| |
| |
|
India……
In January of 2006 I received an email with an address from the 1st Apostolic church in India. I nearly deleted it immediately but was little curious since I had an interest in India. I assumed it was some sort of random bulk junk mail asking for money. Well, the letter was written by Pastor Matthew Raju, and he shared about his church and family. He shared about the children who are orphans, semi orphans and street kids who sleep’s in his one room church building. So instead of deleting it, I sent back a very short (and somewhat curt) reply, just asking who he was and how did he get my email. I heard a response shortly afterwards in which he explained that he wasn’t sure how he got my address and that he had been writing to find encouragement and prayers, so that someone would just knew they are there. So began a friendship with many email and photos being exchanged. He shared about his wife and family, and the children in his little orphanage, the widows, the area village pastors, the lepers, and so on. After several months of correspondence, I really felt led to send them some money. I sent it purely by faith, knowing that whatever happened, it was unto the Lord…I sent $250.00, which for my single income is quite huge! The response I received was overwhelming. I received photos (Of little old ladies holding bags of rice, and holding up a banner that read “free rice distribution, sponsored by sister Lea Haisch)..and photos of children eating with another banner saying “orphan helps sponsored by sister Lea Haisch” and they took what money I sent and divided it up and sent even more photos of Pasor Raju, handing the area pastors envelops containing a portion of the funds. There again was a banner that read, “pastoral helps sponsored by sister Lea” I was so overwhelmed. To see a visual of the outcome resulted by what I sent! It was so humbling, and a huge blessing…to actually see where the money went, and their accountability of it was amazing. I continued to help with some support as I could, each time receiving photos and confirmations that it was being put to good use. They never asked for a dime. In fact the only time they asked for anything outright was late summer, after some flooding when they lost everything. They asked if I could find some used children’s clothes to send to them. The first few boxes I sent were all outgrown clothes from my kids, and then I sent more that was given to me by friends. I can’t even begin to tell you what it was like to receive an email one day, with photos of those poor and orphan kids wearing my own childrens clothes. Yes, I cried! About this time, Pastor Raju invited me to India. He said they felt that the Lord would send me to India. I told them that I would love to come, and if the door would open, I would certainly be obedient and “go”…but I reminded them that I was merely a single parent and could not afford a trip like that..and that if I DID have the money, I certainly wouldn’t be using it for an airline ticket for myself, I’d be sending it to them to help out. I need to mention here also, that during this time of getting to know them and receiving the photos, I would show people, and would say, “someday, I don’t know how or when, but you’ll see a picture of me standing right there beside them”. There is something about “speaking out” the desires God has placed in our heart, it unlocks a door of faith that I believe is pleasing to God. So right around New Years of 07, I have a dream. This was a God quality dream, where everything is so vivid that it’s like you are right there, and in the morning it seems more like a memory of an event than just a dream. In this dream, the Pastor Raju, his wife Hanna, and grandbaby Shelly came to my house. When they left, he looked at me with look of authority as said “you WILL come to us”. I knew in the morning that this dream was from the Lord, and was so excited. I told my friends in the days to come, “I am going to India this year. I don’t know how or when, but I am going to India”. Two weeks later I received a email from my friend Scott. Now Scott does missions work building wells and has been in Sri Lanka helping to build a village for Tsunami victims. He travels all over Asia and we would keep in touch, it always being exciting to know where he was off to next. So he says “I have 300,000 frequent flyer miles and am going to India for some work. Do you want to go and I will take you over to your little village.” They prayed the Lord would bring me to their door, and here was Scott, offering to take me to them. (I have to laugh, its like they said “COME”, and Gods word says “GO” and then Scott says. “I”LL TAKE YOU” LOL) This was SO amazing. An offer for a free ticket just doesn’t happen everyday. 5 weeks after that dream I was actually holding round trip tickets to India in my hand. About that time I also got a phone call from Pastor Raju..he called to ask permission to name their orphanage after me. Just imagine! It was a little embarrassing to see my name on a huge banner once I was there…“Lea Orphange”..but it was also way cool! I had many amazing things happen prior to my trip. The plan began to fall in place, like the pieces of a puzzle and it just simply “worked”. As the finances for my own personal expenses came in, extra would come in specifically for the church in India. It was so awesome to see Gods provision in the whole thing, and was so undeniably the hand of God. I arrived in India mid June of ’07, and was met at the airport by Pastor Raju and his family. They stood waiting outside the gates with flowers and their hands and a welcome sign. I have got to tell you I’ve never experienced the feeling I had at that moment. They are so beautiful and gentle and the love of God is so evident in their lives, despite the poverty. There is so many things to say about my time in India that I don’t know where to begin. I went expecting to come home and maybe raise a few thousand dollars to help them building a bigger church. I realized once there that the need us so much bigger than I ever imagined. The church building is a small hut approx 12x24. 35 children sleep there, and are taken care of by the Pastor and his family. They are helped by the women and widows of the church but they are the primary caregivers. They minister to the widows, the lepers, the local Hindus, the prisoners, the poor, have a sewing center, and an encouragement ministry to local tribal pastors. The village is very poor and each child own one bag with personal belonging. What they need is more space, at least 2 acres, which is outrageously expensive in India, and a church with rooms to separate the boys and girls, as well as space to worship. Food, clothes, education. The possibilities are endless and the need huge…I am so blessed and privileged to have a part of this plan, and want to thank you for letting me share my story. | |