“JESUS is Life” Mission formerly American Advent Mission India
Key Goals:
- To maintain and strengthen our relationship with the Advent Christian Conference of India.
- To introduce the holistic Gospel to the Fellowship of Blessed Hope Churches
- To seek out suitable Kingdom partnerships with suitable Christian individuals or organizations in northern India; to encourage and to support any such ministries which seek to reach the unreached.
- To bless and uplift disadvantaged children.
Key Partners:
ACCI Ministry in Khagaria, Bihar
Operated by the Advent Christian Conference of India.
Led by Pastor Paul Sunder Raj and his team of now 11 fellow workers
Bihar, North India
They have 8 churches and 16 prayer cells in different areas of the Khagaria District.
The ACCI also has a Primary School – St Xavier’s School – which caters for approximately 250 children in grades 1 to 10, mainly staffed with teachers from Tamil Nadu. The Principal of the school is also a member of the team and Paul Sunder Raj is deputy principal of the school. The school very successfully acts as a “bridge” from the Christian ministry to the community.
New Life Helping Hands Orphanage
Orphanage for children saved from sacrifice and underprivileged and orphan children in the Kolli Hills area.
Namakkal/Kolli Hills, Tamil Nadu
The New Life Helping Hands Orphanage is near the beautiful Kolli Hills of Tamil Nadu, in the small village of Namakall. Under the sacrificial leadership ofPastor Kirubakaran (the Baby Saver) and his family, 25 children are given a home. Almost all of these children have been rescued from infant sacrifice by the local Hindu idol worshippers. YJM’s relationship with Pastor Kirubakaran began some years ago when he brought a baby to the mission asking “Please do something with this baby, the locals are going to kill him!” From this moment onward, YJM has been giving help to Kirubakaran for the ministry of his church in the Kolli Hills.
Mission:
The Kolli Hills area of Tamil Nadu is an up and coming tourist area but it is still held captive by evil Hindu theology and village priests who worship stars, moons, and lean on astrology for wisdom. This guidance by the stars leads to the horrid practice of infant infanticide which usually focuses in on female babies. “The hills are said to be guarded by Kollipavai, the local deity. According to legend, the sages chose Kolli hills when they were looking for a peaceful place to do their penance. However, the demons invaded the hills to disrupt the penance when the sages began their rituals. The sages prayed to Kollipavai, who according to the myth chased away the demons with her enchanting smile. The Kollipavai is still worshipped by the people here and her smile is revered. Overwhelmed by the thought of precious babies being sacrificed to Satan, Pastor Kirubakaran began to reach out to the villages of the Kolli Hills seeking to save these “sacrificial babies”. He began with one child and was soon overwhelmed by the number of children who were being subjected to such a demonic fate. Pastor Kirubakaran started placing these children into area orphanages until the orphanages began to refuse the children because of lack of resources. Then Pastor Kirubakaran helped others to adopt some children, but this is a very difficult process and legally very challenging. So Kirubakaran then started adopting some of the children into his family but this by no means solved the problem. More and more children were in need of a safe and permanent home. Kirubakaran and his wife then started theNew Life Helping Hands Orphanage.
Today the orphanage has 25 children with 18 boys (ages range from 3-16 years old) and 7 girls (four are babies) (ages range from 3 months to 11 years old). With 3 full time female staff and a permanent older man who does all the handyman work, the orphanage serves the children well. Pastor Kirubakaran and his wife oversee the home as well as continue ministry in the Kolli Hills with two church ministries. As the orphanage struggles to find consistent monthly support the children and staff live on faith and the generosity of God, who is the Father to the fatherless. The current home for the children was rented in February 2008. The other expenses are for electricity/water; medicines, clothes and provisions for each of the children. This rented house is a good location with a government school within walking distance for the boys and within 2 kilometres for the girls. Another Chennai based Christian organisation has recently purchased land in the area and intends to assist with the provision of a building for the Orphanage.
Helen Schache Memorial Silver Fern Hostel
Operated by the Advent Christian Conference of India.
Guindy, Chennai
Currently houses 150 children, most of whom are orphans but some of whom are from disadvantaged families who cannot afford to care for their children. Most of the children attend the Guindy AC School.
YJM/AAMI and its supporters have supported this Hostel prayerfully and financially and in other practical ways since its opening with 26 children about 6 years ago. New facilities, built above the Guindy AC School were recently opened – the ACCI met most of the cost but YJM/AAMI and ACMissioNZcontributed financially to ensure prompt completion of the building.
