So What Are You Doing in India?

Here's a little more background information on a different part of this trip.Some people have asked us what we're going to India for. Hopefully this clears it up a little:

As we are transitioning from college into the real world where jobs await us, and we think about how we can best use our gifts and abilities to serve the Lord, we have found we are both particularly drawn to serving Him abroad. We both love working with children, and we feel called to share God’s love with His children around the world. That being said, we wanted to use some of our post-grad time to get our feet wet in the mission field. Through prayer, a little searching, and God’s guidance, we came across an organization called Helping Hands India. HHI began in 2001 when a pastor and his wife felt moved by the Lord to do something about the poverty in and around Bangalore, India. While they have some medical missions, a tribal ministry, and a church planting program, the primary focus of HHI is the New Hope for Children orphanages. Home base for HHI is in Bangalore, but there are three more children’s homes in surrounding cities and villages.

A substantial percentage of the population of India lives on less than $2 a day, and according to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. India has over 3 million children living on the street. 150 million children are working as bonded laborers, and there are 2 million commercial sex slaves between 5 and 15 years old in India. The need for God’s love in India is so vast, but we have an opportunity to make a small impact there this fall. Our hearts are just broken for the poverty and hopelessness among the people there. But our God is faithful! Helping Hands India is just one among the many vessels He is using to bring grace and healing to His children. 

We will be staying in Bangalore and working mainly with the orphanage there, although we will get to see and work a little with the other ministries as well. Some of the things we will be doing include tutoring, general first aid, leading worship and devotions, and just playing with the children. We're super excited! We've got a substantial goal of $6000 of support to raise, and it's hard because we won't even be home to track the progress of support-raising. But we have faith that the Lord will take care of us, and we have no choice but to trust; so trust we will. We won't be there until late August, so look for more information later this summer. Be praying for the people of Bangalore, for the ministry of Helping Hands India, and for us through our other travels as we mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepare for that portion of our journey.