City
It’s the city “featured” in the documentary/photojournal “Born into Brothels”. I’ve been told it’s one of the worst cities in the world. It has less people than Mumbai, yet seems more desperate. It’s also home to the Bible Society, which is integral in making large quantities of Bibles and other things available for very cheap prices, and the Pastor’s orphanage with 26 kids.
This particular orphanage consists largely of the children of prisoners at the federal prison. This is the worst prison in India, extremely tough and considered worse than the notorious Soviet Gulags, so the chances of these children ever seeing their parents again are very slim. The pastor is currently trying to remove a couple of children who were imprisoned with their mother when there was no one to care for them.
The orphanage is situated right next to a stagnant pond covered in green scum, and there’s a very small plot of open land nearby. We took the children to play in the little lot for a while, and one of the neighbors remarked that this was the first time the children had been permitted to play there. I don’t know whether it was the pastor or the land owner that usually did not give permission, but our presence caused a concession to the norm.
The kids were fantastic! Warm and friendly; very chatty though you just had to shrug and nod your head. It’s slightly frustrated to have a seven year old girl chattering her head off at you and the only word you understand is “Uncle”. It seems that fewer children speak English this time around.
While we were there, we also spoke to some of the locals. One of them, a young muslim man named (or something like that!) was extremely friendly. We were able to speak to him some about God and what we believed. It was interesting to hear his views, which I’m sure weren’t entirely muslim, and be able to share Jesus with him. He didn’t get it, but he was open to speaking of it, which is possibly a huge step. He is close friends with the pastor’s son, so I am hopeful that he will see the work being done and come to know the Truth.