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Crosspoint of India

Titus Women


 

Happy Christmas from India!

Christmas 2011

This year is winding down, but our longest season of the year is just beginning. We are preparing to welcome a team of 20 into our home and family this week. They will be with us until the New Year. It is a very exciting time as we share the Good News locally to friends and neighbours we have been developing relationships with all year long.

You bought her Christmas gift!

We do want to take a moment and thank you for your hands. Hands that reach into your pockets and give when we have a need. Hands that join in ours for prayer when we need it. Hands that are always open and hold us tight when we come for a visit. What would we do without this part of the Body?

We are also thankful for your feet. Feet that go. We have been so blessed to have so many of you visit us in our country. You have come to our humble home, giving us a chance to serve you for a moment. You are the feet that carry the Message from another land. Feet that remove your sandals and walk into the homes of the outcast and forgotten- the people of India. We thank God for the Feet in the Body of Christ.



Young and old celebrate together!

We love you so much. You are our back bone- and I don’t say this lightly! Just this month (Dec. 1^st) I have undergone back surgery to relieve a pinched nerve I had in my leg. It has kept me from being able to do my work the past few months and I am thankful to be pain free and well again. God has given me an amazing team of people who have completed my long list of things to do, rubbed my feet when they hurt, washed my dishes and cleaned my house and buttoned my 4-year old’s shirt when he can’t. We have an amazing team of people on both sides of the world and we could never do this without you. It is God who makes it grow, but you are the backbone that keeps us standing tall in the face of difficulties, tragedy and pain.

We love you and we want to wish you a wonderful holiday season as we worship the King of Kings and the Prince of Peace.

Happy Christmas!

From the entire family, staff, children, students and church in India!

Bamboo stars, made by our Titus Women, hang on a tree in the US. Over 40 people bought stars this year to support our Orphans Christmas- while celebrating a world away. Thank you.

Opportunity to Give #5

One of my greatest Christmas memories was taking down the stocking each Christmas morning. Maybe it was the candy in it and maybe it was because there was 13 of them hanging on the shelf in our living room each year! We always said the stockings were our favorite. Maybe it really is the little things in life that mean the most…

As the kids in our orphanage get older they are beginning to notice the difference between Vaseline and lotion, shampoo and a bar of soap for hair and the importance of acne products. Every month we by a burlap bag full of toiletries, oil for their hair, soap and all the other things you need when you have over 30 girls. We buy large bottles and everyone gets a little when they need it. It is the most efficient and fair. However, the kids often voice their desire to have their own little bottle of shampoo. Until now we have not given in!

This Christmas, we know that offering this small gift to them would mean the world to them. We don’t want to make stockings since they are useless the rest of the year, but want to give each child a small box to keep their OWN things in. In this box we will give them each:

·         Bottle of shampoo

·         Bottle of lotion

·         Hair oil

·         Acne soap (age appropriate)

·         Hair comb

·         Toothpaste

·         Toothbrush

For example purposes only, the plastic boxes have already been ordered!

Additionally, we would like to include a special hair clip, braclet or special accessory for each child.

We are so excited about this gift! We know they will love it because it is personal, has been a request in the past and we have never done it before!

We want to give one to EACH child. Can you help?

Need: 90 children @ $10 per box with toiletries = $900

Your help in purchasing these gifts would be a blessing - but we need your quick response. Christmas is just a month away and there is so much shopping to be done! 

Thank you for giving so generously this month as we have shared need after need. We love you.
Happy Holidays friends!

 

Opportunity to give #4

Thank you for your generosity for the children in India this month and throughout the year! We are so thankful for your partnership that fuels the work in India. We labor hard for the kingdom and you give whatever you can- thank you.

So far month we have seen individuals, dance classes, youth groups, churches and families give for the work in India. We still have many needs and ask you to continue to read these updates and pray about what you can give- or who you can share this with.

The newspaper this week reported that this is the coldest November on record in central India. We can tell! This morning I woke up and opened our front door. A damp fog (or is it the Diwali pollution?) was in the air and I could see my neighbor who was up early. He was wearing a lungi (a men’s wrap around skirt), wool shawl, knit hat and flip- flops. Of course we all look wonderful first thing in the morning, but I was reminded that we just are not prepared for cool weather around here. After all, it only happens about 6 weeks out of the year and people do not have the space or money for “winter clothes.”

Our kids will also continue to wear their shorts and flip-flops throughout the winter, but a sweater or shawl makes it much more bearable. We are thankful to Crossroads Worldwide who is buying sweaters for our children for Christmas this year. This will keep them warm all day.

Sweaters are worn all day long!

It is time for us to buy some new blankets so we can keep them warm at night too! Some of the blankets are still around from last year. We need to purchase 30 more. Can you give $10 so we can buy a wool blanket for our kids this winter?

Need: Wool Blankets 30 x $10 = $300.

This is a need that we would love see donated today- after all, we will need these blankets as soon as possible!

In 2008 our kids only had blankets, nothing else. We are so thankful for the beds and mattresses for them.
Let's get some warm blankets too!

As the weather cools the kids skin gets cracked and itchy. Their solution- rub down with Vaseline or coconut oil! Interested in seeing our ideas for stocking stuffers this year? Come back tomorrow for the next need- and post!

