Meet and Greet #1

Once again I apologize for the lack of updates. As I have said before I am not good at keeping up a blog, haha. Anyways, I want to introduce all the kids to you. Each week I will be posting the story of one child and I ask that you pray specifically for that child throughout the week. This week I would like you to meet...


Jino

Jino’s full name is Jino Manjakkalayil John (in Kerala the last names are the house name and the fathers first name, but they are generally abbreviated so he would be called Jino M.J). Jino is nine years old and in the 5th grade. His father died of cancer when he was very small and since then his mother has been taking care of him. Jino’s family come from a low caste and his mother was unable to attend school, which leaves her unable to get a high salary job to support the family. She is a seamstress but cannot find steady work at a shop so she only makes a little money each month. In India when parents get older the children must take over the responsibility of caring for them. This left Jino’s mother with being a caretaker of Jino, his sister, and his grandparents on just a small amount of money each month. With that money she must pay rent, food, schooling fees, and anything extra. His grandparents are also very sick so his mother must also pay for their medical bills.

Since Jino has been at Jubilee he has been improving each day. He came to us weak in studies and body and now is growing stronger in both! Just last week Riny and Joseph went to the kids school for conferences and Jino’s teacher raved about what a good student he has become. She says he is a fast learner, a pleasure to have in class, makes friends easily and a good leader. She even happily commented on how he has gotten “fat” since he first began school. At home he does his chores quickly and always helps the younger children finish theirs. He loves to play badminton and blow bubbles. We have enrolled the kids in music classes and Jino is learning the keyboard. Joseph says he really enjoys it and is picking up fast. He is happy to be at Jubilee and we are so blessed to have him too!

On a different note I would like to tell you about Jino’s sister. Last year Jino’s sister was put into another children’s home, but the home would take only 1 child per family so Jino could not be enrolled also. Not until his mother had signed the paperwork for his sister did she find out that her daughter was unable to leave the home until she turns 18. Also Jino’s mother must provide a certain amount of money each month for personal items and school fees for her daughter. Jino’s mother is illiterate and did not know what she was signing. The sad thing is that this happens often in India. Many homes look great from the outside, wealthy caretakers, cars, nice facilites, but behind closed doors bad things happen. Riny and Joseph have left many orphanages and children’s homes because of situations like the one that Jino’s sister is in. Take a moment and pray that God reveal the corruption in India and He lifts up His people to make a change.

We have been blessed at Jubilee to be provided with money for our food and rent each month. This is a HUGE blessing, but unfortunately it does not cover all of our needs. Each month we must pay phone, electricity and water bills. We also have medical expenses, music school, clothing (the kids are growing fast), personal items, school fees, transportation, and miscellaneous items. To cover these costs we are asking for a sponsor for each child. The sponsorship money will not go directly to the specific child but will go to take care of the needs of all the children. We do ask that you specifically pray for the child you are sponsoring and during holidays you will have the opportunity to send your child gifts if you would like. None of our children have sponsors yet so if you have been looking for an opportunity to help, this would a great way. Leave a comment and I will get back to you with details if you are interested. As I said at the beginning, I will be sharing with you about each of the 5 children in weeks to come, so keep a look out.

Thanks for reading, and keep us in your prayers as we pray for you!