We will be going to Bethesda Life Centre, Goa. BLC is a non-profit organisation in the heart of Panjim, Goa's capital city run by Martin & Beena Philip.
It currently runs three children's homes; one for girls (all ages), one for small boys (aged 0-10) and one for older boys (10-18). The children in the homes come from various backgrounds, many are orphans, some have parents that suffer with HIV/AIDS others have been rescued from living in appalling conditions or from the risk of being sex trafficked.
BLC also runs a school (Rising Star School) to help some of the children who come to them having had little or no education. The aim of the school is to help every child enter main stream education. The school has done really well and most students have been reentered into main stream schools.
Martin & Beena Philip also Pastor a church in the City called 'Goa Life Centre'. They have a youth group that we link up with when we go, to get alongside them & share in our different cultures. This time is always a blessing and teaches our young people about the depth & breadth of Gods Kingdom family, and the ways He works across the world in other teenagers lives.
Out in Goa, we will be;
- serving in the kids homes, spending the morning cleaning, to give the 24/7 staff a well earned break (they may have to train us up in our cleaning skills before we begin though!)
- Painting the top floor of one of the homes (its massive!)
- Running and after school activity programme for the kids
- Working with the young people from GLC church, the details of this are yet to be decided, but we hope that it will be in running a conference for people from another state.
- Hanging out with the children, laughing, joking, learning, loving.
- Spending time with Martin & Beena learning about the project & why they do it, the journey God has taken them on & the ways they have seen Him move & transform lives.
- We hope that the team will get involved in the practicalities of the homes too, things like cooking, studying & as we have been designated, some cleaning too!
As a team we will meet to worship and pray each day, getting deeper into Gods word and His purposes for our lives.
This project enables our young people to engage in mission in a place that is out of their comfort zone, and stretches their faith, it builds a heart for mission. The time spent reflecting and praying whilst on mission will also help the young people to focus on how what they have seen and learnt on mission can be applied to their lives back home.
This project enables our young people to engage in mission in a place that is out of their comfort zone, and stretches their faith, it builds a heart for mission. The time spent reflecting and praying whilst on mission will also help the young people to focus on how what they have seen and learnt on mission can be applied to their lives back home.
We hope that you enjoy coming on this journey with us by reading this blog. We will update it with our experiences, our struggles and our prayer requests so keep checking in!
