Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM001202S
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00:02 Child Impact International is an organization
00:05 that gives hope and fosters permanent 00:07 positive change in the lives of disadvantaged children 00:10 and their communities. 00:13 Countries include Zambia, Kenya, 00:17 India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar. 00:22 Child Impact's investment in the lives 00:24 of more than 3,500 children 00:26 continues to yield infinite returns. 00:29 Outreach spans from child rescue operations 00:32 to providing an education and a home 00:34 for deaf and blind children, and orphans. 00:37 Above all, Child Impact's sponsors 00:40 give hope to the ones who need it the most. 00:48 India is a large country that is full of potential, 00:51 but that potential is held back by crippling poverty. 00:55 Asian Aid, which is now Child Impact International 00:58 started working in India 01:00 to address the very needs there. 01:03 Beginning with schools and orphanages, 01:05 the work quickly expanded with God's blessing 01:08 to schools for the blind and deaf 01:11 and the critical work of addressing 01:13 human trafficking through operation child rescue. 01:16 Many of the children that are trafficked 01:18 are orphans. 01:19 Seeing the great need that orphans have in India, 01:22 Child Impact began work on one of their biggest projects 01:25 at that time, Sunrise Home. 01:27 This orphanage is the first that Child Impact would fund 01:31 and run from construction to final operation. 01:38 Sunrise Home faced many challenges 01:40 before it became the success that it is today. 01:44 Starting from humble beginnings, 01:45 where the need strained the resources 01:47 to the breaking point, see how God used Child Impact 01:50 to meet the needs of Sunrise Home 01:52 and expand it to the point that it is today. 01:59 Well, I'm here at Sunrise Home in India, 02:01 and many of you have been involved 02:03 in the construction and raising funds 02:06 for this home, which now has over 120 children. 02:09 Could you imagine having 120 children? 02:12 Well Raj and Lalitha Varma do 02:15 and they are the leaders of this home. 02:17 And we're just so proud of you guys 02:20 and the work that you do 02:21 for the children that we have at Sunrise Home. 02:27 Sunrise Children's Home stands today 02:29 as a fully operating orphanage that provides food, 02:32 shelter and loving care to over 100 children. 02:36 But it did not start on this large of a scale. 02:41 Sunrise Home actually started 02:44 after Lalitha and Varma left the Elim Home. 02:49 They were very involved with Elim 02:52 and then they were 02:55 living up in the Bobbili area. 02:59 And, you know, they were experienced really 03:04 in helping orphans and in, 03:06 you know, running the Elim Home. 03:08 And so, we decided that that would be good 03:12 for them to start a new one up in the Bobbili area. 03:16 And so that is how they started it. 03:20 Starting out with just a one bedroom house 03:22 and three children in 2001, they quickly grew. 03:25 Local people noticed the love that Raj and Lalitha 03:28 had for the children in their care 03:30 and began to bring more children to them. 03:34 Soon, three children turned to seven 03:36 and then 17, they were running out of space. 03:40 Government officials, welfare committee members, 03:42 and pastors also sent children to them. 03:45 By 2004 in just three years, 03:48 the number of children had grown to 35 03:50 and by 2006, it had increased to 60. 03:55 As more children came the need for increased space, 03:58 pushed the Varmas to find a new place to rent 04:00 with more room. 04:02 Jim Rennie, the current CEO of Child Impact 04:05 visited Sunrise Home 04:06 and saw the great need that they had. 04:10 About 13 years ago 04:12 when I visited India for the first time 04:15 I was taken by car to the town of Bobbili, 04:18 which is in the state of Andhra Pradesh 04:20 in India. 04:22 I was taken to visit Sunrise Home, 04:25 which was a home with about 50 or 60 children in it. 04:29 And when I got there, I was nothing but shocked. 04:32 Here were these smiling, happy children, 04:35 but they were crammed into a building 04:37 that would barely house 20 children. 04:40 And in the evening I saw them lying on the floor, 04:44 uptight against each other sleeping. 