For several years we have, as a family, sponsored a few disadvantaged children around the world via the charity Compassion. Sponsoring a child gives that child and their family and their community a small but regular income to build a stable and hopeful life on as well as a personal relationship that can be uplifting to all parties.

Until recently, two of our sponsored children were impoverished girls living in some remote villages in India. But suddenly the Indian government have ejected Compassion along with a number of other charities founded on Christian values. Christian or not this has left many Indian children without even this small support and hope.

Here’s a report from the ground:

…in Nandyal, I saw up close the devastating impact that this policy decision has on the kids and communities involved. Over 700 kids in Nandyal are impacted by this, and I met some of them for myself.. 

Interestingly, only 14% of the supported kids are from Christian families, the rest being from families of all sorts of faiths – the uniting factor is that all the kids come from very poor contexts, with almost all of them with one or no parents. Yet the government wants to stop Christian organisations doing compassionate work as they feel that recipient families are more receptive to the spread of the Christian faith. … Nandyal may have 700 kids involved with Compassion International, but there are 150,000 kids affected by this across India. And Compassion is just one of 150 Christian organisations banned from India. Truly a deeply uncompassionate action by the Indian government.

I mention this now because recently we met an Anglo-French family who have spent a month working in a small children’s home in Tamil Nadu. While only small, it houses and feeds over 30 children who are either orphaned or have only a single parent who is unable to support them. It is places such as these that must pick up the pieces and provide the needed care for these children yet even they find it difficult to operate.

You can read this family’s account of their time at the home and, if you can, help support the home by making a donation. Even a small amount goes a long way in India. Thank you.