With my beautiful new team, Team Azar Ignited, I am currently in Ongole, India working with India Christian Ministries at Sarah's Covenant Homes (SCH). We take 6 hour shifts daily helping to look after 111 of the most beautiful orphans in the world, all of whom have disabilities that have rendered them "worthless" in the eyes of their birth parents, who mostly abandoned them to die or dropped them off at a government center, temple, park, etc.
When SCH takes these orphans in, most of them are malnourished to the point of emaciation and many have immune systems so compromised that they pick up any and every illness they’re exposed to. Given that India is not the sanitary sanctuary that America is, illnesses run rampant in a way we can’t even imagine in America. What we consider to be “common sense” in the realms of hygiene and sanitation in America apparently require a level of nursing school to learn in India.
These precious children arrive starving in every sense of the word – for nutrients, for affection, for community, for strength and stimulation. SCH is striving to provide a place for these kids that will meet those needs, and I’m watching God work through SCH every day.
A week ago, I met a child whose muscles were so atrophied that he couldn’t sit up.
Today I watched him stand up and walk.
Papa’s showing us his insane love for his children every single day, and He’s blessed us with something far beyond what I could’ve imagined when I spent this past summer out-of-my-skin-excited for Christmas in India: I get to spend Christmas in India WITH these kids.
That said, Teams Azar Ignited and SOAR have devised a plan to bring Christmas to these kids in a way they’ve never had Christmas before.
Our desire is to collect donations for the next 12 days (until Christmas) to be used to provide much-needed supplies to the orphanage to help to care for the kiddos.
If you are interested in contributing, Contact [email protected] to find out how OR go to http://www.paypal.com and click "send payment" to: [email protected]. If you choose to donate via PayPal, please include a note specifying that you are donating to SCH.
*100% of these donations will go directly to aiding the orphanage and providing something special for Christmas for the kids who are stealing our hearts.
**photos by Bri Danese, she's phenomenal with a camera. Love you Bri.
