A Need

Some of the sweetest times I have experienced so far in South Asia have been working with a local slum ministry. The directors have become incredible friends and mentors over the last few months, and I have fallen in love with they kids they welcome into their home each day. Each week, I am able to spend time teaching verses and lessons from the Word or praise songs to some of these children. I have been amazed and humbled by their prayers and faith that God will move.

That faith is on display right now. School starts again in just a few weeks, and the directors have no idea where the money for the children's schooling will come from. But they are trusting Him and stepping out in faith.

To hear it in their own words, here is a letter they recently wrote concerning the need.



About the slum kids:

Bangalore we have Slum children’s Ministry there are about 220 children, in this some are orphans and some are semi orphans (only one parent is alive). For some children though they have parents they are like orphans, only few children have parents.
All the children come to our house at 4.00p.m and stay till 8.30 p.m. During this time we tutor the children and help them in their home works and studies and they eat dinner. The children come in the morning for morning Devotion and then they study for some time and then they get ready and go to school.

When we first met these children they were not going to school at all and all the children aged from 8 to 10 years and above were addicted to drugs and alcohol. At that time we had heart for these Children. So we started with the Sunday school for them and after few weeks we started every day evening tutoring and then we put all the children in the school.

None of the parents are interested in sending the children to school because if the children grow little bit they can sent the children to work. The Girls can go for house work and the boys can go for the building labours and through this they end up with different bad habits. But we have encouraged about education to all the children and the parents and now we have all the children going to school some parents are supporting them.
For Slum Children Education:
Most of the children have no support at all for their education. If we help them then they will go to school every year if not they end up roaming in the slum and get along with many bad friends and start their old habits like smoking, alcohol, drugs stealing and so on.
Every year we have been relaying on our friends and well wishers to help these children in their schooling. This ministry is completely depending on God by faith.

This year 2010 March these kids were promoted and they are so excited to go to next class. We have 4 children who got 1st rank in their classes and majority have passed in 1st class.
In these 220 children we have 127 orphan and semi orphan children for them we have to help in their school fees, books, uniform etc. For other children we somehow encourage their parents to help the children go to school. Every year we struggle to raise money for these children schooling if not they will not go to school. Then their life will be miserable. Same way this year also we are praying for somebody to come forward to pay these children school fees. For each child it cost Rs 6,300 ($ 147 USD) for one year of schooling. This is one help which is in need very much because the children are starting the school on 24th May 2010.


It has been such a blessing for me to see God move as they pray in faith. I would love for you to join us in lifting this need before the Father and trusting Him to work in incredible ways. School starts in ten days. I have no idea how He will choose to move, but there is so much joy and peace in serving a big God who is more than able to meet all our needs (Philippians 4:19).

If you feel Him leading you to partner with this ministry, please let me know, or visit karunyaministries.wordpress.com.

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

The Groom

A few weeks ago, my teammate and I were invited to the wedding of a friend's cousin in her family's village. It was my first trip outside the city and my first wedding in this country.... so there were quite a few new experiences. A few of the highlights were helping to cook 20 kilos of biriyani, riding in a loory, drinking water from a coconut right off the tree, and sliding down the side of a mountain on purpose.

As fun as these experiences were, the wedding itself was a difficult event to attend, and would be even tougher to try to describe.

I was recently asked to share some of the things I'm learning on another blog, and this is my feeble attempt sum up the emotions and thoughts of that day....

Like most girls, I have spent countless hours dreaming about every little detail of my fairytale wedding. In all of my dreams and visions about this day, the only emotions I have felt are hopeful anticipation and blissful joy.
Despite my optimistic expectations, my perceptions of marriage were recently challenged. For the past four months, I have been serving in South Asia, and my ideas about love and marriage stand in direct opposition to many of my new friends’ mindsets. Many people here are in or awaiting arranged marriages. Most are lucky to spend any time with their spouse before the wedding day.

I attended my first wedding ceremony a few weeks ago (photo on right). My heart broke as I watched the sixteen-year old bride cry through each of the pre-wedding rituals. Her fear and stress were so tangible. She even vomited during the wedding ceremony. I found myself wishing she didn’t have to be getting married, but her duty to her family overshadowed any fear.

Instead of this fear and sense of responsibility, I wanted her to experience the joy and excitement I’ve seen on the faces of brides back at home. To know her husband’s heart intimately and look forward to serving the Lord together. To be thanking God for his providence in bringing the two of them together. To be looking at His incredible example for how to love selflessly. But she doesn’t know those thoughts and feelings.

As I shared this experience, a friend asked, “What do you think comes to mind when she hears ‘the bride of Christ’?” I was so struck by this thought and it continues to challenge me.

For the church, thinking about meeting our groom, Jesus Christ, leads to feelings of excitement and hope. He loves us more than we can comprehend, and we get to spend eternity praising Him in the place He has prepared for us. We will finally get to experience His glory and express our love for Him completely. As Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

But not everyone rejoices when they think about the end of their life. Instead, there is fear and dread. They do not know Him or what to expect. They question His goodness and wisdom. Their thoughts of Him are associated with duty and rules, not love and freedom.

Our sisters are familiar with the parable in Matthew 25, but it has taken on new meaning for me in the past few months. So many of my friends and neighbors are not ready to meet their groom. They feel just like the young girl who went before her new husband in such fear. Like the bridesmaids in the passage, those that aren’t ready are shut out entirely.

I felt so hopeless as I sat through that wedding ceremony. There was nothing I could do to make her feel better or take away her fear. But there is something we can do for those who aren’t ready to come face-to-face with Jesus. We can introduce them. Tell them what we know of Him and about our experiences with Him. Share about His love. His kindness. His goodness. His grace. And how to know His heart intimately.