Please pray for the mission team that is off to Chennai on 25th January for a week. They will be visiting Kevin, Deborah and all those involved with the SKM church in the slum. They will also be meeting each of the children who are sponsored through Grassroots. The children will come with a parent or guardian and meet one of our team and a translator. The aim is to get an update on how things are going at home, at school and any others things that are on their mind. We will then take a photograph and pray with them.

The team that are going are Sharon, Catherine and Theresa. They will also visit the children's homes, get involved with the home work club and speak in church services.

If you were interested in helping further then the best way is to get an "alternative gift" from the Chennai list. We also still need sponsors for 20 of the children in the scheme, but we are planning to give SKM the money and then trust that another 20 sponsors will join in over the next few months. The need of each of these children is awful and desperate. Children need to eat properly, they need a decent life, a proper education, medical cover and someone to care. We only ever decide to support a child if the need is extreme and if the programme can make a real difference. Sponsorship of a child contributes towards the cost of school uniform (which costs different amounts depending on the age of the child) including shoes, some school kit, most medical needs, daily food and a place in the homework club (6 days a week, 2pm to 8pm, including staff, materials and a snack). We also promise you that when you sponsor a child 100% of the sponsorship money you give goes to support the children.

Grassroots also works with SKM to work out which children are in even greater need. In these cases we will go even further and help pay for rent, cover costs of rebuilding homes (as they are often destroyed by fire, flood or  neighbourhood violence) or pay for more meals. If you need to know anything or have specific questions please feel free to contact the office. We will still have people able to help you while the team is away. Thank you again for your continued support and prayers.

HA