Here is a letter from the American pastor whose church sends a team each year to the Home for Aids Affected Children. He recounts how his church came to be in contact with Mr. Simon David, the Indian businessman who founded the Home for Aids Affected Children.
Here’s my story —
At Bear Valley Community Church we decided we needed to do something about the AIDS crisis in the world. So we asked around if anyone knew of any ministry that we could support anywhere in the world. As God would have it: here’s the crazy thing that happened. A guy in our church had just returned from India where he had been standing on a curb trying to get across a 10-lane street with traffic buzzing around. So an Indian man, S.V. David, took him by the hand and helped him skirt through 10 lanes of traffic without getting killed. My friend told me that the man, S.V. David had an AIDS home and orphanage for children whose parents died of AIDS leaving them orphans. That’s how we found out about El-Rohi.
So a few months later our team left for India to visit this home – El Rohi. Once in Hyderabad, India, we drove on a 4-lane road for about an hour, then we drove on a 2-lane road, then we drove on a 1-lane road, then we found ourselves driving down a dirt path. Who knew where this road would take us? We finally arrived at a gate, and we entered. The children were in the middle of a worship service when we arrived. They were singing, they were all dressed up in their native garb, the children were dancing to the energetic music, and there was preaching.
To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect when we arrived at the home. I assumed it would be a bunch of little poverty kids who were just trying to survive. Instead in the midst of the beautiful children, the heart-felt music, and the gorgeous scenery with palm trees, my first thought was this — “Is this what heaven is going to be like?” It’s hard for me to describe the sensation I had from the Lord and the feeling of God’s overwhelming presence there in this little tiny spot filled with these precious kids, but I saw the Lord there that day, and I’ve never been the same since.
Here is a photo of me a few years ago with a little girl, Leah, who was saved from a mother who said she didn’t need any more children and so was going to terminate the baby’s life when born. Leah is now in the 2nd grade and is number one in her class in school. She loves Jesus and is a trophy of God’s grace.
Pastor Lee Johnson, Ph.D.
Bear Valley Community Church
7900 Precinct Line Road
Colleyville, TX 76034
817-485-9910
lee@bearvalleychurch.com
“We give our lives helping people and families find their place in God’s story.”
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