“A longing fulfilled is a tree of life…” Prov. 13:12

We began fundraising for a tractor back in 2006. It may not seem like a very big need, but we were plowing our 24 acres of land with a bullock cart and wooden plow and were dreaming of leveling land and starting construction. We began sharing the need and looking at tractors. Our prayers have continued all these years as have watched the price of tractors increase rapidly.

My daughter, A, who was 4 at the time, began to pray daily during meals times for the tractor. I began to wonder if she would ever see the tractor she was praying for. When Titus Women was started it inspired her to start making glass bead earrings to sell to raise money for the tractor.

She would work for hours on them daily and even hung them on her bedroom door for people to see and purchase to raise money for the tractor. Still to this day she has them on her door. In 2010 she also began to make India necklaces. Her faith inspired me when I felt like giving up. She also inspired others to give to this need.

One of my relatives sends in money monthly for “Abigail’s Tractor Fund.” Another youth group got on board and did a fundraiser to help her out. Last year we had money donated to buy a bulldozer and half of the money for a tractor. This week we finally bought the tractor for the campus development and maintenance!

THANK YOU for giving to this need. Thanks for not giving up, and I am thankful for a child who has taught me to keep on in faith.  May you be inspired today for what you are holding out in faith for!

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Ps. 27:13,14

A New Season...

We are at a new season in our lives and ministry. A season we have always hoped for, and are a little surprised is here. It is a season of blessing by just maintaining and improving what God has given us. This is different for each area of ministry.

A great new change is our new offices. We went from one room with 4 very old computers to cubicles for each department, networked brand new computers and recently today, 10 cell phones for all our staff! Yes, most of them had one already, but they were unreliable and costly. These phones are free when we call each other. A great change!

In the orphanage, maintaining means giving out supplies when needed. Our new supply warehouse will really help keep us organized and use our resources well.  It also has separate libraries for the college students and the children.

Keeping the kids fed is a big part of our daily need. We have had a year’s supply of children’s multi-vitamins donated to keep them not only fed, but healthy as well! We are thankful for all the people who contribute in so many ways. It is a team effort of skills, donations and gifts that keep everything moving forward.

Titus Women has also seen a LOT of growth this year. We are at a place where we have a lot of potential, but are holding back the group to improve the quality of our products. This seems to be the theme of the entire ministry during this season- Less Growth, Improve Quality. This is something we are all passionate about and thrilled to be able to do, without the pressures of moving into new facilties, getting a new kitchen set up, or major medical issues to tend to.

Spiritually, we need to keep investing in the lives of all these individual people we are reaching. We are already planning VBS for the children this summer, outreach projects for the students before graduation and a Titus Women retreat this month. There are many things on the horizon- and this season is good- because of your partnership with us. Thank you.

RP

The blessing of a Mom...if you have one.

We are well into 2012 aren’t we? I am reminded daily how fast this year will go by. Every day I see another pair of shoes that do not fit and are cast aside. I see pants that are getting shorter and shorter and little bellies that are growing and popping out from under the kids short shirts! Our kids are growing up! Of course this type of development is more easily seen through glances at the children, but through spend time with them we see their spiritual development as well.

This year we have 8 of our kids who are taking their final exams for high school. Their future studies depend on how they do in this exam. If they do not score in the 90’s they will not be able to get into college. I found 3 of our young men studying on my porch last night. To see their discipline to study blessed me and I hope it will bless you also.

Growing up in an orphanage has lots of disadvantages, but mostly I love the discipline that the children have to learn. They must help take care of themselves. They learn to wash their own plate after each meal. Many of them wash their own clothes. When they do a poor job they wear dirty clothes. They learn very quickly. Did you know children are very smart? These things are important to me because I was taught this way.

