This Christmas The Lord once again gave us the opportunity to share His love with the rejected and  downtrodden of society, people who are not considered as people  but as a disease  because of the stigma of leprosy.

We had a wonderful morning on the 28th of December with the community at the Gandhi Leprosy colony.

The programme started with lighting of the lamp, symbolizing Jesus as the Light of the World.

This was followed by a time of singing Christmas songs in Kannada by Pastor John and his family.

Children from Don Bosco’s home and the colony performed a few song and dances much to the delight of the community.

Fr. Prasad from Don Bosco  also entertained the community making all laugh with his act.

The word was shared by pastor John of the Besheba Church of God.

After prayer  each family was given a gift hamper. The  hamper contained toys, stationary, toiletries, towels for the men , blouse pieces for the women, hair accessories for the young girls, sweets, chocolates, cookies, biscuits and cake.

A lunch of vegetable pulao, chicken curry , curd salad and banana was served to the community

BLESSING OTHERS

On the outskirts of Gulbarga the Government has opened a new facility  for beggars. There are at present a total of 38 inmates. The  District Collector has appointed a retired police inspector as the superintendent of this place. This person is a Christian and allowed us to share the love of Jesus and bless the inmates.

We shared the gospel with these people after a short time of praise and worship.

After which we shared some cake, snacks and bananas with  them. The inmates and authorities were very happy and have asked us to come again.

A Dream come True

The residents of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony  always wanted to have a small Kindergarten in the colony, but some  Hindu fundamentalists were against us setting up this facility. Also Karuna always wanted to recruit a community developer but never had the finances to employ one.

In answer to  our prayers the Lord has now provided for these needs through the Government.

The Government has a few months back appointed a lady (Lalitabai) as an anganwadi worker, who is qualified to double as both  nursery teacher and community developer. We don’t have to pay her but she does all the work that we wanted done.

The Government has built a nursery building and given it to us along with Lalitabai. Karuna has furnished the nursery , provided all the educational materials and done the electrical fittings.

The Hindu Fundamentalists cannot object as it is a Government project,

The building will also be used to hold the bi monthly prayer meeting in the colony, hoping that this would soon blossom into a church.

Breakthrough

The biggest breakthrough the Lord has worked through Lalitabai is getting the Government to hold one of their youth training courses in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony. At present even as you read this newsletter 38 girls between the age of 15-18 yrs are undergoing a 20 day beautician’s course in the  new clinic premises in the leprosy colony. 34 out of the 38 girls are from outside the colony from various backgrounds and religions. None of the girls or instructors along with the parents have any problems about coming and having this course in the leprosy colony, The Lord is slowly breaking the barriers and stigma.

PRAISE THE LORD

We thank God for saving the life of Hanumantha,  the secratery of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony and also our biggest supporter and help in the Leprosy colony. Last month

Hanumantha suffered a major heart attack with the  doctors giving him no chances at all. But thanks to prayers The Lord in His Grace revived him. He is quite okay now but continue to keep him in your prayers as he has to undergo a surgery to remove a blockage. This is scheduled to be done on th 14th of January 2012.

Prayer Points

1. That The Lord would anoint Michael, Michelle and the team and give them much wisdom to carry on the work in the coming year.

2.  That the children in schools would complete their studies and that some of them grow up to be doctors, engineers and other useful citizens of this country.

3. That the people of this colony would accept  the Lord Jesus and would find Salvation.

4. That the Lord would help us to sustain every work in the coming year.

5. That The Lord would provide for all our needs.

6. That the bi-monthly prayer meeting would blossom into a church.

Besides the daily clinic for treating wounds and  ulcers  a medical camp was held in August for all the residents of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony.

2 persons were admitted in hospital while 7 persons were helped and given assistance in the local hospitals.

Hema a 12 yrs old girl is still in hospital in Mumbai, with severe pain in her side and a

water patch in a rib cage. Doctors have ruled out Tuberculosis but are unable to make a proper diagnosis still. Clinical `Investigations are continuing . Please pray for her.

• Padmavati the young widow lady had a normal pregnancy  and delivered a 3.75kg baby boy. Both mother and child are fine. Thanks for all your prayers.
• The clinic has been shifted to another location in the colony and fully renovated.

