April was a productive month for our beautiful children. They kept busy; submitting assignments and studying for their final exams, which will take place in the beginning of May.

One change in the Children’s Home that I’m excited to share about are our ‘prayer days’ which will occur each week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. On those days, all of our staff and each one of our children will take turns submitting their prayer requests and giving thanks to the Lord.

Will you join us in prayer for: Breakthroughs on behalf of many of our friends in America; our elections in India; the children’s finals; and for some of the pressing needs at the Children’s Home.

If you have a prayer need that we can cover you in, please send us your prayer requests to lifeforindia@hotmail.com. We will continue to pray twice a week, instead of once, throughout the remainder of May. If you are reading this email, please know that you have been prayed for by our staff, children, and the Siddharth family. We love you all dearly!

March was such an encouraging month, God has been good to us! In March, we celebrated Resurrection day and had a beautiful Easter meal.

Although we weren’t able to raise all the funds needed to surprise the children with cake, fruit, and treat; the children were so grateful to enjoy a delicious meal. A huge thank you to all who generously donated, and Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

I wanted to share a praise report and prayer request for one of our young boys: Solomon is a 8-year-old boy who has Autism. When we rescued him a few years ago, he didn’t know his own name, who he was or where he was from. When we found him, he was begging in the streets and had been beaten up by an angry store-owner for urinating in front of his shop.

We’ve been caring for little Solomon since then, and although he has a ways to go, the Lord has brought him so far! Praise be to God, after a long struggle he is now able to feed himself!

But here is where we need your prayer: A couple weeks ago, a child welfare officer came to inspect our Children’s Home. He informed us that Solomon can’t live with us anymore because in India, you aren’t allowed to nurture an autistic child along with normal children. Please pray for Solomon. He has no family and there is no facility for autistic children in our city. But we are fighting for him! He is a loving boy who needs a miracle. If you would to sponsor Solomon on a monthly basis, please send us an email and let us know: lifeforindia@hotmail.com

There are a lot of children like Solomon who desperately need Christ’s love, nurturing, and a safe haven to be raised in. Please join us in prayer for Solomon and the other beautiful children like him.

I had mentioned in January’s newsletter that we would send a monthly update. I’m so sorry for not keeping you all in the loop! 

February was a trying month which required the Lord’s grace and strength: One of our dear friends from CFNI went to be with the Lord. We moved into a new house, and soon after, our son, Jaden, had an awful head injury while at school and was rushed to the ER. It was my first traumatic experience as a mother (and prayerfully the last). It was a challenging few weeks of recuperation for us all. But thankfully, by God’s grace and your wonderful prayers, Jaden is doing great!  

The Lord is doing big things in our Children’s Home. In February, we were able to pray and decide on a new and more appropriate name for the work we do in Chennai, India.

‘Nambiva’ in Tamil means, “Come to me, there is hope for you.” Our dear friends Brandon Cotter, Rachel Cavanaugh, and partners at Digital Takeover are helping us with this exciting new transition. Nothing is official yet but we will keep you informed every step of the way. We are so excited about all that God is doing in India! Please pray that every effort will help establish God’s Kingdom in a effective way, in a country that is filled with hatred, cruelty, deception, and crime.

We would love to get your feedback on this new transition, please send your emails to lifeforindia@hotmail.com. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your prayer and love for our ministry—we could not have survived 2015 without your help!  I want to share three important things with you and also share how you can be involved and have an impact with us this year!

1) Disaster in Chennai
There was a massive flood from November 14th through December 16th that devastated our little town of Chennai. I will try to describe the aftermath, but it’s difficult to put into words.

We lost power for more than 3 days at a stretch, had on and off power for over 4 weeks, and there was 4 feet of water inside the children's home campus (the worst hit areas had over 9 feet of water). Outside, there was no access to gas stations or grocery stores because the roadways were obstructed and unusable due to flooding. This also created a breeding ground for mosquitoes which began to spread disease. The airports, hospitals, and train stations were even closed. The price of groceries soared because of high demand and short supply—and people were left fighting for basic necessities like food and clean water. Despite the devastation, the government provided zero support or medical relief.

Thankfully, the floods began receding the 18th of December just in time for our wonderful Christmas Celebration on the 20th. We couldn’t have made it in our own strength—God saw us through. Thank you for your unfailing prayers!

I'm not exaggerating when I say we felt like we were left behind from Noah’s ark! 

2) Help Arrives!
We could not have survived without you!  Our children received sweaters, a pair of socks and shoes and toys specially donated from our friends here in America. They were so excited, they were beyond thrilled with their gifts and savored every bit of their scrumptious Christmas meal. I've attached a few pictures to this email for you to get a glimpse of their pure glee.

3) Big changes in 2016!
We are taking some major steps to grow and improve the ministry in 2016. We are adding a board member or two (I will formally introduce them in the next email) and are taking steps to improve our donor systems, our communications, and our operations. We are also researching ways to improve our website, our brand, even our ministry name. I look forward to sharing more of this with you in the coming months, but for now, just know that big things are ahead and we are so thankful for you and your support! 

God is good and He is good all the time! I pray that you and yours have a blessed year.

Love from all of us here,

Judith Jacob Sid