Saturday, October 23, 2010

Home of Hope Orphanage Facing Shut Down

I am writing this post with a lot of emotion in my heart.

Many of you may remember that about a year and a half ago I had the great privilege to travel to Kerala, India with my friend Raju Samuel. While there, I spent a week loving on the sweet children of the “Home of Hope”, a Christian home for orphaned boys which has been the salvation both physically and spiritually to 20 precious boys for the last seven years.

Sweet boys - they just love being hugged!


Without “Home of Hope”, these kids would be on the street, fighting for survival in the slums, working in the rice fields, or trying to subsist on pennies a day doing common labor. But more important that all of this - these boys are being given the knowledge of the true God who loves them and can save them.

"Cheryl Auntie! Picture!" - Abue

But in a devastating turn of events - the Hindu government has decided that they have other plans for the orphanage.

Orphanage licensing regulations changed last year; they will no longer be allowed to rent the home for the boys. The Hindu government of India has decreed that all orphanages must have their own property and building or lose their license. In response to these governmental rulings Raju purchased land last year but there were no funds for a building. Now he must go before the officials in India and ask for an extension.


“I will promise them that we will begin construction by this December if they will allow us until next June (2011) to finish the building. It will be large enough to house fifty boys plus our staff and will cost around $106,000. But to get construction started we need $50,000.”


Friends - it is the reputation of our God that is at stake in India. The false religions are watching closely. Can the Lord of the Christians provide for His work, or does He need Shiva, Vishnu, one of the other three million Hindu gods, or Allah to bail Him out?


If this work fails, what will that say to the Hindus and Muslims of southern India? What will it do to the lives and faith of the precious children who live in the “Home of Hope”?

But God -and Raju- have a better plan than failure.

“We’re going to show them that our God is the true and living God,” he says. “God provided money to buy the property last year and I know He will provide money for a boys’ dormitory this year. We’re going to focus on putting at least one stone on that property by this December, 2010. We will let people know that we are not just talking; we are taking action.”

My dear friend, Raju

I wish I could introduce each and every one of you to Raju - I have NEVER in my life met a man quite like him. I don't know how else to say it except that when Raju prays, God answers LOUDLY. That being the case, I have NO doubt that God will be glorified and the orphanage will be saved, but it is through the faithfulness of the church that God's plans will be accomplished.

Please consider doing something to help save the orphanage:

  • Most importantly, please PRAY PRAY PRAY. A million dollars can't have the impact of a faithful prayer. Pray not only for the success of the orphanage, but pray that God might show you if you are being called to help.

  • If able, please consider giving money to help the building fund. There are sweet lives at stake here - lives I've encountered, little bodies I've held in my arms, little cheeks I've kissed. To imagine my sweet Abue back in poverty breaks my heart deeply.

  • Pass along this post to your friends - especially those with a heart for Christ and the means to help.

Raju has laid out the situation in much more detail in a newsletter I would LOVE to send to you - please let me know if I can send you the newsletter.

I love you all - please send me a facebook message or call me if you want more information.