Sijo did his schooling at Clemis School, Chingavanam, Kottayam. He remembers how he used to struggle to say even his roll number and how his friends used to say it for him during the class roll call. Sijo says, “I used to always worry about how long I would have to struggle my life stammering. I used to ask God why He gave me such a life. Even though I used to study quite well, I could never give an answer easily and so seeing my struggle, my teachers stopped asking me any questions. I was always the odd one out since I couldn’t take part in anything because of the stammer and the inferiority complex that it gave me. My parents took me to many doctors but all those efforts were in vain. While I was struggling with my own battles, my father who was doing a business was cheated by someone and this brought the whole family under a big debt. We were in a very difficult situation, and to add to the misery, my mother was diagnosed with a tumour in her uterus and the doctor advised that she should undergo a surgery in order to have it removed. My father somehow managed to arrange the money for it but the day before the surgery, we received a court order that our house and plot would be seized by the bank the following day.
I still remember my father walking to and fro in his room in a panic. Even though we had asked many for help, no one gave us a helping hand. At that time a few ladies from Heavenly Feast came to our house to pray for us. They laid their hands on mummy and prayed for her. Since many days she had no sensation on one side of her head and while they prayed, at that moment itself, she was healed. After the prayer, they told us that our debt would be paid off by someone. When they said it, we believed it wholeheartedly. Later when she was scanned, to our amazement, the tumour was not to be seen. It had disappeared. The next day, we were in for another shocking news. My father’s younger brother who had refused to help us had pledged his house and with that money, he paid off our loan to the bank and thus we got back our house. What a miracle!
The miracles that Jesus did for this family gradually increased their faith in Him but they were still engulfed in debt. The people who had lent them money began to demand their money back and finding it impossible to do it, Sijo’s father decided to leave Kottayam and go elsewhere so that his family would be able to live in peace. While he was waiting at the K.S.R.T.C bus depot, having no clue where to go, a stranger walked up to him and asked him where his house was. To that, he replied, “Chingavanom”. The man told him that he was going to Chingavanom to see a man named Kunjomon who sold empty barrels and asked him whether he knew that person. To this, Sijo’s dad replied, “I am that person who you are looking for”. The stranger replied, “I am coming from Tamil Nadu to give you a bulk order for empty barrels for a factory there!” Through that one order, Jesus removed our debts. There is nothing that our God cannot do!”
They started experiencing the hands of Jesus in every area of their lives. There was a big change in Sijo’s education. He started to do well in all his subjects. His faith in Jesus overpowered his stammering and the inferiority complex that he suffered all his life. He began to experience the miraculous touch of Jesus on his tongue. Words started to flow out of his mouth very fluently. By the time he reached grade 10, Jesus had completely removed his stammer. After completing his 10th and 12th grade with high marks, God fulfilled his desire to get admission for mechanical engineering without paying any amount as a donation.
This is what Jesus did in Sijo’s education- “Because I couldn’t study well, I asked the Holy Spirit to help me in my studies. I experienced Him sit with me and teach me my lessons. That made me get very high marks in the following exams. I passed my first semester exams with 2nd rank. In the last year of my studies, I decided to sponsor an underprivileged child through Reach World Wide. I bought a piggy bank, cut down my expenses and started saving money in it. I too was sponsored by an old lady through Reach World Wide when I was small. When I started sponsoring the child, I was able to pass my mechanical engineering with very high marks. I wanted to do a course in quality control but I couldn’t afford the fees. Instead I took up a job in a reputed company in Gujarat as a planning engineer. That company sponsored my higher studies and I was able to do exactly the same course that I desired and Jesus blessed the company that I worked for. When Jesus mounted on the donkey, He not only changed the changed the donkey’s situation, but He also blessed the land that the donkey stepped into with Him. Same way, Jesus blessed me and my house. Now I live my life for Jesus.