They Need A Family!

We visited a second children’s home in Delhi one day near the end of our trip. We decided to take 22 of the kids (all from the one house we were at) to McDonalds. Apparently when asked what they wanted for Christmas, one little girl had said, "McDonalds please." So we got to make that Christmas wish come true! Anyways, I was riding in the car with this darling little boy in my lap (see picture on Facebook since I can't figure out how to do pictures here...) and he fell asleep. He was so sweet and so cuddly and without thinking I asked if I could keep him. The papa of the children’s home said, “Actually, he and his three older sisters are our only adoptable children right now.” I immediately wished I could actually bring him home. But it would be impractical for me to take him in while doing grad school and working many hours a week, let alone him and his three sisters! It wouldn’t be good for them. And they definitely can’t be separated! But they do need a home and a family. And the Indian people (even most of the Christians) do not believe in adoption. These orphanage fathers and mothers there are looked down upon because the people cannot grasp why someone would take care of someone else’s child. So if you feel like your family is missing three daughters and a son (about 10, 8, 6, and 4) I would love to connect you with this beautiful family. They are definitely some of the sweetest kids I’ve ever met, which is incredible considering what they’ve faced. 

These four are refugees from Nepal. Their abusive father died pretty soon after this sweet boy was born and their mom tried to keep them alive, but she died about two years ago. The oldest daughter had been running the home, taking care of her sick mother, and trying to protect and care for the other three. She had to be re-taught to be a child, but she has learned well. They are all sweet, responsible, and needing a stable family to love them forever. They of course have a history that will always be part of them, but they are all so miraculously open to new people and learning and being loved. Please let me know if you feel in your heart that you could adopt these beautiful children. I would love to connect you with the ones in charge of making that happen.

Always Learning, Always Growing

The past couple days God's really been challenging me in my prayers. I asked you all to pray for protection for my friends. And I still believe that is good and necessary. But God has been reminding me that safety isn't what we're called to. He sent His Son not into safety but into persecution and death. That's dangerous to the extreme! God is challenging my earthly perspective and asking me to have a heavenly one. As Mr. Beaver said when asked if Aslan was safe- "Safe?! Of course he's not safe! But he's good!" Our good God has been filling my heart with prayers for boldness. Every time I try to pray for safety, I find myself praying for courage, strength, and boldness. I find myself praying for these people to stand up for Jesus and preach truth. I ask you to join me in prayer for depth of faith, strength from God, and boldness to preach the Word no matter what. The Christians here are not praying for safety. They are praying for their people to know Jesus. Please join them in this prayer.

I know I still haven't written much about what we've done. But I've felt more led to share what God has been speaking to me for now. I want to share one way He spoke to me about this change of perspective. So we were at another children's home this weekend and we were hearing about how hard the government is making their work and their lives. And there was one thing I heard that I will never forget. It resonated with this prayer God is teaching me to pray. The orphanage father said this after telling us about their situation: "They want to put us in prison?! Let them put us in prison! We will bring change from the inside!" Amen!

Great Joy and Deep Sorrow

I don't know where to begin so for now I'll just share a desperate prayer request for my friends here in India. This is not something I realized before coming here, but recently Indian Christians have begun to be persecuted more pointedly. This is actually why our itinerary changed. The missionaries at the children's homes in Pune were not safe. So we came to a small town outside of Calcutta instead. But we soon realized that they were worried too. They were very cautious about taking us out in public because they didn't want to be questioned about who we were or why we were there. So on the one day that we went out, we asked our guide about it on the way home. She told us that a certain political party had become worried about all the Christians. They decided to look into why the number had risen from 2.3% to 8% in the past few years. Everyone was being questioned. And they discovered the pastors who preached the good news to be a huge problem. They also realized that the Christian children's homes were a problem for them. They were worried about all the conversions. So they began to persecute them. They also began to work on a new no conversion law. This law that they are writing pretty much says, "Even if someone comes to you and asks to receive God or be baptized, if you help them to do either, you will be arrested." In addition to this law, many Hindu men are kidnapping Christian women and marrying them so that they can try to force them to become Hindu. My heart is breaking for these people. I know Christians all over the world have experienced persecution and that breaks my heart. And India is not to the horrid place many areas of the world are. There is no murder yet. But now to see my sweet friends experience any persecution, it is horrible. 

The man who runs this home plants churches. One of the pastors he helped plant a church for has been told to stop preaching or they will hurt him. He kept preaching. He went on a trip and they came in and took his wife into the street and shaved her head and beat her badly in front of everyone. They told all the people how dangerous it is to be around her. And they made it illegal for this couple to receive certain things. My friends are in danger. Please pray! 

