One of the programs under India Christian Ministries is Sarah’s Covenant Home (SCH), founded by James’ wife, Sarah.
In India, there is a caste system in which many people believe that if you are born rich you are being rewarded for a pious previous life. If you were born in poverty, you deserve it because you must have done something in your past life to warrant the life you were born into.
This caste system explains why children with special needs in India are typically written off so quickly: their past life must of caused them to be born with this disability. The majority of the children born with special needs are quickly given away to orphanages. In the orphanages, children with special needs are separated from the other children and to be honest, their needs could not be met and their living conditions were far below sub par.
As Christians, we clearly know that every person deserves love and attention no matter how they were born and God put it on Sarah’s heart to help orphans with disabilities.
She started taking a few at a time, but each time she came back for more, it was too late for many the children. Tired of seeing kids needlessly die, she took as many as she could. Currently, SCH provides loving homes for 107 children with special needs. These needs range from extreme cerebral palsy to blindness to autism to heart conditions. There are even a few children who have absolutely no special need; these children were placed into the special need orphanages by the government because they missed the general checkpoints for walking.
Originally, the children lived in one big orphanage, the Victory House, and until recently there has been a push to set up apartments and houses with a foster house style living. There are 5-10 children in each house with at least two older Indian widows who cook and clean for the children. A good number if the homes have volunteer foster moms who love and work with the children.
Some of these children are in the process of being adopted, but India’s adoption process is challenging. Because of corners with child trafficking, people cannot select specific children they want to adopt. Instead, children have to meet a list of criteria the soon-to-be-parents set. But luckily, each child is in a loving home right now.
This month, I am serving in the Wisdom home. Wisdom has 10 little boys who light up my life. There is no foster mom at this house, so this month, Kristen and I will be working on walking, potty training, and their numbers and alphabet. The little boys have different disabilities ranging from a heart condition, autism, cerebral palsy, an inability to walk, and even one child where they are unsure of his disease. Despite all this, these boys are absolutely perfect the way they are. They have the best smiles and just love life! There will be a ton of blogs coming on my little men because I want you to fall just as in love with them as I am!
