A Place of Peace
by Betsy Boyce
This past February my son, Ben and I had the privilege to travel with Philip Dongre to CFI. It was our first time in India. The Lord is present inside this orphanage and working! With about 220 boys assembled several times a day for devotions and meals, we were amazed by the peace and order we witnessed every day. When we arrived just before sunrise, the boys were lined up on both sides of the driveway waiting to greet us with singing, smiling faces, flowers, and handshakes. Philip introduced us to most of the staff and told us what each building was for.
The day starts early at CFI. I remember hearing singing while I was waking! The boys sing a lot! Some of the songs are in English, but mostly in Marati but we recognized some of the tunes. They sing in the morning and evening devotions, meal time and sometimes when they were working all by themselves. They had a joyful attitude.
Philip went to great effort to show us around this part of India. Most days while the boys attended school we went on an adventure. We visited Grace Bible College and were encouraged to see where the boys have an opportunity to study after they leave CFI. We were warmly welcomed for a visit to the Boys and Girls Christian Home nearby. They had 90 boys and 120 girls. We went to an Indian shop in Amravati to buy sarees and Punjabi dresses, two Hindu temples, several restaurants, one with his friends Mr. and Mrs. Chandak and met the doctor who takes care of the boys, Dr.Maheshumar. We also walked around the grounds of an old Indian fort named Gavilgad. We were blessed to have an experienced driver, Kiran, to take us to all of these places because there were always obstacles, like goats, cows, monkeys and a lot of traffic chaos at times.
We looked forward to the afternoon time with the boys. Ben learned Cricket and also played some soccer and ran races one day! We often had a group around us. The boys wanted us to know their names and were always eager to tell us again. We walked the older boys to school a couple of times and had fun talking about their school and what they wanted to do once they graduated. Most of them said they want to attend Grace Bible College!
Another way we interacted with the children was by serving them their food. The youngest ones get served first and have to sit and wait to eat until everyone is served. Then they sing and pray before eating. Their smiling faces and little “Thank you” made our day!
The week passed very quickly. We heard testimonies of how the Lord is working among the staff. One young man, Samson gave thanks for the Lord healing him recently from a terrible illness. Another woman testified how she felt safe and cared for at CFI. We also witnessed the ordination of CFI’s director, Viabhav. We heard young boys praising and praying. The last night we gathered and gave thanks for the week and our time there. Many of the boys gave us hugs and fist bumps and said they would miss us. We are thankful for the time we were able to spend with the whole CFI family!
