At the beginning of high school when I was 14, I was surfing the web and came across an article on India. I read about this country that holds 1/3 of the entire world’s poverty, where there are at least 31 million children (UNICEF) abandoned by their parents to be orphans, where 1 in 3 people have never heard the name of Jesus (Joshua Project), where 1.2 million children are forced into life long prostitution. But these girls are not just statistics, they are precious angels like Aneesha, who was sold by her family at 8 years of age into the sex trade. How could millions of innocent children be neglected and die without the knowledge that a heavenly Father loves and cares for them deeply? I wanted to do something, but at the time the Lord needed to prepare my heart. Now at the end of high school, after 4 years of praying, petitioning and preparing, the time has come for me to go. I have been accepted as an intern with Global Hope India, a partner of Compassion International, for the summer of 2014.
As an intern, I will fly out June 15 and return August 11, 2014. I will live with a pastor’s family in Orissa, India. A nearby child development center called New Life, for kids who have been rescued from the sex trade and other at-risk situations, is in desperate need of teachers. My days will begin at 5:30am for morning devotions with the kids in the center. During the day I will be a teacher for the 300+ children in the center, and after hours work on a video production assignment for GHI to give a voice to the stories of beautiful souls like Aneesha.
I can think of no greater way to use my time before college than making a difference in the lives of these children and living out the Great Commission.
