The Team checked out of the hotel and they're on the way to the airport. They'll be taking off very shortly, heading home! It's been awesome serving alongside each and every one of them. They put their heart into loving every person they came in contact with, they got down on the floor, they arm wrestled and they cried a lot of tears.
Well done, good & faithful servants!
Patty
Check back in a day or so for some updates from the final leg of my journey: Project Hope's Door jewelry making project--helping women at risk.
Before heading out some of the ladies on the team wanted to partake in a bit of Indian culture by having "henna" applied to their hands & arms. Indian women have this done for celebrations, weddings and special occasions. For the next two weeks they'll have India stamped on their memory!
Today was the Kansas team's final full day in Chennai. We loaded up in the mini bus and made the hour trek to the PACT Aids Childrens' Home, which is home to 13 children at present.
These kids have been rejected by their own society and many times by their own families, so seeing them full of joy, peace & happiness brought tears to my eyes. There is one little girl named Marika* who has been in this home for the four years I have been coming. She just glowed with life. As the team presented their puppet show to the song "I am not forgotten", she danced with sheer abandon...not a care in the world. It was such a picture of how God heals us and sets us free by His love. Marika*, just like every child at PACT, is HIV positive.
We were able to tour the completed home which was especially significant for this team. Their church, Life Church, recently donated the funds to finish this childrens' home. The team members were smiling as they walked through the bedrooms and meeting rooms. You could see the pure pleasure on their faces. The children made homemade thank you cards for the team.
Thank you Life Church for your love. You are making a difference in the lives of these kids!
Friday afternoon we drove back to Rescue & Restore Childrens' Shelter for a special meal with the kids. We played, shared a meal, danced and heard some of the stories of their lives. The thing that has so profoundly impacted me this time is the tangible change in the kids' lives. Where once they were rough, tense, troubled, now they are soft, relaxed and at peace with God and themselves. I look back to the first trip to India with Streams of Mercy almost four years ago and I see the way these childrens' lives are being transformed. It's a privilege to be able to see that change with my own eyes.
The little boy in the first picture is named Santosh*. I first met him when he was one and a half. His parents are both deaf and dumb and live on the streets of this city. When he first came to R&R shelter he couldn't speak. Now at age 3 1/2 he is an energetic & loving boy. He sat on my lap and just relaxed in my arms, content to be loved.
Here are some photos from our time.
Don't miss tomorrow's post for a report on our time at PACT AIDS Childrens' Home!
The Kansas team brought 170 solar lights to distribute in one of the poorest slums in Chennai as well as a leper colony about 200 km outside of Chennai. Here's a short video message from Teresa....
I'd like to say a big thank you to Paige, Justice & Trent Bowers for giving a gift that will be used to purchase toys, books, coloring pencils and supplies for the preschool in the slum! Tomorrow I'll be heading out to buy the supplies, and will personally see that the preschool kids receive your gift. Thank you! You are blessing the lives of 15 kids in the slum.
After the distribution of rice we ventured into the heart of the slum that Rescue & Restore work in regularly. We were able to deliver solar lights to very needy families. The solar lights cut down on the risk of fires and help the people stay safe. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project. Through the efforts of this team & all those who participated 170 impoverished families will have solar lights!
The roar of voices got louder and louder the closer we came to Rescue & Restore's counseling center. Three hundred families were waiting in a small hall to receive a gift of rice. These families are the ones that Freddy & Daisy work with on a weekly basis, and to keep from being mobbed by hungry people, the R&R staff passed out numbered tokens as an invitation to receive rice.
To be honest the energy was running very high when we arrived. People were anxious that there wouldn't be enough for them. There was a lot of pushing, shoving and some tempers flared, but all in all, this gift of rice, given from the hands of the Rescue & Restore staff will go a long way in building trust. It communicates "we care about your practical needs".
This gift was handed out by the Indian R&R staff (and Life Church in Olathe who donated the funds) and the people know it was given to bless them with no strings attached.
Here's a short video clip blessing the people before they received the rice. This was the only quiet moment of the morning!
Check back for a report on the solar light distribution in the slum...
This evening we gathered in a large room and bagged up 1150 kilos of rice that we'll be distributing tomorrow morning alongside the long term workers of Rescue & Restore here in Chennai. The residents of the slum will see the familiar faces of the R&R staff who work in the slum every week. We're just coming alongside them and enhancing their efforts to make a difference in the lives of these families. Thank you Life Church for the contribution to R&R for the delicious rice. Check back tomorrow to see how the distribution goes.
While we were at Chengel Pattu Leper Colony, the other half of the team spent time with the kids in the Rescue & Restore Slum preschool.
They sang, told stories, colored and spent time with the children.
The kids in this preschool come to this safe haven a few hours each week day, and are fed a hot meal at the end of the school day (noon). For many of these kids, it's the only hot meal they will eat that day.
Most of the parents in this slum do not put their children in school, but the preschool offers at least a beginning to learning for the slum children. The school has made great strides in developing their program in the last few years. The teacher does a great job with them!
