RSSKANNUR, India (UCAN) — A woman who converted from Hinduism to Catholicism 10 years ago evangelizes by selling lottery tickets.
Devi Kokkatta, 62, speaks about Jesus to people she meets while selling the tickets. Her “mission station” is the Kannur bus station and nearby areas, says Sister Merlin Mary, who has closely observed Kokkatta’s “evangelization.”
Kannur is a major town in northern Kerala state.
Although Kokkatta converted to Catholicism only in 2000, “she bears witness to her faith in an amazing way,” the nun said.
Over the years, the lay woman has taken more than 10,000 people to weeklong retreats conducted at the Divine Retreat Centre, a charismatic renewal center in Muringoor, some 250 kilometers away.
Every week, Devi inspires at least seven people she finds wandering in the town to go to the retreat center. At times, she accompanies them and pays their travel and food expenses. “I find the money to take them to the retreat centre by selling lottery tickets,” Kokkatta said.
“Woe to me if I am not preaching Gospel” the illiterate woman said. “Many people threatened me several times but finally they supported me,” she added.
Touched by a miracle
She said she was “a staunch Hindu” but a “miracle” she experienced changed her life. After being diagnosed with a stomach tumor, a neighbor asked her to join a retreat. “I went to the Divine Retreat Centre with them for a week and there I was miraculously healed by Jesus,” she said.
“I am not converting people,” she said. “I tell them that there is a God who cares. Go for a retreat and look into yourselves. That is what I do.”
Earlier she earned her livelihood by selling sweets and cigarettes in her small shop. When she realized the shop limits the number of people she could meet, she shut it down. She opted to sell lottery tickets on the streets instead.
Omana, her Hindu friend, pointed out that Kokkatta’s “life always inspires” and that she has “experienced the love of God through her.”
Hermukka, a tea shop owner and a Muslim supports Kokkatta’s work. “She is doing wonderful things here. She is like a mother to all the unwanted and forsaken people who are wandering here in the city,” Hermukka said.
Kokkatta also helps sick people she finds on the streets, taking them to hospital. She also distributes Christian spiritual reading material to those who come to the bus stop.
Father George Painadath of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the town said Kokkatta “is a resolute witness of the Christian faith.”
Joy Alappadan, who works at the bus station, said Kokkatta has “changed many lives, including (those of) some criminals.”
IB08659.1586 January 28, 2010 42 EM-lines (443 words)
Police told to restart retreat center probe
Police break bible racket in Kerala
Share
Twitter