ADDRES Centre
Alcohol; Drug; De-addiction; Rehabilitation; Educational Service Centre.
Royapuram, Chennai
ADDRES Centre is a non-governmental organization in the area of drug addiction and HIV/AIDS prevention and Intervention in Chennai from 1995.
Focus and Mission:
Care and Continuous support for street injecting drug users by the way of needle and syringe exchange program which saves lives in North Chennai, India.
The ADDRES Centre is strategically placed within the mega city of Chennai, being located very near the Port of Chennai. At the Port, most of the drugs are imported and surrounding the port there are many slums which fuel the drug culture.
ADDRES Centre is convinced that the spread of HIV in Chennai is fuelled by injecting drug users so that when these drug users are taught and trained about needle care and HIV, the spread of HIV in Chennai will dramatically reduce. The target audience and focus of ADDRES Centre is injecting drug users. The key philosophy behind the ADDRES Centre is “Harm Reduction”.
Harm Reduction is “reducing the harmfulness of drug use to drug users and the wider community. It is about reducing the adverse consequences of drug use without necessarily immediately reducing consumption. Harm reduction is a key in preventing HIV/AIDS and saving lives. As long as people continue to spread HIV through drug injecting and unsafe sex, harm reduction will be needed. The term harm reduction refers to various strategies and approaches for reducing the physical and social harms associated with risk-taking behaviour. Harm reduction among injecting drug users (IDUs) can take many forms such as abstinence, education programs, counselling, drug substitution, needle exchange, etc.”
It Aims are:
- Addressing problem of Drug Addiction, HIV/AIDS and related issues to individual’s families, communities, and societies at large.
- Providing a new hope and new life to those who are affected by drug addiction HIV/AIDS through our street care centre, recovery house, and care house services.
- Free Service regardless of religion, caste, colour, and creed
Its Goals are…
- To improve the health and quality of life of drug users. The basis of our work is the acceptance of street injecting drug users and their addiction.
- To have direct contact and real interaction with street injecting drug users and understand their life style in the area
- To provide street care services through our street care centre and services for street injecting drug users (free needles, syringe, counselling, refreshment)
- To provide residential care and support services for the affected people by drug addiction and HIV/AIDS who are rejected by families and society.
Founder & Managing Trustee:
Pastor Paul Nilavan who has 20 years in this ministry; 10 years with Lutheran Church AIDS ministry and the last 10 years as a private, independent NGO based on the principles of meeting injecting drug users in their own backyard.
Other Trustees are Dr. Ezhil Christudas (Financial Trustee), Dr. John Gunaseelan, Mrs. Banumathy Sugirtha Raj and Mr Samson.
Staff, including the Managing Trustee, totals 10.
Funding:
ADDRES Centre is classified as a single project Non-governmental organization which is supported by the Chennai Corporation and some infrequent and small gifts by local persons. The grant by the Corporation provides all the day-to-day functions and services, whereas the local gifts provide for extra things. Most of the funding for the ADDRES Centre comes via the World Bank to the D.F.I.D.which is an UK system which then funds Indian national agencies which funds Chennai Corporation.
Christ Special High School
for the Handicapped
Fully Residential School for Children with Disabilities/Handicaps.
Sankarapuram, Tamil Nadu
Started in 1991 as a vision of Brother Sugintharaj, who was a teacher in the Lutheran School system for over 40 years, Christ Special High School is a place for disabled children to be educated, mentored, and loved as beloved children of God.
Now with a student enrollment of 65 ranging from 1st grade to 10th grade the school has reached its maximum number for its current facilities.
The villages and surrounding communities have more children which could be added but because of facility and financial restrictions the school is at maximum capacity.
As a visitor walks around and visits with the students the disabilities are not always apparent as the disabilities range from mental conditions, to stuttering, and major birth deformities. Through love, compassion, and excellence in education, Christ Special High School blossoms their students into high level achievers. In the 2007-2008 academic year 100% of the 10th grade students successfully passed their examination. This 10th grade exam is the most difficult exam in all of the Indian educational system. The excellence of this school is staffed by 7 full time teachers, and 3 non-teaching staff as well as Pastor Paul Nilavan who is the school’s government correspondent. The children are amazingly disciplined and very polite and are given fantastic opportunities to participate in dance, games, and dramas. The residential aspect to the school is the most effective part because this community encourages the children to trust one another, live openly among one another, and teaches the children how to care for one another. The “dis” of “disability” is shed as the children play, learn, and live together!
