What is People of Purpose?

This blog was created for the sole purpose to encourage and motivate people to know that God has a plan and purpose for every individual on this earth, as they seek God's will through Jesus Christ. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the Plans I have for you says the Lord".

Our hope is all who read this blog would be inspired and empowered to know that God has made you uniquely you for a reason and purpose and as you read these interviews you will be motivated to make an impact on others lives also.

We will have interviews from people who are using their gifts, talents and abilities along with life experiences to make an impact in their own community and abroad. Some will be using their voices, athletic abilities, writing, community work, evangelism and service for God's glory to minister and make an impact one person at a time. Check back every month and sign up for our monthly newsletter to read the new monthly interviews posted here.

Friday, August 28, 2009

People of Purpose Interview with Abode of Peace Orphanage in South India




Filoiann: Today’s interview is with an extraordinary couple, Bobby and Sheela who run an orphanage in South India, “Abode of Peace”. I was drawn to their ministry by the self-less and unconditional love they have for the homeless and poverty stricken children there in India so I just had to interview them regarding being people of purpose.

Bobby and Sheela welcome and thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please tell us a little about your selves?

Bobby: My name is Bobby. I am 38 years old.I and my wife and our God given 5 daughters live in a small city called, Vizag in south India. Vizag has a 30 mile long beautiful sea shore and a natural harbor. We run an orphanage home with currently up to 120 children. We believe that this is our God given ministry. The name of the orphanage home is, ABODE OF PEACE. We founded it in 1994, with two needy children. God has done countless miracles as we are running it by faith believing God for His providence in running this Home.

I am a born again person. I understand that God has a special purpose for my life. I was so much influenced by reading the biography of George Mueller, who dared to believe God to feed countless orphans. When I read that book, this kind of faith imparted upon me that I started believing God for day to day needs and that impacted my whole life ever since. In the year 1995, I married Sheela who has an unusual heart for the poor and needy. She is the one who led me to the Lord and took me as her partner in running the orphanage home. Gradually I understood God’s great plan for my life and started working with Sheela.

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,I have already come;’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,And grace will lead me home.

The above lines could better convey my testimony.

Sheela and I believe that God has a plan in each individual child in Abode of Peace. We are working His great plan in their lives as it unfolds step by step.

My wife Sheela was born again when she was studying her 10th standard in her school. From her childhood she had a compassion and burden towards the poor and needy. Under the guidance of God, she started her ministry life by sacrificing a very prospectus government job only to accept a small warden job among polio affected children in a voluntary organization. By then she completed her Masters degree in Social Work and also Masters Degree in Education. In obedience to God’s guidance, she started her ministry life among the polio affected children as a warden. And within no time she changed the polio home into a mini, “heaven” as almost all of them gave their hearts to Jesus. Later on she was promoted to be the Principal of the school. But she always had a deep burden consuming her to do something more for the poor and needy children from the bottom of her heart. She wanted to implement what all she has in her heart for the orphan children. Thus Abode of Peace came into the picture.

Then after four years, God started guiding her to start Abode of Peace with her husband Bobby in the year 1994. The scripture that touched Sheela’s life most was,”Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:27-NKJV

Filoiann: Wow! What a powerful testimony of God’s heart imparted into ours when we seek and surrender our hearts to Him. Please tell us why, Abode of Peace came to be?

Bobby: The scripture that spoke to Sheela’s heart just mentioned, James 1:27 and also from John 9:1-5, “Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I* must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. “ - NKJV

From these scriptures I understood that God has a very special plan for the children who are with us in Abode of Peace and also for countless orphaned children who are in our neighborhood places. Among the children we have in Abode of Peace, some of them do not have both the parents, some of them have single parent who would be in helpless condition and some of them are unwanted by their own parents because of different reasons. And some of them being so poor, they are crippled by birth. Every one of them carries a tragic background.