CHILDRENS WORK

• Daily nutrition continues with an average of 30-35 benefiting from a glass of milk, egg or banana provided to them.
• Children in the residential have done quite well in the first semester examinations with majority of them getting an A grade.
• A new Balwadi  Building provided by the government is nearly finished and we hope to open it by the end of November 2011. All the equipment is being supplied by Karuna .
  • It was a great joy to see  the children studying  at the Gateway International Boarding performing at a program in Bangalore..
  • It was also heartening to know that  10yrs old  Abdul who is studying  at El Shaddai in Goa wants to be a computer engineer, and  12 yr old Akash  also in the same school is learning to play the guitar.

Five girls between the ages of 12-16 are attending a training  conducted by the government through the Anganwadi worker appointed by the local municipality to work in the Gandhi leprosy Colony. This  worker a lady is a great help to us as she helps in community development and we don’t have to pay her the government pays her. We thank God for this wonderful provision.

DEVELOPING THE COLONY

The open area in front of the community hall used to get very dirty and in the rainy season all murky.  It also had a lot of pebbles which made sitting on the floor very difficult.

Karuna together with the residents of the colony is getting the entire 100 x 50 ft area tiled with a future plan of turning the whole place into a large shed which will enable the residents to hold all their functions in this shelter. There will also be a large stage at one end.

Also the small park that was built for these people is being renovated.

At present there is no proper record or data of the residents of the Gandhi Leprosy colony. Karuna now is in the process of gathering all sorts of information regarding each individual and family and building a database. This will give us at any given time a person’s photograph, martial status, no. of children, medical history of the last five years, and a copy of any documents they have at present like house papers, birth certificate etc.

A new computer has been purchased for this purpose and a good software has been installed for this purpose. Work on this will commence by mid December.

Evangelism

The  gospel was preached to the residents of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony and they got an opportunity to hear God’s word at least thrice in the last few months. Also during one of the meeting a puppet show was shown to them.

A weekly meeting is scheduled once the balwadi building is completed.

Pray that a Church will be formed.

In  the last few months we have had the opportunity to serve 3 fellowship meals to the residents of the Gandhi leprosy colony.

It was a joy to watch these rejected people enjoy these wonderful meals provided by kind benefactors who not only provided the meal but also served them.

Mission being acomplished
Giving the youth of the leprosy affected a trade was and is a priority for us. We started the skills training Centre in the Gandhi leprosy Colony, Gulbarga, about 5 years ago. All we could teach them was Computer DTP and Tailoring. Knowing this was not enough, last year we enrolled 3 school dropouts from the leprosy colony to the Don Bosco technical school at Hospet.

It was really a great joy to see Rakesh, one of the 3 boys we sent to Hospet complete his course and pass out.
Rakesh now has a Diploma as an electrician and Motor Winding, along with A certificate in Computer basis. With this skill Rakesh can now get a job easily.

Rescued and Safe
Saba a 12 year old girl was found by Michael and his family while traveling on the Mumbai-Bangalore train. She was part of a begging racket and had ran away from home. With the help of CWC and Childline we managed to trace her parents. Saba it turned out was a school dropout who was used by an elderly lady along with other children to beg at VT station and in the trains in Mumbai. One day she ran away and started traveling on the outstation trains trying to be far away from the elderly lady and afraid to go home because of an alcoholic father.

This how we found her and rescued her. After assuring her parents that she was well and producing her before the CWC who gave us permission to rehabilitate her, we got admission for her with the help of Mr. Nabi, a social worker in a school in Pune.

She is now in a proper residential school and we hope that she will have a bright future.

Summer Camp
A 3 day summer camp was organized with the help of the IET for around 75 children (aged between 6 to 14years), out of which 30 were from the Gandhi Leprosy Colony. The rest of the children were from the youth at risk proggramme run by Don Bosco’s.

The children had a lot of fun learning new games, songs, dances and bible stories from 2 experienced Sunday school teachers from IET who came all the way from Delhi.
The children were thoroughly blessed and enjoyed themselves all the 3 days.
The colony children have asked us if we could conduct proggrammes like this whenever there are school vacations.

