CHILDREN'S HOME

In the Gangetic Plain of North India, there are 70 million children under age 15. An incredible 35 million of them are destitute. At best they grow up malnourished, with no hope of ever rising out of poverty due to lack of education. They face a future of debt and oppression. At worst, girls are sold into prostitution or they become beggars on the street. The solution is to bring these children into a safe and loving Christian environment. This we are doing through Blue Haven Children’s Home. OUR VISION is to launch multiple Christian Children’s Homes, whereby we can rescue thousands of the most destitute children. You can read more about this vision HERE.

BLUE HAVEN CHILDREN’S HOME

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Launched in July of 2005, Blue Haven Children's Home is the only Christian Children’s home in the city of Lucknow, population 4 million. We have thirty beautiful children, ranging in age from three to eleven. The children have come to us from as far away as Ladakh, deep in the Himalayan mountains. The boy we have from that location was being taken by a Buddhist monastery when some of our Christian friends there rescued him and sent him to us. “Nurboo” otherwise would have grown up as a Buddhist monk, completely severed from ever hearing the truth of Jesus Christ. But now he will grow up knowing the Lord. We also have some children from Varanasi, who would otherwise have grown up as beggars on the streets or as prostitutes in Hindu temples.

Our deep thanks goes to Dr. Anjuli Nayak who has raised a large portion of the funding for the Children's Home since 2007. Alok, the director of our rapidly-growing indigenous organization “The Alliance,” and his wife Ricky, are doing a fantastic job of overseeing the Children's Home. A couple from Nepal are the live-in caretakers. They themselves were very poor and couldn’t provide for their two children, but now they are bubbling with joy as they care for the children and see their sons receiving good schooling. We also have two young ladies who are well educated who ensure the children are learning both English and Computer skills, as well as the Bible. These once hopeless children now have a bright future and a loving family.

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FURTHER READING ON BLUE HAVEN CHILDREN'S HOME

Alok's wife Ricky is the visionary director of the Home through whom these children receive both loving discipline and a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Below, Ricky shares her testimony of how she came to have a passion to help the orphan children.

RUNAWAY TO JESUS!

“I was born into a Buddhist family high in the Himalayan mountain area called Leh. My father died while I was 5 years old, and my mother worked very hard in the field trying to feed us six children. I was sent to a Christian children's home called Dar UL Fazal (Grace Home). But one day the Buddhists found out that some girls from their region were being kept at the school, and came and took us by force to the Buddhist school. Every morning we were taught to pray Buddhist prayers, but even though I was very young, I sensed that something very important was missing in my life and that I had to go back to the Christian home.

“Finally when I was in 5th Grade, I ran away from the Buddhist hostel with two other girls. I will never forget that night when, trembling and fearful, we crossed the 3 ft. high boundary wall. We thought surely the hostel warden would see us or the dog would tear off our legs. But amazingly, no dogs even barked.

“The whole night we huddled together in a fallen-down shed. Very early in the morning we reached the main road hoping to get on a bus. Due to terrorism, the Christian home had been moved to a far-away town called Manali. We had no money, but it so happened that there was a Christian lady in the bus who knew us, and – amazingly - she was also going to Manali! She paid our bus fare and gave us food to eat! After two days journey we reached the Christian home and were welcomed by them. But the Buddhist hostel again came to know and sent the police to bring us back to the Buddhist home. We told the police that we don't want to live there; we want to stay and study only in this Christian children's home. So we were allowed to stay.

“There in 1997, I was in a worship meeting and felt Jesus just like my father, hugging me, kissing me and saying, "My daughter, I love you so much; I will never forsake you; I will be with you always." That day I gave my life to Jesus. From then on I knew I am no longer fatherless but God himself is my everything.

TellASIA Ministries in church planting and pastor’s training, but my passion had always been for poor, needy and orphan children. God answered our prayers when Sister Leanna asked if we felt the Lord's leading to start a Children's Home. So the Lord enabled us to start Blue Haven Children's Home and God has so far given us 30 children from poor, orphan and semi-orphan backgrounds. These children are so precious to me because I have been thorough this same situation. When I see them today it reminds me of my childhood. Please pray for all our children at the home, and for Alok and I and our staff, that we all may really be “Mom” and “Dad” to these children, and that we especially may show them the way to knowing Jesus as their true and ever-present Father.”

