God Stories – A Test of Admission 2!

A test of admission - Part 2

PART 2
Over the past few weeks I have felt prompted to write stories from my history and walk with God. I don’t think I need to pen them in chronological order but  rather as I feel led to write. These are my stories of challenges, steps and leaps of faith. I hope you are blessed and encouraged to trust this eternal, faithful  God, Jesus. Here goes....

A few years after Andrew’s schooling years began, we felt called to move to Pune to pastor and nurture the beginnings of a new church plant. We were confident and excited about our move. We knew that God had called us here, we started all the preparations to move 180 km away from Mumbai, family, familiar surroundings, and a great home church. Part of the preparation was looking out for schools in this new city. Trips back and forth between cities began, now with a new addition to our family- Jessica.

It was in the hot month of March that we came to Pune on our first trip as a family: Andrew 6 years old and Jessica 3 months old. We took the train journey in the blistering heat. Pune was a city I was familiar with as many  a childhood holiday was spent at my aunt’s place in the cantonment of Khadki.But nothing prepared me for the transformation this sleepy little city had morphed into. There was rapid development taking place with frantic building activity everywhere. There were huge suburbs being added to the city expanding its boundaries everyday into areas one had never seen before.

This trip to Pune was to do with Andrew’s Entrance Test to a school we had no doubt he would get into, as his average performance was over 95%.  Having done the test and met with the people of this fledgling church we returned to Mumbai buoyant and full of faith.

A few days later we were only expecting to hear good news. But when the list was put up Andrew’s name did not feature there. We were shocked and confused.  It defied all logic! There had to be a mistake! We tried in vain to get some information to no avail. Being a Christian School we thought it would be a cake walk on so many counts. But the door seemed tightly shut.

From the last experience I learnt that God is a gracious provider and it is not wise to pry open a door He has shut. I wondered where and how a new door would open. Anxious thoughts would try and get me but I would remind myself of God’s goodness to me in the past. I was also beginning to realize that church planting is not for the faint hearted – there is an enemy who does not like what were are about and wants to make it as difficult for us in every possible way.

 Divine corridor conversations:That evening had taken Andrew to his school grounds ( near our home in Bandra, Mumbai) to play  (it was a daily routine). I was chatting with one of the mums as Jessica dozzed in her stroller. She asked me how the move to Pune was coming along and I mentioned this hurdle of school admissions.  When I mentioned the name of the school she looked at me perplexed and asked  me why I had not considered the sister school of the one Andrew was presently in. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there was a sister school and lost no time in making inquiries.

We applied for admission; Andrew appeared for the entrance test and secured a seat in a very fine school run by the Jesuits, the masters in education. We were over awed and over joyed at God’s leading, guiding and nudging us on the path he has chosen for us. Once again this school cost us a fraction of what it would have been had we secured admission in the first.  I could truly say again that “ ⁵ LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;  you make my lot secure.⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.”Psalm 16:5-6.


However our testing on this score doesn't end here. We meet like old acquaintances once again many years later. Read about it in the next blog!

Navaz D cruz

Feb 2012-02-16