India's Child
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The India's Child project was established in 1988 during a visit to South India by members of the Lakewood Church. It began with a little girl named. Ruth.
 She was 12 years old and only had an elderly grandmother to care for her as her parents had died several years earlier. She herself had suffered from tuberculosis and had considerable lung damage as a result. She was tall for an Indian girl her age, but painfully thin due to her illness. The M.J. Samuel family wanted to bring the young girl to live with them so that she could go to school and receive proper medical treatment. One of the Lakewood members offered to pay for her care and it was from this small beginning that the idea blossomed to establish a child sponsorship program which could help many other children in the same way.
The program began that year with approximately 10 children. Ruth loved going to school for the first time in her life and enjoyed being with the other children in the program since she had never had brothers and sisters. Sadly, Ruth died in 1991, but we like to think that she lives on in the lives of other children who benefit from the program that began because of her.
The project now includes over 60 children. The monthly support provides education, food, clothing, housing and medical care for children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to attend school or who cannot be cared for by their own family because of ill health or the death of one or both parents. Many of the children come from a tribal area approximately 5 hours from Bhimavaram Mission where there are few schools available. Several of the children from this area have been part of the program since they were only 7 or 8 years old and are now graduating from college.
Members of the Lakewood Church have been loyal sponsors of these children since the beginning of the program. Some children have only stayed in the program for' a short time, so sponsors have had more than one child over the years; but it is believed that even a short time in the program benefits each child in a miraculous way.
After 13 years, some of the kids of INDIA'S CHILD' are all grown up and have become miraculous examples of the vision that was set out when the program began. Our prayer and fervent hope was that some of these children would return to their villages and homes and take what they had learned to improve the lives of all the people in their communities. There are three success stories which are a perfect representation of this vision.
Ramalama came from a remote tribal village called Buruguwada. She was a part of INDIA'S CHILD for only a few years and returned to her village at the age of 15. Upon her return, however, she established a school for the village children and organized devotional services. She has since taken training to become a government health worker and now travels to remote villages by bicycle to visit those who are sick and have no access to medical care. Even though she is still young, Ramalama is considered one of the "elders" of her village because of the
 knowledge that she gained and the ways in which she has used that knowledge to help others.
Sitaya is from the same tribal area as Ramalama. He has recently finished his college degree from Browning Junior College and has taken a position as a teacher in this area. There were 3000 applications for this position and he was one of only 38 interviewed. Sitaya has applied himself diligently to his school work and has seized every opportunity given him. Because he has received this teaching position, he will undoubtedly become a major leader in this community.
Apparao lived in a slum area along the canal in Bhimavaram. His parents were the dhobis (those who wash clothes) for Joshi Samuel. He studied in the Church of Christ school since 2nd class and was one of the original children in INDIA'S CHILD. After finishing l0th Class, he received entrance into a Lab Technician Training School and later returned to Bhimavaram to work for a local doctor. Patients who came to see this doctor had to travel long distances from an area where there was no clinic. Apparao went to this area, rented a small room and did simple tests at first, until he could slowly buy the
 equipment he needed. He now has a full lab and chemist shop and provides financially for his entire family.
God has blessed this project and these children in a way that we may never fully know. Their influence will have an effect on this area for generations to come. They are eager and willing to receive the opportunity that is given them and do their very best to accomplish great things.
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