the greatest of these is love

Strengthening the Nation by Strengthening Families

Following God’s leading, Jayaraj & Kailas Chinta established the ministry in 1996
through the challenge from Hebrews 11:7,
“Noah built an ark for the salvation of his family.”
“The divorce boom has been split wide open. As marriage melt-down sweeps across India
and Asia, lawyers predict this is the biggest divorce boom on this side of the planet.”
—Times of India, July 24, 2005.
The same paper also reported that the new paradox is that the number of diseases like
aids and poverty play havoc with families. Families need help and encouragement, and
this cannot happen without the help of God (Psalm 127:1-2). Ark Family Ministries is
meeting these needs of the families by conducting various ministries.

Response: Family Seminars

“Many perishing families will
be saved. Several families who
know the Lord will grow much
stronger.”
“The family that prays and
plays together principle inspired
me a lot.”
Some subjects covered:
» Purpose of Marriage
» Roles & Responsibilities
» Conflict Resolution
» Raising Children God’s Way
» The Power of the Family Altar
Marriage is instituted by God. His great love and pur-
pose is seen in the way He created Adam and Eve, and
brought them together. The creator God still cares and
wants to strengthen and enrich the homes.
These seminars are conducted for churches, organi-
zations and societies, etc. These can be day programs or
evening programs.
Leaders Family Seminars
To strengthen and equip Pastors and Leaders families,
Christian leaders and spouses are given training in fam-
ily life and equipped with materials to work with fami-
lies in their neighborhoods, churches and societies. We
network with churches & mission organizations.
Marriage Enrichment Cells
Once a month couples get together to spend time in
discussing family related topics and share suggestions
and ideas. Together they learn from the Word of God
and pray with one another. Families are enriched and
strengthened.

Some subjects covered: Marriage Preparation Seminars

» Bible on Marriage The youth, because of the media and the film industry,
» What is true Love often do not have proper understanding of love, sex
» Choosing a Life Partner and family. Many have developed various destructive
» Bible on Sex habits—such as drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling
» Preparing for and getting into unwholesome relationships.
Bible-based Marriage To combat this, we conduct one and two day pre-
marital counseling seminars for youth ages 16 and
above. These seminars help young people have a
biblical understanding of marriage, love and sex.
The atmosphere of the seminars is kept lively by en-
couraging them to participate in skits, games, sing-
ing, sharing and question-answer sessions.
Pre-marital Counseling
Personal counseling sessions for couples to be mar-
ried are conducted. This vital preparation can pre-
vent many heartaches in the future.
Response:
“No-one taught or talked about
this . . . the principles of sex and
the purpose of marriage.”
“Today’s seminar has helped me
to clarify some doubts . . . I will
lead a disciplined and a clean life
which is pleasing in God’s sight.
I also learned how to overcome
and resist temptations.”

Children’s Bible Club

Children’s Bible Club is conducted weekly. About
90 children attend. Special children’s programs are
conducted during the summer and other holidays.
Most of these children come from unchurched
homes.
We are also sponsoring the education of a few
poor children who attend the Bible club.

Ruth Oestreicher Memorial Library and Play

Centre
Children from underprivileged families come here
to play and learn through educational games and
toys. They also borrow clean and wholesome chil-
dren’s books.

Children’s Devotional Book Response:

The devotional book, “Keys for Kids” (originally “My daughter–and my wife and I
published by Children’s Bible Hour, USA) is use- find the stories to be both topical
ful for personal quiet time for children ages 8 and and very apt in today’s changing
above. It can also be meaningfully used for fam- world…”
ily worship for families with younger children. It is
available in Indian English, Gujarati, Hindi, Telegu
and Bengali languages.

Teacher Training
Children’s workers are trained to work with chil-
dren in Sunday School, VBS (Vacation Bible School)
and neighborhood clubs.
We also serve churches and organizations by
conducting teacher training programs for them.
Time of interaction & games (Leaders’ Family Seminar) Separate sessions for husbands & wives

Pre-marital Counseling Monthly Marriage Enrichment Cell

Marriage Preparation Seminars for Youth Keys for Kids children’s devotional book

Library Weekly Kids Club

Ankitha–a child who came to us too late
Monthly AIDS day at Ark Family Ministries center
Caregivers Bible study Self-support Scheme: Tailoring training
Services provided:
» Medication & Nourishment
» Counseling
» Widows self supporting
schemes
» Schooling with residential
facilities for orphans and
semi-orphans
» HIV/AIDS awareness programs
and literature
Their need:
» Medication & nourishment
» Self-supporting schemes: seed
money to start small businesses,
such as vegetable vending, a
small shop, a snack cat, tailoring
etc.
» Training: to acquire the skills
to conduct the business of their
choice.
Visiting patients in their village home Medical camp in the village
School Annual Day
Laxmi & family: 2002 & 2007
Services to hiv/aids Infected / Affected Families
According to UNAIDS, India now holds the second
largest number of HIV infections in the world fol-
lowing South Africa. UNAIDS projects 12.3 million
AIDS deaths in India by 2015. India accounts for
nearly 10% of the global HIV/AIDS prevalence. Be-
cause of poverty and considerable percentage of il-
literacy, this disease is growing at an alarming rate.
Because of superstitions and social stigma, patients
are isolated from the society, which leads to emo-
tional and eventually physical death. They need to
be received in the compassion of Christ Jesus.
Rehabilitation and Self-support Schemes for
Widows & Abandoned Women of aids Patients
Very often after the women lose their husbands
to AIDS, they have nowhere to turn because of the
stigma attached to the disease. Many of them are
themselves HIV positive. We often read and hear of
stories where the widows are thrown out of their
own homes.
 All the children in Ashirvad Residential School Math class Jayaraj, Kailas, Nirmala & Raju

joy in togetherness Fun at the park Board Meeting

Kanakaraju with mother Karleen with the girls Counseling for salvation

Ashirvad Residential School Field Address:

Ashirvad School is a private English-medium resi- Ark Family Ministries
dential school for children, either affected and/or A/23, Akula Narayana Colony,
infected with HIV/AIDS. This means that either they Sainikpuri ‘X’ Roads,
are themselves HIV positive, or they come from Secunderabad - 500094
homes where at least one parent has died or is living Andhra Pradesh, India
as HIV positive. Because HIV/AIDS carries such heavy U ministries@arkfam.org
stigma, gaining admission into schools is difficult S 011-91-40-2711 7782
for these children. This need led to the starting of
our residential school. Address for donations and address change:
As of 2007, there are 30 residential students, of Miss Carlene Pennel
which 9 are positive. 1650 S. Roanoke
Small group activities, integrated science and Springfield, MO 65807
mathematics curriculum; children developing read- U cpennel@juno.com
ing, writing and speaking literacy in three languag- S 417-831-2887
es, field trips, parent and community education; (Make checks payable to India Outreach)
health and hygiene education; as well as alopathic
and homeopathic medical attention in a caring and Online:
nurturing residential environment are part of the www.arkfam.org
curricular plan. to learn about our ministry
www.chintas.org
our journal of events
flickr.com/photos/arkfam
regularly updated photo gallery