Sri Lanka CropRameshkumar, 24, lives in southern Sri Lanka. His parents are not educated, and the family has struggled with poverty since he was a child. He dropped out of school at just nine years old and began to work at 11. Two of his friends introduced him to drugs and alcohol, and he was in and out of jail for years. Once, he served six months for assault.

When he was 10, his mother moved to Syria to work as a housemaid. She sent money home for the family, but Rameshkumar would steal the money from his father. He continued his destructive patterns into adulthood—even after he got married and became a father.

When his daughter was a year old, his wife left him. “The influence of drugs drove me to live separately from my wife and child,” he recalls. “My wife and daughter went to her mother’s place and lived there for four years.” During this time, his own mother returned from Syria and battled with mental illness. “Everyone in the family was restless, and the problems grew bigger and bigger,” he says. “My family was unable to bear the shame.”

Through all of the struggles, God was working. In 2020, Rameshkumar met a Christian who shared the Good News of salvation with him. “I realized how sinful I was,” he says. “I repented and confessed my sins to Jesus and I committed myself to serve Him.”

God worked in Rameshkumar’s heart and the hearts of his family members. “God spoke to me through His Word,” he says. “God gave me the courage to reconcile with my wife. God prepared her heart to accept me, and she returned from her mother’s place. God has put an end to my old nature; He transformed me. God gave me a new life.”

The man who shared the Good News with Rameshkumar was also a business owner, and he offered Rameshkumar a job. “I’m excited that God opened a door for me and took care of my financial needs,” he says.

He recently completed a Project Philip Bible study training with his wife so he can start Project Philip Bible studies in his area. Rameshkumar feels led to reach people in similar circumstances that he once faced. “I know that many young people who live in my area are addicted to alcohol and drugs,” he says. “God is using me to minister God’s Word to three families and this community. I am thankful to Bible League for the booklets and Bibles; I thank God for all those who are behind these resources.”