Surely quite a few seeds were sown and we hope to water and nurture these seeds over the years.

Thanksgiving programme
On the 26th of May 2011 the Karuna project completed 7 years, to mark this wonderful occasion we conducted a small programme in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony to give thanks to our Great and Mighty God.
With the help of the local Church we attend, we had a small time of prayer thanking God for all His mercies.
This was followed ( for the first time ever) by a song and dance by the c children of the colony. It was really a treat to watch children from the colony singing Christian songs in Hindi and dancing to the same. These were the same songs and dances they had learnt during the summer camp.

What better way to thank God who has done so much to uplift these people.

Continuing to sow seeds
Every year we try to put in more of the small children from the leprosy colonies in good Christian residential school, where they could receive an English medium education along with Christian values.
The Good Lord has blessed us with good contacts in this area. We thank God for this and bless Him.
Like always this year we were able to put a few more children in such a school. We thank the Gateway International Boarding run by David & Theresa who admitted 6 more new children to their home.
This takes the total number of children from the leprosy colony going to Christian residential schools to 33. Praise God.
Please pray that these children would persevere and that some of them would becomes teachers, doctors, engineers etc. and be a boon to The Kingdom and society.

Help Required
Padmavati, daughter of leprosy affected persons got married a few years back to Shivappa despite him being severely affected by polio in one leg. His parents were and are also affected by leprosy.
A couple of months ago Shivappa fell behind his house one night and was discovered dead early in the morning.
Padmavati’s world shattered. She is at a complete loss for words and finds it difficult to come to terms with what life has in store for her.

She is only 23 years old carrying her third child(7 months pregnant).
She also has 2 other children both girls aged 6 and 4 years. We have been able to help her by putting both the girls in a residential school. We now helping her to do a Tailoring course and hope to set her up with some income generating self support.. We are also taking care of all the hospital expenses for her delivery.
We appeal to anyone who would like to help us in helping this young woman.

Some of the Activities of the last few months
Besides the Summer Camp for the Children a 2 day film show was held in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony showing them the Jesus Film, The Pilgrims’ Progress and other Christian films in the local language Kannada.
A 2 day Parental Guidance Seminar was held in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony for the parents. During this time we were able to the them how to bring up their children biblically. It was a wonderful time with the parents wanting us to keep on holding such seminars in all the time.
The children who were being sent for the first time to residential schools were kept in Michael & Michelle for a week so that we could toilet train them and teach them how to eat properly without wasting food. Besides this they were taught how to share toys while playing.
Renovation work has started on the community hall to change it into the new clinic on one side and the skills training centre on the other side. Hopefully the work will be completed by the end of July. Also the hospital is being given a fresh coat of paint and a few other changes.
A new small Bal Wadi (Kindergarten) Building is under construction in the Colony. It is being built by the local Government authorities but will be under our supervision. A teacher has also been provided by them. The children will also be given a meal at noon time. Hopefully the construction will be over We thank God for this provision.
Footwear, spectacles were also given to a few people. Besides this medical attention was given to 15 people at the local hospital and paid for by Karuna.
In the last few months we had 5 deaths in the colony . We thank all of you for your prayers for Mallappa who also passed away early this month.

Prayers Points
That God

• Would bless Michael & Michelle and that He would give them a double portion of anointing and wisdom as they lead the work.
• Would continue His provision for all work of the Karuna project.
• Would Bless the youth of the Gandhi leprosy Colony and provide good jobs for them as they complete their skills training courses.
• Would bless the children of the Colony and that the seeds sown in the children attending the Christian schools would bear fruit.
• Would provide us with Volunteers and like minded persons to help us carry out this work of the Kingdom.

At the end of this year 2010, what can be remembered most is the faithfulness of the Almighty. He has taken care and managed the project that otherwise I would have found very difficult to handle. He has always provided, never too late or too early, always just in time. We at Karuna just thank Him for all that He has done for us and for the hearts of people He has softened to help us. He has helped us sustain each and every work started here.

The only project we had to close was the Abundance project.

The greatest satisfaction was to see the children admitted in the Christian schools now speaking english and quite disciplined compared to the others in the leprosy colony. Surely He is going to change this community through the children.

