Tuesday, August 12, 2014

On Opposite Sides Of The Globe

Dear Friends,

As I write this update our family is on opposite sides of the globe. Asha and I (Dawn) are in Canada. I am here raising funds for our budget. While my dear husband is in India caring on the work there. Hannah is not too far away in Toronto working and gearing up for her next year of college. 

The weeks of summer fly by as I work on our fund raising. I have watched God work and so many times in our lives and it amazes me how he continues to provide and we are still able to continue to our work in India. 



Even though the church headquarters is now only half way finished we are able to hold services in the building. Just before we left India at the end of June we were honored to host a free eye camp. People were able to receive free eye exams and will be able to receive free eye surgery if needed.







In July Asha took part in a mission trip! She was part of a VBS team that went to Sussex NB. For five days the team of 5 teens and preteens lead VBS. 
The VBS was held in a local church and they averaged 15 children a day. Many of these children were unchurched and broken homes.














This week  Hannah will is volunteering as part of summer camp that is held in our home church Highway Gospel. The theme for this years camp "Lego". It is amazing to see our girls to continue on taking part in ministry.







My summer is being spent fundraising a few years ago God started me down a road of selling scarves and bags made in India I called this idea “Scarves of Hope”. I have watched as God has taken the 5 suitcases of scarves that I brought to Canada and often miraculously help raise funds for our budget, Christmas and so much more.



I am still looking for opportunities to sell scarves bags and the many other items that I have. If you are interested in Scarves of Hope or would like to host a Scarves of Hope party please let me know. 


Looking ahead: 
Please pray as Asha and I continue to travel and head home to India the first of September. Hannah will start her second year of college in September pray that God will continue to be with her. Please pray that we will see the completion of the church building that God will provide the funds for us to finish. 

In Him,

Prasad and Dawn



Tuesday, June 03, 2014

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation.

Dear Friends,

May in India brings many things the Tamil words "akkni natchathiram" literally translated means "flaming star". It also brings summer vacation and of course the much awaited mango season. 

In the Samson household, it brings dirty hand prints and foot prints on walls and floors toys scattered through out house and yard, the sound of small children laughing, fighting and playing. For the past eight years it is our tradition to have all the children from Hope for the Children that can’t or don’t feel safe going home to come and stay with us for the month of May. This May we had a total of six children from 6 to 15 years old with us. They have spent the summer playing, laughing and relaxing. Here are a few highlights: 








A trip to the local mall for some fun at the arcade "Fun City". It was lots of fun, playing games going on some rides and stopping for lunch and ice cream at KFC. 


          




They also spent time in the pool cooling off and having fun. We finished the summer with a trip to the local amusement park. 














Work has continued on at the church. Thanks to all that prayed for the past problems we were able to move forward and have the bottom half of the church completed.




In recent months there have been many changes happening all around us in India in the past months over 750 orphanages have been shut down, the vast majority being Christian orphanages. The children in these orphanages are being packed up and sent to newly opened government run homes. The state government continues to bring new regulations and demands that orphanages are expected to meet. Making it more and more impossible for orphanages to stay open. This is being done in the name of children's safety which is of course most important but the underling reason is to stop the spread of Christianity amongst children. 

 At the same time India has just finished federal elections. Over a period of a month India voted, it was quite amazing to be in the middle of the worlds biggest democracy as they went through the election process. In the end India elected a new Prime Minister desperate for change the BJP party and Narendra Modi are the new ruling party and Prime Minster of India. The BJP are know as Hindu fundamentalists and have a record of being hard on minorities like Christians and Muslims.   They are also known to block “western influences”.

With all of these changes "Hope for the Children" will be moving in a new direction. We will be moving towards residential care, supporting children in their homes with their parents and extended families. We feel under these circumstances that this is the best and safest route for the children and our family. This allows us to still continue to support  and make a difference in the lives of children with out the threat or influence of the Indian government. Please keep our family in your prayers we are unsure what impact these changes in government will have on us and our work. 

Reading our last blog I gave a few prayer requests: 1, That the work would continue on in the new church. Praise God it has and we have finished the bottom floor!

