Sunday

Today we traveled to church, which is held in the Sharansthan home. It was on the top floor and it was EXTREMELY HOT! Worship was awesome- everyone was on their knees and worshipping God with all their hearts. There were about 90 children and 20 adults. Some were mothers of the children and others were women from the redlight district in Nagpur- Ganga Janum. The message was going to be led by a pastor from Chennai but I missed it because I volunteered to do Sunday School. It was Sunday School for ALL AGES – 1- 12 years old boys and girls and there were about 50 of them. WOAH- I totally did not know what I was going to talk about- Noah? Jonah? Moses? I ended up speaking about How we are jars of clay and we have a treasure inside of us that belongs to God – 2 Corinthians 4:7 (thanks to Jason for telling me about this). I talked about treasure and how it can be jewels or something important to us… and how God gives each of us something special inside of us.. it was going well until I ran out of things to say…. Then we played duck duck goose but when you were chosen you had to say something you believe God gave you that is special and then Rebecca gave them paper and crayons and they had to draw themselves and draw something that is special inside of them- their treasure. It sounds calm.. but although most kids were calm and listening there were about 15 running around in the back all around.. and it was a little hard and turned chaotic in the end. Sharansthan is also where they live so they would just run into their rooms. The thing is there are about 60-70 children living there and the rooms must be so crowded. However it is still way better than living in the brothels and then being abused by their parents and random adults. It just made me feel so blessed. I have so much privacy, my own room, my own belongings, and so much more- I am so spoiled, These kids barely have anything to their name and they run around with such freedom… it made me think about all the times I am complaining about my situations, and even though the cultures are different and of course our experiences are different I need to remember that I am not of this world- worrying about things like latest fashion or electronic, etc and there are kids that own nothing not even the clothes on their backs… such a world we live in.

We did have an amazing lunch with paneer- my favorite!

After lunch Leela Aunty- director of the Home of Hope told us all about the Homes of Hope.  This dream and vision was given to Leela about making a place for the women to come and then slowly get to know God.  She started off having a clinic for the women in the district to be able to come and get medication for their illnesses such as HIV and TB and they would be able to receive the meds with prayer. That was how she planted the seeds within these ladies hearts. Soon they started the Home of Hope there which now holds over 60 girls and over 30 boys. The condition of this home is not the best, and there are more kids than there are beds, actually they sleep on cots that they roll out on the floor. These kids maybe have one item of clothing to themselves and the rest of the things they share. It is hard to house all these children, with more constantly coming. Easou and Leela do not say no to any child, which is amazing- because the conditions these children come from is far worse (living in the brothels and possibly either getting sold for sex trafficking or drug use). However, this home desperately needs new land, rooms, clothing and items for the children. Although it was so much fun to run around with the little children and laugh and play with them, I was so sad inside. I could not believe all the stories I had heard and then look at these children- over 50 % of them are now orphans, and just hope that they really come to understand the depth of God’s love for them.

They also started a day care there right across the street from the Home of Hope- this home of Hope is called Sharanstan- younger children under 12 and the other Home of Hope in Nagpur is called Karuna older children over 12. The women working in the brothels have children and so since they have no where to put the children, they often times drug the kids and stick them under the bed. So Leela opened a day care to offer a place for the sex workers to bring their children so they do not have to drug them… the kids have a place to learn how to read, write, learn about God, get fed, and receive love all FREE OF CHARGE! How amazing is that!

            Leela told us a story about a child named Pinky. She is about 11 years old and she had been brought to the Home of Hope by her mother. She seemed to have been a little slower than the other children and they realized she has some disability. She showed signs of trauma but that was also normal for most of the children they took in. The staff usually allows the mothers to see their children for holidays or they may be able to go spend a day or two with their mothers. So Pinky’s mother came and said she wants Pinky for the Holiday to spend time with her and so she took Pinky. Then after a few days she returned Pinky and Pinky was different. Pinky began to but herself with any pins or sharp objects she could find- she would even break bangles and cut herself with that. The staff tried hard to stop her or talk to her but she would just cry and cry. Leela tried to teach her other ways to express her anger until finally Leela said, if you are angry and you want to express it just come to me and yell at me, do not harm yourself. So one day Pinky came and yelled at Leela so much and then began to cry. They then went to get some ice cream, and after a little time Leela asked her to explain why she is angry. Pinky was crying and crying and finally said I wish you never sent me Home, I told you not to send me home and leela asked why! Pinky then said that lady is not my mother and she sends me to these places and these men do these things to me – and she described sexual abuse and this girl was only 11 years old. SO SO SAD! So Leela never sent her back… however when the lady came to try to get Pinky back they fought for her … and over some time that lady had come to know the Lord and helps Leela now- HOW AMAZING IS GOD!!!!! I saw Pinky and have come to see how far she has come.. she smiles a lot and expresses herself and she loves to learn and dance.. how amazing =)

            We then had a session with the older girls. I taught them a human video.. buts and pieces from things I had learned or done in the US, and so we went over the stories of the things we were acting out in the Human Video which was Adam and Eve, Moses and the Red Sea, The woman with the blood disease, Jesus healing scenes and his death and resurrection. It was awesome to go over the bible stories with the girls and begin our sessions with the Theme that Jesus is our Healer.
Then Michelle and I sat on the rooftop, had an awesome time of prayer, gave each other massages and starred at the beautiful stars in the sky.