The safe drinking water project got a boost with the Indian Evangelical Team providing each family with a 20 litre can with a tap to store the water.

The health of the children of the colony along with nursing mothers has been near excellent due the nutrition project which gives them the necessary vitamins, iron and calcium.

We were also able to look after a total of 56 patients at the Karuna Hospital this year.

The Lord blessed the skills training project by giving jobs to 3 who completed the computer course while one person actually started his own Cyber café in partnership with another person. We also have received a promise for 2 computers to replace the old P1 computers we have.

Quite few youth got jobs this year. The once beggar colony has now only 30% doing their traditional job i.e begging.

Karuna, a project of compassion, showing the love of Jesus to this rejected community has now completed 6 years in Gulbarga serving the leprosy affected community of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony. As we enter the 7th year just looking around the colony we can see that the Kingdom of God has slowly but surely come to the Gandhi Leprosy Colony . With the Kingdom of God comes  prosperity and that is what is slowly coming to the Gandhi Leprosy Colony.

What are the signs:

• Begging on the decline.
• Most of the youth have taken up jobs even if it is as unskilled labour.
• More importance is now being given to education.
• 75% of the families now have T.V.s
• 30% have air coolers.

• Child marriages are on decline.
• Most of the women now go to the hospital  when pregnant and for the delivery  instead of delivering their babies at home.
• Children are much more healthier and so are the women.
• More youth are learning skills like computer DTP, Tailoring, Welding, Carpentry etc.

We thank God for showing His favour upon us and these people during this past year.

Gifts of Love

The children of Michael and Michelle this Christmas donated a wheelchair, a portable commode and a walker for the Karuna hospital at the Gandhi Leprosy Colony.

A Proud Moment

It was a proud moment for some of the parents of the Gandhi Leprosy colony who attended the Christmas function held in Bangalore where their children are studing.

It was with great joy they watched their children perform in skit after skit and sing and dance in front of quite a large crowd of other parents and guests.

Sharing the love of Jesus this Christmas

This year’s Christmas function was unlike any other  we have conducted in the past. We always had the programme in the Leprosy Colony. This year we hired a hall right in the middle of town and invited the leprosy affected community to join us for the function there. We are thankful to the Bethsheba Church of God and its few members who also joined us and shared their joy of fellowship with the leprosy affected community.

It was also a breakthrough to manage to get the community to attend a function held for them outside the colony. We thank God for this breakthrough and also the administrators of the St.Mary’s auditorium  who were kind to give us permission to allow the leprosy community use of their premises.

Also, a first, was the cultural programme, with mainly children performing. The function was attended by more then 300 odd people (men, women and children).

We started the function with the lighting of a ceremonial lamp to symbolize Jesus as the Light of the world.  After which we had a short time of praise and worship in Kannada followed by  a small Word (sharing the gospel).

To the delight of the parents of the leprosy colony we then had their children(the ones come home for holidays from the Christian schools) singing Joy to the World and Silent Night in english.

The children from Don Bosco and Jesu Home who are  orphans, school dropouts and rescued child labourers also preformed a few songs and dances to entertain the people. The beauty of these  performances were that all the dances were choreographed to

hindi or kannada praise and worship songs.

After the cultural programme  gift hampers containing toiletries, stationary, a couple of small toys besides sweets and cookies  were distributed to 120 children.

The function ended with a love meal of chicken curry, pullao rice and curd salad being served to all.

We thank God for helping us to make this function a success.

We would also like to thank  Turbocam India and Mr. Phillip & family whose  their kind contributions he

lped us in conducting this function.

Prayer Points

1. That The Lord would anoint Michael, Michelle and the team and give them much wisdom to carry on the work in the coming year.

2.  That the children in schools would complete their studies and that some of them grow up to be doctors, engineers and other useful citizens of this country.

3. That the people of this colony would accept  the Lord Jesus and would find Salvation.

4. That the Lord would help us to sustain every work in the coming year.

5. That The Lord would provide for all our needs.

The  aim of the Karuna Charitable Trust  has always been to uplift the people of the leprosy affected community and bring them to the knowledge of Christ.

