Got $5? It makes an eternal difference to kids.

India (MNN) ― What does a dollar buy these days?

  

In North America, it buys a cup of coffee, a pair of socks, 2 packs of gum, or a changed future.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India can do a lot more than that with a buck. The population they work with is in India. Nearly half of India's population--over 463 million--are under the age of 20. They are members of an emerging world superpower and the world's largest democracy.

However, the existing caste system condemns millions to a life of degrading labor and social invisibility. Of the poor, 35% of school-aged children are not in school. Many wind up working in dangerous situations in order to help support their families. Child marriage is common.

Yet, India's Christians are eagerly waiting for the chance to introduce Children's Bible Clubs into their communities. Mission India provides indigenous ministry partners with in-depth training for volunteer club leaders and materials in five age levels and more than 20 Indian languages.

Children's Bible Clubs are introduced in a community through a 10-day program. In the clubs, children enjoy songs, skits, and games, listen to Bible stories, memorize Scripture, and discover a loving Savior.

Many children in Children's Bible Clubs make a decision to follow Jesus, and these children are bringing their parents to Christ. Every year, new churches grow out of Children's Bible Clubs.

Children's Bible Clubs provide many important social, educational, and spiritual benefits to children and families, introduce a loving God who created each child in His image, teach children to pray confidently and expect answered prayers, teach the importance of good nutrition and personal hygiene, encourage parents to send their children to school, and teach youngsters to share their faith with friends and family.

The clubs also inspire children to serve their communities and become future leaders. Got $5? Reach 5 Indian kids with a Children's Bible Club. Click here to find out more.

Demolition orders won't stop Gospel outreach

India (MNN) ― An edict calling for the demolition of churches and buildings damaged in the 2008 Orissa attacks prompted an outcry throughout India.
The orders were issued on the 3rd anniversary of a burst of mob violence against Christian in Kandhamal. Many of the refugee victims have not been able to return to their villages because of safety concerns.
Usually, when there is a new village, the government provides land for the place of worship. Refugees who relocated in the wake of the Orissa pogram were promised land to rebuild, but the government never delivered. Then came the order for demolition. According to several media reports, five churches were affected by the ruling.
Dave Stravers is president of Grand Rapids, Michigan-basedMission India. He says while it's discouraging that such a decree was issued, the clamor it prompted has an "up side."
First, senior government leaders said they'd overrule the junior leaders on the implementation. Secondly, "Obviously there is an ongoing public conversation about this persecution, and there are people who are now standing up and saying, 'No, we're not going to permit this.' Where the story has a good ending: it's often the Hindus who rise up and defend Christians."
Even more interesting is the number of people who are turning to Christ in the process. Mission India focuses on training church planters, teaching literacy classes, and holding Children's Bible Clubs. Each aspect of the ministry is reliant upon the other for growth.
For example, church planters complete a year of combined classroom training and supervised fieldwork. During this time, they share the Gospel and establish new worship communities. Church Planters often open doors to communities through Children's Bible Clubs.
Mission India also provides training and materials to their partners who are teaching illiterate people how to read and write as they share the love of Christ. During their 52-week Adult Literacy program, a class of 30 students meets for 2 hours a night, 5 nights a week.
The program is designed for instruction by volunteer teachers who have little formal education themselves. And the Bible-based curriculum introduces students to Jesus Christ.
At the end of the year-long literacy program, 80% of students on average graduate at a fifth-grade level of reading and writing. Many graduates make a decision to follow Jesus and are in need of a church body and pastor--full circle to the church planters.
So, the persecution doesn't mean the Gospel is failing. Rather, it's growing. Stravers says, "The forces that are opposed to Christianity are just desperately tryin, somehow to reverse the trend that's around them." Boldness in the face of persecution is challenging.

Want to get a glimpse inside India? Get your passport to India here.

India (MNN) ― Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India has found a way to connect families in the U.S. with families in India...without ever having to board a plane.

President Dave Stravers says, "My Passport to India is a ministry to American children. If you go on our Web site, mypassporttoindia.org, you find there a ten-step process introducing children in the United States to what life is like in India."

Why? "India is a very strange place to an American. When you first go there, you can be overwhelmed by what you see," Stravers explains. It's not until there's a personal connection made that interest grows. "When you get inside people's lives, it's just mind-blowing what God is doing. It really sensitizes Americans to the life of the poor, the different kind of needs that people deal with, and how God is meeting those needs."

