In India alone there are reports of 45,000 children missing each year.¹

They Go Missing for Many Reasons
Some are abducted by strangers and placed into forced labor, like Nadish. Others are trafficked and exploited in the sex trade. Still others are sold to families to work as domestic help. Some 44 million orphans and runaways are living on the streets not knowing of the danger that awaits them.²
India is not the only place

India has close to 13 million children younger than 15 in its workforce—more than any other country in the world. Some estimate the real number is closer to 100 million.³ That's five times the population of the state of New York.
In Thailand, almost 1 out of every 10 children between the ages 10 and 14 are working rather than going to school.⁴
In Bangladesh, an estimated 27 percent of children ages 10-14 are working in a variety of hazardous occupations.⁵
In Sri Lanka, one of the most physically punishing forms of child labor is the fishing industry, which keeps the children in slave-like conditions and far from the public eye.⁶
UNICEF estimates that 4,500 children from Bangladesh are trafficked to Pakistan each year. Thousands more are sent to India and the Middle East.

How can we stop this?

Gospel for Asia is working among South Asia's most endangered children.

Delhi Street Children's Home

You can give toward rescuing children on the streets, teaching them about Jesus and His love and reuniting them with their families.
Rescue a child from the streets of South Asia ►

Bridge of Hope
From Praise to Slavery

You can sponsor a child in Asia and provide an education, the love of Christ, clean clothes, food and medical care.
Sponsor a child in Asia ►

Notes:

¹ National Human Rights Commission, http://nhrc.nic.in/
² ChildLine India, www.childlineindia.org.in
³ ChildLine India, www.childlineindia.org.in
⁴ U.S. Department of Labor, International Labor Affairs report.
⁵ U.S. Department of Labor report
⁶ U.S. Department of Labor, International Labor Affairs report.

Next we have the story of Sarojini, a widow with a sickness she couldn't afford to treat. Click here or on the banner to read Sarojini's story.

For over 30 million widows in South Asia, life is a desperate struggle for survival. Blamed for their husbands' deaths, they're forsaken by their families, shunned by their friends and despised by their communities.

One in four homes in India is home to a widow.
92 percent of India's women age 70 and older are widows.
Street begging or prostitution often becomes a way of life.
Many are left caring for their children with little help from relatives.

In order to provide for themselves and their children, many resort to gathering food from the trash. Some gain income only from selling their bodies on the streets. For those who cannot bear the shame, suicide is their only escape.
Because Sarojini heard a message of hope in her time of need, she no longer lives in fear of tomorrow because Christ is her assurance for today. Help more widows like Sarjani by sponsoring a woman missionary.

Sponsor a woman missionary ►