Week: Mark's Gospel
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
Holy Spirit, You are the best teacher. As we explore the Bible and listen to You, please help us to understand more about You, and draw closer to You.
Ramabai loved learning, and what she learnt about Jesus changed her life. Let’s REFLECT on some words from the book of Galatians that inspired her.
Read by Annika
Galatians 3:28
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.
Galatians 3:28 (MSG)
Ramabai was born in India in 1858. Back then, it was very rare for girls to go to school, but Ramabai’s father wanted her to learn, so he began by teaching her a language called Sanskrit. Ramabai learned so fast that she became a Sanskrit expert at age 20, and the first Indian woman ever to be granted the title Pandita, which means ‘learned master’.
Ramabai’s family were Hindus, but when she read the Bible she became fascinated by Jesus and the kind way that he treated people. In 1883, she traveled to England to study, and there she met a group of Christians. These Christians seemed to believe – in fact they were living – today’s Bible passage; that everyone was equally important to God, and everyone deserved the same love and care. Ramabai was so inspired by the way they followed Jesus, that she decided to get baptised and start following Jesus herself. ‘How good, how indescribably good!’ she said. ‘What good news for me, a woman, a woman born in India among [people] who hold out no hope for me and the likes of me.’*
Ramabai’s passion for learning led her to Jesus, and the same passion led her home again. Back in India, she set up the The Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission, which teaches people about Jesus and provides education, safe homes and support for women and children, whatever their background.
Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is: Ramabai loved learning about languages. What languages would we like to learn?
The more Ramabai learnt about Jesus, the more she wanted to follow his example.
Loving God, we ASK You to teach us new things about Jesus. Excite and inspire us and help us to live out what we learn!
Around the world today, almost 60 million children still do not have the chance to go to school.** Let’s ASK God to help them.
Loving God, we ASK You to help those children who miss out on school. Please help people like Ramabai who are working to care and educate children who would otherwise not get to learn.
Before she went back to India to start her schools, Ramabai had been asking God to send someone else to do that work. ‘Then the Lord said to me, “Why don’t you begin to do this yourself, instead of wishing for others to do it?”’***
Is there something wrong in the world that we have been asking God to change? Maybe God is inspiring us to think of ways we can start to make that change happen? Let’s quietly talk with God about this, and listen for anything that God might want to say to us.
And now, let’s say YES to God together.
Loving God, we say YES to learning more about You and YES to doing what You ask us to!
Pause
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
*Pandita Ramabai, An Honourable Heritage: The Pandita Ramabai Story in her Own Words (ebook, Community Christian Ministries, 2019), pp 27, 28, 30-31.
** https://ourworldindata.org/children-not-in-school
***Ibid, p. 36
Phil lives close to a beach in the north of England with his wife, his daughters and his dogs. Phil works for 24-7 Prayer, mostly doing Lectio stuff, and helping to run Prayer Spaces in Schools. He runs a lot, usually for long distances. He likes curry, mountains, reading books and he still plays Pokemon Go.
Annika lives in Melbourne, Australia with her parents and older brother and sister. Annika enjoys playing Cricket and Aussie Rules Football and loves going to watch her favourite team play football. Annika also learns the drums and enjoys making up her own beats!
