India is a huge country (more than 200 times bigger than Northern Ireland!) full of vibrant colour, constant noise and smells of spices. It is also a country that is full of people! The large and growing population is putting a strain on resources and means that cities are overpopulated. It's hard for us to comprehend that there are more people living in one city in India than in the whole country of Northern Ireland. Alongside this overpopulation is poverty, with nearly 30% of the population living below the poverty line. It is due to poverty, disease, broken homes, crime and other factors that many children are left orphaned. It is estimated that approximately 8 million children are homeless. With over 800,000 orphanages in the country some of these children are finding homes.

Get more India statistics here

Many orphanages in India are run by churches. Some are small, rural and house only girls, while others are large and connected to a school, housing orphans all year round and boarders during term time. Children as young as 4 years old will come to these orphanages, and at 18 will move on to find work and a home. The care that the children receive is amazing, and by being given training, guidance and an education they gain the ability to find a future once they are older. While living in these orphanages the children get the opportunity to hear about God. In this Hindu majority country the children are opening the Bible together and learning that God loves them.

The Bible Society in India is working with these orphanages, giving out Bibles to the children. When the staff visit, each child is given a suitable Bible and other gifts such as notebooks, school bags, shoes and blankets. These are gifts that the children will not otherwise receive - they may in fact be the only gift they've ever received. 

Read about the orphanages that Leah visited in 2014.

Karishna is 13 years old and lives in Bethel Church Hostel. She has no family at all. When she arrived at the hostel, at six years old, she was suffering from leprosy and tuberculosis and had no one to look after her or care for her.

Bethel Church Hostel is a great place that gives a home to about 100 girls. It has a number of bedrooms for the girls - sleeping on three tiered bunkbeds, there can be about 30 girls in each room. Each girl has one suitcase that will hold all of her possessions. Although these girls have so lit tle there is such an atmosphere of joy about the place. Education and vocational training is given, and the couple who run the hostel try their best to provide the girls with everything they need.

It wasn't long after Karishna arrived at the Bethel Church Hostel that her life started to change. She got the medical attention she needed and within 2 years the leprosy had gone. She is now completely well and there are no lasting effects or scars from the illness. Karishna enjoys the teaching she gets - her favourite subject is Social Studies and she has dreams of being a nurse when she grows up. Because of the life she is being given this dream can become a reality!

Please pray for this exciting project.