The students come from a wide range of areas and are typically recruited by word of mouth from community persons. Also the school publishes advertisements in the local newspaper and distributes pamphlets to local people while always talking with the local village leaders. For admission, the school must have parent consent, yet this consent is limited to education and housing and does not usually include medical care, which prevents the school from enabling the children to get corrective surgeries which may or may not greatly improve the lives of the students. Living within the parent’s authority yet raising the children becomes a difficult and fine line to navigate at times says the correspondent.
Their facility is very small to house and educate 65 children but new ground for a future building has been purchased by a local church in Australia and the construction for the first shed has already begun. The current facilities are rented through a local landlord. There are also staff and teacher salaries and general maintenance to pay. There are also medical expenses for the children. Currently the school has funding from the Tamil Nadu Government for the daily lunch and some school/educational supplies. The rest of the funding comes from generous supporters and the Australian church (which typically supplies the big needs but does not offer regular monthly support).
Abishekh Karunya Gypsy Primary School
Primary education for children from within the Gypsy Community.
Neelamangalam, Kallakuruchi, Tamil Nadu
The “Gypsy School” was started in August of 1997 out of a vision of Jesus given to the founder, Sister Banurathi Sugintharaj. Jesus told her, “Go and see the gypsy peoples”. When she went and visited the gypsy community she realized that the parents were not sending their children to school because the school was too far away and the people did not value the education enough. Gypsies are highly disdained in India by all other communities and are segregated and isolated.
As an educator for over 40 years, Sister Banurathi saw a great need and she began to pray. After about 3 months Jesus put it on her heart to open a school, this was confirmed when a few of the gypsy mothers told sister, “If you start a school in our community we will send our children!” August of 1997 the school was started under the big tree in the community, because there were no buildings available. 23 children attended this first year and for the next 5 years the classes grew but there was still no school! Currently the 1st-5th grade are offered and those students being sent to the 6th grade and beyond are finding success, especially in regards to their 10th grade examinations.
The Gypsy School shares with the unreached through Education. There is no church in the gypsy community but the children are taken to the local Lutheran church which is about 2 km away. One of the visions of the gypsy school is that they can soon start a tailoring school for the female students and the adult women of the community. They already have a teacher available for this training centre. They need five manual machines, with the tables, scissors, and other necessary sewing items. Because the gypsy children do not have a building or a site which is not already allotted, the government will continue to refuse recognition but the government has “promised” to grant recognition once the gypsy school is on a fixed site outside of the government allotted land.
In 2002 the Rotary Club built a building for the school but built it on government land which was allotted for the gypsy peoples and therefore is not a legal school because the school is completely run by non-Gypsy people. Currently this building is 20 x 20 and houses 50 children each day! Because of the land issues, the government refuses to sponsor or recognize this school and therefore there is no sponsorship of the school. The teachers and children live on faith alone. Each month through the generous donations of friends and Sister Banurathi’s retirement pension the school keeps its doors open. The medium of education is Tamil as that is the language of the gypsy peoples in the area, and the teachers are all certified and educated teachers who are sacrificing greatly to educate the children.
Without a doubt this is one of the two neediest of all the YJM partnerships. The only consistent monthly support given to the school is from the pension of Sister Banurathi. There are the monthly salaries for the teachers and the school provides the noon meal for all 50 students. Part of the gift to Gypsy community is providing this education free of cost so when factoring in the refusal of the Tamil Nadu Government to give recognition, the School must pay for books and supplies and this school relies on the generous hand of the Lord for their daily bread.
Children’s home for HIV positive orphan children.
Thanikachalam Nagar, Chennai
SHELTER is a registered Non-profitable Charitable Trust – a faith-based organization and the daily needs are met by the Lord through generous donations by local friends, kind-hearted individuals and a few service organizations who contribute as per their desire.
SHELTER extends its services to the poor, needy and the general public irrespective of caste, sex and religion in India. SHELTER as of now is NOT sponsored by any international donor or Government funds or corporate sector or any regular monthly commitments to meet their needs.
The Vision the Lord has given to SHELTER is from Matt. 18:14 and our Mission is to give LOVE, LAUGHTER and LIFE to these most neglected and stigmatized HIV positive children.
