Dhurba Joshua Sohtun grew up with the harsh challenges of being poor. His parents struggled to provide for the family no matter how much they toiled. When Dhurba reached an age where he could understand the financial challenges his family was facing, he chose to step up and help them. Without any experience or many skills, Dhurba’s only option was to pick rags.
The young school boy worked hard to help support his family, along with trying to get a good education. Dhurba’s classmates found out about his occupation and like most young children, did not understand the difficult situation he was in. They resorted to mocking him, making mean jokes about him and his family situation. Dhurba remembers feeling very sad and lonely as he walked through the school corridors from one class to the other. He just wanted to focus on his studies and do the best he could to support his family.
But his situation took another turn… for the worse. Despite the days and nights he and his parents worked to put food on the table and cover basic expenses, they reached a point where they couldn’t even pay the school fees. Dhurba had to drop out of school. The young boy felt completely heartbroken. He went on to picking rags full-time in an effort to get his family, education and future back on track.
As he ventured out to pick rags, Dhurba met many people of different ages who were in the same financial-struggle-boat as he was in. One day a man came to him and gave him a flyer. The flyer read ‘Jesus loves you’. Dhurba remembers feeling so confused! He recalls a young, naïve version of himself thinking, ‘My mom loves me. My dad loves me. I understand that. But why does Jesus love me?’ And like many of us who have doubted God’s love despite knowing it, Dhurba, as unaware as a little baby, ventured into a church nearby and asked God to help him if He really loved him. Little did Dhurba know that that one little cry for help, no matter how doubtful, would change his entire life!
Soon after, Dhurba met his former school principal who told him to meet him at the school. Dhurba went, not knowing what to expect from this strange invitation. The principal offered Dhurba a seat in class again, and told him not to worry about the school fees. The principal knew Dhurba was a bright student and truly needed the right kind of education to make something of himself. At this very moment, Dhurba recalled his cry for help in church the other day, and knew in an instant that his prayers had been answered! Jesus really did love him!! Dhurba was overcome with awe!
From that day on, Dhurba experienced blessings upon blessings in his life. He completed his schooling and went on to graduate from college to land a great job in a bank in Gangtok, Sikkim. He was a boy who could pretty much just dream of making ends meet, and he was blessed with more than he could ask for! It all started with one prayer.
