What is the cost of ministry? Jesus said we are to take up our cross and follow Him. Paul said he counted all things worthless for the privilege of knowing Christ.

When the Lord asked the rich young ruler to give up all he owned to follow Him, he walked away in sorrow because he knew at that instant how much he valued his material possessions.

We as a team have met people who are giving all to Christ and following His will in ministry. They are suffering financial loss, persecution, personal danger and the challenge of disappointment all for the one they love and serve.

One couple is Sony and Soso Prince in Southern India. We have had the privilege of visiting their ministry called Redeeming India. During Sony’s ministry of pastor training and church planting he discovered that female babies were being killed by their families in village. Sony was taken to a grave where twin girls had been buried alive just because they were born female. He knew he had to do something to address the situation. So Sony and Soso started to rescue babies before they are killed by their midwives. They built a home on the side of a hill with their own money and began taking in babies. Soso told us that 1400 female babies a day are being killed by their parents in India.

There are several reasons but it begins with a religious superstition that if a female is born on an odd number in birth order then the parents must kill the baby in order for the gods not to bring bad luck to their family. They also believe that if they kill the female, they might come back next time as a male. So if females are born in the birth order of odd numbers 1, 3, 5, etc., the parents instruct the midwives to kill the babies. There are other reasons of course, such as males are more valued and the dowry system makes having a girl very costly to the family.

The methods of killing the child are horrific involving suffocation, strangulation and breaking the spinal cord. Some children are given to black magic cults for sacrifice. Sony has pastors that are in many of the villages who look for situations where they hear that a child will be at risk. They have contact with the midwives and essentially pay them to not kill the babies and hand them over to the pastors. The parents pay the midwives to kill the babies and Sony pays them much more to save their lives. They have rescued 19 baby girls. They have 16 currently living with them at the home in the mountains of Southern India.

Sony and Soso are missionaries with East/West Ministries doing pastor training and church planting but they started Redeeming India before they joined the East/West team. They manage Redeeming India as a separate ministry. Orphan Outreach is in discussion with them to become a partner in this ministry. Our hope would be to have interns and teams come and assist Redeeming India in their ministry. They are full now, but they are still rescuing babies. Therefore there is a prayer request for provisions to build another home near the one they have now. They also need to open a school so that the children can go to a good Christian School. God is working in the lives of this young couple. Please pray that the Lord will guide us as we seek His will in how Orphan Outreach can partner with Sony and Soso.

What is the cost of ministry? Nothing compared to the knowledge of knowing and serving our Savior. Nothing compared to the smile of these little girls who would not be alive without the selfless service of a faithful couple who would not ignore the needs of these little children. I guess the real question is what is the cost for each of us. Are we willing to carry the cross for the blessing of serving Him?