インドのケーララ州で、若者や家族に神様の愛を届けていきたい！

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Part I. Introduction of Ourselves 

 

①From Ebsy and Ligi 

 

Hello, everyone! 

Thanks for giving this page a look!

 

Today, I would like to share about my friends Ebsy and her husband, Ligi from India, for  what they are doing. And we would also like to ask for your support.

 

First of all, I and Ebsy met each other through a mission trip to Delhi last year. She was guiding us as a staff member from Tejas Asia. We went to the slum areas, playing with the kids and talking with their families.   

 

I was so impressed by Ebsy and by what she has been doing for the past 17 years. 

 

②Past Activities of Ebsy and Ligi 

 

「Living, Loving & Leading.」

 

They have been following this life theme for the past 17 years. 

 

Ebsy has been working as a social worker to support disadvantaged communities in North India. She has taught English and other subjects to kids from slum areas, who were not allowed to go to school and had to work instead of their alcoholic fathers (I met with a 11-year-old-girl who had to work as a prostitute to earn family income). She also helped those women to earn income by leading sewing classes. In this way, kids who had to work can go to school as their mothers are working to support the family. Ebsy also visited jails and supported foreign drug addicts who were abandoned by their families.  

 

Ligi has also been working as a pastor, visiting different areas to share God’s word. Recently in India, the government has been acting against Christians and missionary organizations from sharing the gospel, and if they discovered any Christian activities, Christians might be persecuted (especially pastors). Even in this dangerous situation, Ligi still keeps his mission as a top priority, to share Jesus' love to more and more generations. 

 

For both of them, following God’s will and serving people who are in need is their calling. They said, “ Serving humanity is the best job. It may not provide us with provisions or riches in Life. But at the end, when we look back, we see that people are being changed, and it gives us immense pleasure and satisfaction. This has motivated us to choose the path of service rather than any other profession”.

 

However, as their parents were getting older and older, they had to move back to their hometown, Kerala, to take care of them this year. Ebsy is working as an English teacher in an elementary school to earn family income. Yet, because of what they have been seeing in Kerala, they decided to start this project. 

 

 

Part II. What is Happening in Kerala  

 

①Where is Kerala?

 

Kerala is located in southeast India and relatively more developed than other areas in India. It is known for its high education standard; the literacy rate in Kerala is 100% compared to the national average of 76%. In addition, thanks to the efforts of the local government, the standard of living has also been improved and there are fewer slum communities. 

 

Then, why do we need to serve this relatively well off region?   

The answer is, to deliver spiritual richness. 

 

Contrary to the high standard of living, Kerala is also known for one of the highest suicide rates in all of India. According to  a research conducted by the Kerala government, (2018), Kerala has the highest amount of alcohol and drug addicts compared to other states. And moreover, the suicide rates among youth and families has been increasing dramatically. 

 

 

② The Situation in Kerala

 

Why are more and more people becoming addicted to alcohol and drugs? And why is the suicide rate so high when the standard of living is that high?

 

India has a highly competitive environment. Even with more and more people getting educated, the employment opportunities are limited and so they have to compete with other people and deal with pressure from their families. They have to deal with the huge stress by themselves, and this leads them to alcohol and drugs. 

 

For example, there might be a father, who was supposed to be the main income earner, that ended up as an alcoholic and abused his wife and children. And with an excessive amount of debt, the husband kept borrowing money to purchase more and more alcohol, at which point the wife lost hope for living, leading her to commit suide. In the worst-case scenario, the wife first kills her innocent children before committing suicide herself.

 

On top of these painful truths, in order to get money for alcohol and drugs, young people commit prostitution, human trafficking, drug trafficking, theft, kidnapping and murder. Darkness causes further darkness; it is an endless cycle. 

 

Ebsy and Ligi then decided to support people having seen this situation. 

 

 

Part III. What We Would Like to Achieve 

 

① The most important thing is to deliver hope

  

“Only Christ Jesus can influence the lives of the young generation and families in order to bring them back to a Life worth living” said Ligi.

 

Although listening to people and seeing to their needs is also important, sharing God’s love is the only way of changing them. 

 

However, since the Indian government has been screening missionary organisations, Ebsy and Ligi have to approach people without being found by the government.  

 

 

②Approaching people by opening an English Community Centre.  

 

Ebsy and Ligi have come up with the idea of approaching local communities by opening an English Centre. This is because people in Kerala place great importance on education. In addition, Ebsy has experience in teaching English. 

 

The English Community Centre will be in Kongad, a small town that is not so socially and economically developed compared to other places in Kerala. 

 

 

③What English Community Centre offers. 

 

First, Ebsy and Ligi will offer following courses to students, youth who started to work, and house wifes.   

 

- Basic English Conversational Course (total 40 hours) 

- Advanced English Conversational Course with self-development topics (total 50 hours)  

- Advanced English Conversational Course with job training topics (total 60 hours)  

 

Each course is offered three times a month and lasts for about 2 months. 

 

As minimum income is needed to keep the community center in operation (ie. staff fees, activity maintenance fee and further expansion), each course will be offered for between 30 to 40 dollars, which is affordable for local communities. 

 

While teaching people useful English which can help them improve their job skills, Ebsy and Ligi will take care of their students as family members, supporting them by welcoming them and listening to their anxieties, worries, and needs. But most importantly, they will be guiding them to know God’s love and His purpose in their lives. 

 

 

④What Ebsy and Ligi would like to explore further 

 

In order to reach more and more people, Ebsy and Ligi will use extra income generated from English Community Centre to hold free seminars or events, which enable students from the Community Centre to invite their families and friends.   

 

Not only that, Ebsy and Ligi would like to offer a place to live to the mentally handicapped and those who are forced to live on the road. In India, if someone becomes mentally handicapped, people and even family will see him or her as a person who got cursed by the devil. Therefore, he or she loses their home and are forced to live on the road without getting help from anyone. And the saddest thing is, even if they got cured, they can never change how their family perceives them. They have to continue living on the road. 

 

 

Part IV. Budget Proposal of English Community Centre

 

①Target Fund：400,000 Yen  

 

Detailed Budget Plan is as follows. 

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- Construction Fee：142,000 

   Detail)

　 Deposit：52,000

　 Two-month Rent：12,000

 　Set Up Fee：37,000

　 White board, desk and Tables etc：41,000

- Equipment：59,000

   Details)

　 Laptop：40,000

　 Printer：19,000

- Office supplies：4,000

- Advertising：15,000

- Legal fee: 7,000

- Return (Gift) Preparation fee: 11,000

- Ready for Staff fee：162,000

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②All or Nothing、This project cannot be achieved without your support. 

 

Please let me explain a bit about how this fundraiser works. This fundraiser is called “All or Nothing”, which means if we don’t reach the target fund of 400,000, none of the collected amount can be delivered to Ebsy and Ligi for the English Community Centre (the money donated will be returned to you later).   

 

In this case, yes, we can reset our target fund lower than 400,000 and restart the project again later. However, even if the target fund is collected, it will be delivered to Ebsy and Ligi quite late, which will cause a delay in the opening of the Community Centre.

 

Therefore, we really appreciate anything you can donate, no matter small or big. 

 

Here is the instruction of how to donate online. 

https://readyfor.jp/projects/tokyo-friends2018/announcements/76349 

 

And we would like to thank you for your support in the following ways:

https://readyfor.jp/projects/Hearts-for-Kerala/announcements/111038

 

We thank you for your support of this project. 

May God pour blessing on your daily lives.

 

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1 John 3. 1

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we’re called children of God! That’s who we really are. But that’s also why the world doesn’t recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he’s up to.

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