India Vision Trip
      *Additional Vision Trip Resources below: PURPOSE: Partner with the Invisible Girl Project (IGP) and travel to Chennai, India, where you will be able to visit orphanages who rescue babies and orphan girls from infanticide, care for them, educate them and teach them about the love of Jesus. Expect to hold the babies, minister to and serve the girls, document their stories, and assist IGP in capturing images and video of their ongoing projects. You will witness the contrast between the beauty of South Indian culture and the discrimination of its girls. WHERE: Chennai, India WHEN: March 11-19 (Application/Deposit Deadline: January 24) WHAT IS THE COST: The estimated cost of the trip is $3000 (this is an approximate cost and trip cost may vary slightly depending on airline ticket prices.) Don't let finances keep you from applying or pursuing the trip opportunity. Financial assistance is available for vision trip participants who regularly attend Common Ground, and the request form can be accessed here. *Requests will not be evaluated or approved until one month prior to trip departure date. This financial assistance opportunity is intended to supplement trip participant's active engagement in sacrificial giving, fundraising efforts and faithful prayer for financial provision. The submission of this financial assistance request does not guarantee the receipt of funds and each request will go through a review process. For resources on fundraising for Common Ground Vision Trips, see below. TRIP LEADERS: Brad and Jill McElya REQUIREMENTS:
*The minimum team size is five members and the trip will be canceled if the minimum size is not reached. COUNTRY INFORMATION: The Indus Valley civilization, one of the world's oldest, flourished during the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. and extended into northwestern India. Aryan tribes from the northwest infiltrated onto the Indian subcontinent about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. The Maurya Empire of the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C. - which reached its zenith under ASHOKA - united much of South Asia. The Golden Age ushered in by the Gupta dynasty (4th to 6th centuries A.D.) saw a flowering of Indian science, art, and culture. Islam spread across the subcontinent over a period of 700 years. In the 10th and 11th centuries, Turks and Afghans invaded India and established the Delhi Sultanate. In the early 16th century, the Emperor BABUR established the Mughal Dynasty which ruled India for more than three centuries. European explorers began establishing footholds in India during the 16th century. By the 19th century, Great Britain had become the dominant political power on the subcontinent. The British Indian Army played a vital role in both World Wars. Nonviolent resistance to British rule, led by Mohandas GANDHI and Jawaharlal NEHRU, eventually brought about independence in 1947. Communal violence led to the subcontinent's bloody partition, which resulted in the creation of two separate states, India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought three wars since independence, the last of which in 1971 resulted in East Pakistan becoming the separate nation of Bangladesh. India's nuclear weapons tests in 1998 caused Pakistan to conduct its own tests that same year. In November 2008, terrorists allegedly originating from Pakistan conducted a series of coordinated attacks in Mumbai, India's financial capital. Despite pressing problems such as significant overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and widespread corruption, rapid economic development is fueling India's rise on the world stage. (source: CIA - The World Fact Book) HISTORY: After Brad and Jill McElya met on a Common Ground Vision Trip to India in 2007, they both moved to India, where they learned of the common practice of murdering baby girls after their birth, just because they are female. To combat this practice, they formed the Invisible Girl Project (IGP), which seeks to add to the perceived value of girls and women in Indian culture. In 2009, a medical team from Common Ground traveled to Chennai to work with Brad and Jill and various ministries on the ground there. HOW DO I APPLY: Trip applications can be downloaded here. *For questions or additional information, email Vision Trip Resources
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