The Children at Kismathpur | India

Hello from Kadapa, India! Matt and I are here for a week documenting a wonderful ministry that we have been involved with since 2007. The Matthew 10 Team that we are working with partners with a local based ministry called Manna Ministries who takes wonderful care of us from the moment we step off the plane. They drive us around, cook us delicious meals and help schlep all of our bags around from city to city for us. They make it their purpose in life to keep us as comfortable as possible for the short time that we are here. Inevitably, we always develop close relationships with a few of the people on the Manna Ministries Staff. Already we’ve been blown away by the hospitality that we’ve been shown.

Yesterday we visited Kismathpur where Manna Ministries has one of their orphanages and schools. The grounds are pretty large consisting of a grade school, bible college, worship center, dining hall and the orphanage itself. Currently, they can accommodate about 400 kids but have high hopes of increasing that number. Alicia, from Matthew 10, along with a bunch of helpful hands last week, assembled over 400 goodie bags to hand out to all the children when we got there. Of course that was the highlight of our day. They loved all the toys and candy. There were handmade puppets, matchbox cars for the boys, silly bands and all sorts of other fun stuff. It doesn’t take much to get their little faces to light up with smiles. We visited each of their classrooms and listened to some of them sing songs or recite Bible verses. It is awesome to see how all of the kids are so grateful to have a place to call home. The kids have a lot of fun and seem happy to have each other. At night, the younger kids push their beds together in one corner of the room and sleep snuggled up next to each other. This way they stay warm and they don’t feel so alone. They are just the sweetest things you have ever seen. Sometimes I feel like snatching one of them up and bringing them home with me! On behalf of Matthew 10 and Manna Ministries we want to say thanks to all of you who support these children. Your gifts, donations and prayers go a long way.