The beautiful trees and flowering plants that the 45 boys so carefully tend make Angel Home feel like an oasis. Were you to visit, you would immediately feel welcomed as you drive through the gates of the home.
A Visit to Angel Home – Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh
Welcome to Angel Home, located on the outskirts of Rajahmundry in the state of Andhra Pradesh. If you arrive when the boys are playing a game of volleyball on the court just to your left, they will ask you to join them. Chickens are likely scratching in the dirt as the cow munches on banana leaves in the corner. As you get out of the car, the boys may be shy initially, but in no time they will take you by the hand to show you around. There is a beautiful open porch in the front of the U-shaped single-story home where the boys like to play carrom and stage dramas and musical events. The bedrooms, equipped with bunk beds and cubbies, are behind the front porch. On the left are the kitchen, dining room and an apartment for the caretakers of the children. On the right side is a large assembly room used for studying, devotions and indoor group activities. You can imagine how quickly the boys can run from this assembly room across the courtyard to the dining room when they are called for meals. There is no better place to watch the sunset than from the flat rooftop with the evening light shining across the rice fields surrounding Angel Home. The boys also use the rooftop for drying their laundered clothes.
The 45 boys at Angel Home are all there because they had no one who could care for them. Some are orphans, some are semi-orphans and others came from family situations where poverty and trauma left them struggling to survive. The transition to the disciplined, structured life at Angel Home is sometimes difficult but made easier by the support and encouragement from the other boys who come from similar situations. With the loving care of the staff and the daily provision of nutritious meals, health care and hygienic living, these boys soon flourish. They are full of energy and fun but also show great respect to the staff and to one another.
Important Elements of Days at Angel Home
Can you imagine growing up with 45 brothers, all trying to figure out life and our future? Angel Home is a refuge for us as we grow up and prepare for lives on our own. Before we came to Bethania Kids Angel Home, we had little hope for the future. Solomon and the staff at Angel Home take care of us and prepare us for a life of hope, prosperity, service, and full of love. When we reach the age of 11 or 12, we begin to realize the opportunity we have at Angel Home to advance through education. Education is one of the key steps out of poverty and study and education are part of our everyday life here.
We work very hard to succeed academically at the local public school we attend. With the help of tutors before and after school, we study diligently with excellent results. They help us achieve good marks in school and prepare us for post-secondary education. It gives us hope for a good future! Many of the boys who have graduated from Angel Home now work in IT or as engineers. Your sponsorship helps support eight graduates of Angel Home who are in Polytechnic College or extended education by paying for their books and incidental expenses.
Spiritual life at Angel Home is also very rich. Each day begins and ends with devotions in which we read scripture verses, sing and pray together. Because we are filled with gratitude for the love we experience at Angel Home, we are anxious to share that with others in our community. We often make and sell handicrafts, using the money raised to buy school supplies for other orphanages in the area.
The People at Angel Home
Meet Solomon Mungamuri, the Project Coordinator and the staff, Sathya (Undru Sathyanarayana) and Mani (Undru Mani), and Kapavarapu Veeraveni. Solomon and his family founded the Angel Home in 2008. It is named for Solomon’s mother, Angel. Mani and Santi, husband and wife, and their two children live at Angel Home with us. They care for us and show their love for us in all they do. We also have a couple of pet dogs we love and care for. There are 45 very active boys at our home. Angel home is the newest of Bethania Kids homes built in 2008. We have boys from a very young age up to 18 years old. Most of us leave Angel Home when we reach 16 years old because in our state of Andhra Pradesh, we are required to go to boarding school to finish high school.
My friends and I at Angel Home come from very poor backgrounds. Some of us are orphaned, some are half-orphans who lost a parent and the remaining parent is destitute and asked Bethania Kids to help raise us. Most of us have traumatic or painful experiences in our past. Here we are loved unconditionally by the Bethania Kids staff and we experience love as Christ would love His children.
Visitors to Angel Home
We love Mr. Mark Lee, from Colorado, who has visited us twice. His company is Solix Technologies, with operations in Hyderabad, a nearby city. Sai, his boss, recently gave scholarships to two of our brothers. They are both good students and have good prospects for a future in IT. We always enjoy visitors from the United States, Canada, and other places. We give them an “Angel Home welcome” (like a parade with flowers and signs of welcome). We hope you, too, will visit us, and we will give you a special welcome. We spend time with visitors and learn about their families and how they help support us. I asked one of them why they care about us when we are so far away? He said, “because you are children of God.” It gives us great comfort to be loved from afar.
