Tuesday Feb 11, 2020
Vibhu Kapoor on Patiently Waiting for Partnership
Pastor M’s greatest dream is the creation of the City of Hope, a city that accepts all - even the abandoned and the people rejected by the world. It is here in this City of Hope that all can experience the love of God and their life will be transformed for the better. His vision of this dream is that this will be everyone’s home, a place where everyone is welcomed to receive His grace and blessing.
He started his dream by building a children’s home in 2002. In 2006, he started to plant the seeds for his dream of the City of Hope. Looking for the land where the foundation could be built, he learned that an acre of the land that he felt was the one, cost as much as $60,000. The week after, he met Mr Vibhu Kapoor.
It is nothing short of divine providence that Pastor M was able to meet with Mr Kapoor during a time where he had been unsure of how he could make his dream come to fruition. He strongly believed that the Lord had connected them, for such a meeting would not have normally happened. On the 10th day of November 2009, they met on the streets, which was a blessing to Pastor M and his team. They looked at different properties, saw different lands until they returned to the very same land that Pastor M had originally chosen and Mr Kapoor donated 10 acres of land for their dream. That 10 acres turned to 30 acres. Now, it is 9,000 acres and has become the seed of hope to become India’s premier smart city.
It is true that with patience and unwavering unconditional love, the seed of hope has begun to bloom in Khalapur. Their clean water project had gone through lots of hardship, going as far as 5 years. People were reluctant to accept anything, not even toys for the children. But still, Mayor M, Mr Kapoor, and their team persevered. They remained patient and gave their unconditional love. The pipes needed for the water filter may have been sitting unused for years but they were accepted because of the aid they provided and through the health camps they have organized. They were accepted because they patiently waited for God’s timing. This was a partnership between them and the people of this land. Their patience paid off because the people eventually realized - “It is when you stayed that we knew that you really cared about us.”
Many would have left, would have returned to their homes, and just tried again later but they didn’t. They stayed to help and provide support. And it is because they stayed that the clean water project became a success. Now, the city of Khalapur has easy access to drinkable water. No longer do they need to travel far to get water from the river. And this is all thanks to the partnership they had built with the community. It is because of their patience and unconditional love. It was God’s wish that they all come together and they nurtured that wish, letting it flourish and bloom with care.
“People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care”
Check out the Khalapur Smart City Project:
On the episode Pastor Kevin also references the help GHI has received from the book, When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. We highly recommend this resource!
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Global Hope India: For over 20 years we have been watching God radically transform thousands of Americans & Indian Nationals through missions. We’ve taken nearly 1,000 Americans on short-term mission trips to India. We work with 12 long-term indigenous church planting partners located in North, South, East, & West mainland India as well as Northeast India. We empower the Church in India to make Christ known through leadership, child, & village development projects. Global Hope India is a federally recognized 501(c)3 nonprofit organization located in Morrisville, North Carolina. All gifts are tax-deductible. More about GHI.
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Meet Pastor Kevin: Pastor Kevin is Founder and Executive Director of Global Hope India and your host for Living the Dream Podcast. He’s a poor kid from rural North Carolina, but get this… He just returned from his 50th trip to India in 20 years. If he doesn’t yet hold the Guinness Book of World Records for the most trips to India then he’s got to be close. He’s flown over a million miles to 27 different countries. He’s taken nearly 1,000 people on mission trips to India. Global Hope India has seen thousands of Indian Nationals and Americans radically transformed by God through missions. The miracle continues! More about Pastor Kevin.
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