Knowing that education plays a major role in bringing about change in any community, we started putting a few of the children in good Christian residential schools where the medium of education would be English and would also be imparted with Christian principals.

During the midterm vocations I was surprised to receive  a phone call from Akash, a 10 year old boy whom we had put in school in Goa in the last academic year . He spoke to me in quite good English. When I visited his house at the leprosy colony I felt so good to see the look of pride on the parents face as he conversed with me in English. His mother remarked

“ our son  has changed , he is becoming just like you.”

I praised God, He had helped us to make a dent in the darkness.

Recently I visited the children we had entrusted to a marvelous couple David and Theresa,

who run the  Gateway International Boarding in Bangalore and was mightily blessed.

All  the 11 children came running ,hugging me, wishing  me and talking to me in english , (though some of it was broken english) and were so excited. I was stunned for a moment  and couldn’t believe the big change in the children, some of them had been  here only since June this year. Wow, I said to myself, Praise God, another dent in the darkness.

The icing on the cake was when they  got together  singing and enacting two  gospel songs  for  me in english.

The day is not far when these children  will change the mindset  of  the community, something we have been unsuccessfully been trying for the last seven years.

I praise and thank the Lord Jesus for helping us to make a large dent in the darkness in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony,

A Pillar of the Community

Hanumantha, a dymanic young man is the on of leprosy affected parents. A self educated man , he now tireless works with us to help uplift the community. He is also the recipient of the President’s Gold Medal for the work he has done and is doing among the leprosy community.

In the last couple of years he has managed to give his community a wonderful gift, the title deed papers of the houses they are now staying in. All the 76 families in the Gandhi leprosy colony are now proud owners of their own houses and the 20×20 ft plot on which it stands.  Thanks to this man they now own property. We have also helped residents of other leprosy colonies in Raichur and Bijapur in achieving the same.

Besides this major achievement, he has managed to get pensions for them from the government regularized.

Through contacts he has made in government offices he has also made  for them ration cards, birth certificates and caste certificates etc.

Please pray for this man and his family that God would touch him mightily and use him for His Kingdom.

Uplifting the Community

In the last 3 months we have:

1. Attended to 225 patients  in the daily clinics, dressing their wounds and ulcers.

2. 27 persons were taken to hospital for treatment of various ailments.

3. 7 persons were admitted to hospitals and aid given with medical expenses.

4. 15  youth and women are on the skills training proggramme.

5. Spectacles  and footwear were given to 6 persons.

6. An average of 30 children and 5 nursing mothers were  given nutrition daily.

7.     One person was helped with clutches

We  thank God for  Mallinath (who finished the computer training from our skills training programme)  who set up a cyber cafe in partnership with another boy from the leprosy colony.

Upcoming Christmas programme

Every year in the last week of December we have a programme for the people of the leprosy colony sharing the love of Jesus with them.

This year we are planning to have this programme on the 27th of December.

We will start with a cultural/gospel programme which will be followed by lunch.

After lunch will be fun and games for  150 children of the leprosy affected, rescued bonded labour children and orphans. Each child will also be given a gift hamper which will contain stationary and toiletries besides a small toy.

We welcome any of you to contribute and help us with funds for this cause. Given below is the breakup. Please prayerfully  consider  which part of the programme you would like to help with.

1. Lunch for nearly 400 persons—-Rs.9000. We have already received Rs. 8000/- towards this. Praise God.

2. 150 Gift hampers @ Rs. 100 per child—Rs.15000/- . You can sponsor even a few children.

3. Cultural/ Gospel programme setup cost Rs.7000/-

Contact  Michael for details on 9900993581 or email at

karuna_compassion@yahoo.co.in

karuna123compassion@gmail.com.

Abundance Project (Closed down)

The Abundance Project was conceived with the aim of helping uplift the leprosy affected community in Gulbarga. At that time we felt strongly that this was from the Lord as we had been praying for a long time for something like this. It was a dream come true. We started with the purchase of 10 acres of agricultural land in October 2008, thanks to a donation from Vital Seed International.

