God’s love multiplies.
Child sponsorships – a success story
Over the last 30 years CIfI has been able to support two whole generations of kids and young people in a range of different Homes, via our partner churches in India. We have been able to help in preparing them for life.
Today we are happy to see young adults who are successfully managing their lives, establishing families and many of them love and follow Jesus – and all of this, even though they were rejected by their parents as babies, or ended up on the street, or come from extremely poor and “hopeless” backgrounds.
For each and every one of them, the “small sponsorship” made a “very big difference”: They could grow up in a Christian-run Home, which became their family and provided them with a good school education, and often a vocational training as well.
Today there are many local gypsy pastors*, full-time missionaries among street kids and male and female church staff members who all grew up in our Homes and now work amongst the same target groups from which they come from. What a blessing for their nation!
*Note: The Indian gypsies still use this name themselves.
God’s love inspires.
Agape Ministries Sponsorships in India
In many nations Children’s Homes are no longer allowed to be run by Christians. For this reason CIfI sponsorships now support the children themselves, who are either orphans or half-orphans, or come from extremely poor backgrounds, as well as the families of pastors and widows (sometimes together with their children) in their own homes, or in carefully selected host families within the church.
The regular support is monitored and carried out by local churches, within the framework of the Agape-Ministries programme. Besides the financial support, which guarantees the school education and basic needs of the children, most of the churches also offer private tuition and practical lessons (home work supervision and extra lessons).
Kids’ worship services on Sundays, or creative sessions with the kids during the week give the children the chance to grow up in real families, and also to be part of the church congregation and to experience the love of Jesus in their lives.
Besides sponsorships, the Agape-Ministries programme also offers free training courses for women at many locations, free private tuition at an education centre and free medical provision for people in need from the church and the surrounding area.
God’s love invests.
Child sponsorship
A child sponsorship is an individual personal sponsorship. At the beginning we will send you detailed information about a child, then once a year we will update you with current information about the child you are sponsoring. In this way you will know what issues you can pray for!
Your sponsorship will enable the local church to provide for the living costs for a child in a host family, and also for the schooling (school fees, uniform, books and materials), including any private lessons needed at the tuition centre. As all the families are members of the local church, this means we have a clear overview of the development of the child and can control the costs involved.
God’s love protects.
Girl sponsorship
The killing of girls: In India girls are not wanted. They are seen as a “genetic defect” and a burden to the family, which one would rather be rid of. Girls are seen as a financial burden. Families have to pay high sums for wedding dowries.
Every investment in a girl is seen as a loss, as girls leave their families when they get married and therefore cannot support their parents when they reach old age.
As a consequence of this there are 2-5 million gender specific abortions per year and 250,000 girls are killed by their families after birth. Yet girls should live!
With a sponsorship you can help to save the life of an Indian girl, by financially supporting the family concerned, should they decide to allow the girl to live. This is not a personal sponsorship. In order to safeguard the families concerned, we are not able to pass on any detailed information.
The support is provided by the local church, which has regular contact to the family concerned and is able to closely monitor the well-being of the girl herself.
God’s love supports.
Project sponsorship
By taking out a project sponsorship you are able to support the project of your choice from the Agape-Ministries programme on a regular basis: Sewing school
Clinic | Tuition centre | Day centre | Street work
On request, we would be happy to send you a short description of your chosen project at the start, so you can have a personal connection to it. In contrast to the child sponsorships, we are not able to send regular updates however.
With the help of your sponsorships the local church is able to carry out various offers of Agape-Ministries and thereby support above all children, pastors, widows and other financially and socially disadvantaged people.
God’s love provides.
Widow sponsorship
With this sponsorship you will secure regular support for a widow in a church through the Agape-Ministries programme. On request, we would be happy to send you detailed information about the widow at the start, so that you can have a personal connection and pray for her! In contrast to child sponsorships, we are not able to send regular personal updates however.
With the help of a sponsorship, the local church can support a widow financially. This takes place either through financial support, or by providing material support via the local church (food, clothes, day centre), or a combination of these offers. The widows are mostly active in the church, depending on their age and state of health.
God’s love encourages.
Pastor sponsorship
With this sponsorship you will secure regular support for a pastor and his family for their basic needs. On request, we would be happy to send you detailed information about the pastor at the start, so that you can have a personal connection and pray for him, his family and his ministry! In contrast to child sponsorships, we are not able to send regular personal updates however.