04:47 And I just had to change things. 04:50 Having seen the need, Jim Rennie 04:51 started work right away to help them. 04:54 It took a while to find the right spot for the campus, 04:56 but they succeeded in finding a beautiful piece of property 04:59 located in a rural area about 20 minutes from Bobbili. 05:04 Construction soon began on the 10 acre piece of land. 05:07 Many volunteers helped with the construction. 05:12 The foundational mission of Sunrise Home 05:14 can best be shown by one of the first things 05:17 they did as a community on that property. 05:19 Many of the children gave their lives to God 05:22 by being baptized. 05:24 It's a great day that God had given me 05:27 because from 11 years, 05:29 I struggled a lot to take care of these children. 05:32 When they're small, I faced so many problems. 05:36 Now they are grown up. 05:37 So now we can see the world with lot of pleasures. 05:41 But because of that reason, I want to divert them 05:44 not to divert to the worldly pleasures, 05:46 but I want to divert them what is the Christianity 05:49 and why God came to this earth, 05:52 why He shed the blood for us. 05:54 So, because of that reason, 05:55 I told whatever I learned in my life 05:58 because my mother, she taught me 06:00 what is Christianity and she's the one 06:03 who took me to the church, and she's the one 06:06 taught me whatever she learned. 06:08 So whatever my mother taught me, 06:10 then I want to teach for these children also. 06:20 Under the supervision of Jim Rennie and Raj Varma 06:23 progress on building the new Sunrise Home 06:25 went quickly. 06:27 The buildings were constructed from 2011 to 2012, 06:31 with the new home being inaugurated 06:33 on November 4th, 2012. 06:36 The children were so excited to have more room 06:39 where they could run and play. 06:41 But most importantly, where they could learn skills 06:44 that would help them for the rest of their lives. 06:47 The first day I came very sad, 06:49 because I don't like this hostel, 06:51 but when I entered the hostel, I see friends and all the, 06:55 all them, they are very happy. 06:57 Then like this I also get very happy 07:00 and I started studying here, 07:02 and I felt very happy I came to the Sunrise Home. 07:16 Since its humble beginnings in a one-room house 07:18 with three children in 2001, 07:20 Sunrise Home has grown to now support 07:23 over a hundred children. 07:25 Each of these children have a bright future, 07:27 but not all are so lucky. 07:30 If the children are in the village, 07:31 they're like vagabonds 07:33 because parents, both the parents are dead. 07:36 If father dies, 07:37 mother will take away another man. 07:39 If a mother dies, father will marry another woman 07:42 and no one is there to take care of the children 07:45 and they are neglected. 07:47 And they are neglected 07:50 and they are becoming like vagabonds 07:52 going here and there. 07:53 Most of the time they'll spend their 07:56 time in going around the trees 08:00 here and there plucking all the fruits 08:02 and they don't know the manners 08:07 and they don't know how to live. 08:09 And they don't know how to talk. 08:11 They know only the language what they are learning 08:14 in the...from the parents. 08:16 So after they're coming from that place, 08:19 after they're coming here, they're learning 08:21 this local language and they're learning English, 08:24 they're learning manners and they're... 08:26 I'm molding their characters. 08:29 And the way of the living is entirely different 08:33 when they live at their home. 08:34 And now in Sunrise, 08:36 we have the living is entirely different 08:38 and they are learning so many things 08:40 after they come here to Sunrise. 08:44 While the need seems overwhelming, 08:46 every child that is taken off the streets 08:49 is another life saved. 08:50 And more than that is another future adult 08:53 like Pintu who grew in Sunrise's 08:56 sister orphanage, Sunshine. 08:58 He now works to help nurture and empower children. 09:01 Well, music, music is sign code of Sunshine. 09:06 Every kid who comes here that amazes me 09:09 is every one of us love music so passionate. 09:14 And for me, I go one step ahead. 09:16 I know, I just love music. 09:19 I'm so passionate about music and I have 09:22 taken special interest in conducting. 