaders were in tears.

Dinner that night was a joyous affair!  The cooks outdid themselves, and everyone felt united in a common purpose.

Another six months went by without any word from the government, except to delay another six months.  More and more charities were being suspended.  It seemed that not a day went by without bringing more grim news.  Then, the state government of Tamilnadu sent some inspectors to Rising Star Outreach.  A miracle occurred on that occasion.  Four months later, the Federal government sent some more inspectors to Rising Star Outreach.  Again, a miracle occurred.  (In another article I’ll write about those two phenomenal miracles.)

A few months later, we received a call from our FCRA consultant.  He exclaimed, “God has given you the license!”  He told us that of all the hundreds of charities he advised, we were only the second one to get a renewal.  Our consultant was right, our renewal was truly a gift from God.

A friend who was trying to get their non-profit FCRA license reinstated after having it suspended told me that they have been talking to the Indian Ambassador and several other high-level government officers, hoping to get a reversal.  When he heard that we had received a renewal, he was astounded and asked how in the world we managed that?  I told him that we had decided to appeal to a higher power than government officers.  We had appealed to God, himself.

There are times in our lives when there is no earthly power that we can count on.  In those times, my husband jokes that if we really need something, we need to get our children to pray for it.  It seems that children have such a pure faith, untarnished by earthly doubts, that their prayers bring results!

In this case, the prayers and faith of 300 children accomplished what nothing else could.  Praise God for the faith of children!