With this sponsorship a pastor can be freed to carry out his ministry. Often churches in poorer areas, or newly founded churches are not able to support a pastor financially. The sponsorship will guarantee the family a warm meal every day and cover the costs of their rent and school fees.
A further form of support is to sponsor a water buffalo, or dairy cow for pastors in persecuted areas, in order to enable them to provide for their daily living.
We keep in regular contact to the pastors, who are not only financially supported but also spiritually encouraged.
God’s love helps.
Tea picker sponsorship in Sri Lanka
A sponsorship for the tea picking project in Sri Lanka supports the establishment of a pioneer project amongst the Indian-born tea pickers. The aim of the project is to establish a better infrastructure in the small mountain villages together with the local village councils, and to support the school education of the children. At the same time we are able to bring the Gospel and the love of Jesus to this unreached people group.
We urge you to “adopt” this unreached Hindu group of people and to pray regularly for them!
With the help of your sponsorship, staff from the local churches can regularly provide aid for these people and in particular support children and other financially and socially disadvantaged people.
Sharing God’s love.
Become a part of the success story.
These small sponsorships make a very big difference in the lives of individuals. As a sponsor you are starting a new success story, which would not be possible without you! Your regular giving means that socially disadvantaged people can receive the same chances as others. In this way they can experience God‘s love in a very practical and personal way.
Child sponsorships can be taken out for the sum of 30 Euro per Month.
Girl sponsorships help save a life for 30 Euro per month.
Widow sponsorships cover the living costs of a widow for 30 Euro per month.
Pastor sponsorships are covered with 100 Euro per month.
Sponsorships for a project from Agape-Ministries (sewing school, clinic, tuition centre or tea picking project) can be taken out for any amount.
Passing on God’s love.
Taking on a sponsorship
Please fill in the enclosed sponsorship coupon and return to us (signed in the case of direct debit).
Taking on a sponsorship is easy and it can be cancelled at any time. You decide whether you wish to pay by monthly bank transfer, or whether we can take the money from your account by direct debit (the cheaper option). In each case you will receive a confirmation of your donation and the purpose.
We will keep you informed. You will receive our India Newsletter four times a year, with details of the various CIfI projects. As a sponsor you will also receive the biannual sponsor’s newsletter with current news regarding our sponsorships. (For security reasons these newsletters will be sent by letter post.)
Small print
Regrettably, it is not possible to have any personal contact to a child sponsored either by letter, or to send presents and invitations. Research has shown that this kind of preference of individual children does not do them any good. Interested parties however, do have the possibility to visit one of our churches – provided they are culturally well-prepared – as part of the short-term mission outreach trips scheme (info: einsatz@cifi.de).
We do not arrange adoptions, but instead we help the children to grow up within their own culture. We support them in carrying out their vocational training and beyond, so that as people who value life, they will have the chance to co-form their society.
A success story
Marysha (image in the middle)
In 2007 a young girl, totally alone, came to one of our services in a newly founded church in Vip. Her father was an alcoholic and at home she experienced poverty and violence. Marysha was baptised and found in Jesus and in the church the help she needed, to break through the cycle of poverty, suppression and violence in her small life!
The young girl of that time has now become a young lady full of faith and hope, with a college degree and a bright perspective for the future. Today she invests her time, her love, her knowledge and her gifts, in giving private tuition free of charge and for three hours to about 40 children from difficult family backgrounds. She is able to show them just how valuable they are and that God has hope and a future for them and their city!
References
CIfI does great work in places where help is really needed. The whole person is always at the centre: They care not just for his/her material needs, but also for the spiritual needs. I was able to observe their work first hand. A wonderful job they do!
Dr. Johannes Hartl, Prayer House, Augsburg
At CIfI it is all about Jesus, the Kingdom of God, and the Holy Spirit has a lot of space there. For this reason we have supported the mission of CIfI in India for many years and profit greatly from this cooperation.
Pastor Gregor Wirth, Hosanna Church in Heidelberg
The people at CIfI are full of devotion, passion and have a lot of patience. I worked with them during my internship in India. Working with the street kids is a really difficult job. I cannot imagine how one can carry out this work successfully over so many years without a deep faith and trust in God.
Sophia Thull (Wahnschaffe), musician from Cologne
