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India, Asia

IND04 - New Ark Mission of India

• View report dated: January 27, 2015

• View report dated: April 22, 2015

• View report dated: August 22, 2016

• View report dated: March 3, 2018

• View report dated: October 25, 2023

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Report Date: November 18, 2019

Report from BHW India Partnership Facilitators Following Visit

Key people: Joshua Raja (a.k.a. T Raja, Auto Raja) & his wife Devi, his daughter and son

Recent Events

Since we visited last, T Raja has continued to build and expand the Home of Hope. He has:
• completed a 6-storey home for the women including a ward for those who are particularly sick, a whole floor for the inmates to gather for church, and a house for his family on the top floor;
• demolished part of the old children’s home to make room to expand the kitchen and dining hall;
• vacated the original premises in preparation for refurbishment prior to being used for the sick men to move in to. 

We arrived as Raja had just finished wrapping up two bodies to be taken to the crematorium. They were lying outside the door we entered. As we sat and made initial introductions, another patient died right behind us in the ward. A few minutes later he received a call to say that one of the men over in the men’s home had just died. Death, for Raja, is part of everyday living. 

Auto Raja receives funds from every corner of society and he is doing a truly extra-ordinary work.  His latest fundraising campaign was called “I beg for my people”. He has set up a system where people can give a small amount regularly to support the home. He frequently has people of all faiths coming to give him donations. While we were there a Hindu couple came to present a donation to him. He lives by faith and does things as God provides the means. They consume 240kg of rice every day and all of the residents are expected to work at some level to help keep the home operating. 

In the women’s home he has created an elevated exercise ramp that the women are expected to use each day to keep mobile and relieve boredom. He has built a grapevine canopy over top of it and built a walk-in aviary up on the roof, full of many kinds of colourful parrots. God gives him pictures of how to make the home an “inspiring” place to be for his residents. 

 

Personal Stories

Pavithra

Pavithra is 2 years old. Her name means “pure; gift of God”.  She was dropped off at the home by her mother as a baby. She has one leg that ends at the knee and the other has a deformed foot. She also has only a couple of fingers on one of her hands. However she has the sparkle and joy of any typical toddler that has been raised in a loving atmosphere. 

When we met Pavithra, she was being looked after by Gracie. A girl who is known to us and has herself grown up at the home of hope. Gracie’s life itself is a testimony of God’s grace and transformation and now to see her lovingly care for this wee girl was a powerful demonstration of how the light of the gospel breaks the cycle of poverty. Pavithra was practicing with her new prosthetic leg – a secondhand one they’d found somewhere but which was better than nothing. She was learning to walk her way around a bench and was evidently SO proud of herself as she mastered each precarious step. 

Pooja 

Pooja is now a healthy young woman. If you met her without knowing her story, you’d never know the miracle God has performed in her life. Isn’t that true of so many people we pass in life? When we get curious about people’s story we get to witness the power of God to transform.  

Pooja was dropped at the Home of Hope by the police. When she arrived Raja thought she was going to die, she was so unwell. She used to strip her clothes off and run around the compound as if mad. She would try to scale the fence and escape.  

After some medical treatment and exposure to a consistent loving environment, she now is a healthy, contributing member of Raja’s trusted team.  

 

Partnership's Influence within the Community

Raja has a high degree of respect from all corners. 

“You want Jesus care, you want Jesus food, you want Jesus clothes – why would you not want Jesus himself. “ 

  

Current Issues and Challenges

Water is a HUGE issue for the whole area of Bangalore. The new building he has built has underfloor storage for 1,00,000 litres of water so he can store two truck loads of water under the floor. 

 

Prayer and Praise Points

Lives are consistently being transformed in this place – not just physically, but spiritually. The whole community attends church every Sunday and is expected to participate in times of monthly prayer and fasting. Though perhaps slightly unorthodox sometimes, Raja shares the good news with all of the residents and makes sure they understand that it is through the power of Jesus that they receive the care they do at the Home of Hope. 

 

Comments

Raja’s budget should remain as is for the foreseeable future. He has a number of income streams and seems to be managing ok.  Any funds we give will be used to good effect but there is no specific reason at the moment to increase his funding.