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My Father’s Refuge

L.W. and P. K.

Prabin, a four-year-old boy in South Asia, was suddenly orphaned and left alone when his mother died of tuberculosis and his father abandoned him. ABWE missionaries* took him in and gave him love and a home. But it took some time for Prabin to adjust to the missionaries’ lifestyle. They remember one morning when Prabin came out of his room wide-eyed and frightened. “Uncle!” he said to the missionary. “There are hands under the bed!” These “hands” turned out to be winter gloves—a commodity Prabin had never seen before.

In 2003, a year after these missionaries took in Prabin, they began My Father’s Refuge, an orphanage established to rescue children like Prabin and give them hope and an opportunity to hear about Christ. Over the years, God has continued to bring children to My Father’s Refuge, and the group has grown to twenty orphans, ranging in age from one to twelve—all rescued from desperate circumstances.

Kalpana, Roshan, and Rachana previously lived in a tiny hut with their mother until the day she was killed in a bus accident, and they were left with literally nothing. The children, including Rachana, who was just a nine-month-old baby, were found half-starved and naked.

Villagers gave them food but were not willing to take the children into their home. Two other children at My Father’s Refuge, Kamal and Shree, were orphaned when both of their parents died in a bus that ran off a cliff. Tragic accidents like this happen frequently in this part of South Asia due to steep, narrow roads, overcrowded busses, and the inexperience of the bus drivers, who are often only fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds with fake licenses.

Each of the orphans at My Father’s Refuge has a similar rescue story. Punam and Suman call the orphanage home ever since their mother died, most likely from a sexually transmitted disease. Their mother had no husband and worked in a carpet factory that was known as a place of prostitution. Nisa was found wandering alone in a local city. Siru was born after his mother, who suffers from mental illness, was raped. Urmilla and Binu are sisters who were also being raised by a mother who was unable to care for them because of mental illness. When orphanage workers went to pick them up, Binu, only four years old, was tending goats in a field. Some elderly villagers were feeding them because their mother was unable to care for them. These two little sisters were tremendously excited as they rode in the car to My Father’s Refuge.

There are approximately 100,000 orphanages in this third-world country. Why are there so many orphans in this part of the world?

Many children have been orphaned or forced out of their villages due to a grueling civil war that has raged for the past eleven years. Cultural and religious factors also contribute to the problem. Because the majority of the population is Hindu, the belief in karma (the idea that you are reaping the sins of your past lives), causes the people to be uncompassionate toward orphans. Even native Christians seem unwilling to adopt orphaned children. Many believe an orphan invites bad luck into their family and community. Finally, many children are forced to live in orphanages because of the extreme poverty of the region. Even if a family was willing to adopt a child, most can barely take care of their own families and are not able to provide for the needs of an orphan.

Since My Father’s Refuge is in a restricted-access country, it is not officially registered with the government. Because of this, the home is able to provide more than just food, clothes, and shelter. The children are given the gospel. Their days are filled with the example of God’s love for them, and every evening ends with a devotional time, singing, and a Bible lesson. In this country, where the people worship millions of man-made gods, these few children are blessed to be rescued and introduced to the Heavenly Father who loves them and wants to adopt them into His family!

There are still seven orphans at My Father’s Refuge who need financial sponsors: Nabin (boy, 10), Kalpana (girl, 9), Roshan (boy, 4), Rachana (baby girl, 1), Nirmal (boy, 8), Punam (girl, 9), and Binita (girl, 4). Please pray that God will provide for the financial needs of these children and that these little ones will know the love of the Father and choose to live as children of the King. 

*Names of country and missionaries omitted for security purposes.