While this is deeply heartbreaking, if you lean your ear toward India, you won’t hear those churches despairing. Instead, you will hear a quiet confidence in the sovereignty of God. A resolve to continue being the Church to their communities. We are thankful to God for Compassion’s nearly 50 years in India. We are thankful because we know that stopping letters and money from changing hands doesn’t stop the Church from serving the children in India. It definitely hurts. It’s definitely not what we had hoped for or even expected. But the work of God’s hands isn’t reliant on us. His Church is resilient. God’s people are strong.
And you have played a significant role in building that strength.
For decades, sponsors like you have empowered Compassion to lift up the local church in India so pastors can better serve their own communities. We trust that those churches grew stronger through our partnership and that their strength will continue to grow to meet the unique needs of the communities they serve.
Sponsored children have received opportunities they likely never would have had without Compassion’s help. They went to school, received health care, tutoring, food and the chance to learn about Jesus — and their lives were transformed.
As a sponsor, you helped change stories. There are many accounts of children who went on to study at universities, vocational and divinity schools. These men and women are now serving in their communities and guiding the next generation of godly men and women.
We are thankful to God for all He has done and will do on behalf of the children of India. We are thankful for the opportunity to walk hand in hand with you as we played our role in His ministry in India.
We refuse to be overcome with grief. So we are worshiping in the face of adversity. We know we serve a God bigger than this obstacle. The Church’s work will continue — even if it looks different than we had hoped. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to return one day to serve the precious children of India who are living in unimaginable poverty.
Until then, we pray. And we praise.