Bill and Renee Reed and Don and Jan Slaton just returned from a two week mission trip to visit Global Outreach supported ministries in India and Thailand and potential works in the Philippines. This newsletter will share highlights of our time in India and other works visited will be featured in the future.
After two days of traveling we arrived at Chennai, India at 2:00 am. Reverend Thomas, his wife Mary Grace, and son Thomas Jr. were waiting for us and gave us a warm welcome. We had about four hours sleep and then began a nine hour drive to Tenali where the main campus of Feed My People is located. Upon arrival we were surprised when the van stopped and we saw a large gathering of people in the road. They invited us to get out of the van and then we realized the large crowd was waiting to greet us. Teen girls, orphans and pastors and wives were lined up and showered us with flowers as we walked between them, exchanging hugs and handshakes with everyone we could reach. We immediately felt their love and were thrilled with the opportunity to spend a week with our precious brothers and sisters in India.
We were immediately ushered into the church building where sixty pastors and wives supported by Global Outreach had gathered to meet us. Many had traveled long distances by bus, train, motorbike, and walking to attend. Many elderly widows, teen girls, and some of the orphans were also in attendance. Our travel weariness seemed to disappear as we worshipped together. Renee, Jan and Don gave greetings to the group and Bill had the opportunity to preach a message of encouragement to the congregation. At the conclusion of the service we were blessed to give a small monetary gift to each pastor and their wives, as well as to the widows and elderly in attendance.
The following days were spent getting to know the teens and orphans and learning more about the work of Feed My People in Tenali. We visited the classrooms of the elementary school as well as the Bible School and medical college. Jan presented a lesson to the teen girls at the medical college on HIV prevention. We were thrilled to give each child and teen a small gift bag containing a toothbrush, comb, small toys, candy and balloons. We also gave out underwear that you so gener-ously provided. Through your gifts we were able to take enough underwear to give all 235 orphans, 85 teen girls, and 12 teen boys two pair each. Prior to your gift they each owned only one or two pair that had to be hand washed each day. We also were able to provide underwear to several of the pastor’s wives. Can you imagine a child in America being thrilled to receive a pair of underwear?
Another day we loaded into the van for a nine hour journey to visit with six of the village orphanages, and a couple of churches. There, we distributed more underwear and gift bags to the orphans aswell as vitamins, medicine and fruit to the elderly.
Throughout our time in Tenali and the villages, we identified many pressing needs and prayed for God’s wisdom and discernment in how Global Outreach should be involved in meeting these needs. Before we left, we were able to give funds to purchase 80 new mattresses and 85 new blankets for the teen girls as well as some otherneeds. Many of the teens had to share blankets and mattresses, and most of the ones they had wereworn out and in desperate need of replacement.
Another urgent need that tugged at our hearts was to help the elderly who are mostly widows. We learned that many of these precious people have to beg during the day and then sleep on the floor of some of the church members homes at night. They do not have family to help them and receive no help from the government. The plan is to move them into the church at Tenali and provide each with a cot and new blanket. The cost for this will be $225.00 for 25 elderly church members. They will be fed along with the orphans and will no longer need to beg for their daily food.
Everywhere we went the people expressed great appreciation for the help they have received from “Mum Harle and Dad Allan” through Global Outreach. It was gratifying to see the many benefits and changed lives due to the long term partnership between Global Outreach and Feed My People. Your donations to this ministry in India since 1988 have enabled thousands of souls to hear and accept the gospel and provided care for hundreds of orphans, widows and elderly. We thank God for each of you because without your support, none of these accomplishments would have been possible.
To see more pictues from our trip to India please download our March 2013 newsletter: http://media.wix.com/ugd//b27ff3_ccd4d6ed6a0320034018a661c7bf6fff.pdf
To learn more about Global Outreach ministries in India please visit: http://www.global-outreach.net/#!india/ctg7
