WithoutWax.tv by Pete Wilson | Tag Archive | cries of love
Tag Archive - cries of love

A Father to the Fatherless

February 9, 2010 in Missions, Parenting with 36 Comments

There are some 11 million abandoned kids roaming the streets of India.  I’ve been aware of that statistic for a while but nothing prepares you for meeting it face to face.

This is Puja Ghosh who is just five years old. I had the amazing opportunity to spend some time with her over the past few days and I can confirm that smile is just as beautiful in person.

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She lives with a family here in the Khalpar slum who found her in a pile of trash. Her mom literally tossed her out like you would a loaf of moldy bread.

I know many of you have unhealed wounds from your parents. These are deep wounds because your parents are the two people on earth who by God’s design are entrusted to pour unconditional love into your heart. So when that doesn’t happen for one reason or another it bruises our very souls. It can be the deepest of all hurts.

It’s one thing to grow up in extreme poverty.

It’s one thing to grow up in a 3×5 tent.

It’s one thing to grow up wondering where your next meal is coming from.

But it’s a whole other thing to grow up with the realization your mom and dad threw you in the trash. To know you were so undervalued that you were discarded as worthless and left for dead.

Lack of love is the deepest and most painful form of poverty that exists.

I’m so thankful for the family that is taking care of Puja. She goes to our school here in the slum and is actually doing very well. She says she would like to one day be a teacher. I think she’s going to make a great one. I’m also thankful for the wonderful teachers who are pouring into her ever day. Not only will they teach her to read and write but they also share with her from the Bible about this God who claims to be a father to the fatherless. A truth she so desperately needs.

Will you guys join me all over the world in praying for Puja today.

Father God we lift up Puja in prayer to you today. We can’t even being to imagine what all she’s been through in her short life. While my kids have been growing up playing games, being tucked into bed, and flowered with love she’s been searching for food, sometimes sleeping alone, and desperately searching for love.

God, I know you have a plan for her. You allowed her cries to be heard from that pile of trash one day and I believe you’ll now hear our cries for her.

I pray as she deals with the pain of abandonment that she will come into a personal relationship with you, who promises us that you will “never leave us nor forsake us.” I pray as she struggles with not knowing her parents that you God will wrap your eternal arms around her as the Father to the fatherless.

As she grows up and is tempted by her wounds to seek love from loveless people and other things, I pray you will flood her with the thought that you love her more deeply than she can fully comprehend. That you couldn’t love her any more or any less than you do in this very moment.

Amen.

Thank you guys for all your prayers during this trip. If everything goes right I should be back in Nashville later tonight.

Red Rover

February 6, 2010 in Missions, Videos with 33 Comments

Laughter may not fix everything, but it sure is a good place to start.

They had never heard of Red Rover in the Khalpar slum until yesterday.

What’s your favorite childhood game?

Mine? Freeze Tag.

Red Rover from Pete Wilson on Vimeo.

More Pastor Then I’ll Ever Be

February 5, 2010 in Missions with 72 Comments



Let me introduce you to Bishal Barik.

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This kid grabbed my heart from the moment I met him. Maybe it’s because he’s 8 like my oldest or maybe it’s his contagious smile, but we instantly hit it off. Bishal is a student at the school we’ve started in the Khalpar slum.

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His mother abandoned him the day he was born and another family took him in. There were complications with his birth which have left Bishal battling issues with his legs. He walks with a limp and is often in pain after a day of playing outside. He’s in desperate need of physical therapy but obviously that’s just not a reality in his situation. The couple who took him in are both employed and combined make just over one dollar a day.

You’ll have to trust me when I say Bashil is a special kid. When I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up he quickly responded, “I want to be a pastor.” I said, “Why do you want to be a pastor, Bashil?” He said, “Well, because I Iove Jesus.”  And boy does he ever! This kid has Jesus written all over him.

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Despite his physical hardships and extreme poverty he simply loves anyone and everyone who comes in his path.

His laughter is a sweet sound in a sea of despair.

His kindness is a light in deep darkness.

His joy is a miraculous contradiction in a hopeless slum.

While Bashil dreams of one day being a pastor he doesn’t even realize he’s more pastor than I’ll ever be.

Matthew 22: 37-40
Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

How can you love God and people better today?

Finally Here!

February 4, 2010 in Missions with 29 Comments

Our first day in Kolkata was a tough one. After 30 hours of travel we finally arrived, grabbed a quick shower and headed out to the slum we’ll be working in the rest of our short visit.

The Khalpar slum is currently the focus for Cries of Love. This slum is the home for some 500 people. While most of the men in this community work as rickshaw pullers the women serve as maid servants. While the adults are off working during the day this leaves the some 70 kids in the slum to fend for themselves.

Cross Point is partnering with Cries of Love to provide a school for these kids during the day. The school includes an aged graded curriculum which also features Bible classes and a daily hot meal for these kids. In the future we’re hoping to provide all around health care and nutritional support to the kids as well as vocational training for the mothers so they will be able to live a life with self respect and dignity.

I’m absolutely blown away with the impact this ministry has already had on this community in the few short months it’s existed. I’ll share more soon! Thanks for all the prayers.

Following My Heart

February 2, 2010 in Missions with 34 Comments

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Last year I was privileged to travel with Compassion International to India. I could talk about that trip for hours but there were two things I walked away with.

1. Compassion is doing an amazing work. Our family’s compassion child is in India (Sammy) and we’ll continue to support kids through compassion. I love and believe in the work they’re doing around the world. If you’re interested in sponsoring a child in India just click the banner in my sidebar.

2. I was blown away by the extreme hopelessness and paralyzing poverty that exists there. With 25% of the worlds population living in India the ministry opportunities are almost overwhelming. I’ve honestly never visited a place where there was such a heavy spiritual oppression. It took me months to emotionally recover after my last visit.

When our team left India on May 1st I knew in my heart there was still some unfinished work there for me. I knew on the plane ride home there was a burning passion that life could no longer go back to the way it was.  I had to get back there as soon as I could. Since then I’ve started a non-profit called Cries of Love to help the children of India to be filled with the Hope of Christ while helping meet their basic needs.

So today, nine months later, I’m finally getting the opportunity to go back. I’m traveling with Jenni Catron, our Executive Director at Cross Point, and Ryan Bult, our Pastor of Missions. Since returning from India not only have the families of Cross Point literally sponsored hundreds of kids in Kolkata, India, but we’ve also helped start a school and feeding center there as well.

We’re going to check on the new work that has been started and also scout out the logistics for future trips we hope to take as a church.

We should be on the ground in Kolkata, India Thursday morning (I think that will be Wednesday night here in the US). I’ll try to blog a few times while there but I believe our internet connection will be unreliable at best. In the meantime I would appreciate your prayers.

1) Pray for our safety. The State Department just released a new travel warning.

2) Pray for our productivity. There are a lot of meetings and decisions that need to be arranged while we’re there. While I believe in the future of Cries of Love there are several things that need to fall into place to ensure the future and effectiveness of this ministry.

Here’s a few posts I wrote on my blog during my last trip to  India:

The Source of My Passion
Looking Into The Eyes of Bondage
A Reminder of Nothing
Sometimes I’m Miserable, Poor, Pitiful and Blind