“Amma!!” I can hear my son cry out while playing outside. My heart skips a beat as I rush to aid him and get him back on his feet. I look frantically for any bruises on him, so I can comfort him and attend to his injuries. Our kids are so fortunate to grow up in a safe and nurturing environment with their parents on guard 24/7. Sadly though there are many kids of the same age and bright personalities out in the world with no access to resources that meet the basic needs of their life. What went wrong? Why does God allow such a situation? These can be questions that haunt us frequently in our life. We must also ask ourselves: What are we doing to prevent or alleviate such situations?
Our family has been fortunate to be a part of Light the Candle International Inc. ministries for the past 4 years. The vision of this ministry is to motivate underprivileged children to dream a purpose driven life to glorify God and support them to help achieve their dreams. Through this ministry, we have been blessed and fortunate to have Krupa, Meghana, Sneha, and Anil in our family.
Distance has not limited the opportunity to remain involved in their lives. We have seen and heard about each of these children’s life stories and have been updated on their growth in life without ever being physically present with them. Krupa who is in 10th grade this year is an enthusiastic and motivated child. We receive letters from her caretakers at the Child Development center about her individual, spiritual, and academic growth. We have also been fortunate to receive her own personal letters of her expressing her gratitude for providing for her basic needs, along with books, school uniforms, and the Christmas gifts that she received. These letters echo her happiness and gratefulness to God and to us, whom she has never personally met. We as a family are grateful to Light the Candle Inc. for giving us this opportunity to be a part of Krupa’s life and the opportunity to provide for her basic needs, that her natural parents are unfortunately not able to provide. We see similar blessings being reflected also in the lives of Meghana who is in 9th grade, Sneha, who is in 6th grade, and Anil T our youngest, in 5th grade. Providing for these four children through Child Development centers in remote villages has been an immense blessing in our lives.
The education they receive provides them opportunities, liberates them from the modern day slavery such as human trafficking, child labor, sex mafia, and injustice to illiterate work force in third world countries. There are many remote villages where the government is unable to provide any help to educate underprivileged children. The parents of these children have themselves not received any education nor are aware of the opportunities education could provide their children. Due to cultural beliefs and societal norms many of these individuals see having daughters to be a burden for their family. Child development centers play a crucial role in encouraging and supporting these children to complete their school education.
I strongly believe that God has placed each and every one of us in appropriate positions for a purpose. It would be impossible for us to be physically present in the life of every underprivileged children of this world, but our God definitely expects us to be a helping hand however we can. Today we can be a part of at least one child’s life through this ministry. God’s word is full of promises for those who help the needy. He commands us not to neglect these children and to do good and share what we have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God (Hebrews 13:16)
So the next time you wonder why God allows such adverse situations in the life of little children, I would like to urge and encourage you to think about what you can do in your power to help these underprivileged children. God is eager to reach out to them through you. You are the hands and feet of God. Light the Candle International Inc. is a wonderful opportunity for you to be a part of a child’s life. Grab your opportunity, before it slips out of your mind. Andy Stanley a senior pastor at North Point Community Church, Georgia, United States once said, “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God is not something you do, rather it is someone you raise up in God’s way”. Our family is thankful to God from the bottom of our hearts, for the blessed opportunity to raise 4 children remotely.