Summer camp every day of the year!

Yesterday I had a talk with one of our girls. When she was 18 she left our home. She now wants to return. Her present guardian cannot understand this and asks her, “Why would you want to return to an orphanage?” Her reply, “Because it is not like an orphanage. It is like a family.” Last night I was reminded about the excellent quality of life we are able to provide to almost 100 orphans in India.

2 of our girls dance to "Your name is Higher!"

Growing up in our orphanage is like being at summer camp every day of the year. Though that sounds incredible there are also days when it is just normal. They are fed the Word in large doses constantly, eat better food than a lot of families and are involved in extracurricular activities that even children in the community are not.

Special songs by the boys

Because we all live together year round we have to be intentional about “stirring up the gifts” within our young people. We have started spending time with a few of our kids each weekend. This includes taking them out for ice cream, going to a public park to sit in the grass and yes, even a talent show.

These boys could not control themselves and danced during songs!

Last night we had a 3 hour “talent show” where the kids and students were able to use their “talents” for His glory. We found out some of the ones we thought were shy are not, and also some who we never knew were able can sing! There was a LOT of laughing, a ton of praise and even more joy as we worshipped together for His glory. People from the neighborhood were also drawn in by the great music, flashing stage lights (sometimes I think our motto might as well as “go big or go home!”) and uproar of laughter.

Our band for the night who accompanied the many solos.

Every day I am thankful that we have the privilege to care for “the least of these.”  We want to rescue and care for orphans in 1,000 India. I have enough faith to believe that is possible. What I have been amazed by is God’s provision of ideas, resources, volunteers and staff who allow us to not just care but provide the quality of life that I provide for my own children. When we love others as we love ourselves- THEN we impact lives for eternity and raise a generation that will one day leave…but will always be ready to return.

Thank you for making this possible.

Additionally, we presently need 15 students sponsors and 20 orphan sponsors this year.  Can you commit to giving $50 a month for either of these areas of ministry? Your support is changing lives. Literally. You can sign up online. www.crosspointofindia.org/how_to_give/

A song by one of the staff

Even the little ones participated.



We even had a rap song!

"Everything would be possible for you..."

"He replied: It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you." Matthew 17:20

It’s been a slow “rainy season” this year. The monsoon (a covering of rain clouds that literally moves in and covers the sky) moved in weeks ago, but we have not had the rain we are supposed to. Today the newspaper said the government is going to spend millions of Rupees giving “offerings” at the temple to appease the rain gods. Without sufficient monsoon rain the entire country can suffer from drought this next year. It is an issue that deserves our prayers.

Monsoon clouds over the neighborhood

This has not kept us from planting by faith! We love to take a step and do things even when circumstances around us advise otherwise. God has honored this many times in the past.

In 2000 we had a little faith and a little land and we broke the ground by faith to one day build an office there.

Construction in 2007

Today there is not just an office, but 2 amazing buildings that house almost the entire ministry! It took over 10 years, but He was faithful and (seriously) gave us 10x more than we imagined possible!

Completion in 2011

Thankfully our faith has increased a little bit over the years. As our faith grows so does the financial need.  As the financial need grows so must our garden. It is no surprise that tons of food are needed each year to feed the nearly 120 people we house year round. We are very thankful for the land God gave us nearly 8 years ago to assist with this need. This year we are growing more than we ever have before! All of the 24 acres are cleared and crops are planted!

 We have tomatoes, lentils, garbanzo beans, soybeans, chilies and several other things growing on the land right now. We have also hired local farmers to look after it. Praise God for a great wall that stands not only as an amazing testimony but also protects the food we have planted.

Would you pray with us for consistent and sufficient rain for India this year? Pray for a great harvest of grains and vegetable for our children as well. We hope to share about a poultry farm to produce chicken and eggs as well as a dairy starting within this next year….there’s that faith again!

"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6

Turning 32...

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A recent visitor shares her heart

Hello all!

R asked me to write a guest post about the time that I just spent at the orphanage with a team from my church.

Our team went to India to lead a week of VBS for the kids at the orphanage and some of the kids from the neighborhood in the month of May. It was absolutely wonderful! The kids (and team) had a great time and many life-changing decisions were made at the end of the week.

We chose to focus on the fruit of the Spirit for VBS this year. Each day we learned about the different fruit by studying different stories in the Word.

