Mission Info

Tamil Nadu is the pink state at the bottom.

Hello everyone! Thanks again for stopping by! On this site you will find information and updates concerning my upcoming trip to India from June 15th to November 24th, 2015. Also please check out the Prayer Requests page and commit to lifting up these needs to our faithful Heavenly Father.
 
Many of you are probably very interested and excited about this missions trip, but would like more information about what I'll actually be doing in India. So here it is, my friends ...

The majority of my time spent in India for these next 5 months, will be at a Christian Children's Home* in South India. The Children's Home is situated in a small rural village in the state of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is a unique state with its own distinct culture, language and food. I hope you will enjoy learning more about Tamil culture through this blog in the months to come! 

The Children's Home functions as a boarding school, ministering to impoverished, abandoned and orphaned children by providing them with shelter, food, education, school uniforms and basic medical care. The children live at the Home for 11 months out of the year, returning home to parents or relatives for a 1-month holiday in May. The school year begins again in June. Many of the families depend on the Children's Home to help give their children a healthy life, which would not be possible otherwise. While physical well-being is important, spiritual well-being is top priority for these children, most of whom are Hindus. Here at the Children's Home they have the opportunity to learn about the love of Jesus for them, through regular Bible teaching and daily devotions. We pray continually for their precious hearts to be open to the life-changing Gospel!

The ministry runs on a compound, which is comprised of a boys' hostel, girls' hostel, elementary school, high school, mission hospital, cookhouse and chapel. Both hostels are run by an "Akka" (older sister) or "Anin" (older brother), who lives with the children and looks after their daily needs. The school itself, which is government approved, provides education not only to the hostel children, but to some children from the area who attend during the day only (they are called "day scholars"). 

In 2011, God enabled me to serve Him here at the Children's Home, where He provided in amazing ways. I'm so excited to see how the Lord is going to work again during this second trip. My heart's desire is for these beautiful children to know Him. I hope you will join with me in praying that God accomplishes all He desires in their lives. The work with the children will be focused primarily in the girls' hostel, where I will be assisting in the daily care of the children: bathing, braiding hair, helping supervise chores, serving meals, helping with homework, organizing and participating in activities, and teaching devotions. I will also have the opportunity to teach English to grade 1 & 2 students, and possibly Sunday School as well. By God's grace, I want to be Jesus' hands and feet and heart to these little ones.

As far as accommodations go, I will be staying in the girls' hostel and sharing a room with the house mother, Mary Akka. However I will still be spending lots of time with the host family, and sharing meals with them. My host family: Appa*, Amma*, Paulsam and Priscilla are wonderful. They truly became family for me during my first trip and I'm just delighted to see them again! Paulsam has recently married Lavanya, and they have a baby boy named Steve Colin. 

God has given the amazing blessing of having 3 teammates on this journey. Jonathan from Austria will be arriving shortly before me and will be at the Home for 6 months. Emily and Daniel from the United States arrive at the end of July or beginning of August, and Emily will be at the Children's Home until the end of November. It has been a wonderful privilege to start cultivating a friendship with Emily via Facebook. We've also been talking over the phone and praying together. God is so good. I feel like I already know her! It will be so exciting to work alongside a passionate, like-minded young woman, and two others as well. 

I'm very thankful also to my home church Bethel Bible Chapel, for their constant love, support and encouragement during these months of preparation, and for all of you ... for your prayers, strength, and friendship!

"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You as a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?' The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.'" (Matthew 25:37-40)

God's richest blessings to you!
Love in Christ, Gracie

*Please note that names of certain places and people have been omitted for security purposes. "Appa" and "Amma" are the Tamil words for father and mother.