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.

One step closer to figuring it all out...

Goodmorning! Goodmorning! Goodmorning!

First of all, a fun video to capture the audience: this was a fun moment from my recent trip to India... I'm currently making a real "trip" video (it's started but not done, so just hang tight - it will be coming soon!!) and this is just a sneak peek into the awesomeness. Forgive the unflattering opening shot!!

Okay onto the blog. It's Sunday morning (okay - it's 11:19, but it is still technically morning!) and life is good. I slept in this morning (I'll be at night church) and woke up to a quiet apartment and hot coffee ALREADY MADE! Just one of the million reasons I love my roomate - she always makes coffee in the morning and it's just "ready" when I roll out of bed :) I was catching up on friends blogs and remembered something I had been meaning to share, but just hadn't slowed down enough to actually write over the past month.

As every year passes, I learn more and more about myself - about what I know, about what I thought I knew that I actually don't, and about what things I want to make a point to learn in the near future. This year a big area of "question" and searching has revolved around prayer - it's purpose, it's functionality, it's mechanics. There are certain Christian "disciplines" that every Christian knows should be one of the "biggies" to always rely on. I'm talking about reading your Bible, praying, going to Church, and serving others. 1, 3, and 4 make a great deal of sense to me. But because of my logical (accountant!) personality - 2 has always been a very real struggle for me. I solve problems using logic, and logic to me is "cause and effect." When I do A, B will happen. When I read my Bible, I understand God's will for my life. When I go to Church, I will build a fellowship of likeminded believers to invest in. When I go on a mission trip and speak the gospel, people will understand what God has done for them and believe and be saved. But prayer - it goes like this - "When I pray, I will talk/think what's on my heart then I will just sit there and hope it did some good. Hope that God will miraculously do something out of my control to rectify whatever situation was on my heart this time around." It's like a big A with without a B. Because of this I have struggled to no end with the desire and drive to pray. I always feel like I'd rather get off my bum and go DO something that will make a difference. Talking to air just doesn't seem to be getting me anywhere.

BUT (and there's a big but) the Bible is SO adament about the power of prayer and it's integral purpose in God's plan. So where does that leave me? Should I just pray anyways even if I don't understand why? I don't think so. So I went on a "journey" to understand prayer and I want to share specifically what I discovered, and why prayer actually DOES "make sense".

So I'll try to keep it fairly brief, but here's the skinny: You've more than likely heard of the several "types" of prayers... Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Intercessory. Adoration, we're good on. Confession, more than good on. Thanksgiving, love it. I narrowed it down and realized it was intercessory that was tripping me up. How can my prayer inspire God's action? This raises several questions/red flags:

• If I pray, does God change his mind? Does God say, "Well, I was going to let Bobby Sue wreck her life, but since Cher prayed and asked me to intervene, I'm going to guide Bobby Sue in the right direction instead. Good thing Cher remembered to pray - that was a close one!"


• How does "free will" factor into this? If Bobby Sue is actively running AWAY from God, is God going to do anything for her just because Cheryl wants Him to? Doesn't God grant Bobby Sue the right to free will?


• Basically - Does God NEED my prayers? That seems to really belittle Him and his power. But then again, if he does'nt NEED me, why the HECK do I need to sit still and actually take the time to ASK God for these things?

But after much frustration and deliberation, it hit me. I am such a HUMAN! I think of everything in a cause/effect paradigm. God on the other hand, lives outside of that paradigm. For example, I have never doubted the value of going out and actively sharing the Gospel with a lost world. But I've also always believed that God doesn't NEED me to spread the Gospel - I am simply the tool he is using to get the job done. Because this involved me being active and "doing work" I didn't question it. But wait - isn't our prayer life the same way!? God doesn't NEED me to make a difference in Bobby Sue's life, but my prayer is the tool he has chosen to use to get there. Much like missions work, it is my privilidge to simply be a part of the work God is doing. In God's "world" he could do anything he wants, anytime he wants - he is omnipotent. But he has graciously chosen to allow me to participate, to offer my tools and time, to assist. Prayers, sharing the Gospel with a lost friend, it's all one in the same. It's God working under the hood, and me passing him a screwdriver. He could just breathe and make it happen, but instead he let me be a part of it - like a girl eager to help her dad out in the garage.

So my logic got me there afterall :) Anyways, I realize now the purpose of prayer and the impact it has not only on me spiritually (which I always could appreciate) but also on how it affects those around me. My prayers DO make a difference, because God uses them - whether he needs to or not!

Love y'all so much. It's thundering right now so I think I'm going to go sit on my porch for a while and just enjoy the mess outside. I'm glad I took the time to write this morning - I miss blogging!! p.s. Isn't my new layout awesome?? I fell in love with it when I saw it!

xoxo - Cher