The birth of a girl to poverty-stricken families in India can present an economic predicament. When there is barely enough food to survive, any child puts a strain on a family’s resources, but the dowry practice and gender discrimination makes the prospect of having a girl even more undesirable. The House of Refuge, an orphanage/boarding school for girls in Jharsuguda, India, founded by World Outreach Ministries (www.houseofrefuge-india.org,) has rescued over 462 of these orphaned, abandoned, and unwanted girls.
In 2007 the Foundation helped fund the completion of a second girl’s dormitory and committed to the ongoing support of 24 of the girls until they reach the age of 18. We call them “William’s Girls.”
The dormitories are situated on a large compound run by Faith Outreach Ministries, (www.faithoutreach-orissa.com). They oversee the care and education of all the girls as well as many other children living in the compound who are sponsored by other organizations.
The compound has its own private school, subsidized by the enrollment of children in the surrounding community. Education is a powerful tool that can help break the pattern of gender discrimination and bring lasting change for women in India. The most basic skills in literacy and math will open up opportunities for them. These girls have the opportunity to be educated in all subjects as well as sewing and computer, and by the time the girls are 18 many of them are fluent in English.
There is a growing tide of persecution against Christians in India. In May of 2014, Narendra Modi was elected as the Prime Minister of India. His BJP party has strong ties to the RRS, a group committed to eradicating Christianity from India. Their ideology is called “Hindutva;” their core belief is that India is for Hindu’s only. Christians in India are facing growing hostility and violence from Hindu extremists. After working in India for 48 years and helping 145,000 children, Compassion International was forced to stop all of its work there as of March 2017. They were shutdown on suspicion of engaging in religious conversion of children, an activity deemed “detrimental to the national interest” by the Modi government. Open Doors USA, a non-profit organization focused on serving persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries, publishes the “World Watch List," an annual report on the global persecution of Christians. On their list, India has moved from #31 in 2013 to #15 in 2017. Open Doors reports that in just the first four months of 2017, a total of 316 incidents of persecution against Christians have been reported. Please pray for India, for the girls in the House of Refuge, for “William’s Girls,” and for the spread of the Gospel and the strength of the Church to stand for Christ.