It's a challenge to sensitize children to needs outside of their own. "Growing up in America today, most of our children have everything they need and more. Understanding how most people in our world live--their needs and their joys--is a great education experience, and it helps us to get perspective on our lives."
 
"My Passport To India" not only communicates what the world is like in a Third World country like India, it also connects the Gospel needs. In the 10-videos at the Web site, tour guide Chris explores a new, exciting destination in India. Each 4-6 minute episode features related material that helps participants learn even more about India's diversity.

Each dollar raised through this ministry pays for one student to attend a Children's Bible Club. The doors are wide open, too. "Muslims and Hindus in India want their children to be served by Christian teachers," says Stravers. "We started year-long Bible clubs. Usually, they meet after school, every day. Children in the community gather together and get help with their homework, and they hear Bible stories, learn songs."

Why focus on children at all? Stravers explains, "Ministry to children is more of a guerrilla-style attack on Satan's kingdom because children are the most open to the Gospel. We've discovered that when children hear a Bible story, they go right into the home with the Gospel, where an evangelist cannot."

"My Passport to India" raised enough money last year to send 284,812 children to Bible Clubs all over the country. Even better, says Stravers, "The most common response that I've had from parents is: 'My kids are now praying for India. They would like to give some of their allowance to bring more of these children to Bible clubs, so they can know Jesus.'"

Once the participating children are made aware of the needs, just like the evangelists they are, they respond. "We've had people tell us that their kids put some of their toys out in a garage sale, or went around to their aunts and uncles to collect loose change to provide help for India," says Stravers.

Click here to enroll. Each kit includes a special passport and a suitcase for each child. Use the suitcase to save loose change for Children's Bible Clubs in India.

The videos provide some excerpts from Chris' journal, as well as devotionals and stories from kids whose lives have changed since they participated in the Children's Bible Club.

All videos and bonus content are available to view at any time, and are appropriate for all age levels.

Clubs Bring Hope into The Slums of India

India (MNN) ― India is home to one of the largest illiterate populations in the world.

  

Nearly half of India's population--over 463 million--is under the age of 20, which means that these children will eventually be members of the world's largest democracy.

Dave Stravers is with Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India says of these kids, "The vast majority of those children are the poorest of the poor. Their families earn less than $1.25 a day. Forty percent of them are malnourished." As a result of the typical poverty, India also has the highest number of working children, a majority of whom live in villages and urban slums.

"This is systemic poverty," says Stravers. "It's also a very abusive social structure. Those in the higher castes look down on the lower castes and consider them to be less than human," which makes these children part of a vulnerable population. "Poor children, as well as their families, are considered commodities. That's why you have the trafficking."

The issue of human trafficking has gotten more attention as of late, says Stravers. "There's actually a kind of movement starting in India to highlight the abuse of children." However, until there is a change from within, these kinds of grim conditions threaten to overwhelm people with hopelessness.

That's why Mission India has the Children's Bible Clubs (called "Child Development Clubs" in India). "We train workers from local Christian churches who want to minister to these poor people in villages and neighborhoods that usually don't have a church."

Under the loving attention of their volunteer teachers, the dreams of India's boys and girls are changing, and they are discovering joy in Jesus. "We find that a high majority not only pray to receive Christ and stop worshipping idols, but they actually testify to their parents. They're the best evangelists in the world, and literally thousands of their parents are coming to Christ each year."

India's Christians are eagerly waiting for the chance to introduce Children's Bible Clubs into their communities. "We have a formal training program for them," Stravers explains. "We provide them with lesson materials, with some games and sports equipment--everything that they would need to minster to 40 children in their community."

Children's Bible Clubs are introduced in a community through a 10-day program. In the clubs, children enjoy songs, skits and games, listen to Bible stories, memorize Scripture, discover a loving Savior, and learn to pray.

This introduction requires the involvement of someone who knows the community best--a local resident. "Our staff does not lead the Bible Clubs. They do not lead the witnessing. We are there to empower and provide resources to local Christian volunteer workers from all over India."

It costs roughly $1 to introduce another child to Jesus through a Children's Bible Club. Click here to find out how to help.

Or, if you want to take a quick trip through the areas where Mission India works, get your passport here.  Ministry partners are sharing remarkable stories about the children and families in India who are eagerly receiving the Good News of Jesus.