Daya Vihar - the Vision

The scope of the problem of abandoned children in India is huge. In Mumbai alone there are an estimated 100,000+ abandoned children who are struggling to survive, right down at the very bottom of an already poverty stricken economy. Without a doubt these are some of the most vulnerable children on our planet. So many of them do not live above 12 years. Many perish before eight years old, maybe for the want of food and a little attention.

Many of these children operate as rag/trash pickers. As soon as people throw out any trash, these children (and there are many adults who do this as well) rush to pick up what they can get. They seek out dirty rags and paper, broken bottles, spoiled food, used bags, and so on.

The smell is terrible and they collect these things in a big bag to try to sell them to dealers in rubbish for a few rupees to get food. Can you imagine the terrible life that this is for the half a million or people who try to earn enough to eat in this way - and particularly for the little children as young as five years old who are facing this existence for the rest of their lives.

Without anyone to care for them, without a home to sleep in, and without a school to attend, these children face a bleak future. Often they are in this situation because their families get too big to feed on one unskilled wage, and their parents have to make the agonizing decision of choosing to abandon some children to prevent the whole family from starving to death.

We cannot solve the problem, but we can reach out with the love of God as much as we can to these children. Our home is in an area where there are many such children. We are reaching out to children by ministering to their

Physical needs - we are trying to provide clothes for these children. Many have not experienced the luxury of underwear and many are naked.
Shelter - until recently we could only offer our home as shelter for an evening, but God has now enabled us to rent two rooms, and we have now opened these as the Bethel Orphanage with an ability to offer accommodation to 20 children as funds allow.
Basic Education - Asha is a teacher and is able to teach the children the basics of reading and writing. Click here for some pictures of this activity.
Surrogate parenting - the adults around these children are in a desperate struggle for their own survival and these children have NOBODY to care for them. So we become surrogate parents to those which we can - already the courts have granted us legal guardianship of fifteen children.
Health care - the children have no access to even the most basic of healthcare if we do not provide some for them. Many have TB and stomach worms and other nasty diseases. We thank God that he continues to protect us and ask for your prayers that he will continue to do so. Medical care is very expensive and we can only help these children with as much as we receive.
Spiritual instruction - these children know nothing of the Bible or of the character of the one true God. So we train them to memorize verses of scripture that show who God really is and especially His love for them. We also tell them Bible stories, and seek to bring out principles and lessons from those stories. These children cannot read and write very well, but they have intelligent minds and learn quickly.

We long to see these children saved and brought to salvation in Christ. We long to see them develop their God given potential, through further education, and hopefully use their skills and experience to help reach the next generation. Click here to read the story of Bastine and her family.

In 2003 we formed the Compassion Charitable Trust which is officially registered with the Charity Commission of Maharashtra and the Income Tax Department of India.

We have been richly blessed by the supporters of AMEN and God has provided us with the land and a basic building. Our vision is to extend this building and to eventually add a school and medical centre.

Children at the orphanage

In so many ways God has showed us that these children are on His heart. We cannot sit back and let them perish without hope. We seek your prayers and financial help to enable this work to grow and to see many more children saved.

John and Asha

Kandivli East, Mumbai, India