this is 'global action' not 'global sit on your butt'

The first child you want to adopt when you walk into the Hope Center Home in Monipur, India is Rasheesh. Rahseesh has taken it upon himself to be the official greeter- he runs to stand in front of the other children as the team arrives and with a killer smile bordered by deep dimples he shoots out his hand and says firmly, “Hello!”

“Hello,” I say, “How are you?”

“Very good sir, thank you, how are you!”

I learn later that this is a greeting the children of the Hope Center practice every single morning as a part of their drill. Global Action intends not just to rescue orphans from the street, but to give them every opportunity to be successful in life. In India, that means you learn English. In a country of over a billion people only the strong survive, and the strongest are the ones who can communicate with Americans and Europeans.

“You speak good English” I say.

“Thank you sir.” He says.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Rasheesh, sir, what is your name?”

“My name is Rick, and it is very nice to meet you!

“Very nice to meet you Uncle Reek”.

Before I left Teri told me to bring one home. I told her that was impossible (Global Action does not even want us to talk this way in India, they don’t want to leave the impression that they are an adoption agency for Americans), but here I am after 90 seconds in the orphanage and I am wondering how we can get the paperwork done.

And Rasheesh was just the first one we met.

There were many more children to meet and many more stories to hear. Like the brother and sister of about 5 and 7 who Daniel (The Indian pastor who runs the Orphanage) found on the garbage dump in Delhi. Their mother and father had died and there was no other family to care for them.

They were totally on their own in the slum. Both of them were in the final stages of starvation, with swollen bellies and hollow eyes when by God’s incredible mercy and grace, Daniel found them.

There they stood in front of us. Lars is in shock. In just a few short months they have been restored to full health and are standing in front of him with broad bright smiles and their chest sticking out in pride.
“Hello Sir” They say.

I feel something deep within me begin to well up and move toward the surface. I have to turn away for a couple of minutes to gain my composure. The sight of 100 children, all of them pulled out of the slums and given a new life in this beautiful community of faith where they are loved unconditionally and educated in a Christian environment creates an unexpected emotion in me.

Right here, at the edge of the jungle on the border of Napal, surrounded by millions of Hindus and Muslims is one of the most incredible Christian communities I have ever experienced.
I understand now why Lars wanted so badly for me to see this place, and why he wants us involved. The Hope Center of Monipur has many needs: Land, laborers, Christians from around the world to learn about them and to support them.

They desperately need land. Mostly they need prayer. Pray for God to work in the heart of the one villager who stands in their way. Pray for more land so that new homes can be built and fields can be dug and barns for the 10 oxen that have already been donated can be pastured.

Pray for the four couples who act as house parents and who faithfully work 24-7 to care for these precious children. Pray that God keeps Lars Dunberg healthy to pursue his passion.

At breakfast I ask Lars what is driving him? He works like a man possessed. At 70 he has the energy of someone half his age. “How do you do it?” I asked.

He puts down the fork and says to me, “At fifty I had a heart attack. At the time I was president of the International Bible Society and had many contacts and had worked to distribute Bibles around the world. And now the doctors were telling me I had only about 4 years to live. I thought to myself, ‘Okay, this is it, I don’t have any more time to be nice’. That was when I went to work to utilize all of my contacts with Evangelical churches around the world to do what I could to bring the message and hope of Christ to the most desperately poor parts of the world. But I only work with people of action, I don’t have time to sit around.”

The results over the past 9 years are orphanages or “hope centers”, human trafficking rescue centers, a phenomenal pastor training program that trains thousands of pastors in 7 countries, and youth camps like the one we are attending in Beneshwabber. He has 70 different ministries around the world all under the umbrella of “Global Action.” Truly, Lars Dunberg is a man of action.

Jim Kilgore, former American pastor of the International Church in Islamabad Pakistan (until it was bombed by the Taliban) now Executive Vice President of Global Action looked at me with a smile and said, “That is why this is ‘Global Action’, not ‘Global Sit on Your Butt’”.