Now, nearly 2 years later, things have not gone as expected and I believe we should terminate the project. The reasons for this are as follows:

Poor Water Supply

Before purchasing the land we consulted a geologist who assured us that we could get 2” of water at 3 different spots on the land. But when we drilled, two of the three points were dry. We did not attempt the third point. When we later got some water at these points, it was a miracle. Even though we drilled a third well later with some success, the water was never enough for irrigated farming. We realized belatedly that the land is only good for rain-fed crops.

All through 2009 we tried planting vegetables but none were cost effective. Contrary to what we were told, the jatropha plants also needed water and most could not survive the dry conditions. None came to a place of bearing fruit.

Excessive Rain

Just before the rains in June 2009 we planted a large number of fruit trees and some Jatropha but there was no rain right until 16^th August, when the rains came. They were so heavy that there were floods and the combination of drought and floods cost us dearly as we lost about 80% of the trees and bushes. This did not deter us so we planted 7 acres of Toor Dhal before the rains in June, 2010 with expert advice and in partnership with another local farmer. Once again, excessive rain damaged the crop.

Labour problems

We had always assumed that we would be able to employ leprosy-affected people from the Gandhi Leprosy Colony. We tried many different people but none were committed to work at the Project. Many would not stay there because it was too far away. Others were happy to take a (good) salary but did not expect to do any work to earn it. When we tried getting other workers (not from the leprosy colony) we still found people would work a little and then disappear. This meant that I often ended up spending days and nights alone on the land.

Legal problems

We were initially advised that Karuna Charitable Society is not legally registered to purchase agricultural land and so we entered into an agreement for the purchase. An early indicator of problems was that the mutation of the land, which should have been given immediately after the registration, was delayed by nearly eight months for a technical reason that was no fault of ours. We later realized that we would have to spend almost Rs 2 lakhs for properly re-registering the land in the name of Karuna Charitable Society. The original legal advice we had received was wrong.

Difficulties with Goats

We took advice from a local agricultural officer about the goats required, but they were the wrong breed of goats. So the goat farming really never took off to our expectations, and the mortality rate was also very high.

Diversion of Energy

My vision and mission has always been for the leprosy affected community and I firmly believed that the Abundance Project would help them. However, as soon we started it, my time and attention was taken away from the leprosy colony to the Abundance Project. The work in the colony has continued with Hanumantha and others keeping things going, but I feel that my presence there would have been helpful as that is where the Lord originally called me. Even though the Abundance Project was conceived with aim of helping the Karuna Charitable Trust uplift the leprosy affected community, at the end of the day it was not really helping them but just taking my time.

Hearing the Lord

In September 2010, I was up at the Abundance Project checking the Toor Dhal we had sown. It had been raining heavily for about a week. For the first time since we bought the land, I looked around and felt totally depressed. I had just walked 3 Kms in sloshing mud to reach the project as no vehicles could come through. Grass and weeds had grown knee deep in the unploughed land, but what frustrated me most was that the area where the crop was sown was full of weeds. The crop was coming up but there were so many weeds that I had to look closely to even see the crop. Weeding could not do be done immediately as the ground was too wet. And even if we weeded it, it would cost us so much that there would be no nett returns from the crop. It was a total loss.

As I walked back to the vehicle, I was talking with a friend who had accompanied me. In the course of the conversation it suddenly struck me that my morning’s reading that day was from John 15 which said that you cut away the branch that does not bear fruit. I stopped in my tracks. Is this what the Lord was trying to tell me, that the Abundance Project was a non productive branch that had to be cut away? The more I thought about it the more I felt convinced within me that this is what the Lord wanted me to do, to terminate the project.

I discussed this with my wife, Michelle, who at first did not want to believe that this was what the Lord wanted us to do. As a family we had become very attached to the land and the project. How were we to explain it to the children? How to explain it to the people in the leprosy colony? As we sat down during the next couple of days praying and talking about the situation it became clear to us that we had to let it go. Once we accepted this, we were at peace and we knew it was the right thing. Even the leaders at the leprosy colony were glad in a way saying that now I would have more time for them. Much later when we told the children during their vacations, they calmly accepted it without any questions or sadness.

In conclusion accepting that the Lord knows what is  best we have terminated the project and have put up the land for sale. The money from the sale will be returned to Vital Seed International.

