Over 500 children from the poorest of the poor families attend Bethel’s Matriculation School. Nearly 170 of the students are girls from the orphanage. Most of the classes are taught in English because in India English is the language that allows you to not only apply for a higher education but compete in commerce.

During each visit it not only amazes me the passion these kids have for learning and the dedication Principal Joycelene and her staff have for giving these children the chance to have a better life.

I always leave inspired.

Foster Care has been part of the American culture for many years. However, in India it is a fairly new practice but I believe is one of the short-term solutions to eradicating female infanticide and the discrimination of the girl child. In India one of the primary driving factors that leads to the killing or abandonment of girl babies is financial. Not only is there the immediate and ongoing costs of raising a child but the reality that a family must give the groom’s family a dowry gift that is typically 8 to 10 times their annual income. Consequently, Indian culture has developed a bias against girl babies and a preference for boy babies.

To change this bias we need time. Foster Care gives us time to change cultural thought in India.

India does not have a welfare system in place that financial helps a foster family provide the care. So, not only is the girl child placed in a loving family but The Rhema Project has launched a two tiered approach to helping cover the daily cost for raising a child. It takes about $1.00 USD per day to provide shelter, food, clothing, healthcare and education in rural India. Friends from America, Bill and Amy Zimmer have sponsored Clairadene. The Zimmers wanted to sponsor a child not only because they believed it was their Christian responsibility but they wanted to have a real life opportunity to teach their kids about compassion and life outside of America. Clairadene was abandoned at birth but now lives with her foster mother and her family in southern Tamil Nadu.

We are also exploring a micro business opportunity for the family that would allow them to potentially become either self-sufficient or possibly have the financial capacity to care for an additional girl baby.

As we all know, the best option for raising a child whether that be in Indiana or India is for the child to be raised by their loving biological parents. However, for various reasons this is not always possible. The Rhema Project firmly believes we must invest in long-term initiatives (education, economic opportunities, community development) that will help bring value to the girl child and change the existing cultural bias against the girl baby. Foster care not only gives us the much needed time to implement long-term initiatives but immediately places a foster baby in a loving home.

God has already provided the solution. But just like the Biblical story about the “fishes and loaves” we must be willing to do our part or accept the reality that the lives of 1.5 million girl babies each year have no value.

One of our Indian field partners that rescue unwanted girl babies from infant cradles, under bridge overpasses and literally from the garbage dumps have a waiting list from qualified Indian families that are willing to adopt and raise a girl as their very own child.

Then the director quietly shared that he receives phone calls almost everyday asking them to accept a girl baby that has been abandoned and he must tell them he can not take the child. I should learn to guard myself against the paradoxes that seem to challenge almost every issue but as I listened my mind started screaming,

“WHAT!…WHY?…YOU HAVE A HIGHER DEMAND FOR GIRL BABIES BUT YOU LIMIT THE NUMBER OF UNWANTED GIRL BABIES YOU ACCEPT WHICH MEANS THESE GIRLS WILL MOST LIKELY BE KILLED BY THEIR PARENTS WHEN THEY TAKE HER HOME!!”

My response sounded a lot like Ricky Ricardo when Lucy would mess up on the “I Love Lucy” television show from years gone by -

“Lucy, yuv got some splan’n to do!”

First – the government will only allow the adoptive family to reimburse the agency, orphanage or baby home 50 rupees ($1.00 USD) per day the girl baby stays in the home.

Second – a higher level of care is needed by the newborn girl baby (staff, healthcare, etc.) before she is healthy enough to be adopted in 4 to 6 months.

Third – there are expenses to complete home visits, adoptive family evaluations, followup visits and legal paperwork to ensure the girl child is placed in a loving home.

Consequently, the real costs to rescue and care for a girl child is actually 250 to 300 rupees ($5 to $6) per day. So, the net cost after receiving the reimbursement from the adoptive family to the baby home is about $600 to rescue, care and place a baby girl into an Indian family home.

Because the Indian families that are wanting to adopt these girls have the financial means to provide 100% of the cost to raise the child, the need for long-term (18 year) sponsorships go away for every child that is adopted at 6 months. Now, do the math. $35 to $40 per month for 18 years to raise a girl child in an orphanage = $9,000+ versus a one time gift of $600 that would allow this one baby home to give a wanting and loving Indian family a little girl.

The director sadly shared he was on a strict budget and simply did not have the funds to take in more abandoned girl babies. He must be fiscally responsible to the organization.

I realize this is not the panacea in solving the entire problem of female infanticide and gender identification feticide in India. But my challenge to the director was how many more girl babies each year could you realistically rescue and and place in a loving Indian home each year – 5, 10, 25, 50 if the funds were there? In the next week I will hear back.

My question to you and me – are we willing to hear the answer and how will we respond?

Earlier this week we were able to spend several days in a small village outside Madurai, India. The Rhema Project partnered with Aroma Ministries to dig a new 400 foot deep bore-well that will provide fresh drinking water to the school and villagers. A new school kitchen was also build and the renovation took place at the school.
Kethuvarpatti School Girls Dancing

It amazes me to see the talent and abilities of these children. The teacher told me that they had only practiced a couple of times before the performance. I always come away with the belief that OPPORTUNITY is most times the only real thing they lack to make a better life for themselves. Their passion for learning is inspiring to me.

Better days are ahead of the people of Kethuvarpatti. Because we were willing to help the village president wanted to partner with The Rhema Project and gave us a piece of land (for future micro business) and a building for a community center. Next week Pastors Phillip and Malar with be visiting each family to take a survey of how together we can make a difference in the lives of these 120 families as well as their unborn daughters. By building economic opportunities and educating the families on the value of the girl child, female infanticide could become a past memory in this village where Rhema was born!

Early this week we were in the village of Athipatti where The Rhema Project had drilled a bore-well that would provide fresh drinking water to the people of this village. The pastor of Athipatti organized a ribbon cutting celebration that included music, hot chai and biscuits (wafer cookies). After the ceremony ended we began to walk through the village and the mother of these two girls came up to us and begged me to take her daughters with me to America.

She kept telling us that “she had no food, no opportunity, no hope her two daughters would have a life worth living – please, please take them!” My head tells me I can’t even consider her request. Even if it was legal, they have no passport, no birth certificate, no ID. My heart screams “you have two spare bedrooms that you never ever really use – each bigger than their entire house. You have 20 people right now that you could call in America that would also provide them a loving home.” But you can’t.

The discrimination of the India girl child does not end if she is lucky enough not to be aborted in the third trimester (feticide) or killed shortly after birth (infanticide). In many parts of India it will follow her the rest of her life and then she will have daughters and the cycle will continue.

Education, economic opportunity and faith are their only hope of a better tomorrow. For about $30 (USD) per month we can break this cycle in one girl’s life. For about $25,000 the support system can be built to transform an entire village. We have a team already in place in India (Philip, Malar, Prema, Raj and Pastor John). When we launch small micro businesses the cost even goes lower because now they have a source of income.

As we walked to the car to leave my two friends and their mother followed us. They were ready to leave and their mother was ready to say good bye to them forever. Again we had to tell them they could not go but had to stay. What were they thinking? My prayer is that somehow they will know hope is on its way to Athipatti. My hope is that people will hear their story and be moved beyond head knowledge.