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Pastor Balachandran has a calling that is different. Apart from ministering to the 20 Christians of the Assemblies of God Church in Gonapitiya, the pastor ministers to 140 children in the area. Pastor Balachandran and his wife teach children with special needs and also conduct after-school classes for other children who need help with their studies. The pastor firmly believes that his calling is to minister to these children who hail from poverty-stricken families in the estates.

He charges a nominal fee of LKR 300 per child monthly but as a majority of the parents are unable to afford even this fee, the pastor receives only around LKR 1,500 monthly from this venture. “We initially wanted to conduct a free school but there were false rumours that spread among the parents” explains Pastor Balachandran on the beginnings of this school. He goes on to say that when he charged a fee of LKR 50 per student, the children’s attendance dropped as they thought the quality of the education is low. That is when the pastor raised the fee to LKR 300. “But the parents cannot afford to pay this fee. Even three hundred rupees is a great burden for estate workers.” Pastor Balachandran has a calling that is different. Apart from ministering to the 20 Christians of the Assemblies of God Church in Gonapitiya, the pastor ministers to 140 children in the area. Pastor Balachandran and his wife teach children with special needs and also conduct after-school classes for other children who need help with their studies. The pastor firmly believes that his calling is to minister to these children who hail from poverty-stricken families in the estates. He charges a nominal fee of LKR 300 per child monthly but as a majority of the parents are unable to afford even this fee, the pastor receives only around LKR 1,500 monthly from this venture. “We initially wanted to conduct a free school but there were false rumours that spread among the parents” exp