Michael D’Costa

President

Karuna Charitable Trust

Prayer Points

1. That the three teenagers in Hospet undergoing vocational training would complete the training course.

2. That the children in schools would complete their studies and that some of them grow up to be doctors, engineers and other useful citizens of this country.

3. That the people of this colony would accept  the Lord Jesus and would find Salvation.

4. That The Lord would provide for all our needs.

5. The Lord would provide all the necessary resources required for the Christmas programme.

6. The Lord would give Michael, Michelle and the team much wisdom to carry on the work.

We thank God for the successful ear surgery of Fatima(a 7 year girl, who father is leprosy affected).

Fatima is well now  and back at school.

We thank God for the 3 boys we managed to put in a vocational training school, with the help of Turbocam India, at Hospet.

And also for the 22 children in Christian boarding schools in Bangalore, Goa, Chitapur, Hubli and Thane.

2 persons were given aid so that they could be operated.

Saibana was given treatment for T.B., while 2 persons were given spectacles.

8 persons were taken to the hospital to be treated for various diseases.

Strategy for the success of the Abundance has been changed. A rain fed crop of red gram has been sowed.

Also a new breed of goats will be bought by the end of  Sept2010 and the animal husbandry project will be restarted.

This is the first newsletter of 2010 and we want to share with you all the exciting happening of the month of December with you.

The most exciting event that took place was the baptism of a couple of youth, a boy and a girl in the water tank at the abundance project. We praise God that He is using the project for His glory.

Sara and Aurol both brother and sister wanted to get baptized, their father Pastor Rathod who works among the gypsy community approached Michael asking him if he could baptize his children. Taking full advantage of the large water tank at the abundance project, Michael & Rathod baptized Aurol & Sara much to the joy of their friends & relatives.

Christmas Programme

God is a wonderful provider and when we are in the business of spreading His kingdom He will go all out to provide.

We were able to have an excellent Christmas programme for the residents of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony sharing the love of Jesus with them.

A children’s party for the children of the leprosy affected, orphans and rescued child labourers was held at the Gandhi leprosy colony which was attended by 152 children.

Games were held with prizes given to the winners. Cake and snacks were served to all including the mothers who came with the small children. Each children was given a gift. Toddlers upto 3years were given stuffed toys, while the older children were given toiletries and stationary besides a few sweets. The girls’ gift had hair accessories in them while the boys had balls/puzzles,etc.

The Love Meal

No celebration is complete without a good meal. Part of the Christmas celebration was an excellent lunch which consisted of Pullao rice, Chicken curry, curd salad and a sweet, served to all the residents(350+) of the Gandhi leprosy Colony. Our Lord the Great Provider provided for this wonderful meal through the Indian Evangelical Team.

Planting Seeds of the Gospel

A special Christian cultural proggramme was held where christian bhajans were sung in the local language by a troupe, followed by a group of school children preforming dances to christian songs. The gospel was then given by a member from the Campus Crusade team. Also honoured during this function with gifts were 4 youth from the colony who had taken up jobs and held them for over a year.

The Abundance Project

Work at the Abundance project is slowly progressing. Vegetables are now being grown with a small production which is being sold in the market.

Please pray that we will be able to grow more crops. And that The Lord will give us much wisdom to manage the crops and animals.

Prayer points:

Please pray that:

• God would provide for the projects in the coming year.

• The 5 elderly people admitted to the hospital can be shifted to the Abundance project. That the Lord would provide all that is needed for this purpose.

• The Lord would give Michael a good team to carry on the work.

• The Lord would give us a good christian doctor to take care of the medical needs of the Gandhi Leprosy Colony.

• The Lord would provide sponsors so that we can help put more children in good christian schools.

• We would see a spiritual breakthrough in the colony.

• The Lord would bless Michael & Michelle along with their children, that His protection would be upon their family and that God would give Michael & Michelle much wisdom and grace to carry on the work of the ministry.

Story of Nagamma

Nagamma the daughter of a leprosy affected couple staying in the Gandhi leprosy colony is a young girl of 22 stricken by polio in both legs. A few months back she approached us to help her to acquire a new pair of calipers so that she could walk properly as the calipers she had were broken and beyond repairs. In the February newsletter we had requested prayer  for her and her situation.