2 Hannah was finishing her first year of college pray as she wrote her final exams. You may have seen my Facebook announcement she finished with all A's!

So two amazing answers to prayer.

Looking ahead, Asha and I (Dawn) will be traveling home this summer from June 24th to Sep 12 I am looking for opportunities to speak, hold scarf parties and to raise funds for our work. If you are interested in having me speak or would like to host a party please let me know.

Please keep our family in your prayers and India moves forward under new leadership. Also pray that the last of the funds needed to complete the church project will come in. 

In Him,

Prasad and Dawn



Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Church construction and a trip to the zoo.



Dear Friends,

Summer is just around the corner in Chennai last week the thermometer reached 39C 102F. This and we are still weeks away from the real hot season. Despite the heat our work continues on as we press forward in the work of the Lord. 



 After a brief down time at the new church headquarters work has restarted. It seems sometimes that the enemy works over time to make things more difficult but his success is only temporary. First the work stopped because of a lack of building supplies specifically sand. Sand is needed to mix the cement that is used in the building process.                             


 Next we faced a problem with our builder. He demanded money for work that was not finished. We were taken to the police station the dispute went on for a few months. God is so good in the end the builder who took us to the police station has been warned by the police that he should stay out of our property.  Now this situation has been resolved and the new builder has started the work again at last. Please pray that there will be no more set backs. 






On a much lighter note the kids Hope for the Children took a trip to the zoo. What a great time to get away and enjoy some of Gods creatures!





Both those behind the cages and those that ran free. The zoo was followed by a trip to the beach. That night everyone was returned home safe and sound although a little wet and very tired. 







It is an honor to be a part of these children’s lives down through the years God has allowed us to play a small part in hundreds of children's lives. We struggle with letting them go but trust that the seeds of love that we planted in them and lessons that they were taught will always stay with them.




Looking ahead, Please pray that in our next update we will be able to report on more progress at the church building project. 
Hannah will be finishing her first year of college in a few months and will have a busy summer working at our home church Highway Gospel. Please pray that she will do well on her final exams and that God will continue to guide her. 

Asha continues to be home schooled with the help of a tutor. With the traveling that we do it is hard to always keep up. 

God Bless,

Prasad and Dawn

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Fashion Show and Christmas Fun

Dear Friends,

After such a long time I have finally gotten around to bringing  you up to date on what has been going on. In July we headed home to Canada for a time of rest and itinerating. We want to thank all that made our stay such a time of fruitfulness. While we were home we were able to spend some time with Hannah who is now studying Early Childhood Education in Centennial College Toronto. I was also able to raise funds for the work here in India through Scarves of Hope. Thanks to everyone that hosted a party or women’s event. 

The beautiful models. 


One very special event took place on Nov 16th. The first ever “Scarves of Hope” fashion show. Held at our home church Highway Gospel Church Scarborough. This event was a huge success and so much fun! A big thank you to Emjay Duran, Fe Gatus and Niki Reindorf all our models and to all the lades that put in time and energy to make this dream a reality. 






Prasad opening the widows meeting with prayer.
We headed back home to India on Nov 20th and hit the ground running. December was fast approaching and we knew that there was little time to spare getting ready for all the Christmas events. 


On Dec we held our annual Widows meeting. Every year we gather our widows for a day to appreciate them and to show them we care and love them. What a lovely group of ladies and what a fun time we had. 


The ladies playing a game of hot potato. 




On Dec 18th we enjoyed the first of five Christmas concerts. After weeks of practice it was great to see all the children’s hard work pay off. We watched as the kids dance recited scripture verses and put on dramas. The audiences were made up of mostly non Christians so this is a great out reach to share the joy of the Christmas season with others. 

On the 24th we held our annual Christmas party at “Hope for the Children”  thanks to “Scarves of Hope” we had a great party. There was candy, toys, cake and of course fireworks. 





We rang in the new year with a New Years service and lots of fire works. 


Looking ahead to the months to come. Construction will begin again on the new church headquarters. God continues to provide finances in a miraculous way. Work had slowed down over Christmas because of the busy season. Now we are ready to move on again and to start the next phase. Please pray that all will run smoothly. 

In Him,

Prasad and Dawn