I was taught when you get up in the morning you make up your bed. Very first thing you brush your teeth. You put your clothes in the wash at the end of the day and don’t let work pile up. Because my mom taught me how to clean, cook and be creative I am a disciplined adult and I appreciate her for that. This month is my Mom’s birthday month and I am thankful for her life and for the lessons she has taught me. I am reminded there are many children who grow up without a mom. I was blessed with one. Have you told your mom you love her recently? In India alone there are 36 million children who are orphaned or separated from their moms. Be thankful for yours.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Between America and India we are working through about 15 different holidays in these last 2 months of the year, so it seems very fitting to say Happy Holidays during the months of Oct and November in India! It has been awhile since we have sent out an email newsletter. We are working on cleaning up our address book and apologize if you receive this more than once. If you can let us know by a simple reply we will correct that in the future. Very soon we will be sending out monthly newsletters to better connect our worlds and lives. If you are interested in receiving one you MUST reply and let us know. We cannot add you without your permission. Hope you want to continue hearing about what God is doing through Crosspoint of India in central India!

Here are a few updates:

We now have over 80 children at Lighthouse Children’s Home. We changed the name of the orphanage this year to better reflect our vision for the lives of these children as well as prepare for the day we move out of our city and onto our land! We do not have a departure day set yet, but you can help us make that possible through your continued support throughout 2012. Our oldest Vikky is in his second year of seminary in south India and our 3 youngest Joel, Sakshi and Prem are just 3 years old! We want to thank our orphan sponsors who make this home possible.

The kids got some early Christmas gifts!- playground equipment...

and sweaters for the coming winter!

We are over half-way through the 12^th year of Bible School. We continue to lack space for this area of ministry, but continue on because it is the heartbeat of everything we do. Graduation will be March 10, 2012. Will you pray about coming and sending off these students with your prayers and encouragement?

We are becoming a lot more seasoned to construction at this point. In 2011 we built a new building just next to our blue boys dorm (that was completed in 2007). We dedicated and opened our Head Office on 11-11-11! Once we make that final move the ministry will no longer rent any facilities! This really is amazing since 3 years ago we rented 5 different buildings. Our family is next! Prepare to hear about our personal home construction coming in 2012 as well.

The ministry campus has made progress this year. We are ready to put in a septic system and begin building some children’s homes! Your continued support for this area of our ministry is a great need. We appreciate all those who have given generously to the future home of our orphanage. God is working and we are moving forward!

Our church continues to grow. This year we have really encouraged our believers to take on the task of sharing the good news. They have given out over 100,000 tracts this year! We are thankful for their zeal and passion.

The Titus Women group has grown to over 70 members, with over 120 women passing through our group in 2011! This has been an amazing amount of growth. Each of the women are learning the word and worshiping with us weekly. It is exciting to see the potential through this group of women. Thank you for your purchase of the Titus Women merchandise. It has been a huge blessing this year!

Let’s finish out this year well! We are in need of your support to complete a few unfinished projects as well as close out accounts for the year. Please pray (but not for too long!) and consider giving a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year.

Ways you can help:

·         Head Office interior construction- $5000

We are making inner interiors and will be purchasing desks and furniture. This is a great need. We have not had a proper office in years and this keep us from hiring the staff we need and being able to send out updates, etc.( Thank you for your patience in this area!)

·         Back up Battery Invertors for the children’s dorms $1500 each. We need 2.

·         5 new Computers for the office and a network system, printer, etc. $10,000

·         Christmas Celebration Outreach $2,000

We will be feeding over 500 people Christmas day lunch as well as putting on a Christmas Program and renting vehicles and caroling for 3 days!

Your undesignated donation will be used wherever it is needed the most. Thank you for your continued support for the past 12 years !  

We love and appreciate each one of you! We are so thankful for the opportunity to serve on behalf of you in India!

This week I was looking back through some old pictures and thought you would be just as facinated as I was to see how much our kids have grown.

Mangesh came to the orphanage in 2003.

He has been with us 8 years and is now 17 years old!

