My wife and first met baby Rachael one year ago shortly after Prema and Raj had rescued her from a rural village in Tamil Nadu, India. Rachael’s parents did not want her simply because of her appearance – she was born with a cleft lip and cleft palete. When rescued Rachael was probably within days or even hours of dying. Baby girls have little or no value in Southern India. One born with a medical condition or small defect is most times left to die.

Last month I visited again and she was a healthy and happy one year old. The Rhema Project left a donation to help offset her future medical and travel expenses.

Within days of my return to the states I received a letter from The Smile Train and I learned they do operations in India for free. Almost to the day that I contacted Raj he had already found the same information and had scheduled surgery for Rachael. Later that month they traveled to Maduari and baby Rachael’s surgery was performed.

Today, Rachael is now part of a family and she is loved by two foster parents and an older brother.

Rachael’s life story and the sometimes small and seemingly insignificance interventions by others changed her destiny and a chance for a better life.

First. Her parents willing to give her a chance by not taking her life. Second. Raj and Prema were willing to provide her care and unconditional love. Third. Donors of The Rhema Project helped offset cost of care and medical related expenses. Fourth. Smile Train covered the cost for her cleft lip and cleft palete surgery. Fifth. Foster care parents came forward and said they would love and care for baby Rachael just as if she was one of their own – and she is!

Rachael’s story continues to unfold. A little more than one year ago that was almost not the case.

Shelley Arredondo is a personal friend with a great heart for India. She is very passionate about finding solutions that would bring value to the girl child. Her experience was much like mine. You have head knowledge of what female infanticide is but when you first experience and see if first hand it overwhelms you.

Early this month she shared her story about the first time she learned about the killing of baby girls in a drama at Granger Community Church. Dustin Maust not only shot much of the video but edited it to help tell the story.

The video ends with hope when you see how a group of people (Granger Community Church) can have impact in helping change Indian culture for the better. A few weeks ago I was able to return to this small village called Kalavai having first arriving 15 months before. Today, you can literally feel the sense of hope.

How does this impact the killing of your daughters. When people have hope, they dream for a better tomorrow and a future for their children – both boys and girls. When you do not have it you can rationalize almost any decision including feeding your newborn daughter poison so that she will slowly die in the night.

I first met Monju in late December 2008 when our team arrived in her small village outside of Kalavai, India.  We arrived to help start rebuilding some of the homes in this remote village of untouchables.

She was a very shy young girl with a quizzical smile.  In June of 2009 she was one of the first to greet me when I return for a day visit.  I told her and her friends I would be returning a few weeks later with a team to start building a community center where she could work on her English and I would practice my Tamil.

Our plan was for me to arrive and head out to the village a few days before the team from America arrived to get the project started before they landed in country.  Because I was arriving 2 days ahead of schedule that meant Raj (Director of Life Mission International) would be arriving 3 days ahead of schedule.

Shortly after getting to Monju’s village in late July, Raj shared with me what had happened the day before – Monju had tried to take her life… she had lost all hope.  Sometimes timing is everything.  For Monju, having Raj arrive in her village a couple of days ahead of schedule was the difference between life and death.

Twenty-four hours after she had consumed the poison berries she was back out at the construction site with the other women carrying bricks, mortar and sand.  In India there are very few safety nets so when there is work you work because it is a matter of survival.

Later that week I snapped this photo of Monju enjoying time with her friends, dancing under the tent to “do the hokie pokie and turn yourself around…”  The pure joy of being a kid again and having the brief chance to do what she only now dreams about – to return to school (an after school program, yes but to her it was school) with her friends was a moment in time I will never forget.

I think of Monju often.  She has had to grow up way to fast.  She has had to endure more than many of us from the west could ever imagine.  Most times in India females are viewed as expendable and of little value – The Rhema Project is committed to shattering this myth.

Friday night we invited a group of people to learn more about The Rhema Project.  I shared why we started TRP and how we were working with indigenous organizations to have a greater impact on the destiny of Indian girls.

Last March two good friends traveled with Brad and me as we bounced around Southern India.  Paul Levett was one of those friends.  Paul had never been to India and didn’t really know what to expect.  I asked Paul to share his experience.

Paul is a man’s man.  6’4″ and still in shape to play college football.  Successful businessman and isn’t one to be fooled by a lot of hype.  He was holding his own for the first few days.  Absorbing the experience but still holding up his guard.

Then it happened.  He met a young women – about the same age as his youngest daughter that was raised at one of our field partners and she had just finished her 10th standard exams (high school diploma) with high marks.  She want to go to Bible college so she could learn to be a good administrator so that she could return home and help girls just like her.  Problem is that most orphanages don’t have extra funds to send someone to college when they are trying to provide essential care and a good basic education for so many girls.

Paul didn’t say much on the ride home that afternoon.  He tried to talk about it over dinner that night with not much success.  A couple of days later he asked if he could write the check to pay for her college education and we suggested to wait until he got home to make the final decision.  We thought it is best to make financial decisions on both emotion and fact.

On Friday night, Paul shared his story.  How he would continue to give to his college, his church, his community but giving to The Rhema Project and to pay for the college education of this one girl could change the destiny of her and untold other girls just like her.

Paul pulled a photo of this young lady out and immediately the room went quiet.  Several minutes went by as Paul tried to compose himself – everyone in the room felt his emotions and realized how important this decision was for him.  After several attempts to start again – He finished in a whispered voice “I have decided – it is the least I can do for what she has done for me!”