During a Sunday morning worship service in 2021, Komal Waghmare sensed God placing a sudden, clear burden on her heart. She knew at that moment that he wanted her to advocate for children through the Church of the Nazarene.
“It was out of the blue,” Komal remembers. “God just put this heaviness in my heart, and I’m going, ‘God, how do I do this?’”
For more than a decade, Komal had devoted her career to advocating for children through secular nonprofit and child development programs in India. Now, God was asking her to serve the most vulnerable through her church. He had been preparing the way for years, surprising Komal at every turn. In 2020, she enrolled to pursue her Master of Divinity. She didn’t understand why, but she knew God was asking her to deepen her theological understanding. “I want you to earn a degree for me,” Komal felt God was saying. She was baffled. She had already earned a graduate degree in business and had no intention of working in ministry. But she submitted to God’s will and began studying for her Master of Divinity.
In 2023, Komal decided to pursue a doctorate in holistic child development. The only program available that fit her needs was through Asia Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary. She enrolled, wondering what God was up to.
“Again, my heart was very restless,” she says. “Because the calling was there, but there was no door being opened.” Unable to share Jesus through her current job, Komal continued praying for an opportunity to connect her theological training and passion with her everyday work.
A few months later, after attending a SANBC anniversary event in Kolkata, God spoke to Komal once more. She had been surprised by the global representation at the celebration in Kolkata. The Church of the Nazarene suddenly seemed much larger and widespread than she had ever understood. So, God asked her to Google.
“Scroll Google and see,” Komal remembers sensing. “What is the Church of the Nazarene?” She found the Nazarene website, which led to learning more about the Eurasia Region, which led to learning about Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM). “Wow,” Komal remembers thinking. “I am a member of such a large, global church!”
That’s when she saw the job opening. NCM was seeking a holistic child development coordinator for the Eurasia Region. “And guess what?” Komal says, laughing. “I was already late to submit my application.” She immediately began wrestling with God. She was doing well in her job, and a promotion was looming. She knew absolutely nothing about NCM. Again, God nudged Komal. He reminded her of the burden he had put on her heart in 2021, and of her prayer for opportunity. “He led me to see that this was the door that was being opened after so long,” she says. She applied, and landed the job. “I can tell you it has been the hand of God that has brought me, first and foremost, to this role,” she says. “I’m so grateful for this opportunity.”
Komal’s desire in her new role is simple: She wants every child to know that they have a voice, that they have a purpose on this earth, and that they are precious in God’s sight.
“Compassion goes way beyond just charity,” she adds. “It goes toward developing, strengthening, empowering, and building agency in children.”
“I’m so passionate about it that I get to help churches see what is the role of a child,” she says. “The Bible speaks so much about children and the place of children being in the midst of the church…from the Old Testament to the New Testament, God has used children to do things that adults could never do.”
Ultimately, Komal is eager to help grow the body of Christ through the lives of children and their grown-ups across Eurasia.
“Through the compassion that they show in the community,” she says, “the community is drawn to the Church. And it’s drawn to Christ.”
-article by Sarah Norris