MARK ANDERSON MINISTRIES

CARING FOR THE LEAST OF THESE -JULY 2009

Renuka Frank

In India Mark Anderson Ministries is very successfully reaching out to children living in the slums, orphans and destitute girls by showing them the love of Jesus.

Karishma Daycare Center has 30 girls in the age group of 5-11 years. All the girls are slum dwellers. We feed them everyday and give them basic education. When these girls turn 15 years they join the sewing school.

Karishma Sewing School runs 2 1/2 sessions each year. Each session has about 22 girls 15 years and older. Learning to sew has really helped the girls to earn a living without leaving their homes. The tailoring shops of the area know about the sewing school and regularly provide the girls with work. Since we began the sewing school about 700 girls have passed through it.

The Daycare Center and Sewing School have only Hindu girls, but sharing the love of Jesus with them through these outreaches has helped us build a very good relation with them and their parents. Often they share their problems with us and we pray for them and teach them to pray for themselves as well.

Karishma Girls Home currently has eight girls. Upon my return to India in the end of July four more girls are coming to live with us. Thereafter due to lack of space we cannot take in any more girls. We are trusting God for finances to complete the top floor. It has already been started. Some of the girls are orphans, some destitute and a couple just given up by their parents. Our youngest is 5 years and the oldest is 14 years. The girl’s attend school and are doing extremely well in school. They are at the top of their grades.

We have regular Bible studies with them. They love to sing and are part of the church choir. The girls were recently blessed with laptops by Shira Evan’s ministry. They love their laptops and the new world it has opened up to them. The older girls are being taught to cook and help out in the kitchen.

Once they graduate if a relative wants to take them home they are free to go. The orphans and those who stay back will go through college education and then Mark Anderson Ministries will find a way to settle them in life.

PLEASE CHECK OUT SHIRA EVAN’S (COMPUTER LABS FOR KIDS) RECENT TRIP TO WORK WITH OUR KARISHMA GIRLS HOME IN AGRA, INDIA (MARCH 2009): CLICK HERE

THANK YOU FOR MAKING ALL THIS POSSIBLE!!!

December 2007

Karishma Girl’s Home

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 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.

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.

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.