The kids loved getting to act out the stories as they were taught.

 
Each day the kids participated in a lesson and worship time, did a craft, played games, and learned a memory verse. At the end of the week, those who could say all 5 memory verses for the week were given a special prize and rewarded with a surprise trip to the circus!

Some of the girlscontribute to a handprint mural for A’s office.

This was my fourth trip to work with Crosspoint and every year it just gets better! It is extremely exciting to see how God is blessing the ministry and the growth that has happened in the past year:

·         Last year, I was able to participate in the dedication of the new ministry facilities. This year, the building is a fully furnished office space, with cubicles and new computers for all the staff. Before, all the staff was in one room, working on very outdated computers.

·         Construction on the land is continuing. The wall is completed (except in the areas that are still in dispute- please pray that this will be settled and the wall completed as planned). The next step is to begin putting in the sewage system and then construction can begin on the first block of cottages!

·         New children have come to stay at the home in the past year and the current children are continuing to do very well. Many of the children placed first in their class at school this year and all of them did very well on their final exams. One of the oldest girls just passed her 12^th standard exams and will soon begin college to study to be a teacher. (As a teacher-to-be myself, I am very excited about this).

This little one quickly stole the hearts of everyone on the team.

·         Finally, construction is beginning on a personal home for the P family. There is still a long way to go and they are still in need for provision to make this possible, but they are trusting that God will provide, as he always does.

Construction on the foundation of their home.

One exciting new activity that the girls on this trip were able to join R on was visiting a few of the Titus Women in their homes. These women are extremely generous and hospitable to welcome us into their homes and share with us about their lives and how being a part of Titus Women has blessed them. We were able to pray over these women’s needs and just share with them the love of their Father. Please pray for these women. Many are sick or have pain in their body (particularly in the heat of the summer) or their husbands are having a hard time providing. Their needs are great, but our God is greater and He can provide for them.

This post is getting very long, so I will wrap it up, but I want to leave you with a few ways that you can consider being involved with the work going on in Central India:

·         First and foremost, pray and then pray some more. Prayer is crucial to any work of God. Pray for the P family, pray for the children, the students, and the Titus women.

·         Give to one of the construction projects or other needs. Below is a post from R with some of their current needs. Consider giving to one of those needs. Consider giving to help the P family build their home.

·         Sponsor a child or a student. About 25 of the kids do not have sponsors, this is ridiculous (my own personal honesty). For $50 a month, you can insure that a child has food, clothes, a safe place to stay, education, and, most importantly, love and Godly instruction. I have been sponsoring a girl for more than 2 years now and it is the most rewarding thing I give my money to. In July, the Training Center will begin and those students will need sponsors as well. Again, it is only $50 a month to get them trained to bring the Good News to the furthest reaches of India.

Thank you for your time and for your interest and involvement with this ministry. They are doing a great work and I cannot wait to see all the ways that God blesses them in the coming year.

~L- (the fearless team leader of our VBS team from NC this year!)

A Time to Give...

Today my reason for blogging is simply to share with you some of our financial needs. I know, I know, I don’t like to bring it up (especially if it is a personal need) but it is a big part of what I do- being a voice between this side of the world and yours.  

I am often overwhelmed at the generosity of our donors and partners. People often tell me it is impossible to raise money the way we do, giving 100% to the work in India and sending out as little news as we do. (While I’m here, let me mention that we are sending out no more than 2 mailings a year to reduce those costs. THIS is the BEST place to hear the latest- or LIKE our Facebook page for almost daily updates!)
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We have some financial needs in the ministry and for our family. The easiest way to share them is to just say it, so here they are.

We have been working on the construction of our ministry campus for several years now. We are ready to put in a septic system and the proposed costs exceed what has already been donated for this purpose. This is the right season to build, but we don’t have the finances we need.

 The need is $25,000

Our directors, A & R, are building a home for their family. The bottom floor will solely be used for hosting teams, visitors, and volunteers. The rest will be used for their family of 5. The entire ministry is housed in owned buildings and it is their turn.

The need is $120,000

Tree plantation on the campus.

The need is $2500

Tractor Equipment

The need is:

• Cultivator: $600
• Plough $800
• Seeder $1200
• Leveling blade $350
• Tiller $1500

We have 25 children who are still unsponsored. This means that undesignated giving that could be used towards future needs goes into the daily running of the home. If all the children were sponsored, this area of the ministry would be self-supportive through that support.

