Destined

“You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.”  

- Paul, to the church in Galatia


Let’s face it.  Television is a minefield.  We are constantly searching for appropriate things to watch with our children that might stir the right things and prompt relevant conversations.  This last weekend, we watched the first part of a four part series on Netflix called Daughter’s of Destiny.

IMDB explains the show this way:

In 1996, Dr. Abraham George, an American businessman, born in India, was determined to change the rampant poverty in his home country. Nearly 20 years later, The Shanti Bhavan Children's Project has produced a generation of engineers, lawyers, scientists and journalists. "Daughters of Destiny" follows a unique group of Shanti Bhavan kids, born into the most discriminated against and impoverished families on earth, as they grow up. "Daughters of Destiny" is an exploration of their lives, of global poverty and opportunity, and the human longing for purpose and meaning.

An American businessman sets himself a target of 50 as the age he will finally devote his life to doing what he was created to do.  He aggressively grows his business, sells it to a Fortune 500 company, assembles everyone in his sphere of influence to raise more money, and then applies every dollar of it to help the “poorest of the poor."

When Dr. George looks into these children’s faces, he doesn’t see poverty, he sees possibility.  He sees the hope of the world.  He takes the children whose caste has made then “untouchable," without much hope other than a life of poverty, slavery, and survival, and grooms them to be ambassadors of restoration for their families and communities.

His son, who helps run the school says that a "good education" is not their destination.  He says that if the result of Shanti Bhaven does not result in the child, his extended family, and community being rescued from the poverty they live in, they have failed.

They are not raising a community of children with the goal of finding a better life for themselves, but an army of freedom fighters trained to change the world around them.  

One young girl wrote her first poem dedicated to her mother: 

I am the answer for my mother’s pain

I am why I am, because of her

I will show the world that I am that girl

who makes doorways of freedom, hope, and relief

Not only for my mother,

but for all of those out there who are in need.



One day I will wipe away the waterfall of hopelessness and replace it with a river of hope and salvation.
— Preetha’s Poem

All of us.  

Everyone we know.  

All the people who have been placed in our care as leaders.

Are destined for adoption into God’s family.

We are intended to be the daughters and sons of a King.

We are intended to reflect the Creator’s glory and be His hands and feet to a broken and abandoned world.

This is His plan “A” and there is no plan “B”.  

Dr. George doesn’t want to merely make a difference, he wants to apply all his resources, influence, and ability, as a multiplier effect to change the world.  He is using his business acumen and problem solving ability to change the outcome that God placed in front of him and put specifically on his heart to solve.

  • What is your heart burdened with?
  • What great cause or injustice seems to stay with you?
  • How might God use your ability, resources, and influence to address that problem?
  • Are you merely solving problems or raising those under your leadership as a multiplier for change?