But in the light of the scripture (John 9:1-4), Sheela and I believe that it is not because of their sins nor because of their parents sins but these things happened to them because God has a very special plan in their lives. We believe that God has called us to do that plan in their lives and also in as many orphaned children’s lives as possible, as the great plan of God unfolds step by step. And over the past 13 years it is proved that what we believed is true. And through the services of Abode of Peace, many of them got educated and settled down decently on their own. Most importantly almost all of them accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior. We tell these children that God has a very special plan for their lives and they believe it and thus they gather up their hope and build their lives for a better tomorrow.

Filoiann: Amen! It is so important for people, especially children, to know that God has a plan and purpose for their lives. They are not just here to exist but to thrive through Jesus Christ. Bobby can you please explain what you hope to accomplish through your orphanage and how it affects the community?

Bobby: Though our country India is nuclear power and also one of the world leaders in computer software production, quite surprisingly over 600 million are in deep poverty and 300 million live below the bread-line. Economic growth accelerated in 1990s but has been offset by high birth rate, illiteracy, prejudice, widespread corruption etc.

India is a country of over 1 billion people with 44 million destitute children and over 12 million orphan children.

India has 28 states and 7 union territories and many of these states are far larger than many nations in the world.

We live in the state by name ANDHRA PRADESH in south India.

And our city Vizag has over 2.5 million people and the ratio of the percentage of the needy children would be like the above mentioned stats. And there are many neighboring villages around vizag. Many many children are suffering with many tragic backgrounds.

It is only our humble attempt to be of some help to these needy children, young adults and adults who are suffering with various needy backgrounds. Among the children who are living in Abode of Peace, some of them are from our city’s slum areas and some of them are from neighboring villages and towns.

Our Vision

Our vision is primarily to reach out to the unwanted, unloved and uncared children, who come from parentless homes (orphans), broken homes, streets and destitute kids, with true love and care. Also to reach out to the poor and needy widows, destitute men and women and old aged persons with true love and genuine concern. To sum it up in one sentence, our Vision Statement is, “To LOVE the unloved and CARE for the uncared."

Our Mission

Our Mission is to establish a HOME where food, clothing and shelter can be provided to these poor and needy children.

To provide educational and vocational training at the HOME to the children: which will enable them to build their lives… thereby assuring them of a decent and a meaningful life in the future.

To provide residential and medical facilities to the needy and old aged persons: which will give them an opportunity to spend the rest of their lives in peace and serenity.

In a nutshell the Mission Statement of Abode of Peace as the name itself suggests, is A HOME away from
Our hope is that Abode of Peace would accomplish God’s great plan in as many needy children’s’ lives as possible through its mission.

Filoiann: Can you share one particular example; where your ministry made a significant impact on an individual or group and how?

Bobby: We can share you about Santhu. She was in Abode of Peace right from the beginning that is from 1995 onwards. At that time she was studying her 10th standard in a government school. Her father is a fisherman. The family was suffering poverty. They used to live in a very small thatched hut (10ft X 10ft approximately was the entire hut size) just near to the shore. With his meager income he has to support big family of 2 daughters and 3 sons. Santhu was the oldest. His father came to know about Abode of Peace and came and joined her as he could no longer support her education. From that time onwards she grew up in Abode of Peace. She is a intelligent girl and successfully finished her Bachelors degree in sciences and Bachelors degree in Education and got a government teachers job. Above all she committed her life to the Lord Jesus and married to a full time evangelist and they are happily married with two children. So now Sheela and I have two grand children. All the children in the home call us as mommy and daddy.