PEMA’S STORY

Pema is one of our children in the Home. She was born in a Buddhist family in the village of Zanskar deep in the Himalaya Mountains. Her mother died at a very early age and her father was a heavy drinker. Pema was the youngest of four. Her father remarried, and the step-mother disliked the children and mistreated them. Sometimes they had to sleep without food and water. Zanskar is known for poverty, since due to steep hills and heavy snow no crops can be

grown. Life in Zanskar is really very difficult, and it was especially so for Pema. When she saw other children of the village going to school, or their parents playing with them and eating food together, she would cry, “Why don’t my parents love us and send us to school?”

There was a lady from Zanskar who worked for a Christian hospital 130 miles away. Every year she would take a medical team to visit the village to provide some medical care and to look for needy children to rescue. When she saw  the condition of Pema's family she took her brothers and sisters and sent them to a children’s home. But Pema was still in her village with her step mother subsisting under horrible circumstances. The following year when she went again she found that Pema's condition was worse than before. She did not have warm clothing, and wasn’t being sent to school, and was totally uncared-for. So she decided to take Pema with her and the step-mother was glad to let her go.

That lady brought Pema to the town where she was working and contacted a few children’s homes to find a place for her, but all the homes were full and there was no space for Pema. One day she was sharing this situation in a prayer meeting and a friend of Ricky Srivastava happened to be there. He told her about Blue Haven Children’s Home. This is how God opened an amazing way for Pema to come to us. Pema is now one of the happiest children at our Home, and she is studying in First Grade. One day Ricky asked her, “Pema, do you want to visit your family during the summer holiday?” Pema replied, “I don't have any other family but you. You are my Mom and these other children are my brothers and sisters and this is my home.” Pema says that when she grows up, she wants to become a school teacher so she can teach good things to many children.

~ Ricky

DAILY OPERATIONS

Padma is one of the staff members of Blue Haven Children's Home.  She shares how we work with the children on a daily basis:

“Every morning, we get up at 5:00am and have breakfast at 6:00am so that we can get the children ready for school. At 7:00am, they leave for school and come back at 12:30pm. The children eat lunch and take some rest before doing their school work for an hour.  At 4:00pm the older children have computer class, while the younger ones play. After computer class, they all have play time. At 7:00pm, they eat dinner followed by an hour of devotional time before heading off to bed. “Lights off” is at 10:00pm.

DEVOTIONAL TIME

During Devotional time, we teach the children songs, tell them Bible stories and teach them the Word of God.  The children really love to worship the Lord in song, dance, and Bible reading. We are so blessed ourselves by seeing their simplicity and passion to know the Lord.  Frequently, the children come to us to share their personal problems including their family situation and how sad things were before they came here to Blue Haven.  We spend time counseling them and praying with them regarding their needs.  They tell us often how thankful they are to be here.  We also play and have a ton of fun together. After dinner the children are always eager for our story time.   It is our prayer that all these children will grow up to be great people and strong servants of the Lord.

COMPUTER TRAINING

Every day at 4:00 pm we have computer classes for the 12 older children.  Three groups rotate through the lab having four students in each group. We structure class until 4:45, and then if they still want to continue using the computers, they are free to do so utilizing many educational software programs we have.  Right now, the kids are concentrating their time to learn to type.  They are all doing very well, too.  At first, they would use only one finger to type, but now they know how to type efficiently on the keyboard.  We have fun testing to see how much they've learned by seeing how fast they can type.  Also, drawing competitions with the “Paint” program are used to develop their skills in using the mouse.  At the end of class, we teach them responsibility by requiring them to properly turn off the computer and replace the plastic dust covers so that the computers remain in good condition.

All the students are fantastic team learners by working together to figure out some of the games and puzzles in the software.  It is really encouraging and a great joy to see their improvement. They are trying very hard with great interest. Please pray for these orphan children that despite their difficult start in life, they may now grow up having every opportunity to excel for the Lord's glory. Pray for us as we care for them and love them as their parents. Pray that the Lord will help us be the mentors and friends to them that we need to be.

Help support the Children's Home today

Or GO SHOPPING for more ways to participate!