I Remember: Bonded Labor, Quicksand, and Good News for Thousands

With simple, heartbreaking detail, Das Maddimadugu recalls the joys and tragedies of his childhood in a destitute family of the untouchable caste, nearly sold into slavery, and “adopted” by a single Mennonite missionary woman. In her care, he was taught about Jesus’ love and given the opportunity to discover his gifts for wide-ranging study, loyal friendship, community organizing, and dreaming redemption for those at the bottom of society’s heap. The God “for whom nothing is impossible” used the moves of Das and Doris Maddimadugu’s lives to weave together a network of friends in places like Vietnam; Newton, Kansas; Winnipeg; New Haven; Chicago; Korea; Taiwan; and Shanghai. This collaboration of friends has become an innovative partnership in Jesus’ mission of “good news to the poor” for thousands of students, hundreds of orphans, a score of churches, and a series of disaster relief projects that have brought hope to the lives of countless persons on the margins, such as Das once was. On the wash line of his life story are hung colorful testimonies of a dozen mission partners in Asia and America that reflect on this innovative way of doing mission, following in the footsteps of indigenous leadership.