And now abide in faith,
hope,
love,
these three;
but the greatest of these
is love.
-1 Corinthians 13:13
Cooperative Outreach of India (COI, for short) is an organization that embodies 1 Corinthians 13:13. They hear the call to love and they are answering that call with a mighty force. Their mission is to empower the most vulnerable and marginalized members in a slum community of New Delhi, India. Also, they help them work towards a life of value, assure access to education, and link them to resources. COI promotes justice, equality and dignity in the community. My heart behind this blog is to share a glimpse of this amazing organization with my home community, with the hope of prayer warriors and supporters coming in to help unify the church and enable our brothers and sisters in their Kingdom work.
My first interaction with COI came through one of it’s members, Ravi Landge, or as we call him, JoJo. JoJo and his family heard we were coming to New Delhi and immediately offered us a place to stay. As my team arrived in the city late in the night, we were able to rest easy knowing we had a place to stay and friends to meet. What we didn’t realize was JoJo and his family had moved out of their home and into their new place a few days earlier than planned, just so our team had a place to rest and live while we were here. JoJo handed us the keys to his home and with a few ground rules, like don’t burn the house down, JoJo left us to rest and enjoy a space of our own for the next week. This is just one example of this family’s generosity, and we experienced many, many more examples throughout the week.
The rest of the team at COI is just as amazing and loving. The founder of COI, Ramesh Landge, also JoJo’s father, welcomed us into his home multiple times throughout our week to feed us and make sure we were taken care of. Multiple different members of the organization willingly took us around the area to see their schools and women’s centers, so that we could witness firsthand what they’re doing as an organization. The passion and drive this team has to serve and love the community was so evident, y’all. They clearly love Jesus so much they can’t help but love like he does.
Genesis of Hope
In 2007, COI partnered with Compassion International to bring support to the children and families in the community. But this past February, the government of India banned Compassion from the country and over 145,000 children lost that support. With this new crisis sweeping over the local community, COI immediately stepped up and began building a solution. They developed a new sponsorship program called Genesis of Hope with the main goal being to help as many children as possible have access to their basic needs. These needs include physical, mental, spiritual and educational. When a child gains a supporter they receive access to medical care, nutritional care, skill development, and other areas of needs that arise within the child’s life.
Genesis of Hope is still growing and establishing itself within the community. But with the team of COI standing firm behind it, I am so eager to see the amazing impact it has on these children, their family, and the Kingdom. And this is where the cry for help from the Church comes in! Friends, this team is doing what we are all called to do. They are loving the least of these and laying themselves down to share the Good News of Jesus with everyone they meet. I’m so blown away by this organization and the people who are apart of it, and I can only hope to one day reflect Jesus as much as they do everyday in their lives. There are 250 kids in Genesis of Hope’s sponsorship program but only 50 of those kids have sponsors at this point. For only $1 a day we can help a child receive their everyday, basic needs. To sponsor a child, go to genesisofhope.org
This is also a call for my prayer warriors to step in and pray for this organization and this team. Please pray for strength and encouragement to surround this team. Pray Genesis of Hope finds its foothold in the community and it is immovable. Pray for 200 sponsors to step up and not just give but pray for their sponsor child. Furthermore, pray for the Church, for unity in mind and action for one goal.
There’s a lot more I want to share about my time with this organization and my experience with the community and the kids, but it’s too much for one blog! Please visit the links below for more information on Cooperative Outreach of India and Genesis of Hope, as well as an article further explaining what happened with Compassion International in India.
https://genesisofhope.reachapp.co/
http://coindia.org/
http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/march/compassion-international-leaving-india-child-sponsorship.html
Credit for this blog goes to my teammate Dakota for her brilliant writing and Liz for her beautiful photography.
Photography Copyright: EB Photography + Artistry