Last month we were able to provide her with a new set of calipers. A delighted Nagamma had no words to express her joy. Dr Pati who fitted the new calipers for her has also promised her a job in the new rehabilitation centre he plans to open in a few months time.

Providing Drinking water

Water is very essential and at the Abundance project by the grace of God we are able to bless many people by providing water to them. The abundance project is the only place for miles around that has water on its land. Farmers coming to farm their land now have no problem for drinking water for themselves and their cattle. The women feel very blessed as we have now lightened their burden as they do not have to carry pots of water for miles while coming to work in the fields.

A new beginning

Memboob is a young lad of 16 whose parents are leprosy affected. Memboob’s grandparents are also leprosy affected and are beggars. Memboob’s father works as an unskilled labourer. His mother approached us at Karuna to help him find a job as he was not interested in studying. Karuna managed to fix him as an apprentice in a garage where he can learn to be a car mechanic. He is now very happy as he is learning a trade as well as earning a little at the same time.

The work at the Abundance project is slowly picking up with replanting some vegetable crops. Below are some photographs of some of the white pumpkin and ridge gourd plants and their fruits.

The work of compassion among the leprosy affected in the Gandhi colony continues with 8 patients being admitted to the Karuna hospital. 3 of them are quite aged and have nowhere to go after their wounds and ulcers are healed. Please pray that God would provide a solution for these men.

Footwear and walking sticks was provided to 2 patients and a walker was added to the equipment at the clinic.

Please pray that the Lord would provide finances for all the Christmas proggrammes to be held in the Colony.

Please keep the 22^nd of December in your prayers as we are holding a gospel meeting with a fellowship dinner for the residents of the Gandhi leprosy colony. Also on the same day a children’s party for around 150 orphans, rescued child laborers and children of the leprosy affected will be held. We thank God for already providing the finance for the gift hampers for these children.

Please continue to pray for Michael, Michelle and their family, that God would protect them at all times and would give Michael and Michelle wisdom as they lead the work.

We want to thank God for:
1. The jobs got by the 2 boys who finished their computer course.
2. The children who have now settled and doing well in school in Goa. (Photos available in the Photo Section under children’ work)
3. Turbocam India who donated a year’s supply of chlorine tablets for the water filtration plant fitted in the Gandhi Leprosy Colony so that all the residents can now have completely safe water to cook and to drink.
4. The team of doctors who came from Kerala through Campus Crusade and conducted a free Medical camp at the Leprosy colony. (photographs are available in the Photo Section under the Clinic)
5. The successful eye surgeries (cataract) conducted by the St. Luke’s Medical Center on 2 of our leprosy affected patients.
6. The successful appendix operation on another of our patients.
7. The 3 new goat kids and 2 rabbits that were born in the last 2 months.
8. All the fruit trees we were able to plant in the last 2 months. (225 coconut trees, 35 lime trees, 10 fig trees, 10 mango trees, 5 sweet limes trees, 5 chickoo trees, 5 pommergrate trees, 5 guava trees and 5 custard apple trees.) (Photographs are available in the Photo Section under the Abundance project.)
9. The water in the new well that was drilled.
10. His provision & grace upon the Karuna team to do His work here in Gulbarga.

Please pray that:
1. God would continue to bless us with His provision & grace.
2. All the plants we have planted will be fruitful.
3. It would rain. ( we have not had a proper monsoon till now)
4. The colius and chilly plantation to be successful.
5. The animals would be healthy and multiply.
6. The children put in Christian schools by us would learn the right values and that their mind set would change hence bringing about a change in the leprosy colonies.
7. The youth on the skills training programme would continue and finish the course.
8. The general health of the leprosy affected people in the colony would continue to improve.
9. There will be a breakthrough as the monthly prayer meetings continue.
10. God would work a healing miracle in the lives of the widow with HIV and her 3 children(whom we are taking care of at the abundance project), 2 of which are mentally retarded.
11. Give much grace & wisdom to Micheal, Michelle & the Karuna team as they minister and continue to do His will.