Santhu’s wedding was the first wedding we performed on behalf of Abode of Peace. The pastor who performed her wedding said “though I have attended many weddings but in this wedding I am experiencing a kind of strong Anointing of God” Praise God. As we recollect these things we are just amazed to see the grace of God that He used us and trusted us. Again we remember the song:

Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,I have already come;’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,And grace will lead me home

In the life of Santhu, we have clearly seen how God had unfolded His great plan and how He used us to accomplish part of His great plan in their lives. Now Santhu and her husband live in a town called chirala, happily married and for vacations they come to us and spend time with us. We feel as if our children came to us. Praise God. Not only that but Santhu’s younger sister Sama also grew up in Abode of Peace. From the age of 12 Sama started living in Abode of Peace and now she is working on her Masters’ degree in Computer Applications. And also her younger brother Sudha also grew up in Abode of Peace and now he is doing a vocational course in electronics.

And we can also share about the three sisters: Rachel, Ratna and Swathi. These three sisters lost their parents when they were very young. We still remember the day when a pastor brought them to us and told their background, how they lost their parents. They came to Abode of Peace in the year 1997. For days together they used to remember their parents and they used to cry. Sheela tried her best to comfort them. And Sheela decided to keep them in our house because they are not able to forget their parents. And from then they started living with us. And in our family photo, you can see these three girls. Now three of them are born again and Rachel has completed her Masters’ degree in Education. And she is working for Abode of Peace as a mathematics teacher and supervisor. By the grace of God, very soon she is going to get married. And her younger sister Ratna is doing Bachelors degree in Education so that she could become a qualified teacher. And the youngest Swathi is just going to finish her Nursing training course this year. These three sisters are precious gifts to us and they love our Lord.

Like this almost every child in the home, we see progress by the grace of God and as His great plan unfolds gradually, they come up in lives beautifully.

Filoiann: Thank you for sharing these wonderful true life stories with us. They are living proof that nothing is impossible with God…Amen. It brought me to tears. What words of wisdom or advice would you like to impart to those who are reading this interview in regards to being a person of purpose?

Thank you for asking like this.

Bobby: For this question, Sheela’s hearts burden would be having compassion on the poor and needy. Coming from my side, as a person, who experienced His compassion and mercy, I would say that God is really a person who strongly wants us to choose living and He gives hope to the hopeless. This happened to me in my personal life. Thank God for this.


Filoiann: Abode of Peace is such a blessing. May I ask what type of support does your ministry rely on and how can people reach you if they would like more information?

Bobby: We are running Abode of Peace by depending on the free will donations of known and unknown people. Almost every other day we come across some crisis time but some miracle would see us through. This is what happening so far. It is like warfare. And Sheela and I are praying for people who could support our work on a regular basis. To support a child it would cost $35 per child per month. This amount covers everything for the child.

And we are also praying for a piece of land so that we could build dormitories for boys and girls. Presently we have rented a two storied house. In the first floor girls would live and in the ground floor boys would live. The whole building area would be 700 square yards (2100 square feet). And the children’s (120 of them) living area would be aroung 4000 sq feet. And it is really small for them. They do not have play ground and any free place to move around. This is also why we have to plan a very busy schedule for them round the clock to keep them occupied always with absolutely no flat time. This building is located in a residential area so we have to keep the children silent all the time. Every now and then neighbors would complain because of children’s noise (some of them are very naughty). Children are also really not able to get that free area where they can freely play around and have a wonderful childhood.

It is our dream and prayer that if we could buy a piece of land out side the city and build nice dormitories for these children, they could have a wonderful childhood days and a place to move around and play.

Abode of Peace is a non profit status organization having all the official eligibilities and recognitions from the government of India. As an organization we can receive donations directly to our bank account. So if any one wants to support our work or to know more about our work or for any other details, they could contact us at sheelabobby@yahoo.com and also they could visit our webpage: http://www.abodeofpeace.org/

Filoiann: Bobby and Sheela, I thank you so much for sharing your wonderful God anointed ministry with us. You are definitely making an impact in many children’s lives and I pray that God would provide abundantly more than you could imagine or think. Thank you again for this interview and may God continue to bless you as you bless so many others. I hope others reading this interview will pray about supporting this ministry. God Bless