It's a New Day

After 22 hours or so of travel, I finally arrived at my home in Bijwasan, India. It warmed my heart to be greeted by so many familiar faces. I feel like everything just picked up right where it left off, although there have been a few changes. There are 9 precious new children that have come since I left a year and a half ago and 2 girls have left. When I asked where they were, I simply got the answer, "they went home". I cannot tell you how much this breaks my heart, because their home is in the brothels where their mothers work. Something you have to understand about most of the children here, and in many of the orphanages, is that they are not true orphans. They have families who either don't want them, can't afford them, or live in difficult and dangerous places such as the brothels. They bring them here and drop them off, some of them might perhaps make the occasional phone call or come to visit. I can't even imagine the pain of feeling abandoned and the confusion and hurt that it brings. But these children always seem to have a smile on their faces and a song in their hearts.
In all, there are 26 children, ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 15, mama Gracie and papa Saji, 2 amazing women on staff, and 5 didi's (they call us 'big sisters') and we live together in a wonderful little house in a quaint village outside of New Delhi. I can't even begin to try to put words to what it is like here. India is not like anywhere else I have ever known, so there is not even a comparison I could make that would help you picture what it is like to be here. Perhaps pictures would help. I will try to post some later.
I have only been here for 4 days so far, but I feel as if there is so much to write! I could fill up pages of stories. For now I will just give you a brief idea of what I am doing here and will add some stories later on.
A typical day starts at 5:30 am. The children have their prayer service and then we help them get their baths and get ready for school. They eat their breakfast and pack their lunch and we all head out the door at 7 to the bus stop, sometimes because we are late. We get a lot of looks walking down the street... indian children and their white didi's. After they are on their way to school, we head back to the house for quiet times and breakfast. There are several children who are not in school yet, so we spend the morning teaching them and loving on them. At noon we pick up the children from the bus stop and come back to the house to play and enjoy each other's companies. These children are great fun and we have had such a good time! At 2 they have afternoon prayer followed by lunch. Then we help them with their homework, which can be quite interesting at times! We spend the rest of them time hanging out and resting until 7 when we have our night prayer service. One of the didi's will share and many songs are sung and prayers are prayed. Dinner is not long after, and then the children go to bed, only to wake up and start all over again the next day.
I can't begin to explain to you how much being here warms my heart. I love these children and being in this place. It brings such joy and I am so thankful to have the opportunity to know and love all of these precious children.
Thanks for your prayers and support!! I will post some pictures later on of the kiddo's.