With great delight, our organization recently watched two young adults—raised in our family homes and now studying abroad—return to their home country for a two-week mission trip.
Sailesh, 23, and Punam, 22, are currently attending Handong Global University in South Korea, but their childhoods were spent in Love Justice family homes in Nepal.
The Family Homes Program places orphaned and abandoned children in the care of loving parents, with about 10 kids in each home. Love Justice currently operates 14 homes across Nepal and Bangladesh.
The director of the family homes, Pratiksha, was full of pride as she introduced these two young adults to our staff on a Zoom call.
“I’ve had the privilege of knowing them for the last eight years, and it’s just been so nice to see them go back and serve their home country,” she said.
Going back to their roots
During their winter break, Sailesh and Punam had the opportunity to go on a mission trip with two other classmates through their college program. As Nepalese students, they were able to take some leadership coordinating the trip since they speak the language and already have connections there.
When asked why they chose Nepal over another country, Punam shared their heart for their people:
“We see this need and hope that the Nepali young kids and youths that are our age—we felt like they need hope, hope to stay in their country and hope to do something in God’s kingdom. Why we wanted to go was to serve our own people.”
The four college students spent their first week of the mission trip at Love Justice’s Dream School, where Punam attended growing up. That week, the school hosted their annual Justice Camp, so the administrators let the young adults take over leading the second half of each day. (Pictured: Punam doing a craft with a student at the Dream School)
They led a variety of activities—clay-making, face painting, icebreaker games, and presentations—each centered on themes of justice, empathy, and social responsibility. The Justice Camp focused on three main pillars: environmental equity and justice, social equity and justice, and compassion in action.
Sharing God’s love with the broader community
Next, the four students headed to a tuition center offering after-school programs for the community, where they spent time playing games and engaging with the children.
Then, they spent two days at a Nepali government school (U.S. public school equivalent) that serves children ages zero to five. In Nepal, government schools are known for being strict, teaching rote memorization rather than critical thinking and using corporal punishment to keep order in classrooms.
“These two days were some of the most challenging days of our trip,” said Punam. “The locals couldn’t understand English so we had to translate between our team and the locals, and we did a lot of activities here too.”
The theme for the activities at this school was 1 John 4:7 – “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.”
“We taught kids how valued and worthy you are in God’s eyes and that we should love one another, and throughout this verse we tried to show God’s love to the kids there,” said Punam.
Lastly, the students had a time of fellowship with other youths in the area, having dinner together and sharing their testimonies.
“One of the most meaningful things that happened during this time was that some of the youths came to us and said that our testimony really inspired them—it was a really good thing for us to hear,” said Punam.
Gratitude for many blessings
Reflecting on the trip as a whole, the students said it helped them realize how fortunate their lives had actually been. Seeing the challenges that other kids in their community were facing made them praise God all the more for every blessing in their lives.
“To see God’s love and mercy in our lives and how much we’ve been blessed through our whole lives … I couldn’t be [more] thankful to God and Love Justice for leading us and making us who we are today,” said Punam.
Generational impact
It is one of our greatest joys to see lasting fruit like this—children we’ve invested in over many years growing up with a passion to bring that love back to their home country and community. The mission of our children’s programs is to help orphaned and abandoned children become difference makers for Christ in their nations, and Punam and Sailesh have already begun to do just that. (Read about two more difference makers from our homes here!)
This simple two-week mission trip represents the long-term, generational impact of protecting vulnerable lives—not just in a moment of crisis, but over a lifetime.
Years ago, these students received protection and a place to belong within our family homes. Now, they’re stepping into the world with compassion and purpose, using their lives to protect others. Whether through a family home or an interception at a border, every minute matters when it comes to changing the trajectory of a life.
This May, every minute you give helps protect someone else at risk—someone who, like these students, may one day return to be the difference in someone else’s story.
*All data and statistics current at the date and time of publishing. Some names and specific locations excluded for privacy and security purposes. Images are representative.
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