Tammy's Home

Our team has been at a private orphanage outside of Bangalore since Sunday morning. Today is the first time we left the home, and hence the first time I've had the opportunity to blog. The home is run by an American women named Tammy, and it ranks pretty high among the most amazing places I have ever been to. I can see God's presence is so clearly there. I'll try to summarize some of our experiences from the past three days, but I'm sure that I'll only be giving you the smallest taste of this place.

There are currently 42 kids in the home, 24 boys and 18 girls. The kids range from two up to sixteen. They are divided into four groups for living purposes, and each group has a live in aunt. They live together like one big family. Tammy is the head of the home, and loves each and every one of the kids as sons and daughters.

Sunday afternoon we ate lunch with the kids, and then played an Indian game with them. Sunday dinners are reserved as an optional time of fasting and prayer. Not all of the kids came, but I'd estimate that over 30 of them were there. I gather that many of the kids would choose to fast more if Tammy would let them. This assumption comes from my observed reaction to Tammy's announcement of a three day fast open to the older kids. You could tell that the older kids were excited about it... and that the younger kids were disappointed to be left out. It blows my mind to see all of these kids so on fire and dedicated to Jesus. During the time of fasting and prayer, Tammy opened it up for everyone to pray for each other. While our team sat around not quite sure what to do, the kids quickly went around laying hands on us and on each other and praying without any worry about what anyone else thought. I probably had over half of the kids lay hands on me and pray for me at one point or another.

Right now the kids are on vacation from school, so during the weekdays we all had pretty open time to spend with the kids. We talked, played games, and even watched a movie with them. In the evenings we divided up into groups to lead devotions for the kids and eat dinner with them. Kristin and I were assigned to the second floor boys. Our first devotion (Monday) was about being a hero versus being a servant. Our second devotion (Tuesday) was about thankfulness. We had the kids take some time to just talk about the gifts from Jesus they are thankful for. I certainly don't remember all of what they said, but it was pretty amazing to hear some of their testimonies. The following is an incomplete list of what they are thankful for, including some explanations:

• Food to eat every day.
• Their buildings - Up until last October ago they were living in two apartments that were only barely big enough for them. For 2.5 years they prayed for a new place to live. Without ever asking anyone for them, one day someone just decided to pay to build three buildings to be an amazing new home for them.
• Jesus dying on the cross for their sins.
• Bananas - I had to include this one because it was from an adorable four year old.
• Water - All of the wells in their area have dried up... except for theirs, which shows no signs of running out.
• Family - God brought each of them to this home where they are part of a very loving family. Without this home most of the kids would be completely abandon, and some would probably be dead.

There were a lot more too. Once they started going, it was hard to keep it down to only one kid talking at a time. I hope that I can learn to be so completely thankful to God for each blessing He has places in my life. I guess I'll start right now by being thankful for the opportunity to visit this amazingly loving home. Although it is only a brief part of my trip, I will certainly remember it as one of the highlights.