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Servants works in a number of Islamic settings, including India and Indonesia.  This month is the month of Ramadan (also known as Ramazan), the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts about 30 days. It is a month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating and drinking during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and submissiveness to God.  Each day this month we will be putting reflections, stories, and information about Islam on this website to help you learn more and pray for our Muslim friends.

Let us introduce Kallu...

Kallu grew up as a Muslim in a village in North India. His parents died when he was quite young, and at 14 he moved to the city and sold bananas for a living. He married at 18 and soon he and his wife had several daughters. They were dirt poor, and squatted on land beside a large drainage canal, for a time sheltered in a large disused drainage pipe, then erected a wood and plastic structure, and gradually bricked in the walls and replaced the wood and plastic roof with a concrete one!

In 1998 we moved into the same slum and became friends with Kallu and his family. A couple of years later however, the High Court ruled for the slum to be demolished. Kallu emerged as a resident who was ready to act for the community in the fight for a better deal. Through many community meetings, court cases, and dealing with other residents complaints in the following months, Kallu and I became firm friends.

Eventually the slum was demolished and Kallu and the other residents relocated to an area on the outskirts of the city. We helped arrange a loan through a faith based NGO for Kallu's family to build their house in the new area. Partly through the relationship with us and that NGO, Kallu eventually came to a genuine and heartfelt faith in Christ.

Kallu now works with another faith based NGO. We're still good friends and visit each other every month or so, sharing stories of the ongoing struggles for development in our respective neighbourhoods.

Please pray for Kallu's ...

- Daughter Tabassum to find a good husband;

- Health to improve as he sometimes has breathing problems;

- Community work in another poor area to bear much fruit.

Did you know ...

According to a 2009 study (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population#cite_note-mgmpPRC-1 ), the biggest Muslim populations in the world are found in Indonesia (203 million), Pakistan (174 million), India (161 million) and Bangladesh (145 million).