They now have 20 positive orphan children and 10 positive adults who are also care givers in our home. Nutritious food is provided according to the recommendations made by qualified Dieticians/Doctors. Nutritional deficiency assessment is made and nutritional counselling is provided to all the children. They have doctors who make regular visits to our home and are available on call for all emergencies. 12 children and seven staff are administered Anti Retroviral Treatment (ART) which is provided free of cost by the Government.
All the children attend the private school, which is about 3 kms from the home. Birthdays of all the children are celebrated with much enthusiasm. New clothes, birthday cake, decorations and special food, which is chosen by the celebrating child, is prepared.
There are several other HIV positive children who are being referred to us but due to severe financial constrains, we are not able to provide shelter for these children.
SHELTER also provides Home Care Support to 30 HIV positive children providing them with food items and nutritional supplement at their homes. Most of these children are deprived of having at least one meal a day due to poverty, as their parents are critically ill and not in a position to work on a regular basis to earn a living. Poor positive widows with children are given preference. We also provide health education and deal with issues like low cost nutrition, personal care and hygiene and environmental hygiene. This program is carried out depending on the donations and contributions received from various individuals and service organizations.
Fear, anxiety, tension, stress, emotional trauma are some of the common issues among HIV/AIDs patients. Hence counselling is given to provide psychological support to help those already infected and suffering to cope with these issues and to help them make positive personal decisions in their life. The following types of counselling are provided: Family Counselling, Supportive Counselling, Crisis Counselling, Grief Counselling, and Spiritual Counselling.
Awareness and preventive programs are being conducted in schools, colleges, the corporate sector, churches and para church organisations and other public places.
Please note that although the children and the caregivers are aware that they are HIV positive, the Shelter’s neighbours and the school the children attend are not aware of this fact – they are known only as orphans. This is because there would be serious repercussions and a probable withdrawal of services and support if the truth became known. Such are the stigma and misunderstandings still associated with HIV/AIDS in India.
Peace Children Care Home
An Orphanage for HIV affected children (Affiliated with the Good Samaritan Trust)
Dharmapuri, near Salem in Tamil Nadu (approximately 370 kms from Chennai)
Peace Children Care Home is a home for Aids affected/abandoned children who have lost their father or other or both and who are socially neglected and psychologically ostracized by the society; and abandoned by their relatives. (NB these children do not have HIV/AIDS themselves – they are suffering as the result of others’ infection) It aims to bring holistic development in the life of abandoned children.
(Rob Musick comments:) “Because of this home 26 HIV orphans have been given a new life, through Christian house parents, a good education, and safe living. Started as a vision of two pastors, the home has grown from 5 children into 26, but the needs of this area are almost limitless. HIV is rapidly growing in India because of ignorance and social taboos yet the children of those affect suffer greatly. I was deeply touched by the stories of these children as they have already overcome great odds to be succeeding in school and looking confidently toward the future.
When asked about their futures, many of the children told me they wanted to be “Engineers, Doctors, Teachers, or Missionaries”. As I looked into their eyes, I realized that “nothing is impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). When visiting the home it was apparent that the children are very well disciplined and that the house parents are very passionate and loving with the children. Later it was learned that both house parents were full orphans themselves and had lived in an orphanage themselves. This orphanage life and conditioning has positioned this couple to be great house parents. The children knew much scripture and had a great peace about them. The facility was very clean and orderly. The stories of the children are very touching and challenging as it is clear without this home, the children would face a very horrid future. Pastor John Matthew appears to be a very upright brother who cares for detail. Brother Luke at the home was a genuine pastor who is concerned for the children.
Each month the children are given all of their provisions and necessary items through the generous donations of friends and local donors. There is no money collected from grants or international agencies. The home had been in dialogue with an Indian American but the conversation was stopped as the American wanted to be in full control of the board and have a dictatorial position of leadership. Currently the Home faces a big challenge as they have to leave their current place of residence in October. Finding a landlord who is willing to rent to a Christian orphanage can be a big challenge therefore the need for a permanent orphanage of their own is top priority. In February of 2008 a piece of land was donated to the home by a loving church believer. On this 2500 sq. ft. land, the new orphanage is to be built along with a second story home for the house parents.”
What does the Peace Children Care Home provide: holistic care, food and shelter, medical facilities, education, nurturing them in the love of Jesus and bringing them up in the faith.
Trustees are: John Matthew (Managing Trustee), Sheby Zacharaia, George Muller, Paul Nilavan Christudas and S. Luke (caretaker of Peace Children’s Care Home)