Compassion for Orphans | January-February 2025 Report

Dear Friends and Partners,

Greetings in the Matchless Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a great joy to enter into the new year 2025. Every year points to the faithfulness of God and His work in this creation. Every day reflects the grace of God on us to be alive for a reason. We are all well by the grace of God and we hope the same is true for you.

God has used us greatly in this Christmas season to reach and serve many with the Gospel. Every outreach that we carry out makes us realise how grateful we ought to be in spite of all the struggles and untimely persecution that we face in our country. We are taking care of the children that we serve and also are able to reach many unreached gypsies in the areas around us and in the nearby forests by providing them with food, essentials, clothing and by sharing the Gospel of salvation with them.

Some children in the areas around us were given wild treatments as their tribes believe in using witch doctors to treat several sicknesses. The side effects of their harmful treatments resulted in many skin diseases, abnormality and worsening of the wounds. These children do not have decent clothes, good food, or sanitation. Many of the young girls between the ages of 12-16 years have babies and they do not practice birth control.

Many children are left to walk around freely, begging in the streets and roaming like animals. Witnessing this harsh reality has put our hearts in deep sorrow and we are burdened to serve them. By your prayers and support we were able to give them clothes to wear as they did not have even minimal clothing. When we are able to work among them, these children love to learn Bible songs with actions, and create drawings about Bible stories. My son playing the guitar for them attracts them to hear about Jesus. It is a great joy to be a blessing to these young ones. The Bible says in Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. We can see that God is merciful towards our ministry so that we can show mercy to many.

We do have many sad stories though. There was a 13-year-old boy in a tribal village we visit. His parents were illiterate and unhygienic. The boy was deaf and dumb and the parents were trying to do black magic practices but it did not work to cure the boy. Once the boy was sitting at a camp fire in the village center as there is no electricity to light the village. He slipped and fell into the fire and his feet fell directly in the hot ashes. By the time the villagers pulled him out his feet were badly burned. The boy was not given any medication. Later on the boy went to a nearby lake to get some relief in the water but unfortunately he ended up drowning. Such are the people who live in these areas. We pray often that these children get saved.

This season we celebrated the joy of Christmas with the children and many villagers. Christmas is the best time of the year to reach many. Its a joyous time for the children as well as for us. It is a gospel opportunity for all the villagers. The children performed dances and plays and shared the truth and joy of Christ with many. We arranged a Christmas dinner which has given us an opportunity to enjoy the love of God with the children and share that love with the local Hindu villagers who were able to hear the gospel of Christ.
Many Hindu villagers have listened to the Gospel and we believe God will bring them to the light of Christ. It is only your prayers and support that we are able to do this ministry. I thank God for using us and helping us work for the Lord in these days.

I request you to once again remember our ministry and continue to pray for us so that many are blessed through food, clothing, education and salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. Your support enables us to buy new clothes, books, sweaters, bedsheets, underwear and toys for the children.

The Bible says, in Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done”.

Please continue to support the ministry:

Monthly sponsorship for one child is $30

Monthly sponsorship for a pastor is $100

We are thankful to the individuals, churches, and ladies’ groups, for sponsoring and supporting us. We are praying for you, your families and your country. We specially thank Lance and Christie Thollander, Directors of Hope Builders International for standing beside us, and supporting us in our ministry.

With love in Jesus,

Sheba Sunayana

What Does Persecution Look Like In India

Christians around the nation of India find themselves increasingly under threat. This hostility is often driven by an ongoing belief among some that Indians ought to be of a singular belief systtem — and any faith outside
of that system is not welcome in India.

This mindset has led to violent attacks across the country and impunity for the people who perpetrate this violence, especially in places where the authorities are also not empathetic toward Christians.

More and more states are also implementing anti-conversion laws, creating
an environment where any Christian who shares their faith can be accused of a crime, intimidated, harassed and even met with violence. Additionally, this hasn’t stopped mass “homecoming” campaigns whereby certain nationalists put tremendous pressure on Christian converts, telling them to return to their previous faith.

Who is most vulnerable to persecution?

Christ followers who come from other backgrounds are the most vulnerable to persecution across India, particularly communities who have faced historical oppression or discrimination such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Additionally, church leaders and their families can be particular targets in places that are heavily influenced by violent extremists.

Ordaining couples to meet the need of the emerging Church

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
– Matthew 9:38

North Kerala is a very unreached area in terms of the gospel and our team of pastors and leaders are working there tirelessly to bring the good news to a vast number of people. Informal training seminars, prayer schools and conferences help to keep the vision upfront.

The recent conference was a great blessing as over 150 missionaries gathered together for three days of teaching, training, fellowshiping and imparting.

Several couples were ordained and released into the mission fields. This was in answer to a lot of prayer for new workers. The general meetings in the night were a source of great encouragement to the people. We are now praying that we can support these new families to start working in pioneer locations and we invite your sacrificial and prayerful giving towards this great cause.