Our first month in India, we have lived in an orphanage with twenty-two beautiful children. Every day around 3:30pm, we sit on the roof of our house and watch as the kids walk home from across the fields. Every one of them smiles and starts to walk faster as they yell, “Hello Brother! Hello Sister!” We greet them with high-fives and hugs. The highlight of our day has become playing with these precious children of God.
These kids are the best example I have ever seen of selflessness and joy. One day I stepped in mud and the kids rushed me over to the hose to spray me down and wash my feet, which was something I could have easily done on my own, but they wouldn’t let me because they wanted to help. If at any moment someone from our team is carrying trash, whether a trash bag or simple a gum wrapper, the kids will take it from us and throw it away. If we are standing around talking, within minutes the kids will bring chairs for us to sit on. The stories continue and we are constantly blown away by their serving hands. They are selfless in every aspect of the word, yet so full of joy. They worship and read the bible every day and even have church services by themselves, I mean what group of kids do that!? Their smiles are contagious, and their laughs are irresistible. Words cannot express the joy that comes to my heart when I see these kids walk home from school. Our team has fallen in love.
The kids live off twenty dollars a month for food. They get one new outfit every Christmas, and are in charge of washing it and taking care of it throughout the year. I recently had a conversation with the director of the orphanage and he said that the funding has slowed down to the point where he recently had to turn kids away because they couldn’t support them. He also informed me that he wants the kids to have a balanced diet, so they can perform well in school. His long term plan is to one day buy the plot of land across from the orphanage and build a Christian school. He also plans on growing a sustainable garden to provide for kids and cut costs. If you are at all interested in supporting one of these kids or supporting the ministry itself, please send an email to [email protected], and you will be connected further.
Jagadish (15) He is in 10th grade, he is fatherless and his mother went to another man. He came to the orphanage as a Hindu and is now a Christian.
Demunaidu (15) He is in 8th grade, His mother and father are very poor and very sick and were unable to take care of him and his sister Anjali. She is 11 and is in 5th grade.
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Shyam (14) He is fatherless and his mother lives in a village and is very poor. He came to the orphanage as a Hindu and came to know the Lord.
Chandu (14) His father was a pastor who died in a motorcycle accident, his mother was hopeless to raise him.
Eswar rao (14) He is studying in 7th grade, and he does not have any parents. He also was a Hindu and became a Christian at the orphanage.
Visweswar Rao (15) He is studying in 8th grade, he is fatherless and his mother left him when she married another man.
Balaji (12) He is studying in 6th grade. His parents were very poor, and were unable to raise him and his three siblings. He was a Hindu and became a Christian.
Daniel (12) He is in 6th grade. He has no parents, and had no one who would take care of him.
Rakesh (12) He is in 6th grade. He is motherless and his father is very sick and unable to take care of him.
Tharun (14) He is in 7th grade. He grew up in a fishing village, his Father was mentally retarded and his mother left him.
Devi (16) She is in 11th grade and has 2 sisters, Yasodha and Bhavani. Yasodha (11) is in 6th grade and Bhavani (10) is in 5th grade. They have no parents and the orphanage has provided food and shelter for them.
Jyothi (15) She is in 10th grade. She grew up in the fishing village, and her father was a Christian pastor and became very sick. Her mother was unable to raise her.
Pavani (14) She is in 9th grade and her sister Premakumari (12) is in 6th grade. Their father and mother were laborers and were unable to take care of them.
Lavanya (14) She is in 8th grade. She grew up in a tribal village, her father is a Christian pastor. Her mother was very sick with cancer, and could not take care of her.
Sruthi (14) She is in 8th grade. She is from the fishing villages. Her father married another woman and had two wives. The two wives were fighting over her and created an unsafe environment. She didn’t want to live in that house and the orphanage took her in.
Saraswathi (14) She is in 8th grade and from the tribal villages. Her mother didn’t treat her well, and there is no support from her father.
Ramalaxmi (14) She is in 8th grade. Her parents were very sick, and they wanted her to get married so they could have money. She did not want this and left. She is from the same village as Lavanya and Saraswati. Actually, Lavanya was the one who told the director of the orphanage about Ramalaxmi and Saraswathi. The director was thable to find and bring them to the orphanage.
Haritha (13) She is in 7th grade. She is from the fishing villages. Her mother and father are very poor and work as slaves for a rich family. They were unable to take care of her.
