For those of you who do not know, I am on the board of International Princess Project (IPP). After the girls are rescued out of forced prostitution and in an after care facility, we train them to sew pj's made out of Indian fabric. We then sell the pj's in the US and set up sav
ings accounts for the girls so that when they reach majority age and move out on their own, they will have money and a skill to start their new life. It has been a treat to bring some of my good friends to see what we are doing in Mumbai in partnership with Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC). Yesterday, we visited BTC's after care facility named Ashagram (Village of Hope). It has been over a year since I'd seen our IPP girls, but as soon as I saw them, it was a joyous reunion. The girls are taller and healthier and their English is much better. They were just as excited to see me as I was to see them. I am so proud of the girls as they have been working very hard at their studies as well as getting to be better seamstresses. We also saw the new vocational center that is being built. It is a 5
000 sq foot facility that will be dedicated as a sewing center for the girls. We were able to present a $20,000 gift to BTC that will enable the completion of the facility as well as fund the equipment needed for the sewing center (ie sewing machines, cabinets, etc.) This vocational center will enable IPP to more than double our capacity. We currently have 20 girls in our sewing center and a waiting list of girls who would like to participate.
We heard one of the newer IPP girls tell us her story: "I am so grateful to IPP for giving me the opportunity to develop the skill of sewing. I am so grateful to the Lord for BTC in helping me out of my situation (sexual slavery). Now I know that my son is safe and cared for and I am grateful to be reunited with him." She was emotional as she told her story.
Later that evening, we visitied the BTC AIDS Orphanage down the road from Ashagram. We met her son at the orphanage. He has HIV/AIDS as does his mother. We watched as the children took their anti-retroviral drugs and then proceeded to play and laugh together. Pastor Devaraj then prayed fo
r the children. Then he asked the children to pray for us. They prayed for our protection and a blessing upon us.
And right then it struck me- the little boy's mother had said she was grateful. How is she not angry, not bitter, not depressed? How is this little boy happy? How can he pray for us? The answer- only a life transformed by the love of the Lord can produce this kind of beauty from ashes.
The other team members have their own stories to tell about our day at Ashagram, but they are all asleep. So they will pick up the story tomorrow. We are now in two groups with Don and Mary Hendricks and Karen Taulien in Chennai and Glenda, Catherine, and myself in Calcutta. So you will be getting blog inputs from both places.
Thanks for your prayers and support,
Loreen
ings accounts for the girls so that when they reach majority age and move out on their own, they will have money and a skill to start their new life. It has been a treat to bring some of my good friends to see what we are doing in Mumbai in partnership with Bombay Teen Challenge (BTC). Yesterday, we visited BTC's after care facility named Ashagram (Village of Hope). It has been over a year since I'd seen our IPP girls, but as soon as I saw them, it was a joyous reunion. The girls are taller and healthier and their English is much better. They were just as excited to see me as I was to see them. I am so proud of the girls as they have been working very hard at their studies as well as getting to be better seamstresses. We also saw the new vocational center that is being built. It is a 5
000 sq foot facility that will be dedicated as a sewing center for the girls. We were able to present a $20,000 gift to BTC that will enable the completion of the facility as well as fund the equipment needed for the sewing center (ie sewing machines, cabinets, etc.) This vocational center will enable IPP to more than double our capacity. We currently have 20 girls in our sewing center and a waiting list of girls who would like to participate.We heard one of the newer IPP girls tell us her story: "I am so grateful to IPP for giving me the opportunity to develop the skill of sewing. I am so grateful to the Lord for BTC in helping me out of my situation (sexual slavery). Now I know that my son is safe and cared for and I am grateful to be reunited with him." She was emotional as she told her story.
Later that evening, we visitied the BTC AIDS Orphanage down the road from Ashagram. We met her son at the orphanage. He has HIV/AIDS as does his mother. We watched as the children took their anti-retroviral drugs and then proceeded to play and laugh together. Pastor Devaraj then prayed fo
r the children. Then he asked the children to pray for us. They prayed for our protection and a blessing upon us.And right then it struck me- the little boy's mother had said she was grateful. How is she not angry, not bitter, not depressed? How is this little boy happy? How can he pray for us? The answer- only a life transformed by the love of the Lord can produce this kind of beauty from ashes.
The other team members have their own stories to tell about our day at Ashagram, but they are all asleep. So they will pick up the story tomorrow. We are now in two groups with Don and Mary Hendricks and Karen Taulien in Chennai and Glenda, Catherine, and myself in Calcutta. So you will be getting blog inputs from both places.
Thanks for your prayers and support,
Loreen
No comments:
Post a Comment