India’s slums don’t just exist on a movie soundstage. Every day, some 40 to 45 million children struggle to survive in filthy, disease-ridden conditions we would find deplorable.
Trash floats in the same contaminated water used for bathing. Working toilets are rare. Families huddle in tiny makeshift houses with dirt floors and large gaps in the walls and roofs. There is little relief from the sweltering heat and little shelter from the ravaging monsoons.
Desperate for money to buy food, some starving children fall prey to sex traffickers. Other youngsters are robbed of their childhood by being forced to work for 12 hours a day in hazardous conditions. Education is a precious luxury few can afford.
In 2019, thanks to your support and generosity, thousands of families have begun to escape these tragic circumstances. They have found hope. They have found Jesus Christ. Mothers are starting to earn a living, enabling their children to go to school and their families to receive medical care.
This is life-changing and life-saving. We know that if just one child goes to school, the circumstances for their entire family are improved. Please donate today to help us impact even more lives.
Together, we have accomplished many firsts in 2019.
- Women’s Marketplace. In January, Hands of Freedom’s vision of teaching women how to make a better living and to give them outlets for the sales of their goods moved one step forward with the opening of our first Women’s Marketplace. At last, local women had a place to sell products they have made.
- Scarf Project: Hands of Freedom is also grateful to those who organized sales of scarves in the U.S. After first seeing samples of the scarves, a group of dedicated volunteers collaborated to make this happen. Upon learning about the order, the women scarf makers were excited to choose the best fabrics and sit down to their sewing machines to deliver a beautiful array of 500 scarves. These scarves are available on our website.
- Women’s Sewing Project: Fifteen women are now trained in tailoring and have begun businesses that are leading them toward sustainability. It is a joy to see these women go from struggling socially, financially and spiritually to becoming entrepreneurs with dreams about new futures and destinies for their families.
- Mentoring program: Hands of Freedom created the Business Development Model, a mentoring program teaching under-educated women how to start and sustain a business. The program is engaging the church and entire families. A total of 50 women are currently going through the program.
- Journey Beyond: This is a movement giving hope to youth who – as with generations before them – live in challenging situations. Hands of Freedom is mentoring these young people in the local churches, to encourage them to dream beyond their circumstances.
- Catalyst School of Ministry: Hands of Freedom enrolled the first 75 students in our Catalyst School of Ministry. Through this ministry, we are identifying and training lay leaders with leadership potential and a calling to serve Jesus Christ. Students are attending this bible college part time for 1.5 years. After completing the program in the winter of 2020, these newly trained leaders will be deployed to local communities and starting churches. They will also lead our local outreach activities.
Freedom Center Children’s Care Campus: We Dream of Building a City on the Hill
The only way to empower impoverished children and families is by providing them with quality education. This year, Hands of Freedom announced our dream to build The Freedom Center Children’s Care Campus and has received funding to purchase the land needed. Now we need everyone’s prayers and support to make this God-sized vision a reality: one brick, one classroom at a time!
Our vision for the Freedom Center Children’s Care Campus is to be the light of Christ to those living in poverty and help guide them towards physical, social and spiritual transformation.
The Freedom Center Children’s Care Campus would dramatically change thousands of lives
- It would house a K-12 school for 600 children who currently live in extreme poverty or are being raised in the red-light districts. In most cases, these children would be the first generation in their families to attend school.
- It would be a place where women can learn sustainable skills to build lives of hope and dignity
- And because only 1.5% of India knows the saving love of Christ, The Freedom Center Children’s Care Campus would train pastors and leaders to plant churches in unreached places. These local churches would be hubs of solutions to issues such as trafficking, beggar gangs and lack of clean water.
We need your help to save lives
Please pray about your gift. Help us lift these children out of horrible situations and into lives filled with hope by giving generously.
Remember this: “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35
God bless you.