Ganesh Paletti is an honorary member of the Superior Avenue Baptist Church Team Kids, although he lives halfway around the world.
BOGALUSA – Ganesh Paletti is an honorary
member of the Superior Avenue Baptist Church Team Kids, although he lives
halfway around the world.
Team Kid is
a discipleship-based Bible study
produced by LifeWay Christian Resources for K-5 through sixth grade, during
which God’s word is studied from a practical point of view. A Bible drill,
missions study and related play are included in the Sunday evening/Midweek
curriculum.
The Team Kids
adopted the 8-year-old East Indian boy when they chose to be his sponsor and
pay the $20 a month needed to feed, clothe, and educate him.
The group was
looking for a mission project. Their leader, Jo Purvis, was at a meeting when
Deb Corkern spoke about the Corkern Christian Orphanage in India.
“She passed
around pictures of the children,” Purvis said. “As I held that picture, I knew
that was what we needed to do as our project.”
Purvis took the
picture to her Team Kid group of about a dozen first through fifth grade
children. When they read the back of the picture, they were touched.
“The father and
mother of this child are physically weak and working in a landlord’s house,”
were the words on the back of the photograph.
“They are very,
very poor and illiterate, too. They are not able to feed their children
properly every day.”
The children
could not imagine having to leave their family and move into an orphanage
because there was not enough food at home.
The Team Kids
bring money and put it in a globe bank with India highlighted. They are
determined to pay for Ganesh by themselves. When they realized that they were
not bringing enough money to keep up with their commitment, some of them came
up with ideas for fundraising.
“They wanted to
sell handmade items,” Purvis said.
They decorated
plastic cups. Some of the girls made their own sachets. They priced the items
at a dollar each. “When people saw them with their wares, they started giving
them extra money,” Purvis said.
In their first
fundraising effort, they raised enough money to support Ganesh through June.
They have opened an account with the church treasurer, who will send in their
monthly payments for them.
The kids pray for
Ganesh every week. They send him cards and gifts. When he celebrated his eighth
birthday in December, they sent a birthday package, including a Team Kid
t-shirt. They received this response from their Indian Team Kid brother:
“Thank you for
the love and help for one poor Indian boy. May God bless you and grant you
health.”
This group of
children is learning missions and compassion firsthand.