THANK YOU FOR MAKING ALL THIS POSSIBLE!!!
December 2007
Karishma Girl’s Home
Karishma Girls Home in Agra has started with 3 girls. Renuka and Arnica Bryant have been very busy furnishing it with furniture, bedding, and utensils. We will be adding a fourth girl soon as well. We thank all of you who have stood by this project financially and prayerfully. It is a joy to see little girls given love, and a new lease on life.
Mona, whose father is no longer alive, is four years old. Her mother works as a domestic servant earning a very meager income. Her employers would not permit her to bring Mona to work, so she had to leave Mona, who was even younger at that time, by herself, locked up in the shanty until she returned.
Akansha and Suman are sisters. Their father, a laborer, had an accident and is no longer able to work. Their mother, who earns only fifty cents a day, is trying to take care of the father and the family. Most of the money is spent on the father’s treatment and the older son. The two little girls are completely neglected.
Today our three precious girls are treated with love and respect. They have been bought clothes and shoes and given toys. My mother says that they are very possessive of their toys and shoes as they have never owned such things before. They are eating very well. Prior to arriving at the girls home they received just one small meal a day, not even enough to fill their stomachs. Thanks to all of you, who through your generosity have given these children their best Christmas ever. If you would like to sponsor one of these girls, or support the home, we would be very grateful for whatever you can do.
The daycare and sewing school are flourishing. Many young women and children are given fresh hope through these outreaches. Our only desire is to love them with the love of Jesus and help them make a better life for themselves. Many parents and young girls have given their hearts to Jesus as a result of these outreaches.
We would like to introduce you to Arnica Bryant, a professional photographer from Jackson, Wyoming, who worked with the evangelistic team in Moradabad and has been helping Renuka since we left India. Please visit her website: www.arnicaspring.com and see the wonderful photos she has taken of her trip to India. You will need to go to the link BLOG and then MINISTRY EFFORTS to see these photos. It will definitely give you a feel for the work we are doing to reach the unreached of India.
INCLUDING OUR MOST RECENT TRIP, APPROXIMATELY 105,800 PEOPLE HAVE TURNED TO CHRIST THROUGH OUR EVANGELISTIC CAMPAIGNS TO INDIA. We could not have accomplished this without you, our partners. The harvest is accelerating in India and we need your continued prayers and support to reap it.
Your ongoing support is crucial in helping us reach the unreached. We have four trips planned for overseas in 2008. Pre-campaign work will be underway for some of these outreaches starting in January. For those who would like to help us with one last tax-deductible donation for the 2007 tax year we will need those donations postmarked no later than December 31, 2007. God bless you to keep being the blessing you already are to us, and so many others.
OUTREACHES TO WOMEN AND GIRLS IN INDIA
By
Sharmila Anderson
I still
remember the day in 1998, when I took my three-month old daughter,
Charisma to India for the first time. I was filled with joy at the
thought of bringing her to my country. At the airport, moments after
we had arrived a security lady asked me if Charisma was my first
child, to which I proudly answered in the affirmative. She looked at
me with pity and said that maybe the next time I would be fortunate
enough to have a son! Anger and pain filled me, though I really
should not have been surprised as this is the usual response
mother’s with girls and girls get in India.
I began to cry out to the Lord to change this, to make the life
of the women and girl children better in India. He began to speak to
me that I should do something about it. Pretty soon He had told me
that I would start an orphanage and other ministries to women in
India. Looking at my own ability I felt like Gideon, incompetent and
helpless. The Lord unmistakable spoke to me from Zechariah 4:10,
“Who has despised the day of small beginnings.” It was a small
beginning when I took that small step and began sponsoring one girl.
As others heard about this vision they came on board and more little
girls began to be sponsored through our ministry.
Soon we started Karishma Daycare where we cared for 65
children (mostly girls) who live in the slums of Agra. The ministry
to women began to mushroom as well. Our workers started a sewing
school in the slums of Agra, which is based out of Revival
Church. By now probably over 500 girls have been trained and
have been provided employment because of this outreach entirely
supported by the friends and partners of this ministry.
On our recent trip to India I visited the Sewing School where
quite a few women shared the positive way this outreach has shaped
their lives. Basically all of them said that the trade this sewing
school has given them has permitted them to achieve a level of
independence they could never imagine. They are now able to
contribute financially in their home, which gives them a measure of
security in a society driven by greed for money. I guess you had to
be there to really comprehend the positive way their lives are
changed.
