God At Work

A few days ago, George’s family took us to visit a jungle in a national park over the weekend. Although it was a treat for us and they wanted to show us another side of India, it was as much a treat for them because George has not been able to take a weekend off like this since January for fear of something going wrong (they have recently become a government-certified children’s home). While we were away, people from the government came by for a surprise inspection of the children’s home. Several issues arose, and most of it wasn’t actually anything wrong, just nit-picky things to attack this particular children’s home because they are Christian. Be that as it may, these people still had the power to close down the children’s home for whatever reason they chose. They were threatening to take 6 of the kids away because they're not from this state and the living parents or guardians are too far away to get here. There was a very real possibility they would remove them from George's care within 48 hours. For some reason the inspector was also demanding that Helping Hands produce fresh signatures and letters from parents (although George already has that from when they were admitted to the children's home).

Another issue was the girls' room. George has known for some time that they really need more space (although they make do and get by), and it's been his ideal dream/goal to buy a plot of land and build a building big enough for everyone so they don't have to worry about space, sufficient area for play, or nasty landlords and grumpy neighbors (they are the probable reason for this surprise visit). In fact, George had a plot of land which he was planning on building on when they had raised enough money, but had to sell it a few months back to keep the children’s home running. Now, with a fundraising goal of over $200,000 since they have to buy a new plot of land, it seems it may be further than a few months away (a side note: if you feel led to contribute financially to this goal in any way, please contact me asap!).

All day Sunday we worked and prayed, trying to get files in order and do as much as we could before George’s council meeting on Monday. All we were asking was for 10 days to get any necessary paperwork and make any changes needed to the children’s home itself. But there was a very real possibility that he would return from the hearing without those 6 kids and a mandate to vacate the girls from the home. George actually heard from someone that the woman who had come to inspect them told another children’s home that New Hope was already closed. Staff fasted, prayed, and wept, and we were all so afraid of what might happen. Even the children fasted and prayed and went to school crying on Monday morning for fear of 6 of their brothers not being there when they returned. It was such a stressful time for all of us, but even in this time of darkness and fear, George still remained confident that God’s will would be done, that there was power in our prayers to make the devil flee, and that whatever happened, God would still be on His throne and taking care of them.

Tyler and I finally got a phone call around 3 in the afternoon on Monday. All George said was, “We won the game. We’re coming home.” We all gathered in the office to hear what had happened, and everyone wept tears of joy when George said that the woman who had been there on Saturday, making nasty accusations and aggressively questioning the staff, said very few words, and when she did speak, she was very polite. We praised the Lord when he told us that the man who was overseeing the hearing took one look at the children he had with him and the files he’d brought with him and said, “I don’t need to see anymore. These children are obviously cared for, and you may have your 10 days to get everything in order.” It was such a time of joy, but all the attention and praise was immediately pointed away from George and towards the Lord. He made it clear that it was only because of God's power, love, and grace that the inspectors had mercy and allowed for time to correct the things that needed attention. That evening we had a celebration to thank God and rejoice for His answer to prayer: we prayed, we sang, we laughed, and we all had dinner together. Here are some pictures from that celebration.

 

Everyone was so happy that we spent some time just hanging out and dancing.

More dancing

Crazy kids. They were just happy God answered prayers!

Love these girls. Also overjoyed with the work God did!

The group at the celebration

A presentation of a "congratulations" bouquet to George for his work and for God working through him

Presenting a card to Appa and Amma (George and Jyothi) that the kids had made

Celebration dinner!

Thanks for all your prayers on this issue, and please continue praying for these people. We still have a lot of work to do before the follow-up inspection. George and Jyothi are doing so much for the children here, and the Lord clearly has a purpose for what they are doing. We are feeling God leading us to be with these people more and more and fill whatever needs they have for us. Their suffering has turned into our suffering as we have grown to know and love these children in such a short amount of time.

We love you all! Thanks again for following, and for all your prayers and support.