Ok here is the first blog about India. Im going to start by telling you about Dr. Sam Thomas and his work that his father started, but i want to tell you why he is persecuted, and why him and his father have to be on the run. India while it says the caste system is over, is still very much a caste system. The Dalhit people are the lowest of the low in that system. Dr. Thomas was telling us about what it means to be a dalhit and one of the stories he told us was in every town there is a well, a public well where people get their water. the dalhits are not allowed to drink from that well. so how do they get their water. there is a drain at the well for run off water that people spill as they fill their water jars. the water that spills in that drain is collected, that water is what the dalhit’s use as their water supply. The people hate them. the orphanages that dr thomas runs, most of the orphans are from the dahlit people group. He says its a two way street with the government on this. they dont want to take care of them, so when he says he will they grudgingly except because they dont want to. but they hate and dont like that dr thomas is educating them. Hope Givers the organization that dr. thomas runs also has schools, and the children who go to these schools are amazing and God is blessing the children who go there. the students are graduating with very high grades and are smarter then the upper class students. that is the problem the government has with him. the dalhit children are more qualified then there children. so that is why they want to kill him, because he is making the children of the dahlit have hope of a future. they dont like this. dr. thomas before we got there spent 39 days in prison, where they sent hit men to kill him, and put rats in his cell. when he came to the village, he told us that the entire reason was for the children, they want me dead because of the children. but should I give in and stop helping them because the government wants me to, even though they threaten me, i think not.
I tell you about this so you can see the situation this orphanage is in. and hopefully as i write about them you will be even more amazed by them and what the children are like, because of what they are faced with everyday, and what it means to these children to be in the orphanage. outside they are outcasts, told that they are worthless then a cow. not even really human. but in the orphanage, they are told the truth, that they have value and meaning, and that they are special, because God loves them, and Jesus died for them. and that God has a purpose for them when they grow up. Many of them want and do go to the Bible college that they have set up for them. One of the goals for Hope Givers, is that if any child from the orphanage wants to, they can go to the Bible college. They want to raise a million orphan missionary army, that will reach India for Christ. The children know what kind of life they will have if they do in fact become pastors and missionaries, they see it with dr thomas, but they still want to be a missionary because they love Jesus, and they want to serve Him. I was blown away by their love for Christ. they are dedicated believers who will someday change their country. please be in prayer for them as they have obvious needs as orphans, but also pray for them as God is preparing them for great things in India. Thank you for praying for me and the team and the orphans the past month, we felt the prayer and it was effective. i love you guys and i want to leave you with just a couple of the pics i got from the orphanage. as always stay classy planet earth.
in Him
paul