Now i will share their story. Joseph and Deborah run the children's home. Joseph inherited it from his father. When his father turned 18 he became a Christian and was thrown out of his family and left without a penny. God told him to move to the town we are in now. He moved here and got married. But he had no money and one day he realized he couldn't feed his first child that day. He cried out to God for help to feed his child or she would die. And God said, "you are worried only about feeding your one child, I am going to give you many children to feed." He replied, "God, if you will feed my child, I will feed all of yours that you send me." God fed his family and he started a children's home in his hut in 1990. Joseph took over a few years ago and his father died this year so it's just his and his wife's place now. It's no longer a hut. They currently have 167 sons and daughters. These children are amazing because their parents are amazing. I have never seen so many children who could be broken or damaged or still affected by the demon spirit that their parents prayed to, who are fully healed, filled with the joy of the Lord and His Spirit alone, and full of trust! It's so beautiful. So you see, I am asking you to pray for Christians throughout India and the world, but I am begging you to pray for my friends. Pray for protection for them so that that may continue to protect and raise up their children. Joseph wants to take in another 100 children this year. Pray for that to be possible. Pray for God's will to prevail in India. Pray against the devils stronghold in the worship of idols and the banyan tree. Pray that the percentage of Christians in India would only increase under this persecution, as it seems to always do. 

And if you feel that you want to help not just prayerfully, but in other ways please let me know!! Joseph's family has been praying and struggling to feed their kids for years and years and they only have one small supporter in america. They need so much help and support! So there are a couple things you could do. First, if any of you are interested in coming, I would love to help make it possible! They would love more teams of people, or even just a person. They've only once had a white Christian man come. So they would love any men who could come love their boys and play sports with them or do anything! Their boys need to be poured into! Second, I will be bringing home pictures and stories about a few kids who captured my heart. We are setting up a way to send money to them and have it be tax deductible so that if anyone would like to support these children it can be easy to do. The older ones would love pen pals and families or people who really care about investing in them! Third, you can support new projects. Joseph wants to buy a plot of land across the street so they can expand (they have 67 girls in five bedrooms right now) and build a school. For him the amount is outrageous but for us it is definitely doable. $14,000 for 3 acres of land. Lastly, I will be sending a huge package of clothing. If you'd like to help pay for shipping or if you have any dresses (knee length) that you would like to donate (please nothing that's not still nice!! I cannot tell you how many dresses I've seen safety pinned together at the top because the zipper is broken) for girls ages 4-18, let me know! The boys mostly wear uniforms but sweatshirts or running shoes would be great for them. They are also 4-18. Or if you'd like to contribute any fabric, the older children have their clothes made by a tailor, so I'll be sending that too! If you are interested in helping in any of these ways, please let me know! I'd love to make it possible or tell you more about it! 

I am back in New Delhi now with all the other white tourists. I will not see the truth of what's happening here. And I will be home soon and be even farther from it. Please pray that I do not forget these people or what they are experiencing. Please pray that I would have faith like them! And please pray for them. Thank you all on my behalf and on their behalf for letting me come. They have been greatly encouraged by our presence as only a few Christians have ever come to them because the journey is too hard and they are not in a nice place. I'll tell you more about the actual trip later, but for now this is what matters. 

Filled Up to Pour Out

Well, here it is. It's almost time to leave for India. I am so ready. We've had a slight change of plans in the itinerary recently, so we're going to a few different places. I am most excited to tell you that we will be spending a day or two at Mother Teresa's Home in Calcutta!!! Probably the place I have most wanted to go for the longest time. So that is very exciting for me. I can't wait! This trip is going to be different than I expected, but what's an adventure without a good bit of change? I'll be telling you all about it after (and hopefully a little bit during, when possible), but for now all I can say is that I'm excited to see what God has in store for us. We'll see how much internet I can get, but if you don't hear from me the whole time I'm gone, do not worry! You will hear SO many stories when I'm back!

God has gifted me with a wonderful time of preparation these past few days. I am getting to spend time with some wonderful cousins who have blessed me tremendously and filled me up with so much love. I've received an abundance of hugs and cuddling from the little ones. In fact, I'm currently hanging out with the one year old who has taken quite a bit of work to win over, but she is smiling at me, dancing with me, and giving some special cuddle time with her. I've also enjoyed some good conversation, sitting around the fire, and listening to my cousin play worship songs on the guitar and sing. These are some of the most life-giving things to me. I feel refreshed and encouraged going into this trip. I've also had much more time to sit and read my Bible and pray. In my head this weekend was just a little bit of extra fun time with some family I haven't seen enough recently, but God (of course) knew it would be a necessary time of preparation. I am so grateful! What a blessing this time has been!

Thank you so much for the prayers and the encouragement! I'll certainly continue to need the prayers with the very full days of helping out at many places in many ways! I will talk with you all when I'm home! Peace be with you!