Dorothy and Ron Watts have given much of their lives to the people of India—especially its children. They adopted three children as their own and later founded Sunshine Children's Home for abandoned children. In 1973, Jasmine Jacob and her husband, Peter, visited India. They were so impressed when they met the Watts family and later remarked, "We were touched, inspired, and amazed at the love these people had for the children and sacrifices they were willing to make."

Returning home, the Jacobs desired to partner with God to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the suffering and afflicted, so with friends they organized REACH International (Render Effective Aid to Children). The Watts were in the Jacob's home for that first organizational meeting and have supported the REACH ministry through the years in many ways. The Watts helped REACH find children who needed help the most, and once even sent 68 children from Puliangudi, a very poor village.

Dorothy still has a heart for India's children, and there is still much to do in India for the children. Dorothy invites Lake Union Herald readers to join her in a new faith venture—Adventist Child India—sponsoring children of the Kingdom.—The Editors

Today, the church in India is growing faster than anywhere else in the world, and this presents a problem for the future of the church. There is a desperate need for qualified educated leadership to respond to this rapid growth.

Most new members come from villages where they earn less than 50 cents a day as laborers. They struggle to put food on the table. Free education is available in most villages, but it does not give them the knowledge and training to become Christian leaders and workers in their home churches, our institutions, and church administration. The parents new to the faith also have so much to learn. The children who are given an opportunity to attend our boarding schools return to their homes and churches able to model the Adventist lifestyle and share what it means to be Christian. We find that children returning for vacation from our schools make a tremendous impact on their villages.

Some of India's present leaders were educated in Adventist schools because someone cared enough to help them get a Christian education. Some have become educators. An example is Lazarus, principal of the Adventist school in Bidar, in northern Karnataka.

Forty years ago no one in his remote village of Bannimatti had heard of Jesus Christ. The village headman visited the city on business and picked up a Voice of Prophecy card and enrolled in the lessons. He studied the lesson with the people in his village and they all decided to become Christians.

Lazarus wrote to the conference office nearly 300 miles away to request help, but there was no one to send who spoke his language. Then the headman got on the bus and traveled to Bangalore to request a teacher. Again, there was no one to send.

On the headman’s second visit, Ron Watts, former president for the Karnataka Section and now Southern Asia Division president, took a translator and went by car back to the village. “Please send a teacher,” the people begged. “We have no one to send who speaks your language,” Watts said. “Why not let us take five of your boys back to our boarding school? They will become your teachers.”

So it was that Lazarus, along with four other boys, were sent back to Bangalore to the boarding school. Today, there is a church building in Bannimatti. Almost everyone in the village has become a Seventh-day Adventist. Lazarus and the four other boys finished elementary school, high school, and college because of a child sponsorship program. Today, all five are working for God as principal, teachers, and medical workers. And work has been established in more than 100 villages in that area where before there was no knowledge of Jesus Christ and His soon return.

Adventist Child India (ACI) is a new program to help meet the urgent needs of a rapidly growing membership. ACI is a child sponsorship program aimed at placing children of newly baptized members into Seventh-day Adventist boarding schools. “We need to get 10,000 children into our schools within the next three to five years,” says Watts.

The ACI initiative matches children with sponsors who provide food, clothing, books, medical care, and educational fees at one of our Adventist schools. An office is set up at the Division in Hosur, India, to monitor the program. Representatives visit the schools at least once annually to verify the child is attending school and receiving good care. Regular reports with letters from the children are sent to the sponsors four times annually.

Please prayerfully consider how your contribution will benefit the lives of these children and what part you may have in the future work for the Lord in India.

Dorothy Eaton Watts is the associate secretary for the Southern Asia Division.

Side Bar

For $25 per month or $300 per year, sponsors can ensure that one of these children will get the education and support they need. Donations are carefully recorded and monitored; donors will receive a receipt for income tax purposes.

If you are interested in sponsoring one or more children, contact Dorothy Eaton Watts. The Child Care Office will send you a photo of a child, a child information form, and information about how to send funds for sponsorship.

104474.2006@compuserve.com

P.O. Box 2, HCF, Hosur 635 110 Tamil Nadu, India

Some prefer to give one-time gifts for the project. These funds are used to set up new hostels and to cover unsponsored children while sponsors are sought.

A promotional video and brochures are available to promote this program in your church or school. Contact Jeff Dayak.

dayak@verizon.net

(301) 388-0022 or (301) 602-8464

REACH is a world-wide organization with a mission "to provide food, shelter, love, education, and a chance for eternity to the abandoned and destitute children of the world." The organization has expanded to 23 countries and served over 100,000 children since its humble beginnings. Children with little or no chance in life have learned of Jesus and become productive Christian workers. For more information, visit www.reach.org.