This is a story that I have been working on writing since the end of month 1. I was finally able to put into words everything I was feeling and the interview we did with him during our last day there. So please read on all about Uncle Jonathan.
Uncle Jonathan Kodavatikanti
Our host in India was a sweet sweet man that after having one conversation with him, it was put on my heart to share his story. I resonated with his life story and his heart for children. I am going to tell you a bit about his life and how he came to work at CCDC( Covenant Child Development Center) with ICM (India Christian Ministries).
Uncle Jonathan is known as Uncle because he is one of 12 children. He is married to a sweet lady named Esther and has a lot of nieces and nephews. We worked with one of his nephews, Sam, he was our translator while in India. Jonathan is a manager with CCDC. He has been there for 2 years. He was asked to take care of CCDC through all of the children ministries of ICM all over India. CCDC has 3 different department; Hope Children Programs, faith-church, and love-community development.
When asked if his childhood was similar to the children of CCDC he said yes. He is from a very large family. When he was born (#10 of 12) his father went to seminary. At three days old, his father took him and his mother to seminary with him. His father became a pastor, he designed his own job and then fell into ministry. A lot of the people in the community called his father a mad man for leaving his position, it was hard enough to take care of 11 children in a ministry position. His father started a childcare institution in his home when Jonathan was six years old. Even during all the poverty his family was living in he took care and brought in 13 other children. Jonathan’s life started in children’s ministry there.
Jonathan was born in a Christian family, his parents are very faithful. Every week they had family prayers and his parents would touch the children as they prayed for them. While in the 12th grade, he became sick with typhoid, and Jaundice 2 times. His father said “if you walk in the path of God no diseases will enter your home”(Deuteronomy 17-34; Psalm 91) His father spoke this in the hospital. And his father was on a big crusade and was preaching to everyone and he felt like his father was talking directly to him and asked him if he was ready to follow Jesus Christ. He accepted Christ as his savior in 1977. A year later he was baptized and then attended seminary himself.
Jonathan has a theology education, he did research on how the churches are going. He thought there was a need for children ministries. He thought government jobs weren’t for him.He struggled with figuring out how to follow his calling for the church. He’s always had a passion for working with the church but not as a pastor. He never knew there were christian offices. His friends filled out applications for him, only requiring a signature but he never attended an interview After seminary a friend meet him on the side of the road and told him that someone was looking for a Telugu person to work with children; but he didn’t really know what to do so he didn’t do anything. Then He got another call from CI and his pastor told him about how well he liked his work. Started working with children because of his telegu background,Compassion called impressed with his work with the children in the church and recruited him. God prepared him while he was working with children his whole life. His passion is children ministries. He received a call from Compassion International. He didn’t intend to work with children, but God called him to this and his passion has grown.”Every time you meet a child, that is a divine moment that God has given you.” Joined as a supervisor with compassion, God asked him to become an advocate for children.
His role is to speak to the pastors about children, and to talk about God’s heart for the children. He wanted to be an advocate for children and be able to speak for them. During his time at Compassion he traveled to 18 states in India speaking for children.God brought him to CCDC to be an advocate for children in the Andra Pradesh state.He started as a field officer with compassion and he ended up working for them for 20 years. He has been working with children since 1985.
Jonathan wants to tell everyone one thing: While reading Luke 6 God spoke to him in a special way. He calls it the death declaration of Jesus Christ. IT was a big turning point for him. He saw a big Paradigm shift after this. God spoke to him specifically, don’t cry for me, but cry for your children (story of silence during Jesus carrying the cross to calvary .All of this was revealed to him about 15 years ago- he’s seen a big shift after that. Resigned from compassion international in 2013.He was really struggling what to do after retirement from CI.He is really happy and fully engaged in ICM. He says it’s a great thing for the community. We asked him why he came out of his retirement to work for CCDC. He doesn’t call it a child development center because he doesn’t believe development happens overnight, it includes a lot of contributing factors. He believes child and family is more accurate. CCDC is a holistic program, not just school many things are added into the program like; life skills, and learning about God. CCDC is unlike most development centers because they include the family, they don’t pull the child out of their situations, they help make the best out of them.1 center has about 25 children. Their hope is to build the generation up. These children bring their families and their friends. It is a tangible difference you can see after 10 years.
51% of rural villages are depending on menial jobs. The men in the villages are moving from villages to suburbans for work, instead of taking loans from people that charge interest that hurts them more in the long run
CCDC helps the economy of the family by creating the environment of community and need to take care of their children. Sometimes the women take the children with them into the fields to work to make more money since their husbands are off in the urban areas. CCDC helps keep the children at home and in schools. Education makes a big difference in the future. CCDC sends their children to quality private schools.Government schools are a struggle because 40% absentee of teachers, children to teacher ratio is much larger so the children don’t get the adequate learning that they deserve to help them better their futures. CCDC believes in quality schooling, quality spirituality, Each center has a Social worker to arrange for extra protein in the meals served each night at the center and good quality work.
When asked about the changes Jonathan has seen in CCDC he stated that; “children have changed in mannerisms and how they strive for more. CCDC is in need of more funds to have more quality. There are only 450 church building and there are 5,000 congregation in the Andrha Pradesh area alone. Every congregation should have a CCDC. Hopefully in 10 years, every congregation will have a CCDC. By increasing the number of children in each center if you have 25 there are still 2-3 peeping into building wondering why they can’t have that as well. “
Here is some of the information on Human Trafficking they are fighting off in the area as well.
How the villages are used for trafficking: children are deprived of education, because of poverty.
Because of the poverty, the children are removed from their parents and left in hotels for child labor
Urban areas began a lot of factories, unsafe
Children work in the factories
5000 to 7000 girls are being trafficked from Nepal and Bangladesh to India, sent to different states for sex and child labor
India is becoming a transit center for trafficking
Mother becomes a prostitute so they try to take the child for prostitution
In one of the centers, one family was traveling like gypsies because of trafficking but CCDC was able to stable them.
Uncle Jonathan had a big impact on my life. I was amazed at his faith walk and how much he relies on the Lord for everything. His heart for children really pulled on my heart strings. I received a lot of healing in my own life from hearing his story and working with his nephew and his nephew’s best friend; Shaym and Maruthi. (Sam and Marty)
Sam is on the left and Marty is on the right. 
