If you’re new to Exploring with Jake, be sure to read the introduction.
This morning, we discovered another state of India. Its name is Karnataka, and it is in the southwestern part of India. One thing we found out right away is that Karnataka has a LOT of people living in it! Did you know that more people live just in this one state of India than live in the entire countries of Spain and Zimbabwe combined? Of the more than 700 different people groups who live in Karnataka, more than seventy of them have never heard of Jesus.
The capital city of Karnataka is Bangalore, which is home to more than 7 million people just in that one city alone! Bangalore is also home to 700 slums, places so filthy and unsafe that no one should have to live there. There are 70,000 children just like you and me who live there who don’t have clean water or enough food or a place to stay warm and dry when it rains. Many of them have never even heard of Jesus or how much He loves them.
Can you imagine? 70,000 kids need to learn more about Jesus. They need food and medicine and shelter. Our Sunday School teacher read a part of Matthew 25 to us this morning. It talks about a time Jesus told His disciples that any time they gave someone food who was hungry or drink who was thirsty, any time they gave clothes to someone who didn’t have any or visited someone who was sick or in prison, that it was just like they had done it for Jesus Himself. He loves every one of those children—and all the people of Karnataka—that much.
I’m not sure how I can help these kids, but I know I want to try. Will you pray with me that God will help us help other people and that He will help all the people of Karnataka?
“Dear God, there are so many kids who need Your help right now. They are scared, sad, and hungry. They don’t have a nice home to live in, and they don’t know about You. Please help everyone of them to know how much You love them and that You are with them, right now, even in the slums of a huge city. Please show my friends and I how we can show love to the people of Bangalore and all the people who need help. Thank You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
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