🌍 Faith in Action: Kokila's Silent World | Inside Story (July 25, 2025)

🌍 Faith in Action: Kokila's Silent World

Inside Story – July 25, 2025

📸 Image Source: SSNet.org - Sabbath School Quarterly (Lesson 4, 3Q 2025)

No one in town had ever converted to Christianity, and townspeople burned with anger when Kokila’s father and four other families decided to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. Kokila was 9, and her life changed forever.

Kokila’s mother had died when she was a baby, and she lived with her father, four older sisters, and an older brother in southern Asia.

Her father, an impoverished farmer, was barred from working in the field after he started keeping the Sabbath. He and the other Sabbath-keepers were also forbidden from buying food in local shops. On top of that, town leaders warned that anyone who spoke to the Sabbath-keepers would have to pay a heavy fine.

As a result, neighbors refused to talk to Kokila and her family. Kokila, once surrounded by friends, lost them all. She found herself in a strange and silent world.

When her father refused to abandon his faith, the situation escalated. Neighbors turned violent—raiding their home, dumping furniture and dishes in the street, and physically beating her father and brother.

But amid darkness, there was a flicker of light. A kind neighbor—who wasn’t a Christian but belonged to a different religion from the majority—stepped in. He helped the family buy rice, spoke to Kokila, and even paid the fines on their behalf.

For seven years, Kokila endured this harsh environment. Of the five families that had originally accepted the Sabbath, only two—including hers—remained faithful. Despite the pain, Kokila never complained, though she cried often.

Moved by his daughter’s suffering, her father sent her to an Adventist boarding school. It was, in Kokila’s words, "like a piece of heaven on earth."

“The teachers were very kind and loving,” recalled Kokila, who is now 39 and works as a secretary at the same school—E.D. Thomas Memorial Higher Secondary School in Thanjavur, India. “The teachers spoke to me! The children spoke to me! It was so nice to have friends again.”

✨ Thank you for your faithful mission offerings, which help support Seventh-day Adventist education around the world. E.D. Thomas Memorial Higher Secondary School was blessed by part of a Thirteenth Sabbath Offering in 2020.

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💬 Call to Action (CTA):

🙏 Are there silent struggles in your own faith journey? Like Kokila, hold on. Your story of hope may be the light someone else needs. Share this story to inspire others, and remember to support mission offerings that change lives across the globe.

Story by Andrew McChesney, courtesy of the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission.