The school in Tirupati, a large city in Andrha Pradesh, India is one of our newest schools in Asia. It is known as “The Temple City” because it is home to two of the “holiest” Hindu temples. I arrived on Saturday, January 11. The following day I preached for a combined worship service that four congregations conduct each year. There seems to be good cooperation and fellowship between the congregations in this area.
I taught Genesis and Exodus, as well as gave detailed outlines of Numbers and Leviticus, during the week of my stay. I gave the students homework each night to gauge how well they were getting the information. I also graded their notebooks, which were all very good and well organized. The students did exceptional work. They also did very well on their final exams. In fact, this class is one of the finest I have had the privilege of teaching. The school’s director and instructors are all very knowledgeable in the word of God, and sister Kumar, the director’s wife, is a math teacher and accountant so she naturally keeps the books for the school. In fact, I believe this is the most organized school I have ever seen.
One of the difficulties many of the schools struggle with is the lack of good research material. The Bear Valley school in Denver keeps a supply of donated books that they make available for us to take with us when we make trips. I will definitely be taking some more material with me next time I go and will encourage others who visit Tirupati to do the same.
One of the students that really made an impact on me was a man by the name of John Wesley (yes, his name is John Wesley). He has been blind from birth and used to be a member of a denomination. The director of the school, Vijay Kumar, taught John the gospel a few years ago and immediately John went to work converting many of his blind friends. In fact, he converted twenty-seven men during one gospel meeting. John was not able to take notes but can read braille so he knows the Bible very well. All of his tests are given orally, and he is one of the top students. His goal upon graduating from preaching school is to continue his work with the blind.
Below are two pictures. The first is a picture of the 21 students at the school and the other is a picture of John Wesley (the one in blue) standing with me and another gospel preacher who is also blind.