we once again had no idea what we would be doing. My team was with Brooks and Dustin’s teams, so that has been fun. So we also had our squad leaders with us, which made twenty-two of us.
So when we arrive the leaders have a meeting with James who is our Indian contact. They get us all together and announce afterwards that they want us to pray into what we feel God wants us to do for our last month. I got a lot about helping the sick in some way, which is not unusual for me as I am a nurse and feel like I’m meant to use the gifts He has given. We talk about this after we all pray. Then the leaders announce that we will be planting a church. Everything from raising funds, to building the church, to preaching. I honestly wasn’t super excited when I heard this and didn’t feel like God told me I would be doing this. I heard church planting and my first thought was that means door to door evangelism. I did a lot of this in Africa and it isn’t my cup of tea. I was just like, “Alright God, give me a desire to do this and I’ll be on board.”
We all went to sleep that night and I was still trying to think of ways to do a medical clinic in whatever village we were church planting. The next morning a women named Theresa came to speak to us about some cultural things and a children’s home. Theresa was great. She is fast and loud and I could tell is a women who can get things done.
So she told us about Sarah’s Covenant Home (SCH). This is a home for mentally disabled or abandoned children. She told how Sarah, the owner of the home came to India first when she was 19 and had this dream to build a home for forgotten children. She told some other stories about the children and I just knew right away that I wanted to go there!
We had another meeting after this and we talked about splitting up, with some people going to the village and some staying and serving at SCH. To make a long story and scheduling nightmare short, Alex, Christy, and I from my team and Stephanie and Dawn from other teams ended up feeling called to SCH for the majority of our time here.
The first day everyone went to SCH to help do a cleaning project of the storage room. This was also operation rat and roach killing day as we disturbed many by moving things around. The kids loved everyone just being there and it was a great time to meet them too. I was excited that I got to come back here.
Our next day at SCH Theresa gave us a little orientation and we went and met and played with more kids. This children are so sweet, with such big smiles. 
They are normal kids in many ways. They laugh, fight, play, get jealous you are giving someone else more attention then you are giving them. They have many different disabilities. Their stories of how they arrived at SCH and what they have accomplished since are inspiring. There are children with Cerebral Palsy, Cystic Fibrosis, Primordial Dwarfism, Mental Retardation, Seizure disorders, and some are paralyzed.
One of my top ten days of the whole race was the first day we took some kids for ice cream. There were twenty-one adults and children in one rickshaw. We were all holding kids on our laps. It was crazy. I took two kids and we had so much fun. Once we arrived at the ice cream shop, I ordered ice cream for the kids. They loved it! At first it was too cold for them, but they got used to it.
We did other things during our days with the children too. We cut their nails, some people cut hair, taught teeth brushing, did health assessments, exercised their limbs, and just loved on them.
This great couple came to SCH while we were there. Kody and Katie met while on AIM mission trips and married. They had both served a couple months at SCH in the past and started a campaign to raise money for SCH. Share 11 is the name and it is designed to raise 1.1 million dollars by 11/11/11. They are asking people to donate 11 dollars and get 11 of your friends to do the same. If everyone that hears about Share 11 goes to the website and does this, raising 1.1 million for SCH will be easy. The children need your help. Go to www.share11.org and give 11 dollars today!
Your donation will go to the needs of the children and the home. Huggies and Pediasure are two of the largest expenses of SCH. The medicine that the children need are not cheap either. There is a 3/1 child to caregiver ratio. These women are Indian and are called Ayas and they help care for the children. A team of nurses, a guard, and a physical therapist are also on staff as well as some American women. All these people come together to help these children have the best life possible.
Going to www.share11.org not only allows you to donate, but also find out more and see photos of the days Kody and Katie are spending at SCH and look at these adorable kids. Even if you only get to see them in photos and not in person, I promise it is like looking into the face of Jesus. I see Jesus in these precious children.
Working with special needs children teaches us lessons that could never be learned any other way and God blesses us in the process. I thought of these two verses the most while working with these children. They became more true to me this month.
“Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to me.”Matt. 25:40
“And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9