Mangesh is one of our older boys and has learned to play the guitar and is responsible for evening devotions in the dorm. He also plays for our Sunday morning service.

His brother Manish is also at the home. He is 16.

He has also grown a lot through the years- and is pretty trendy as well!

Ritik came when he was just 3.

Today he is 9!

We care for these children long term. They have a home now, and a Father! Thanks for your support for each and every one!

Written by July visitor: Lorah Young

"At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in."— Mother Teresa
Friends, If you knew all the stories behind each child’s face you would be so in awe of God’s amazing love and provision for each precious child’s life. They have had to overcome things that no one could imagine at such very young ages. Begging for food on the streets, searching for shelter and food on the railroad tracks, and being put into child prostitution. They have lost parents, grandparents, been abandoned, watched people set on fire, lived on the streets by themselves-- basically seen things that I can't even imagine. But I know why those things happen. We live in a world controlled by sin. It is broken. People suffer. Innocent children suffer. What blows my mind is that despite everything these children have been through, they can smile. They can laugh. They can love. They can worship. Every time you see them smile, laugh, love and worship with all their hearts you see a miracle first hand.
We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for. We have not had to search through trash to survive. We have not had to sleep with rats on the train tracks hoping to get food from the train. We have not had to beg on the streets for food. We have been so blessed and we are blessed to be a blessing.

I have heard stories of India for years now through my friends R & A who live there, and even my Pastor and his wife have both gone and shared even more. I thought I was prepared and had a good understanding of what I was going into…yet I was so wrong. No amount of stories or pictures could have prepared me. When you are talking about a country that is much smaller than ours yet has 1.8 Billion people which over 80% are Hindu and only around 2% are with HOPE, you have just stepped foot on a very dark nation…and very hopeless nation. Every face outside of the organization that I saw was so hopeless. Look at the faces of these children who are living in a village miles outside of Nagpur. Look and see what I see and I saw over and over..Hopelessness.



I would be overwhelmed at thinking of ways to reach the people of India ..Yet God has given A & R clear vision and direction on what they are to do. They have vision to take in 1,000 orphans. They have vision to keep putting out into the nation of India workers each year equipped to win souls and plant c's. Out of the over 28 million orphans in the country- and that number is growing daily- just housing a 1,000 seems like a small number but I have seen that first hand that is much bigger and way more significant than you may think.
Thank you for investing into the kingdom with your giving. While I was there I was able to share with the orphans and the women’s group. I was able to a part of the dedication of the new building; the college guys dorm, offices and a large meeting hall.

Update, Summer 2011

Hi friends, this is a guest post to update you on all that has been going on. The Pawar’s returned from a visit to the US at the beginning of this month. They enjoyed a few months spent visiting friends and family, but are now settled back into life here and ready to get back to work. 3 of R’s friends returned from the states with them to help them get settled back in and I’m here till the end of the month.

Here are a few of the things that happened this summer:

The girls moved into their new home near the boys’ hostel. They now have much more room for everyone and 6 bathrooms! Before all the girls shared 1!

All the girls in front of their new home.

About 10 new children joined LCH over the summer and all the kids are back in school now. They have started at a new school in the city, which they are very excited about. The school bus comes all the way to the hostels to take them to school every morning.

We dedicated the new meeting hall next to the boys’ hostel last week. Construction is nearly complete, except for a few finishing touches, and will be ready for the Training Center students to come at the end of the month. This building will house the offices, Training school men and a larger meeting hall for the church. On my first trip to India, this building was just in the beginning, the first floor was barely complete, so it is very exciting for me to be able to be here to see it completed.

Construction on the land is continuing. The wall is nearly complete all around the property. Workers have been leveling the land and the next step will be planning the sewage lines and beginning construction on that. Pray for provision so that construction can continue!

This ground has been leveled and the wall completed.

Electricity is at the gate. Just waiting for the funds to bring it the rest of the way onto the land.

That is all for now!! ~L