Mutually Blessed – Elim & India

April 3, 2013

Elim Christian Services has been building relationships in New Dehli, India for almost 10 years. This has mainly been happening through the process of getting to know Geeta Mondol and her call to serve children and adults with Autism and other disabilities in India.

Geeta started out by dreaming of a better education for her son who has Autism. This quest has lead to the development of a full fledged Christian ministry in India that educates, trains, and employs people with disabilities (Ashish – www.ashishindia.org). If this story sounds familiar, it is because it almost mirrors Elim’s history which began with committed parents who simply wanted a good Christian education for their child (and would settle for nothing less). Geeta’s ministry has also grown to reach the surrounding slum areas of New Dehli by offering admissions to children who live in there. Some of these children have disabilities and some do not, but they sit side by side and learn together in the integrated classrooms at Ashish.

Elim had the privilege of flying out to India in 2007 to be a part of the first week Ashish Center opened their doors. We have been actively involved with Geeta and her growing ministry ever since. Geeta has spent several weeks at Elim over the years receiving and giving disability trainings. There has also been a rich on-going collaboration regarding programming where Geeta and Elim have benefited greatly from this dialogue centered on how best to serve children and adults with disabilities. Today we are back in India with Geeta! Elim’s International Program staff, Kim Amos, has been at Elim for over ten years and was one of the lucky ones who went to work with Geeta in 2007. Kim is now back in with her family to serve side by side with Geeta. The hope is that Elim’s hands and feet through Elim’s International Outreach Program will serve as a blessing to Geeta and the growth of Ashish. Kim has been there for almost two months and is gaining awareness of how to further connect the heart and skill at Elim to the staff and overall programming at Ashish. Even more significantly, we are learning so much from Geeta and her staff that we can humbly say the blessings of this relationship are mutual. It is our desire to continue this relationship of learning and growing together with Geeta and will do our best to keep you posted on all the fruit we see in our lives and the lives of the children and adults at Elim in the U.S. and Ashish in India.