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| Shawna and Shweta |
As we
followed the local pastors down the stairs and onto the train’s platform, I was
relieved that I was not alone. The light was drastically dimmer and especially
dull, even in comparison to outside, where the sun had just disappeared until
morning. Even for a train station it was incredibly grimy. I felt the gaze of
each passerby as they bustled to gather their few things and leave on the next
train, sat on luggage and waited, or simply maintained their post with a
recycled container, begging for money. This station located in Varanasi, India
is a major train station because it is about midway between two of India’s major
cities, New Delhi and Kolkata. We weren’t there to visit Delhi or Kolkata
though; we weren’t even interested in the trains, but rather in the children
who called the platform their home.
They
were easy to recognize because of their mismatched, tattered clothing, dirt
smudged skin, matted hair, and hardened behavior. Children of all ages live in
this horrifying place scavenging for food and money, doing odd jobs for a
chance of getting paid something, fighting for opportunities. Some of them live
here with a mom or dad who for some reason cannot provide for them, or a
brother or sister who they look out for and fight beside, but many are
completely alone. Their stories are of abandonment, abuse, and desperation.
Some work for gangs and are required to bring them a certain sum daily in order
to escape a beating, or who knows what else. Who knows what terrors these
beautiful, supposed-to-be innocent girls and boys face alone in this big world.
Some of these children confess to
using drugs to fill the hole of loneliness and brokenness inside of them, but
ALL of them use them, even the ones who aren’t yet old enough to go to school.
They don’t know when they will have another meal or where they will lay down to
sleep that night, and if they do find sleep, will they wake up?
As we
gathered some of these children and brought them to the nearby church to feed
them, play with them, and love them, I held back tears, realizing that the
church was the only place they were truly protected and allowed to act as
children, even if just for a short amount of time. What if we could give these
children the childhood that they deserve: protection, provision, and love? What
if we were able to give these children parents and a home? Wouldn’t that have
the power to completely change their future and ultimately change their city?
From that need there arose a vision within us to help change things. The burden was already being carried in the hearts of Nyzil and Shweta, the Indian couple that we had the pleasure of working with. They have an obedience and passion for serving the Lord that I have seen in very few people, and they have a determination to make the Lord’s dreams for these broken people come true. Since our visit in January we have partnered with them to activate their plans to start a children’s home for these kids from the train station. They didn’t hesitate in acting and, knowing that the Lord was making a way for them, brought in six children as their own at the beginning of February.
This is clearly no small commitment. They now have the responsibility of teaching, feeding, cleaning, clothing, and raising six children! Children like Sunita, whose father died and left her begging at the train station with her paralyzed and diabetic mother. Or Sagar, whose father left with another woman and whose mother left with another man, leaving him abandoned with nowhere else to go but the train station (when a parent remarries they often discard children from a previous marriage or treat them like rubbish). Grace, Vinay, Sahil, and Sarah have similar stories. However, now these children are offered the hope of a new life, a new future. They are given the joy of knowing Jesus Christ as their Savior and experiencing His love through their new family.
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| Nyzil and Shweta |
The vision doesn’t end here. Nyzil and Shweta plan on bringing in more children, and when they can’t bring in any more, they dream of starting more children’s homes in Varanasi. By their strength and with their resources this is an impossible task, even having six children is impossible! But with God’s supernatural provision and our partnership, the impossible can be made a reality. We have at our fingertips the power to literally change lives. We can choose to use it, or keep it to ourselves so we don’t have to sacrifice any of our own comfortable luxuries. Now that you know, what will you do?
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