The Transformative Journey of Satyanand Stokes
On August 16, 1882, nearly 142 years ago, a baby boy was born into an affluent business family in Philadelphia of the USA. His name was Samuel Evans Stokes. Being from a rich family, as a child, Samuel went to one of the fine schools. But Samuel started showing his spiritual bent in his childhood, and his parents sent him to a convent school. There, a priest started teaching him the Bible and works of the Christian missionaries. At the age of around 20 or 21 years, Samuel was deputed to India by the order of the Church. His mission was to spread and promote Christianity. In 1903, at the age of 21, Samuel arrived in Bombay (now Mumbai). At that time, Mr. and Mrs. Carlton were conducting research on leprosy and providing care to leprosy patients in India. Samuel joined them and began serving leprosy patients. Behind this humanitarian work, there was also the agenda of religious conversion. Just as Christian missionaries today convert marginalized communities in exchange for donations and...