I’m in India. Can you believe it?? I still can’t wrap my brain around it sometimes. I’m not sure what I expected India to be like, but it’s definitely not what I imagined. We’re living in Ongole, which is small rural town pretty far south in India. It’s even harder for me to believe that Christmas is less than 10 days away. There are nearly no signs of Christmas here, and there’s absolutely no threat of cold weather anytime soon. The holiday season could have probably come and gone without my realizing it if it wasn’t for 111 children I’ve met this month. My team, along with another team, are working at Sarah’s Covenant Home while in India. It’s an orphanage for special needs children, ranging from newborns all the way up to children in their twenties. After spending so much time with the children, day in and day out, we see how much the children don’t have and our hearts ache for them. With thoughts of Christmas in the back of our mind, we realized that we don’t have to miss out on Christmas just because we’re in India. Why not give these children a Christmas they’ll always remember …. and one that we’ll never forget?
When I say we, I am referring to not only us here in India but all of you out there reading my blog. We’re inviting you to join us in celebrating Christmas with the staff and children at the orphanage. After much consideration and prayer, our teams have decided that we want to help SCM and the kids by providing them with some items that would make a huge difference to their lives. This is where all of you come in. Being out here on the Race, funding is very tight and limited, so of course, we can’t do this alone. The orphanage has a wish list of items of special toys and educational materials for children with mental and physical disabilities that we’d like to help them purchase. In addition to filling as much of the wish list as possible, we’d also like to purchase a new outfit for every child. SCM heavily relies on donations for clothing, so to give each a child their own brand new outfit would be something so special for them. Back home, in the States, there are agencies and programs that assist with providing Christmas for orphans, but here in India, these children will just go without. We’re really wanting to give the orphanage a Christmas, and instead of hoping Santa shows up with this stuff, we’re relying on Jesus to answer our prayers for financial assistance. Here’s to showing India what CHRISTmas is all about!
Please consider making a donation and celebrating the holidays with us and all of these children. A dollar goes a long way here in India, so every single donation makes a huge difference, regardless of the amount. We have set up a pay-pal account, and your donations will go towards financing Christmas for these precious children. You can go to www.paypal.com to make a donation, by clicking "send payment" to [email protected]. Please include a note stating that this is for the orphans. Be assured that 100% of all donations will go towards the children. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email me at [email protected].
