Thought for the Week: Untouchables

I’ve just watched a Netflix documentary called ‘Daughters of Destiny’ about a school outside Bangalore. This school was founded by an Indian man who emigrated to America and was educated there and became so wealthy that he decided to help educate the poorest of the poor back in India to raise them out of the slums so that they could make a difference to themselves and their families. There is so much that touched me about this documentary however, if I could limit it to just one point it would be that a caste system exists in India and they are labelled as ‘untouchables’.

With this education, they are able to shake off this label and create a better life for themselves and then pay it forward to other ‘untouchables’ to be able to attend the Shanti Bhavan School in future.

It reminded me of the Bible Story in which the man covered in leprosy called out to Jesus and Jesus reached out and touched him and healed him, whereas others would have recoiled in horror. Luke 5:12-16. That leper would have been considered an ’untouchable’ too and yet Jesus didn’t hesitate to reach out and touch him. He didn’t heal him from a distance.

The founder of Shanti Bhavan was accused at the beginning of kidnapping the children to steal their organs and ship them across to America. He answered this by saying that he was “only guilty of stealing their hearts”.

Perhaps the lesson for all of us here, is to love everyone around us without judgement. After all, ‘if any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone’ John 8:7 and Matthew 7:1-5 ‘First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will be able to see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.’

Shanti Bhavan Netflix Trailer

Kerry Barry, member of the Christian faith

Date: Monday 26th October 2020