Hey Family,
Hope you are doing well, and I pray that this letter finds you in all the goodness of God. Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these’. We have a great opportunity at hand to impact 100’s of children who need your help. It’s sad but the world is still devastated as a result of COVID and is in great need. The poverty in the community where our children’s home in located is excessive. Demands are high, supply is low and inflation has skyrocketed. Looks like it would take a long time before middle-class and lower-class families can get back to being self-sufficient. As we reached out to people, their biggest concern was their children’s education. They haven’t sent their children to school for 6 months & now due to the lack of finances & no jobs they are unable to afford education as they are hardly able to meet basic necessities and many face eviction from their homes.
After praying for this need for weeks we gave the families a small 5-day window to register their children at our school (from Pre-k to 8th grade). In just a week we had 243 children register to go to our school. Including our children home kiddos, we have a total of 367 children who will receive a Bible-based education in English at our school at no cost.
Isn’t our God awesome!!!! Even when it seems like the enemy is crushing us down and closing doors on every side. God has opened a wider door to touch precious little lives. God’s ways are greater than what we can think or imagine. Now we get to share the love of Jesus, give hope and to be a light in 100’s of homes. I have been sharing an encouraging word by video every week which is heard in these homes. It reassures that there is hope even after a disaster. We have heard men say, “I have had more panic attacks this year than in my entire life combined”. Even before Covid-19, India had the highest suicide rate in South-east Asia and now with the growing anxiety & uncertainty the suicide rate is higher than it’s ever been.
Our blessed rice project has committed to provide food for 300+ families every month and we desire to continue to help feed these families. The prayer we pray, ‘give us this day our daily bread’ will not be fulfilled for most of these people if it were not for you. Thank you for being faithful and so generous. We have heard many testimonies from our community. They say the only food that is left in their home was the rice & supplies we gave. A family who received our supplies was affected by COVID-19 and they said without the ‘Blessed Rice’ their family would have starved to death in the 14 days of quarantine. He said, ‘no other human came to help us, but you helped. Thank you for that!’.
We need you help again to buy rice and vegetables for these families. It costs us $20 to buy food for 2 weeks to feed a hungry family. We have 325 families that we would like to support during this time. Requesting you to prayerfully consider supporting these families through your donations.
Praise Report - A few weeks ago one of our friends blessed us with a donation that helped us buy books and school supplies for all our children home kiddos and for some of our day-scholars.
We still need of school supplies for 150 children who are enrolled in our school. Your gift of $8 will enable us buy books and notebooks for 1 child. I request you to take this opportunity which could bring a big change in a child’s life. Thank you for your love, generosity and for creating a way to show the love of Jesus.
I believe with my whole heart that God is about to something big in the lives of these 243 children and their families this year. This is a big opportunity for us to do the great commandment “Love God and love our neighbours”
“Song Time” & “Story Time” UPDATE - I am so sorry for not following up with the friends who came forward to help us with “Song Time” & “Story Time”. We are on the 4th week of school and I have been remotely engaged with the teachers and students every day of the week and have not been able to connect with you. I will connect with you from tomorrow onwards and we can work out a schedule and a way to get the videos from you.
I am so glad that we as friends and family together get to make a big impact in the lives of our children at the children home and the world around us.
Requesting you to please hold the nation of India, our children’s homes, our branch pastors, staff and our school in your prayers.
Thank you! And we love you so much!
Have a blessed week!
Judith Siddharth