A life changer...

Channeling his best Yogi Berra, a wise old football coach once said, "Hindsight is 50/50." (I'm forever grateful to a few of my friends who are fans of Alabama football for reminding me so often of the source of this quote!)  It's true for all of us that seminal moments in our journey often escape our notice until hindsight allows us to make connections.  As I trace the steps on our journey with our friends in India, I see God at work in small conversations, offhand remarks, recommended books and articles.

One of the burning questions as we started to consider partnering in ministry with Pastor Chandra and Nathaniel was the primary question of what needs to be done.  We knew that the girls they care for don't have much - they are materially poor.  We knew that we wanted to do what we could to alleviate that poverty.  This was the impetus of our desire to send financial assistance to help with the girls needs.  (See my prior post, Getting To Know You.)  After a while, we began to fear that just sending money would make us the "bank," and that wasn't our purpose.

Toy Sale...

Emma's Toy Sale

Earlier this summer, as Madhuri was getting ready to start another term in school, we asked Pastor Chandra and Manjula if we could send her a new backpack for the year.  Manjula, who oversees the girls' schoolwork, responded with the suggestion that we send a little extra the next month so that she could purchase one there.  (We had already experienced the high cost and long delay of shipment when we sent them the laptop.  Western Union is extremely efficient and very inexpensive!)  After talking about it more, we decided that if we sent $120, we could buy six backpacks for the girls.

There are a few other families who have been partnering with us for the past couple of years to pay tuition and fees for some of the girls to attend an English school.  One of those families heard about the backpacks and wanted to join in - we decided to split it at $60 each.

One day, as we were cleaning house, we saw Emma gathering some of her old toys together for a sale.  She wanted to sell them from the front steps of our house and send the proceeds to Madhuri and the girls for the backpacks!  We agreed, and she set about making signs, organizing the toys, and arranging them on a table. It was the middle of the week, and traffic on our street is sparse, but she was determined to have the sale.  We feared that she would be disappointed at not selling much, but she stayed with it for hours.  Word spread about what she was doing - we had visits from neighbors, ALL of my co-workers (I work with wonderful people), my parents, my sister and her daughters - and by the end of the sale, Emma had raised more than $50!  She was thrilled, and we were overwhelmed by the excitement of everyone who came by.

Cheesecake and the Gospel...

In my last post, I asked the question about what God would write on a blank check for my life, and attempted to answer that question, to the extent that it has been answered.  If you're like us, you may have struggled with how to deal with this, and how to apply this blank-check lifestyle in 21st-century suburban America*.

I love cheesecake.  In my pantheon of desserts, cheesecake occupies one of the most honored pedestals.  I like them creamy or firm, plain, chocolate, pumpkin, topped with fruit or whipped cream.  Jennifer, my lovely wife, who was labeled by my young son years ago as a great "cooker," makes a chocolate cheesecake that makes me lose all grip on reality.  Not many things will cause me to take food from my children's plates, but I will consume any amount of uneaten cheesecake since throwing it away is unthinkable.

When I was growing up, my family had lunch at my grandparents' house after church every Sunday.  The menu was traditionally Southern, right down to the beef roast and green bean casserole.  The weekly variations were few, but one of them was dessert.  One of my favorites was a recipe from my great grandmother called "Orange Ladyfinger Dessert" - a chilled orange custard poured over lady fingers and covered with whipped cream.  Yum.  My most favorite was usually prepared on weeks when time was short.  You may have had it before: the Jell-O Cheesecake from a box in a store-bought graham cracker crust.  A little dollop of "whipped topping", and I was in artificially-cream-cheese-flavored heaven.

One summer as my birthday approach, my mother asked me what I wanted for the party - cake?  "No," I said, "I would rather have cheesecake."  Thus began a misunderstanding that would live in the lore of my family for decades.

A blank check...