The Karishma Home for Girls looks beautiful. We had the
honor of dedicating it on November 12th. There we will be
opening our second daycare and sewing school. Apart from that
my mother also plans on running a little school where she will teach
English free of charge. (English is a commonly used language in
India, though the poorer people do not have the finances to learn
it). This home will be an outreach center and any women in distress
will be helped out. We will also plant a church once the Home opens.
The church will be meeting in the Girls Home. Charles Clarence will
be the Pastor.
The construction should be completed by February. I am so
grateful to all of you who have stood by our side, even when it
seemed nothing was happening. Your encouragement, prayers and
financial support have made this vision a reality. Thank you!
FORSAKEN; BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!
India
is a country 1/3rd the size of the USA with a population exceeding 1
billion people. Majority of the people live in extreme poverty. The
hapless Indians bow down to a multitude of gods hoping to find
redress from their fear and hopelessness as they try to appease the
idols in vain. They worship the cow, monkey, snake, elephant, rats
etc. In a large strata of society these animals are given
preeminence over human beings, especially girls, women and the
Dalits.
In India, amongst Hindus the birth of a girl is often viewed as a
curse while the birth of a boy is heralded with much celebration.
One of the reasons is because of the dowry system that holds
majority of the Hindus in bondage. Dowry is a huge financial
undertaking for the bride’s parents, as they have to buy their
daughter a husband. Often the girls parents will promise the
groom and his parents financial amounts that they cannot possibly
meet, just to get their daughter married. They do this because an
unmarried woman is viewed as cursed and every woman’s destiny is
fulfilled only in marriage. Only too often a young bride is set
ablaze and burnt to death by her husband and in-laws because her
parents were unable to pay the dowry. This act of murder is
performed at home behind closed doors and is passed off as a kitchen
accident. (In India kerosene is used as fuel for cooking). The
girl’s parents are usually indifferent to her fate, as they believe
it was her destiny to die at the hands of her husband. The police
and justice department do nothing, as no one ever reports these
homicides. It has come to be accepted as a way of life. The women
have no option but to succumb to the domination of her husband and
in-laws, because often they are not qualified to be in the work
force and support themselves.
How do I know this is true and is happening today? I was born and
raised in India. A friend of mine was murdered this way. Nothing was
ever done for her! Her life meant nothing to her parents, husband or
anyone. With tears in my eyes I write that she meant something to
Jesus who died for her, but she never knew that she was of value to
anyone!!!! Dowry burnings take place all over India on a daily
basis.
Women on the
whole are considered inferior to men. Newborn baby girls are
abandoned right after birth in garbage dumps. Why? Because the baby
is a girl! How do I know this? My mother has picked up babies from
the garbage. She has scoured the filth to save a soul. Today a
number of people work for her scouring the dumps in Agra, searching
for precious lives abandoned because of the evil of this religion.
Some are murdered by their parents and buried in their back yard.
People have unfortunately come up with very creative ways of
disposing off their little baby girls. Some little girls who get to
live are never really treated like their brothers would be. They are
often deprived of food, shoes and education. First the boy’s needs
are met, and then if any is left over the girl is tended too. Only
too often, nothing is left over. Her parents may well sell a little
girl to a man 60+ years for money.
The clippings on female infanticide
appeared in one newspaper in the town of Patiala on one day alone.
It grieves me to think of how many more baby girls are murdered or
abandoned everyday without any remorse or guilt by those who perform
these heinous acts.
Why am I writing these horrendous facts of life in India to you?
Because God is good and through these dismal and grievous
circumstances He has given us platform to reach out to these hurting
women. Mark Anderson Ministries and our partners run a Sewing School
in Agra, India where women are taught to sew and can make a living
sewing if things get hard for them. We have received wonderful
testimonies of how this skill has changed the lives of these girls.
We also run a daycare where 65+ girls attend from the slums. Here
they are fed clothed, educated and given medical attention. Recently
we were able to purchase land to construct Karishma orphanage in
Agra. This orphanage will house 30-35 girls.
There was a time when I struggled with sharing the plight of the
women in India and brought it to the Lord, hoping He would spare me
the pain of talking about it. He however spoke to me saying,
“They have been forgotten by their own! Will you forget them too? I
will never forsake them!” These words have shaped my resolve
that I will never forget them; I will do all I can to bring
awareness to their plight and do my part in trying to change it.
