Sunania’s Eyes
Beautiful 12 year-old Sunaina was born in India to unmarried parents, which unfortunately results in her country categorizing her as one of their ‘illegal’ children. Having a child out of wedlock carries heavy social shame throughout most parts of India. The social stigma brought about by Sunaina’s being would have been extremely heavy for Sunaina’s mother.
Bearing the guilt of her baby’s illegitimate birth, Sunaina’s mother handed her and all her birth rites over to an institute.
Sunaina’s mother didn’t want to live the rest of her life stained and resorted to keeping her daughter’s birth a secret. Nothing is known of Sunaina’s father and Sunaina had never actually known her mother; both are considered lost to her. But, the Lord saw the need of a helpless child. Through God’s grace, Sunaina was taken to a Christian care home. She was well looked after and happy.
Yet, as her foster parents grew old, they worried about Sunaina’s future. This concern led them to bringing Sunaina to Ramabai Mukti Mission, a 120+ yearold grass-root orphanage that Global Aid Network has come alongside and supported, where she is now a flourishing member of the Frangipani Family.
Upon moving to Mukti, she missed her foster parents very much. However, she always shared how nothing at Mukti was too difficult: “Mukti is a good place; everyone is helping and loving each other.”
Today, she is fully enjoying her life at Mukti. Her joy and smile is seen around the campus; brightening up even the worst of days.
When asked what she felt God has taught her, Sunaina simply answered with: “to help others and to do good things.” Sunaina reminded others that God wants us all to receive faith like little children.
Without hesitation, Sunaina would always share her favorite Bible verse: “Matthew 6:22, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light...When our eyes are good, our whole body will be full of light.’”
Knowing that Mukti’s mission statement is to see the girls become salt and light in the Indian society, it was clear that Mukti had a profound impact in Sunaina’s life.
Surely there is much we can learn from Sunaina’s desire to be light in a world that rejected and failed to love her when she was born.
Even at her young age, Sunaina knows more than most; what it is to be seen through the eyes of the Lord and the difference His Sight has made in her life. Unlike most other girls in her class, Sunaina wants to be an engineer and her most fervent prayer is for wisdom and knowledge: a prayer clearly He has been answering.
Her favorite subject in school is science and bubbles when saying, “I love to study about living things; [from science] we get knowledge.”
Freely she has received and so freely she wants to give. She has been a huge encouragement to everyone at Mukti and her life is full with the abundance of friends, a new family and a relationship with Jesus.
Sunaina is one of many children who has experienced unendless love and compassion from those at Mukti. To continue this care, many of the children still need sponsors. Have you ever thought of sponsorship? For more information, click here.