Latin lights in India

Mexico/Costa Rica – They visited the sick and the poor, organised programmes for about 1,200 kids and painted children’s homes. Thirteen young people from Latin America, including several OMers, spent their summer working in India. Eight of them are from Mexico, five from Costa Rica.

They were on an exposure programme with India por Herencia, a partner organisation of OM Latin America. ‘God gave us the privilege to take our lights to the children of the railway station’, says Mariana, one of the participants.

‘These children are forced to leave their homes at a very young age. They are sent into the streets and trains, travelling from one city to another, to beg for money. Many are injured and mutilated in order to receive more money. This makes them easy prey to human trafficking and many of them end up in crime and violence, drug-addicted, abused and sexually exploited.’

The participants of the exposure programme met the children in a shelter that offers a different reality. For a moment there, they could enjoy the music, teaching, games and movies that we provided for them. Even though it was just for a few hours, they could enjoy what they are again: kids.

Dalit Centres

In New Delhi, the team started with a few days of cultural orientation. They visited churches and got to know a group for women and children who are victims of human trafficking.

In Lucknow, the participants worked in projects directed by other Latin people. The group installed a water pump for the Tharus, a native community living close to Nepal. They painted doors and benches in a school and visited sick people in a village.

The team also paid a visit to the Dalit school in Lucknow, attended by 400 students of the community that’s generally known as ‘untouchable’ in India. OM’s sister organisation OMIF runs a hundred of these Dalit Education Centres in the country, with a total of 21,000 students.

In Kachhwa, the participants organised a programme for children, handed out food to them and painted walls in a hospital. They moved on to Varanasi, where they spent time with street children in the railway station and then moved on to Kolkata. In the Latin Cultural Centre there, the participants taught Spanish classes.

Incredible

Finally, after passing by New Delhi one more time, they arrived in Gurgaon to visit a home for 40 children and a rehabilitation centre for men and women. The team had a great experience living together with the kids, men and women there. ‘We were able to listen to their stories and encourage them,’ they said.

‘India is incredible,’ says Alejandra, one of the participants. ‘This country will definitely stay in my heart.’ Hernando, another participant, says that it made him happy to realise that Jesus is the same, anytime and anywhere. ‘Jesus continues to change lives in Mexico and India, and like His word says, to the ends of the world.’

Please pray for the people the team visited during the programme. And pray that many more Latin Americans may catch the vision to serve in India and other countries.

OM’s role in the Church is to mobilise people to share the knowledge of Jesus and His love with every generation in every nation. OM pioneers and leads initiatives to redeem lives, rebuild communities and restore hope in over 110 countries.