Wandanalu!
India is AMAZING! So many colors, sarees and punjabis, autos, markets, rice and curry, and kids, kids, kids. This month I feel so blessed to be working at Sarah’s Covenant Homes (SCH), a group foster home for disabled orphans. We are working with “the least of these.” These kids have story after story of how they were left on the floor of the orphanage, never touched and hardly ever fed. They come to SCH malnourished, full of lice, and many on the edge of death. These children have a number of varying diseases including spina bifida, hydrocephalus, blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, heart conditions, congenital anomalies, autism, emotional trauma, and anemia to name a few (and some have been here for two days and others have been here for years).
There are about 8 foster moms who claim these children as their own. There are also ayahs, Indian nannies, that live with them and provide a lot of one on one care with the children. The ayahs help the foster moms with feeding, bathing, changing, playing, and anything else they may need. These children have regular doctor visits and physical and occupational therapy. Many are going to school and some are getting educated in the home. There are also many nurses that work in the homes to ensure that the kids are getting the best medical treatment possible and to care for the children who need in home medical care.
Sarah’s Covenant Homes have 3 houses in Hyderabad – Rescue Home, Courage Home, and Joy home. Between the 3 homes there are about 80 children. Rescue Home has babies, toddlers, and critical care children, as well as preteen and teenagers who have been on the streets and gone through some emotional trauma. This is where we are living this month and where we start our days by playing and worshiping with the children. After lunch and naps, we go over to Courage Home. There, each floor has different homes and we spend an hour on each floor playing with the kids. The children are so energetic and have such a love for life. It has been so fun getting able to know the children better and better each day.
If you would like more information on Sarah’s Covenant Home or would like to see pictures and information about the children, you can go to schindia.org.
I am absolutely loving my time here at SCH. I am falling more and more in love with these children everyday. The Lord is teaching me what it means to actually love the least of these and what it means to love like He does. I pray each morning that He would give me the love that He has for these children so that I can love them like He does. Sometimes it is difficult when it is the end of the day and I am exhausted and I am playing with a child who needs a lot of one on one attention, but then I look into his eyes and see the overwhelming joy and beauty that he has and how excited he is that I am there. It is those moments when I remember that these are God’s children and how much He loves them and how beautiful they are. He reminds me that we are His hands and feet and that through me, He can show these kids just a glimpse of the love that God has for them.
I am so blessed to be with these children this month. They are such a joy to be with and it is going to be a tough goodbye at the end of the month. God has truly blessed this ministry here at SCH and it is so exciting to be able to witness the impact they are having in India.
