Answers to Questions

Thanks for coming to my blog. More than likely you came here because you know that we’re going to India and the logical question is WHY?

Well, I’d like to place the initial blame on Jeff Moody. Now, it’s not totally his fault. But he, and his lovely wife, Mandy, were super important people in the structure of Gateway Baptist Church. I say “were” because they just moved away. But that is an important aspect of the story. Jeff was in charge of the India Child Sponsorship program. He wasn’t necessarily running the whole thing, there’s a dedicated team of Gateway members who have all played a part. But Jeff was the point person and his impending move was going to leave a giant hole in this fledgling program.

When I saw this need and realized no one was really jumping up to take over, I began to feel burdened. Not in a guilty way. But in a way that I felt it was a REALLY good, important, doable program and it was sad that it wasn’t just exploding with success. I didn’t know too much about India (still don’t) or the program, but I knew that I was able and I wanted to give my time to something. I didn’t really have any fantastic ideas for how to get the proverbial ball rolling, but I knew that the ball should be rolling and maybe God would show me how to do it.

So, I joined the team and now Shin and I are going to India. Our church  views taking the trip there as part of a long-term investment in the Indian leadership and in our abilities to serve them. Our group will not just be observing and brain-storming (although that is part of it), but we will be following-up with several different organizations we work with. Gateway Baptist Church has been working with New Life Center (the orphanage) as well as other schools, church-plants, and a pastoral training network for many years. Shin is particularly interested in one of the schools our church supports- he met the leader of the school and wants to learn more about it on a really practical level. Our group will also be helping to lead a conference for church leaders and exploring some property up in the mountains for a future building site.

So, the entirety of the trip is about much more than the orphanage. The orphanage is just the part I am focused on since I am now co-leading the ICS (India Child Sponsorship) program. There is one other woman, Karen, who is co-leading the program, she is planning to take the trip and she has an amazing heart for the ministry. She and I both believe it is important for us to have a first-hand experience so that we can better understand how to best lead the ICS program. ICS is just getting started and we want to meet with the director of New Life Center so we can get a grasp of the complexity of the situation. As Karen and I try to recruit sponsors, we think it's important that we know what we're talking about and that we have a connection to the Center. We realize it's not impossible to lead the program if we don't go, but we believe we will be more effective and have a deeper understanding if we do go.

In light of the fact that the orphanage is about to lose some funding, it sounds incredibly selfish for Shin & I (and the others we’re traveling with) to be asking for $4,400. That money would support 110 children for 1 month! But in light of the bigger picture, ICS needs over 200 people to establish long-term commitments. The end goal is to grow the program to cover even more children in Dehradun and Northern India. So $4,400 is a lot of money for Shin and I to go. But our prayer is that it will enable us and inspire us to be able to come back and get many families to invest in the future of these children.

BTW- we’ve reached 17% of our goal! Woo Hoo! Thank you to everyone who has supported us already!