09:25 I love conducting and I love to teach children. 09:29 I have created my talent. 09:33 I have developed my talent in Spicer College, 09:36 where I had a choir of 80 children 09:38 and then Laurie where I used to go 09:41 part-time and help the children. 09:44 Sponsoring children 09:46 does more than just give them food, 09:47 shelter and an education. 09:49 It empowers them to effect real positive change 09:52 in their communities. 09:55 Sponsoring a child is an investment that pays off 09:58 not only in the short term, but also in the long-term 10:01 and most importantly, for eternity. 10:05 Child sponsorship has many facets. 10:08 We might sponsor a child in a school, 10:10 but that's not all 10:12 because what if the school has some needs? 10:14 What if they need a laboratory that needs upgrading? 10:16 What if they need the teaching aids, 10:18 they need upgrading. 10:19 So we also go in and look at the facilities, 10:22 the environment, the teaching qualifications, 10:26 and we want to build capacity, so that by doing that 10:29 our children benefit 10:31 and all of the children benefit. 10:34 So we are benefiting many more children. 10:36 Our investments are benefiting many more people. 10:40 It's a multiplying effect because we look at 10:43 how we can better influence 10:45 the whole community in the school. 10:48 So we ensure better education for our sponsored children 10:52 and everyone else, too. 10:55 Child Impact plans to expand Sunrise Home, 10:58 to work with Operation Child Rescue, 11:00 to provide a home for children who make their living 11:02 at the railroad stations and are begging on the streets. 11:06 They will be able to do this soon 11:08 since they are licensed by the government 11:09 and are able to work with local authorities. 11:16 If it wasn't for dedicated 11:17 self-sacrificing people like the Varmas 11:20 and all the faithful sponsors of Child Impact, 11:22 places like Sunrise Home would not exist. 11:27 It has come so far 11:29 from when it was just a one bedroom house 11:31 with three children to now being the home 11:33 to over a hundred children and many buildings. 11:36 I love going to Sunrise orphanage. 11:38 It really delights my soul to go there. 11:41 I was involved with Sunrise from day one. 11:45 And now when you walk through the gate, 11:47 you see happy children, you see healthy children. 11:50 And not only that, they love Jesus. 11:53 They're singing hymns, they're praying. 11:56 They're involved with the community and outreach. 12:00 And that's the difference about Sunrise. 12:03 There are other orphanages that care for the orphans. 12:06 There are other orphanages that make a difference, 12:09 but our children have an added spark to them 12:13 that they love Jesus, they're singing songs 12:16 and that they're involved in outreach 12:18 in their own simple way to children in the community. 12:22 It's just so exciting. 12:24 Each one of these lives is sacred 12:27 and has a purpose. 12:29 As sponsors and donors you enable these children 12:32 to develop into their full potential. 12:35 Thank you for your sacrificial investment. 12:38 It means so much. 12:52 Sponsoring children in activities like 12:57 these mission schools and opportunities 13:00 is a tremendous way to help form 13:03 the character of young people. 13:06 As they look to the future, they will never forget 13:09 their association in a Christian environment. 13:12 And by God's grace, many of them will become 13:15 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 13:18 It is absolutely a powerful witness 13:21 to sponsor a child in Child Impact 13:25 and so many other organizations that help 13:29 young people to find Jesus. 13:33 Sponsoring a child, 13:34 not only has short term effects, 13:37 but it has a long-term effect. 13:40 Sponsoring a child is investing in the character 13:43 of a young person for eternity 13:46 that we're taping this right here 13:48 in Myanmar at the Myanmar Union Adventist Seminary. 13:53 And about one third of the students 13:55 or one quarter of the students 13:58 are being sponsored by Child Impact. 14:01 People who become workers in God's church, 14:04 people who make an impact in the community 14:08 have been people who have been sponsored. 14:10 Your sponsorship is absolutely an investment 14:14 in the future of the church. |
Revised 2021-08-05