Hope Baptist Children’s Home
Churachandpur, India
by H. C. Stephen
Hope Baptist Children’s Home began six years ago (in 2002) in Churachandpur (chur–a-CHANDpurr), a city in the country of India. A group of churches called the New Testament Baptist Church Association of India joined with the Baptist Children’s Home of Valparaiso, Indiana, to start the Hope Baptist Children’s Home.
In the beginning there were twenty-four children; today there are more than fi fty. They range from five to fi fteen years old. The children come from different backgrounds. Some became orphans because of the war; others, because their parents died from AIDS or another sickness.
Five staff members take care of the children. Each child has daily chores, such as caring for the pets, cleaning toilets, drawing water from the well, and sweeping the floors.
Meet Two of the Children
Siemgoulian (see-im-GOO-lee-on) is seven years old and in the second grade. When he fi rst went to the children’s home, he asked, “Am I in the U.S.?” His own village was so far away that he thought Churachandpur was America. After he’d been in Churachandpur three years, his grandmother visited him. He was worried about
her and wanted her to accept Jesus as Savior. “Please accept Jesus Christ as your Savior; otherwise you will go to Hell,” he said.
Lamngaihkim (LAM-guy-uh-kim) lived for two years at the children’s home, until her uncle adopted her. While she stayed at the home, she learned the Word of God. She helped her pastor in the kitchen, in the Sunday School, and in his counseling class.
Lamngaihkim won a piece of soap as a prize in Sunday School. She was so concerned about her friends in the children’s home that she sent the prize to them.