The need is $50 a month for each child

 I hope you will consider how you can help, pray about it (but not for too long!) and share this with others. Are you part of a small group? Does your church support Crosspoint of India? How about your upcoming VBS offering? Let’s get creative and see what we can do!

Support can be sent designated for these projects or undesignated to be used where it is needed the most to:

Crosspoint of India

3714 Gailyn Dr.

Bartlett TN 38135-9444

Summer has arrived!

This year is moving by quickly!

Resurrection Sunday is always an amazing time to celebrate with Believers and unbelievers alike. Here are a few highlights from that day.

Sunrise service on the roof

Titus Women who came to the service

Our oldest came from for the summer, and we already put him to work translating!

The kids have finally completed all of their exams and are out of school for the summer. We have a team coming from NC to lead the VBS, we are already holding daily computer & English classes and possibly have some fun outings in the future! The weather is already nearing 115F and we still have a ways to go. Fortunately, they sleep through the hottest part of the day!

Day 2 (and group 3) of English & Computer classes!

On a personal note we have begun the construction of our personal home. This is an exciting stage and we are grateful for your prayers and support for this need.

Construction materials are piling up!

As India heats up, construction work on the campus is slowing down.  We are working on plans for the sewer system and tree plantation; 2 areas we hope to complete by the end of the year.

A. will be visiting the US in June for 2 weeks. He is looking forward to updating some of you personally and visiting a few places that we have not been able to visit as a family the past few visits. The rest of us will be back in India- working hard hosting a team and teaching classes and holding meetings.  Your prayers are always appreciated.

We appreciate your faith and willingness to walk this journey with us.

228 workers into the largest, unreached harvest field in the world

On March 10th the12th class from the Discipleship and Training Center graduated. Since 2000, we have sent out 228 workers into the largest, unreached harvest field in the world.

The Graduation Procession

Exactly a year ago this month our Indian Board of Directors decided that if we were not able to raise support for the Training School for the 2011-2012 year- it would be our last. I am not proud to say that, but we had successfully run the school for 11 years while digging deeper  and deeper in debt with each passing year. We did not have permanent debt since we were able to pay for the school from undesignated support, but it was eating up ALL of it and left nothing extra for us to use for other unsupported needs. Most of all, we were very discouraged. How can it be that the focus of our entire ministry is "planting" yet we had not been able to effectively communicate the great need of training up people to GO?!

Class of 2012

Everything was different in 2011! God sent 26 individuals to support this area of our ministry and it has opened a floodgate of other blessings that have overflowed from that. Student sponsors, thank you, thank you, thank you for your passion for the kingdom and this investment in this country.

A special dance from the Children's Home girls 

The Graduation ceremony was amazing. About 600 invited guests joined us for a time of encouraging, commissioning, worship and thanksgiving for the year that was over, and a lifetime of service that is beginning. It was a powerful service and  I wish that each of you could have been there.

The crowd, we fed them all!

Sunday morning our church, where the students had been attending the past 8 months, had a sendoff for the students. A. and I washed each of their feet as they bawled and hung onto us for a last time of prayer. It was a very emotional day and for me personally, and time of harvesting. To be able to see the fruit of our labor from this past year is amazing. These are not the same people who came to us with an application in hand 8 months ago. These are confident, spirit filled, young people will a vision ready to go and die for the sake of reaching their people. Can there be anything more powerful?

Feet washing

Monday morning they all packed their bags, with about 3 times as many things as they came with, and headed back to the villages they came from….where they will began to practice what they learned. Many of them will not be welcomed, some may be beaten and all of them will want to give up at some point.

Saying goodbyes

Our very own Kajol, who grew up in our home, also left with another one of the female students. With 2 sewing machine, 2 young women and 5 suitcases they piled into an auto rickshaw and headed to the bus stand. It is hard to part with your children, but this is what we have raised them to do.

Kajol at her sewing machine

Your financial gift into our ministry this year has not only transformed their lives and possibly even their entire village, but you have renewed my faith. You have encouraged me by your giving. You have reminded me that what we are doing is worth it, there are people who are passionate for the world and that we will never give up.

With certificates in hand...

Until the whole world hears...

Dedication prayer