Last year, a group came from America. They shared information about their careers in America and what we can do in the future. Many of our alumni also talked about their experience growing up at Angel Home and their own careers after leaving Angel Home. Amy Pitts and Larry Zimmerman from the Bethania Kids Board of Directors were with Kraig and Elizabeth Olejniczak from Arkansas. We appreciate these visits which bring encouragement and support to us. We are grateful for their support, the staff and for the people far away who care about us.
Daily Life at Angel Home
What do we enjoy most? We love sports as we need to run around and have fun. We are very active and good athletes. We often win contests for races at our schools. We also win prizes for schoolwork. Some days we put on skits and plays about the Bible. We study the Bible for 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evening. It is the “Book of Love” to us. Christ lived a life of love for all of us.
Each boy at Angel Home takes care of a fruit tree! Mine is a mango tree. I helped plant it and it is my responsibility. I water it daily, trim it occasionally and bring the fruit to Santi, our staff Mom who uses it in our food. I love mangos, they are so sweet. We have 50 beautiful trees.
My brothers and I rise early in the morning, dress, bathe, and get ready for the day. We have tutors that check and help us with our homework, we go to Bible study and then have breakfast. We brush our teeth and hair and then go off to school. When we return to Angel Home after school, we have an hour to play and then we go to study hall with tutors to go over school assignments, have another Bible study and then dinner, sitting on the floor while we eat. Then we brush our teeth before going to bed. Our mothers (staff) also know our emotions, our aptitudes, our talents and strengths and encourage us for a future life. Sometimes a very young new boy will join us. We understand his pain. We help him and share our love for him and help him grow with us together. We hope you will hold hands with us as we grow together.
The Nearby Town of Rajahmundry
Rajahmundry is a town of about 210,000 people. It is a center for computer technology in the state of Andhra Pradesh, about 400 miles north of Chennai. We have a small nearby airport. Angel Home is adjacent to a rice field (also known as a paddy field). From our roof, we can see the water buffaloes working in the rice fields. We have an abundance of water as we are not far from the Bay of Bengal. Angel Home has a compound wall around it for security purposes. Many of our graduates attend post-secondary and university programs in the vicinity.
Boys at Angel Home: Gautam
Gautam’s story is an example of how Angel Home has made an enormous difference in the life of a child and his family. Gautam is 11 years old and joined Angel Home last year. Not long ago his father, a truck driver, passed away due to an illness. Gautam said that when his father was alive they had enough food to eat and all the relatives used to visit them often. But after his father passed away, his world turned upside down. His family’s relatives abandoned them, and they had to struggle to afford one meal a day. His mother was a housewife before, but now works as a maid and tries hard to support her family of three children (11, 9 and 4) with her meager earnings. Fortunately, one of her relatives saw their desperate hardship and recommended Angel Home. Today, as a result of loving care from the staff and daily nurturing of his body, mind and spirit, Gautam is very active and learning well. His contagious smile reflects how happy he is to be at Angel Home.
History of Angel Home
The Angel Home was started by Solomon Mungamuri’s family as part of a social services group they founded. Solomon was the leader. They joined with the Bethania Kids in 2004. Two of the staff, Mani and Santi, have worked with Solomon for 16 years overseeing the Angel Home. Angel Home is the newest of the Bethania Kids residence homes, built in 2008. It has room for 45 boys and is adjacent to a rice field in Rajahmundry. There is a nice field for recreation, including cricket, volleyball, soccer, playgrounds and space for trees. Most of the boys come from poor local villages. Angel was the name of Solomon’s mother. His family are Lutheran and his father built churches in India.
How can you help?
- Your prayers are really appreciated. We are so thankful you know of us and care about us.
- Sponsor a Child at Angel Home with gifts of $50 per month or $600 per year.
- We need dining room tables and chairs. We sit on the floor to eat and use stainless steel trays for our food. You can indicate your gift is intended for dining room furniture for Angel Home.
- We are always in need of sports equipment as our volleyballs wear out. Gifts for equipment are welcome.
- If you like music, make a gift to help us buy musical instruments. Music and the arts enable us to express our emotions in wonderful ways.
- We can use more books in our library, as well as art and school supplies. We like to draw, paint and sketch. We buy them in India in our native language, Telegu.
- We also need computers to become proficient in their use when we go to work outside Bethania Kids. Your gift to the Comprehensive Campaign can add to our computer lab.
- Churches or individuals are invited to fund the monthly or annual expenses of the Angel Home for Boys.
- Monthly expenses for Angel Home = $2,250; annual expenses = $27,000
Hold the Hand of a Child in Need
There are countless ways to participate in this vibrant ministry and share God’s love with the children at Bethania Kids.
Our 100% Promise
We channel 100% of every penny donated into direct ministry for children.
For more information about this and other ministry topics, please contact Bethania Kids at director@bethaniakids.org or