REAL NEED

One of the problems with working with those with AIDS is that their lifespan is limited. Tied to this, only 20% of Children contract the disease from positive mothers. This means that there are inevitably a lot of children left parentless.

In India there's not really a provision for these children, and so at JSK we try to help them. Our policy is to try to place children with their extended families where possible, as family is so important. Other than this JSK has historically referred Children to established Orphanages, run by the Catholic Church in the main. However these can also be quite large and impersonal.

Andi, who I work with, has been thinking that there is a need for us to start some work among orphans for some time, however I was not aware of this. Independantly I heard of someone who was wanting to start an orphanage in the North of India for children from HIV infected families. When I heard this I felt that it was such a great idea, and really felt enthused to do something similar. When I next spoke to Andi, (when we returned from Mussoorie), he told me that he was planning to have a meeting to discuss provision for orphans. That meeting was in November.

Shortly after that, there were 2 orphans who were placed with family, but there were already grandparents, parents, and children living in one room, and family said they just couldn't cope with 2 more children. We therefore arranged for the children to go to an orphanage, but they ran away twice. 2 weeks ago they moved into a room with a guardian who is another one of our patients, and it is going really well.

The latest is that 500 pounds was recently put into my bank account by someone in the UK, who my sister had spoken to, and who was keen for the money to be used in work with orphans!

This is just the start. We have 15 other Children who will be in a similar situation soon. It has been amazing what God has done so far in this area, and I look forward to the future with confidence. It is just great to see God working so much in all things. I've never experienced anything like it before in my life. I think I was probably just too self-reliant and comfortable in the UK. There isn't any REAL NEED in the same way in the UK(although I know there is need), and so you don't rely on God the same there (or maybe that was just me!!).

Anyway, I'm not saying all this to illustrate how wonderful I am. I'm not. (honestly). I have many faults. I really just want to communicate how great GOD is.

Thankyou for all your support. Lots of love, Adam