Nishan was left at a pastor’s home in India after being found living on the streets. When he first arrived, he pushed everyone away. He struggled to communicate and often used harsh words. He simply wasn’t used to an environment of kindness.
Tragically, millions of children living on the streets in India are forced to work in fields or factories, and many are sold to extremist groups and forced to fight as child soldiers.
With prayers and gifts from A Family for Every Orphan (AFFEO), kids like Nishan have the chance for a “normal” life through fostering. For example, the pastor mentioned earlier — as well as his family — had compassion for Nishan and took him in as their own, knowing it would be costly. They had faith that the Lord would assist them.
And He did: through AFFEO the Lord equipped this family with everything they needed to send Nishan to school. This broke a generational cycle of poverty by giving Nishan access to education. He recently started school and has even made a couple of friends.
With school and book fees covered, Nishan’s foster family had the critical support and encouragement they needed to focus on meeting Nishan’s physical and emotional needs. As they consistently loved and cared for him, and Nishan experienced trust in a safe relationship, he slowly opened up. Today, Nishan’s foster mom and sister help him with his schoolwork and share stories from the Bible. He likes books and tries hard to read. He especially enjoys running errands with his foster dad.
Please pray with us that many other children in India, like Nishan, will find loving families to take them off the streets and give them hope for a better future. These vulnerable kids need our prayers so very much! Would you please ask God to provide not only families but funds to meet their individual needs?
Please also pray for those families in India who decide to foster. It has been shown that foster families with wrap-around support are, on average, 25% more likely to continue fostering! And, as AFFEO equips Nishan’s —and other —foster families, the likelihood that they will foster again in the future increases.
Thank you for standing with Nishan and other vulnerable children in India as well as the families who lovingly take them in and foster them. Your prayers are indeed a blessing.