As a response to the deep caring love for the marginal Indian people, Christian Love in Action was started 35 years ago through outreaches to leprosy colonies outside the city of Nashik, with food, clothes, and the gospel. It turns out that CLIA’s actions also violated the caste system which rules much of Indian society. Love is food, clothing, and social justice.
As the church community grew, new needs were identified. Many of these needs were experienced first hand. As water began drying up and crops failing, farmers in the local villages became desperate with the shame of not being able to provide for their families. For many, this shame was too intense and led them to suicide. Love responds. Christian Love in Action began by digging one well to provide relief for one village (ten farmers). Over the past 35 years CLIA has helped create wells for over 50 villages, to provide relief to more than 5,000 farmers and clean drinking water for their families. The suicide rate, among farmers in these villages is in decline. Love defeats death.
To support spiritual and emotional needs of these villages, 85 churches have been planted. These churches provide the ultimate relief for these villages through the love of Christ. A group of traveling pastors care for and oversee the development in these churches that are growing in size every day. Love is contagious.
In Abhona, love responded in providing the means for CLIA to build two homes for orphaned and disadvantaged boys and girls. They receive food, clothing, and spiritual guidance. An English Medium School was also constructed to provide new opportunities for these children to one day escape the cycle of poverty plaguing their villages. Love is a better future.
For CLIA love follows as the active example of Christ who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, healed the sick, and became friends to the lonely. Love is the catalyst, and the opportunity for change. It is a common language and something we all need. The hardened hearts and poverty stricken villages of India are no different.
India has the world’s 11th largest economy and also has the highest concentration of people living below the poverty line. It is reported that half of the children are underweight, and 46% of Indian children under the age of three suffer from malnutrition (more than in Ethiopia). According to the World Health Organization 900,000 Indians die each year from drinking contaminated water and breathing in polluted air. As these and more circumstances increase in disparity, time is of the essence.
With India’s literacy rate at 64.8%, education is another issue hindering children from breaking the cycle of poverty. The future of many villages depends on the educational and vocational tools children receive now to enable them to contribute to their village sustainability over their lifetimes in the changing climate and landscapes of the Indian countryside.
There are an estimated 11 million abandoned children in India. Each of whom have a difficult future ahead of them. Most will end up as beggars, prostitutes, or in a sweatshop environment to survive. This problem will probably only increase as the population of India continues to grow and the social services do not.
The changing climate has shown a shrinking water table in the countryside of India. As rivers and creeks become dry, hundreds of desperate farmers are left with nothing to care for their crops. This situation also forces many villages to take risks drinking unclean water. The result is a growing number of deaths due to lack of access to clean water.
The circumstances are mounting. The situation is dire. Help is anything but imminent. Love has made some change, but more is necessary.