J127- India Orphan Initiative

In 2010, a research led the creation of an exclusive curriculum which would speak in the lives of children who were orphans and other children-at-risk. The children of sex workers, prisoners, drug addicts were unable to connect with the Bible or any Bible based curriculum for children. The research revealed that reasons that such children had negative and sometime traumatic experience with family and parents. We met scores of such children and realized that though they had knowledge about the Bible but there was real heart change taking place. No heart relationship with God.

We studied all the available curriculum for children in India and found that those were good for ‘normal and healthy children who had families.’ There was an unmet need to design an exclusive curriculum to minister to orphans and children who had experienced violence, death, rejection and abuse early in life.  

We developed a 3-month sample lessons and tested with 300 orphans. The outcome was astonishing! The caregivers at orphanages noticed a marked change in the attitude and behavior of orphans and children-at-risk. They asked for a curriculum for the kids they were serving. It led to the development of a 3-year curriculum-J127, inspired by James 1:27, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress…”

We called it a ‘club’ instead of ‘school’ as it is fun filled programme where children learn to let go of their pain, hurt and trauma in a non-formal environment. The lessons are divided into three categories: Bible Stories, Character Development and Life Skills. Each child has Handbook which has pages as response sheets. The programme is for children in the age group of 8 to 11 years.

Soon stories of life change began to pour in. We collected more than 500 stories from children, teachers and even from the in-charge of institutions.

In last 5 years, the curriculum has been translated into 14 languages in 29 countries. More than 8 million orphans and other children-at-risk are part of the programme.

In India, currently we have (Take the latest number from J127.ORG) there are 21,000 orphans and children-at-risk are in the programme at 755 Clubs led by 1035 teachers. We partner with 706 churches. (There are more than 900 clubs but we are able track only 755 clubs.)