Mukti Mission Inc

In 1858 a baby girl named Ramabai was born into a high caste orthodox Hindu Brahmin family. The girl’s father wanted more for his wife and daughter than typical Indian culture allowed. He educated Ramabai in reading Sanskrit, he instilled in her a compassion for those less fortunate, and he taught her the ideals of the Hindu faith. This education ultimately lead to Ramabai becoming a social reformer, a champion for the emancipation of women, and a pioneer in education.

 

Over her young adulthood, Ramabai acquired a great reputation as an exceptional Sanskrit scholar at a time when women did not have access to basic educational facilities. Ramabai was fluent in nine languages. Deeply impressed with her knowledge and ability, Sanskrit scholars at Calcutta University conferred on her the titles of "Saraswati" and "Pandita". In recognition of Pandita Ramabai’s contribution to the advancement of Indian women, the Government of India issued a commemorative stamp in her honor.

 

Pandita Ramabai relates the story of her life as having many ups and downs from her birth in the high caste Hindu Brahmin family. Around the time of the deaths of her mother and father she was struggling with the lack of fulfillment her faith was bringing. Her life was dramatically transformed when she had an encounter with Jesus Christ and she began to follow Jesus. This undying love for Jesus only fueled her passion to help the less fortunate around her. She overcame many prejudices of Indian society to help downtrodden and fallen women and become one of India’s most revolutionary thinkers.

 

Defying the caste system, Ramabai married a Shudra. In 1882, she established the Arya Mahila Samaj in Pune and other parts of western India for the cause of women's education. In 1896, during a severe famine, she toured the villages of Maharashtra and rescued thousands of outcast children, widows, orphans and other destitute women. Seeing the need for her people to know Jesus, Ramabai translated the Bible into her native language, Marathi, from the original Hebrew and Greek texts. This led to her founding Sharada Sadan school in 1889. The school blossomed into the umbrella organization known as Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission which continues today.

 

Today the scope of the mission is stunning. The campus of the Mukti mission sprawls across more than 160 acres. The Mukti campus is not just empty space either. There are quite a few acres reserved for farming and a dairy to supply for the residents. However the rest is taken up with 14 children's homes! Plus a nursery, a home for unwed mothers, a home for elderly women, other women's homes for those who have been persecuted and abandoned. There are also 5 schools including the rapidly expanding English Medium High School. A hospital. A large church, and staff housing for teachers and administrators. There are also offices and storage buildings. And a "strip mall" that produces both income for the campus, and jobs for some of the residents. Each week over 1500 people are given shelter, food, education, career training, and the life transforming Good News of Jesus Christ! One hundred and twenty five years after Pandita Ramabai started one home for disenfranchised women there are over 8 expansion ministries in eight other Indian states further multiplying the reach and impact of the Good News.