Orphan Outreach Mission Trip Updates

After another amazing day with the kids, it is getting harder and harder to hear them ask, “tomorrow, come?” Can’t believe we head home tomorrow! Yesterday was an awesome blessing to be able to celebrate a belated Christmas with the kids at Santvana. The day before was mind-blowing as we spent the whole day in the RLA (Red Light Area) “judging” eunuchs as they created art for us. Dancing, rangoli (art made with colored sand on the floor) and henna artwork was a beautiful picture of God’s amazing creativity and beauty in a very dark place. Drew, in particular had an enormous impact as he shared his testimony, connecting him with the eunuchs and Dr Edwards, as well as connecting them back to Christ and His provision and protection. It was beautiful. We finished the day by sharing a Bible story, some snacks, and a little love with the children in the RLA daycare (or nightcare…to be more precise).

Today we head back into the RLA for a day of speaking and living the Gospel to some sex workers who heard we were there earlier in the week and wanted to meet us! Pray that God moves powerfully through us and speaks His perfect message of love and reconciliation to them!!

Pray for us tomorrow as we spend our last few hours at the Santvana home. We are already trying to mentally and emotionally prepare for saying, “see you later” (never goodbye!) to the kids. My eyes get misty just writing that already!

We are loving every day that God allows us to spend with these precious kids. We are spending a good amount of our free time devising schemes for sneaking all the kids home with us! We spent one day in the Red Light Area already and are heading in again today. Apparently, one aspect of our day today will be judging a dance competition for the Eunuchs! On the surreal scale, this will register off the charts, but it is an amazing opportunity to show them love by spending time with them, making them feel special, and it gives us the opportunity to gather many of them together for something fun to connect them with the Santvana ministry and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in front of them.

Thank God for his provision that we are all healthy and well-rested (in spite of 1 inch thick mattresses and pillows that we are pretty sure are small sacks of sand). Pray that we will make Jesus’ name more famous and spread the aroma of His grace and holiness in the Red Light Area among some of the most marginalized of God’s children. Pray that the kids will understand the love of Christ that we are trying to show them through all the games, hugs, stories, crafts, wrestling, tossing, and pictures we take. Pray that God continues to break our hearts for His children, both young and old, in the home and in the brothels, and to know how to live and speak His grace to them.

For the last two days the team got to serve at the Santvana (which in Hindi means comfort) AIDS Home where about 30 kids live. These kids have all been affected by HIV/AIDS in some way. Many have lost both of their parents to the disease and there are 10 there who are infected themselves. Santvana truly is a place of comfort for these children who have seen so much heartache in such a short time. It is a privilege to get to serve there. We spent our time playing, laughing, coloring, and just trying to be love to these special kids.

Mary shared the Creation story with the kids and told them that they were hand-made by God and that he calls them “very good”.

Andrea is a photographer and she has already taken over 500 photos during our first 2 days. God has used this as a way for her to connect quickly with the kids.

We have had so much fun with these kids and are looking forward to many more laughs and hugs. Tomorrow we are serving in the Red Light Area all day. We will be working with Eunuchs in the afternoon and kids who live in brothels in the evening. Please pray for our safety as the RLA can be dangerous. Pray that we will be a shining light in the darkness there and that the love of Christ will be felt in all we do and say.

Our team of seven individuals from the Rockwall, TX area departed for Mumbai, India on Monday afternoon, traveled for nearly 26 hours, and arrived safely at our destination of Pune, India. Praise the Lord, that all the travel went well, and all our bags arrived in tow. We are so looking forward to what God has in store for us over the next 10 days. Please keep us all in your prayers (in photo from left to right: Andrea Canafax, Mary Scammell, Drew Beilman, Thomas Woodall, Stacey Halleen, Kelsey Burton, Robbie Halleen).

This morning we played with the kids at orphanage #40. They are a cute bunch of kiddos with vision problems and developmental delays. We played with balloons and bubbles, decorated pencil bags and sang and danced with the kids. Pray for the sweet caregivers who patiently love and care for them each day.

This afternoon we spent time with the kids at orphanage #14. I was with the group of older boys. The legos were a hit.  Thankfully we had Yuri with us who helped us connect and share with them. Their lives are not easy, and I feel like they’ve been dealt an unfair hand. I shared my testimony, and we pray the Lord will guide them and that they will know Him in a personal way. We pray the Lord will send people (especially male Christians) into their lives that will love them and encourage them in tangible ways and help them as they make decisions during this crucial stage. We trust in the power of God to change lives, knowing it is not easy with man but with God all things are possible. We took their picture and told them we would look at it and remember them and pray for them.