Bethesda
orphanages and churches in southern India
http://www.bethesdamission.in/home.html
PHotos from the April 2008 trip
This trip was really exciting for me as I have not been for 6 years and I saw a great deal of the fruit of the work that Sam & Laisha have been doing. I saw children who are no longer children but now have their own kids. I saw children who came to Sam destitute and are now so, so, so happy!
I was asked by a friend to interview some people whilst I was there. I tried to interview someof the children but Jeswein (Sam's son and my translator for the task) spent ages trying to explain what we meant by "poverty" but many of them just could not understand it. Of those who did, all of them spoke of what their life had been like but that now that theye were at the Bethesda home, their life was great!
One child said, "I do not know what poverty is. I have been here for all of my life. I have everything that I need and I am really happy. What is poverty?"
That is why we are involved with Bethesda Mission!!!!
3am, Chennai (Madras) airport, 11th April 2008. The ones who got upgraded to business class look slightly less exhausted than the rest!
L-R - Kevin, Jim, Lou, Katie, Matt, Rob, Anne, Sam, Anne, Jasmin (Sam & Laisha's older daughter) and Laisha.
Sam (with his new t-shirt) and Laisha. We love these guys SO much! They are double, double great!
Being mobbed by children on arrival at the Coonoor home!
Painting the children's bedrooms. We almost had to fight Sam to let us do this as I think that, for some reason, he thought it was beneath us. Frankly, I think it was ABOVE us! We ended up walking off down to the paint shop with him running along behind us begrudgingly agreeing to do it...
...but it was worth it!
Washing Sam & Laisha's feet at the dedication service for the new church building (Which will be ready in a year!) Once again, we had a struggle to get them to let us do this. I am not sure that they ever really agreed, but, hey, we had the microphone!
It was incredibly emotional and these guys were in floods of tears!
This is Praveen. He very nearly died at Christmas from "Brain fever" and the doctors said that he would not make it. He is a bundle of mischeive and cheekiness and a testimony to the awesome healing power of our God!
Pradap & Sadeesh. Six years ago, Sam found these two brothers on the side of the road, eating dirt because there was nothing else for them to eat and they was so desperate. We visited at that time and I remember these two. Nothing that anyone did could make them smile. Now, you just cannot stop them!
This is Mala and her two children. When we first came, she was one of the children in the Coonoor home and now she is married to the pastor of the Mussabberry church and really happy! This church was planted out of the outreach meetings we did on our first visit which is really exciting.
