India (MNN) — There are an estimated 11 million street children in India. Many are forced to fend for themselves for their own existence by begging, stealing or other means.
While India Partners can’t help them all, they’re doing their part to help 1,000 street kids this Christmas, says India Partners’ Brent Hample. It’s called, ‘Christmas for Street Children in India.’ Hample says, “One of our partner agencies in Andhra Pradesh, India will set up, in several villages, a program where they invite the children — using loud speakers. They set them up near the churches and the invite all the children to come in for a Christmas party.”
Hample says they share the street of Jesus’ birth and how Herod wanted to kill Jesus when he was a child. “A lot of children can relate to that being on the streets and how Jesus was born in a stable and of course the children can connect to that, being very poor.”
The ministry is also an opportunity for other kids, says Hample. “Some of the other children that are there from a local orphanage do the Christmas story in a skit. And, they hand out some treats and some new clothes for the children and then they ask them if they want to accept Jesus as their Savior.”
Last year they reached out to about 1,000 children in six villages, but Hample says they need to help more children this year. “The needs are going to be much more this year than in years past because of the flooding and cyclones that have hit that coast of India in the past month or two.”
A $165 gift enables India Partners to share the Gospel and provide for the needs of 100 street children. Hample says your investment is a life-time investment. “It’s not just a one day thing. They are nurtured and discipled by the adults and the families of the local churches where these programs are held. So, these children can grow up in the church to be loving, bold disciples for our Lord Jesus Christ.”
If you’d like to help financially, go to their website.
