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

Graduation

Promised Pictures...

Friends, I am unable to share too many details about these exciting times, but I did want to share some pictures.
Our 11th batch of 30 students graduated on March 5th. Total we have sent out 205 in the past 11 years. He has been good to us!

Students leave on the bikes there were given as a graduation gift. This is a tool for them as they go. As you can tell they can carry plenty on a bike and move from village to village faster then by foot!
Sending out with prayers

Lighthouse Children's Home prepared a drama to the sing "Burn Us Up" (Shane & Shane) These are the 3 who would not bow and Ritesh (the king) sends them to the fire...

Bicycles and books given as graduation gifts.

We would like to thank Oak Leaf International for giving to make these gifts possible. During the last week before graduation they have given to make these gifts possible this year. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Thank you friends.

This is a very good feeling :)

Details, what details?

Oh Friends,

How I wish I could share with you all that is going on! There are so many things about to happen, but not quite yet. I do want to share a short update about the girl's dorm

We have purchased and now own the girls home. We have been unable to buy the neighboring plot of land next door as we were hoping. It is not impossible, but is going to have to be a God thing. We ask you that would pray with us that God will make a way for us to buy the emtpty plot of land. It will be a play area for the girls and we hope to build extra bathrooms in the space.

Presently, we are delayed in moving in the girls because electricity has not yet arrived. These things take forever here. I am still learning this. How long can it take to run 50 feet of electric line in a developing neighborhood....a very long time.

In the mean time we are taking the time to make all the renovations we want to on the home before the girls move in. We have laid stone on the floors this past month and presently they are polishing them! They will look so good by the time they move in. We also built an additional 6 bathrooms for them and added a porch, closed a few extra doorways that were not needed, etc. I know these pictures do not explain much, but for those interested...

There is 6 rooms total in the house

bathrooms in the back

The view of the house


The plot holding all the stone in this pictures is the one we are praying to purchase. Please be praying about this with us. Thank you!

Other things you will hear about soon...

• purchase of a tractor to level the ministry center land
• the office/ church/ boys dorm building completion
• Nagpur Training Center's 11th graduation program
• Orphan girls home change
• A&R's visit to the US
• A home for the Pawar's

God is doing lot's of things! Thanks for being such a great part of the work here. God bless you!!!

RJP

More TW pictures

The last post would not allow me to add any more pictures, so here are a few more. Read on for all the details!

Indian colored keychains

The quilt design that we will eventually raffle

painting paper beads during a class demo

fabric colored headbands

teaching about waiting on God and not giving up on our dreams. Ironic.

Women and more women

Titus Women Update

This past week we had a wonderdul women's meeting at our fellowship. Over 60 women attended, most of whom are regular's at our Titus Women meetings. It was a great time of fellowship, worship, teaching, crafting and eating! We even got them to run a bit and play some games! Our main teaching was some quiliting that we are beginning. The women are creating a quilt that we will be raffling off by the end of the year. We learned many other things as well!

Here are a few shots of the 2 days of fun!

flower printed journals

ready to teach a crafting session

We had 2 crafting circles going on at a time! One was inside and one was outside!

The day after the retreat ended 2 women came to my house and shared some answered prayers. One said she returned home to her husband waiting for her. He said he had received an increase in his salary. This had not happened in 3 years and was an answer to her prayers!

The other shared that her husband (who we had been praying for since his motorcycle accident in December) had walked for the first time that night when she got home.

What awesome ways that God showed his power to these women AND so quickly. We are thankful for the oppurtunity to not only inspire and encourage them, but pray and sow seeds into thier lives. What a great group of women. I am so proud to lead them.

RJP

2011, here we come!

2011 here we come!


2010 has been a very difficult year for me. As 2011 approaches I began to wonder if we accomplished anything this year. It seems we take more steps backwards then forwards at time. I know this will surprise many of you who feel taking care of 72 kids 365 days a year is a large enough task in itself. To me, I think about the vision more; all that is to come, all the kids who are not here yet, the ones we are not able to take in, the space we do not have. I know I should count my blessing, but this is my real, honest struggle. The God comes along and blows all my doubt right out of the water. So what did you do this year God?

He answered the prayers we had been praying for years...

Since 2006 we have been praying for electricity on our land. In 2010 God answered that prayer. We need about $20,000 for the poles we bought to bring it in. God is listening!

Here are a few of the many poles it took to bring it to our land.

We were able to watch as the workers strung up the wire.

You can bet we bowed our heads and thanked God for answering this prayer.

This same day we are able to see some of the final slabs of cement being poured in the wall. The last section had a border dispute for the past few years. It was cleared in December and the wall is now 99% done. Praise God.

This is a view of the final portion of the wall.

I am so blessed that God chose to show off the end of this year. I now look back and see ALL that He has done and how he was working so much sooner that I was aware of all along. I am blessed to see the progress with my own eyes and be amazed again at how large this vision is, how much faith is required to walk in daily, and how God is our God.

Happy New Year Friends. I hope you have been amazed by our God this year! He is amazing!

RJP

* one of the first things we get to do in 2011 is purchase a tractor to level the land. That is after we move our girls into their new home... we also hope to jump stateside for a little while :)