A year ago the Lord provided me with a beautiful journey to India. The trip was life changing for me as I experienced God’s beauty, hope, and joy in new, deeper ways; witnessed in the hearts of selfless, compassionate, impoverished people. The Gerizim Orphanage in Bangalore, India was a place where I experienced my Father in this new, deeper way. I met the dear Yesudian family who facilitate this ministry, along with the devoted staff and beautiful children who live there. Their steps of faith and obedience have led to the ministry of the Gerizim Orphanage. Our Father cultivated their desire to love and provide for these forgotten children by way of His Spirit in brokenness and discernment of scripture, as in Isaiah 58:10-12. Since that time, the Lord has truly blessed those first steps of faith as Gerizim has now grown to serve over 100 orphaned children and widowed mothers with opportunities for each child & woman to grow in their faith, in their education, in their calling and skill. They have also grown to share the Gospel by establishing churches within neighboring villages with the support of the local communities. The name Gerizim reflects not only the mission and purpose of the orphanage, which is to bless the lives of all who enter- in, but as well reflects intentional leading of the Lord on the Yesudian family. In Deuteronomy 27:12; 28:1-14, it states Gerizim is established by the Lord as “a mountain of many blessings”.
I returned home from India overwhelmed with an array of emotions, thoughts, and questions for the Lord, “Would You ever bring me back to this country? Will you send me to care for these children in the orphanage? To love them with Your Love? How will my calling to wholistically love children work itself out? Will You combine the work of nursing and counseling for this calling?” In recognizing a new, sweet knowing of God’s Love in His silent presence, I am comforted with the answer His silence brings: He is the Great I AM! On this journey I am understanding that it is more about Him being the Great I AM than me seeking the answers to my questions and curiosities. My Father God is leading me on a journey of faithfulness unto Him, so that He may glorify Himself in this child’s life. India was a place where the Lord gave freedom to me to dream into His calling of loving and nurturing children, and He utilized that time and space to further cultivate this calling. While I do not know the details of this lifelong journey of faith, I do believe the Lord has set aside such a time as now to step out in faith and obedience toward Gerizim, serving alongside brothers and sisters whose heartbeats are quite similar to mine.
During August 1 through November 1, I will be traveling to India to live with the Yesudian family to learn the daily details and long term goals of their ministry at the orphanage. The family and staff have been so gracious, helpful, and encouraging in my preparations. They have been excited about God's leading for me and His will for my time in India. I have shared with them my desire to minister directly to the young girls: to be among them throughout their days, assisting them with tasks/responsibilities and school work. All this work in an effort to not only assist in the daily needs of each child, but even more so to offer assistance in problem-solving in inter-personal relationships, to support their individual spiritual growth, to be their advocate, to encourage them with Truth, and to mentor those who are struggling in their journey of faith.
I am inviting you into this journey of faith. As a collective Body of Christ, we are blessed to walk alongside each other in our respective journeys of faith. I am thankful to Him who designed life to be about relationship - with Him and with each other. As you seek the Lord as to how to walk alongside me, I have attached a response card with details of the needs thus far. There will be two duplicate cards: one to mail to me, sharing of your support and the duplicate card is for you to keep as a physical reminder of your joining in this journey. Along with your response card, I have sent a small token of appreciation as well a reminder of prayer. I am in the process of setting up a blog page (faith4india.blogspot.com) with the hopes of sharing the details of this journey with each of you.
I pray this letter finds each of you well in the midst of your journey of faith! Please write, email, or call as I’d love to know how you are doing and how I may journey with each of you in prayer! As the Lord allows in the time before leaving, I’d love to visit face to face. I pray our Father blesses each of you as you join me in this journey!
In His Care and with cup overflowing with thankfulness,
Mandy Giles
53 Thayer Avenue, SE
Atlanta, GA 30315
amandaegiles@gmail.com
404-580-6711