And as [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mark 10:17-22, ESV)

Over the last 12 months, this passage has dealt me two devastating blows.  I've heard this story many times, and to my shame, I have always considered this story to be directed at someone other than me.  Surely Jesus wasn't talking about my life - I would have been a member of the crowd listening, and egging Jesus on.  Besides, that guy was probably what we could call a "one-percenter" - the disenfranchised bystanders would have cheered the idea that Jesus favored them and made rich guy walk away dejected.

Getting to know you...

In my last post I began the story of how we came to know Madhuri and the Chandra's in India.  Before continuing the story, I want to tell you what I hope you will take from this post:  this is a story of the amazing grace of God shown to me by our friends on the other side of the world.  If you get from this post that I intend to boast about our goodness and altruism, then I will have failed.

Why?  Because in the months that followed our initial exchange of emails, I dragged my feet.  I hemmed and hawed and, at times, suppressed the voice of the Spirit telling me that I should invest in this relationship.  Like many Americans, I am hesitant about charitable activity that isn't well-established.  I was also distracted by life and a fear of getting involved.

The very beginning...

Pastor K. Vijaya Chandra, and some of the children under his care

I don't know how many of you have done this before, but this wasn't our first time.  Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Sunday at the church we were attending was a big deal each November - all of the children carrying their shoeboxes filled with toys and toiletries to the front steps.  We have two kids - John Mark, who is now 15 and Emma, who is now 7.  That year, 2008, we brought two boxes: one for a little girl, and one for a boy.  In each box we placed a picture of our family and a brief letter with greetings for the child that received the box.  We included our home address in the hope that we might receive word.  We had not received any letters from anyone that had received one of our shoeboxes.

This time,  in January of 2009, we did!

The beginning...

This is the first post on a new blog in which we share our work with some remarkable people in India.  The next post will detail how we came to know them, but I write today to show you pictures of some precious girls that live in a slum on the northeastern corner of Bangalore, India.  They are under the care of K. Vijaya Chandra and the Hanna Krupa Memorial Church.  Pastor Chandra and his wife, Manjula give these girls basic needs, and show them a God who loves them and can lift them from the grasp of poverty.  They attend school year-round, 7 days a week in India.  The girls gather early in the morning at the Chandra's flat for breakfast, then they go from there to their respective schools.

We Skype with them frequently, and have come to know some of the girls.  One of them, Madhuri, lives with the Chandra's and was the reason we met them all (more on that in the next post).  It has been so humbling for us to see first-hand a family that devotes every moment of their day and every rupee they possess to care for those around them, and to show that the "untouchables" and outcasts can become children of the King.  For a few years, we have been sending support for this family and these girls, and have been sponsoring Madhuri in her desire to attend an English-speaking school.  A few other families have joined us in this, and now three of the girls are in school.

There are three more girls that would like the opportunity to attend the English school.  Here are pictures of them:

Chandrika

Nandini

Anjali

The registration and tuition fees total $250 per year.  We are working toward establishing a non-profit here in the US will help the Hanna Krupa Memorial Church care for the children in their community and plant churches in many villages in southern India that have none.  At this time, we are looking to incorporate the charity and file the 501(c)(3) non-profit application.  What does this mean?  First, contributions made to the girls are not tax-deductible at this time.  They will be when the filing process is complete.  Second, we need your expertise in the legal and accounting areas to help us get set up.  Third, we need your prayers to help us know how best to help our friends.  We are planning a trip to visit them in person and see their tireless work first-hand.  Pray that the Lord opens doors for that to happen soon!

There are many facets of poverty.  Material poverty is one, but a study done by the World Bank after World War II revealed that those experiencing dire material poverty, in which death by starvation or disease is a daily worry, not only feel the weight of their hunger, but also their powerlessness.  In this sense, these girls are not poor!  God, through the Chandra's and Hanna Krupa church, has given these girls the knowledge that they are not powerless - they are deeply loved, and infinitely valuable.

If you are interested in getting involved with us in establishing Madhuri's Mission, please contact me.  My email address is java.todd@gmail.com.

God bless you!