Abuse, sex, violence, drugs, poverty, and disease. These are just some of the normal parts of life of kids from the train station. It is not uncommon to find a girl pregnant at nine years old, or for a boy to be missing a leg from being run over by a train. The life of kids from the train station is rough. Most of the kids have either abandoned their family from abuse or have been abandoned by their families from neglect.
Howrah Train Station serves over 1 million passengers everyday. It is here that numerous children try to survive by pick-pocketing, begging, and selling whatever they can. They illegally use the trains to move around and to make a living.
The organization that I am working with (I can’t name it for security reasons) seeks out kids from the train station and invites them to their ministry house where they give the kids a shower, food, clothes, a safe environment to play and an opportunity to learn about Jesus through worship songs and Bible stories.
It has been interesting to work with the children, boys from 8 to 18. They have very short tempers
and regularly get in fights with one another. They have never had love and affection displayed to them before and it is obvious that they are learning for the first time. It is like learning a foreign language to them. And the best way to learn is total immersion. That is what the organization is working towards. They are going through the legal process to be able to have some of the kids stay at the house 24/7 instead of just coming during the day.
I have had the privilege to assist in this ministry by playing with the boys and encouraging the staff. I continue to learn how big the hearts are of staff who tirelessly love on kids who can be so out of control and demanding. I continue to learn how many kids around the world are orphans and never receive something as simple as love. And I continue to learn that a world without love is a world without hope.
