It’s hard to believe that we have been in Bangalore for almost two weeks. Bangalore is one of the fastest growing cities in India. There are more Christians in this area than in the north so it has been a little different than where we were a couple weeks ago.
Honestly, it has been a hard couple of weeks due to a lot of sickness for me & my team. A nasty bug hit 3 of the 7 of us. Last Thursday I had way too many dates with the toilet between the hours of 6:30 and 11:30 am. I became dehydrated extremely fast because I was losing nutrients from both ends. We were able to go to the hospital & they put three containers of fluid into me as well as 3 injections of “anti-biotics” (I am not really sure what they were but they worked!)
Three days later I was back in the same boat of sickness but with the opposite problem due to taking 3 charcoal pills which I thought would help make me regular. Well…they do the opposite. Haha I spent the next 24 hours in a lot of pain chugging lots of water & ingesting lots of laxatives.
I share these things with you not to gross you out but to let you know the realities of the race. It’s definitely not all daisies & roses, nor is it comfortable a lot of times. The best word I can use to describe it is HUMBLING…
HOWEVER, it has totally been worth those rough days to experience the joy of these children & the incredible community here.
Our hosts, Morong & Sendmi, are two of the most hospitable people I have ever met. They have gone out of their way to make us feel at home here. One of the many examples is the gift of a water heater so that we can have warm bucket showers. They insist we use silverware over our hands, even though it is customary to eat with your hands. They & the children here have really become like family (and I don’t use that word with just anyone I meet). We have shared lots of laughs to the point of belly aches & sore cheeks.
Morong & Sendmi started Jireh Children Home about 10 years ago. Their trust in God despite their circumstances is what gets them through. They push for quality over quantity. They do this through educational & vocational training. Morong & Sendmi want these kids to experience the hope, love, & joy that can be found in a relationship with Jesus. However, they also know how important education is in order for these children to thrive. Their desire is for these kids to get an education & then go back to their families, if they have them, & provide for them. These kids are from single parent homes, are orphans, or are sent here to receive an education because their parents can’t afford it (many have 5-6 siblings).
School here is about 30,000 Rupees ($440 USD) just for admissions. That does not include school books or uniforms!!!!
Some of these kids leave their families at 9 years old & don’t see or talk to their families until they leave at the age of 18. It’s not because our hosts don’t allow them to. Sadly their families don’t have the means to pay for the technology to communicate with them.
There are 12 kids here at Jireh Children Home, 3 of which are our hosts’ children. They call each of us Auntie. Anna Beth is not really a name overseas because Beth is very hard for people to say. So I go by Auntie Anny. (Anny was the result of a typing error here in India & has just stuck) Check out my teammate Hillary’s blog to see a short bio & pic of each of the kids. 🙂
All of our programs & meetings take place on the roof of the children’s home, a common meeting place for the Indian culture. Our main ministry is kids club every evening with Jireh & other local children’s homes. This entails “singspiration” (Indian version of singing & dancing to Bible songs), acting out Bible stories, and game time. We spend our mornings doing anything from visiting an alcohol & drug rehab facility to painting to praying with Morong & Sendmi. We have spent so much time in prayer, bringing physical needs (prayer/meeting room, the kids education, food) & spiritual needs before Him.