 Send Support to:

Crosspoint of India

3714 Gailyn Dr.

Bartlett TN 38135-9444Please designate for Orphans Christmas

You can also give an undesignated gift online at www.crosspointofindia.org

All gifts are tax-deductible.

 

 

Opportunity to give #3

Thank you for your response to our shared needs this month!

If you follow our Crosspoint of India page on Facebook you have been able to see an update of our planting and crops on the land this year.  Recently we planted hundreds of  orange and date palm trees. We also have crops of tomato, garbanzo and green beans growing right now! This is all very exciting and are so blessed to see the ground yield a harvest while we wait to make it a home for 1,000 orphans.

Planting date palms

With the trees planted along the proposed roads, we are now ready to install an irrigation system to allow them to grow well and yield the most fruit in the future.  This is very important since we received rain just 2 months out of the whole year! We have already begun a sample of the system we will need..

Date Palms along the entrance road to the main compound

Need: Irrigation for trees and crops. $5,000

We have been blessed with almost every piece of equipment we need to farm well. We are still in need of a Rotovator, which is a mulcher.  This will allow us to till the ground deeper and turn left over weeds and harvested materials back into the soil.

Our tractor and some equipment

Need: Rotovator  $5,000

Image may vary, I will need to ask them men!

 

Send Support to Crosspoint of India: 3714 Gailyn Dr. Bartlett TN 38135-9444
Please designate for Land Development

 

You can also give an undesignated gift online at www.crosspointofindia.org

Opportunity to give #2

When we moved into our brand new facility in 2007 we felt like we have so much extra room to grow. It did not take long before we were again outgrowing our space. Great need in our area means that we will never have too much space. We stay maxed out and then are unable to grow further. We are feeling these pains now as we house over 40 active boys in 1500 square feet. Even our new girl’s house and new college girls dorm are full and overflowing. We don’t see this as an issue…until winter comes.

In the heat of the summer the children argue to sleep on the cool tile floors. They remain cool to the touch throughout the days and nights and are a great relief to the intense heat. As winter arrives it becomes a very different situation.

Presently we have 13 bunk beds for our boys. That means 26 beds to sleep. Of course they double up and adjust, but every night 10+ boys end up on the floor with a sheet or a mat to sleep on. In the winter this is just too cold for their thin bodies and they begin sleeping 3-4 on a bed so no one has to be cold.

The beds already in the boys home

It was always our hope to provide each of our children with their own bed. For children who have slept on streets and most likely will never have their own bedroom, even in the future, we feel it is a 6’x3’ space that they can feel is theirs and strive to keep clean and well kept.  Many do.

It has been 6 years since we bought the first bunk beds and the cotton mattresses we purchased for them. Of course they are worn thin with 4 boys sleeping on them each night. They also mold through the rainy season and need to be replaced. We began purchasing mattresses a few months back and some of them are already in use!

A thin sagging mattress

We have recently purchased 10 new bunk beds as well. We have not been able to make this payment yet, as well as need the plywood and mattress for these 20 (2 per bed) beds.

New mattresses already being used!

The bunk beds are $350 each (including plywood and mattress)

We need 10 - $3500

We need 20 additional mattresses for the children sleeping on the floor- 20 @ $75 = $1500



Brand new bunk waiting for a mattress

This need is $5,000. Can you help?

Crossroads Worldwide is partnering with us this Christmas to provide new sheets and blankets for the children!

Send Support to Crosspoint of India: 3714 Gailyn Dr. Bartlett TN 38135-9444
Please designate for Orphans Christmas.

Opportunity to give #1!

    Every morning in the girls dorm the caretakers cell phone alarm goes off at 5am. There is no heat or coffee pot to warm up the bodies of the 30+ girls as their bare feet hit the floor. They run to share their 6 bathrooms and dress in a hurry. They all must be out the door in 30 minutes. The oldest girl is over 20 and the youngest just 4. They are all required to get ready and go for morning devotion. Sleepy eyed, they grab their Bibles and head out the gate to walk a block to the common room where over 100 people meet every morning to worship, read God's word and prayer before they start their day. As they pile into the small room they find their place on the rug and place the Bible on the floor beside them.

Each child that can read has been given a Bible. They carry them through the darkness to the prayer hall each morning and night. During they day they are stacked up on the only shelf they have in the dorm. Although great care and respect is given to the Bible, the wear and tear on the well used book is evident. Many are falling apart and ripping at the seams. This is one thing we love to see well used.



Well used Bibles

In the past we have given our children Bible covers donated and carried from the US by generous teams who bring them. They often have zippers and many have broken- simply from all the use.
As our numbers grow we can no longer bring things from the US for the children. For it to last more than a few months, the children need covers for their special book .

This year we are teaching our Titus Women how to make a simple Bible cover. Each will have no zipper to wear out, handles to carry them, a ribbon or rope to tie it closed, and fabric to protect the cover and spine.

Handmade Bible Covers

We would like to make one for every child and student for Christmas. That is over 100 needed. We will be purchasing the covers from our Titus Women! When you purchase a cover for a child or student you will also be supporting one of our women and her family.

One of the Titus Women with her family

The Need- 100 Bible Covers @ $8 = $800- deadline, November 15th.

If you would like to give a gift in honor of a family member of friend for Christmas please send us an email at: amolpawar@crosspointofindia.org