ABOUT US
WHO WE ARE
AFIRM India provides support to a Registered Trust in India called The Bethesda Joy Charitable Trust which is a home providing care, schooling, clothing and a safe place to live for 15 vulnerable children.
A BRIEF HISTORY
2000
The work of AFIRM India began 15 years ago when the founders, Barry and Gill, visited India for the very first time. From that very first trip the needs of the orphans and widows captured their hearts. They set about supporting a small project/ ministry and 3 years later in 2004 they became a registered charity.
2004
After many years of work Gill and her late husband founded a small UK Registered Charity, AFIRM (charity number: 1105562)
2004 – 2011
For the next 7 years they supported a ministry which provided a home for orphans, widows, a church and a school. It was always their desire that this project would eventually become self-funding. In 2012 this was achieved. The people who were heading up the project decided they wanted to concentrate more on the school as it would provide a good income. Some of the children stayed on, some of the older boys were now out in the world and working. Some of the other children went back to their villages.
2012
Barry and Gill thought perhaps this was the end of their time in India… but the lord had a different plan!! They always kept in touch with a lady called Theresa who had been the warden on the original project for many years. Theresa was now back home in Bangalore and taking care of some of the children from the original project who wanted to be with her. She lived in a small mud hut with her husband, daughter and son. We began supporting Theresa and the children and soon felt it was right to demolish her mud hut and build her a proper home where the children could be looked after. We did this and it was completed in 2013. However it soon became evident that the building was too small and we built a further floor on top.
September 2013
Sadly Barry passed away in September 2013 – but Gill continues the work along with Kathy & Stan who have been trustees from the beginning and now Rohit & Sunyana who have recently joined us as trustees.
2015
We currently send £580 every month – this supports the home, the children, their education, their clothes and their food provision. The home is run by Theresa and her husband Shekhar and their daughter Joyce who is currently doing a business degree and son James who will be going to bible college this year as his desire is to be a pastor. Theresa and Shekhar and their family work full time for the project and receive a small salary.
2016
After a visit in November 2015 we had to make the decision to cut-down on the food parcels for the poor and needy as the monthly gift was not enough to cover them and the needs of the children/home. Our hope is that we will receive more sponsorship to enable us to put these back in place. We also employ a lady to do the cooking for the children, a cleaner and a driver.
