Latest / Eurasia Region Podcast / S2-E26 | Everyday Eurasia |  Komal Waghmare

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S2-E26 | Everyday Eurasia |  Komal Waghmare · Eurasia Region Podcast

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  This week on the Everyday Eurasia podcast, we will be
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  joined by members of the Eurasia Holistic Child Development team
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  as we explore holistic child development programs across the
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  region. Today you will hear from Kamal
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  Vakmarie, the Eurasia Region Child Development Coordinator
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  with Nessuring Compassionate Ministries.
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  With more than 20 years of experience in social
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  development, along with her training in business
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  administration and divinity and ongoing doctoral studies at AP
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  and TS, Komal is deeply committed to strengthening
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  children, families, and communities.
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  Born and raised in Dubai and having lived throughout the
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  Middle East, she now resides in Pune, India with her husband and
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  their two children. She's passionate about equipping
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  local churches to invest in children and communities as
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  catalysts for transformational development.
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  She will share with us today a devotion titled From Brokenness
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  to Shallow. Hello everyone, today we begin
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  with a reflection from Luke chapter 15 verses 8 to 10, which
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  Jesus teaches the parable of the lost coin.
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  Suppose a woman has 10 silver coins and loses 1.
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  Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully
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  until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls
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  her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with
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  me, I have found my lost coin. In the same way there is
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  rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God or one Sinner who
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  repents. This passage reminds me of
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  something I lost many years ago when I had just started working
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  and I received my first salary. I bought gifts for my family and
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  after much hesitation, I bought something for myself, a
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  beautiful, intricately designed bracelet watch to remember this
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  milestone. I treasured it.
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  I wore it every day. It was really precious to me.
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  Then one day, while writing to church with my husband and a
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  baby daughter swaddled in our arms, the watch slipped off my
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  wrist. I didn't realise it until we
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  reached the church. I retraced my steps, searched
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  frantically everywhere, but it was gone.
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  And I was so, so hurt. It wasn't just a watch.
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  It was something meaningful, purchased thoughtfully with my
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  small earnings. That's what the woman in this
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  parable does. She lights a lamb.
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  She sweeps the house. She searches carefully until she
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  finds the coin. She doesn't give up.
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  She doesn't move on casually. She searches intentionally
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  because it mattered. And this leads us to a deeper
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  question. What does God consider precious?
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  Psalm 139 tells us that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully
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  made, intricately woven in our mother's womb, known and valued
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  by God. This is true also for every
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  child, each one created with intention, each one seen, each
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  one precious in his sight, including those on the edges of
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  our communities. And in John 316 we are reminded
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  that for God so loved the world, and that world includes these
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  very children, Not only those in our homes or churches or Sunday
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  school, but also those at the margins, the ones at the
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  periphery of our church. Children who have not yet heard
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  about Christ, who are hurting, who are unseen, and who are
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  overlooked. So can we hear God's heart for
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  them? Can we notice what is often
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  unseen? Because Jesus sees them.
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  He sees their potential even in vulnerability.
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  He sees disciples even when they do not have access to resources.
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  He sees dignity and worth even when the world overlooks them.
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  Our churches today are placed, not placed randomly.
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  They are positioned by God within communities, and those
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  communities include children and teens, especially the most
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  vulnerable. The church can become an Oasis
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  in a dry desert, a place where children, including those at the
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  periphery, discover that they are seen, loved and that they
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  belong. Luke 252 gives us a holistic
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  growth pattern. Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature
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  and in favour with God and man. Growth is not one-dimensional.
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  It is intellectual, physical, emotional, social and spiritual.
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  Holistic child development means we see the whole child.
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  When a child is hungry, they cannot learn.
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  When a child feels unsafe, it affects their well-being.
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  When a child does not know that they're loved by God, it shapes
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  their identity. So we respond to the whole
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  child, nurturing their mind, caring for their bodies,
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  strengthening relationships and guiding them spiritually.
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  This is where the journey from brokenness to Shalom begins.
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  Brokenness may look like poverty, neglect, fear, and loss
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  of identity, but it affects every part of a child's life.
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  And Shalom is more than the absence of brokenness.
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  It is wholeness, right relationships with God, with
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  self and others, a life of dignity, peace, and purpose.
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  So when we engage in holistic child development, we're not
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  just meeting needs, we are participating in God's
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  restorative work, helping move children from unseen to known,
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  from insecurity to identity, from isolation to belonging, and
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  from brokenness to Shalom. And this is not something we do
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  alone. It is something God invites us
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  into. As the church, we become
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  instruments of His peace, creating spaces where children
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  don't just survive but thrive. In John 1010, Jesus says the
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  thief came to steal, to kill and destroy.
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  We see this in the lives of many children.
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  But this is not the end of the story.
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  Jesus continues saying, I have come that they may have life and
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  have it to the full. This is restoration from what
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  was lost to what is found. Throughout this week, you will
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  hear stories from across our fields of how churches are
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  stepping into brokenness and walking alongside children
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  towards wholeness. As you listen, perhaps God may
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  stir your heart to begin to respond or to go deeper.
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  Nasreen Compassionate Ministries comes alongside local churches
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  to step into brokenness with a love that takes action.
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  We inspire, we equip and we support churches to respond not
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  from a distance, but side by side, standing with those who
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  are hurting and rebuilding what has been lost.
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  And CM is a compassionate arm of the Church of the Nazri,
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  responding to the needs of the least of these through presence,
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  partnership and love and action. Let us pray.
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  Father God, we thank you for your great love, for the joy of
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  Your presence and the peace that you give.
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  Thank You that we are called your children and made in Your
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  image. Help us to recognize that the
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  same love is for every child. Open our eyes to see the
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  children around us. Soften our hearts to respond
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  with compassion. May our hearts be stirred, so
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  much so that it hurts to sit quiet.
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  Give us courage to act where you're calling us to act.
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  May we see the strength we have as local churches placed in
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  communities and may we become places of refuge and hope.
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  May every child within our families, our churches, and even
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  those at the margins experience your love and move from
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  brokenness to Shalom. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
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  Thank you for listening to the Everyday Eurasia podcast,
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  Inspiring Fate for everyday. For more Everyday Stories,
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  subscribe on this podcast channel, follow our socials,
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  For our newsletter and further information about the Eurasia
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  region, visit our website, eurasiaregion.org.