At The Well Ministries - || Our Ministry

Brief History of Howrah Ministry that comes under "At the Well Ministries"

In 2002, I (Stewart) started to visit & minister to the drug addict kids of the Howrah Train Station. My heart literally broke when I witnessed kids as young as seven years old (girls & boys) sniffing glue and getting high to remove their hunger pains and to numb their emotions. Most of these children have run away from abusive situations in their home & community. Several of them have been abused by the local police in the area or by harmful passengers. The Calcutta Telegraph has previously reported that there are up to three hundred kids making the Howrah Station their home.

What we do at the Train Station

At present our "Howrah" team consists of two volunteers, Robert Martin (national), Rachel(foreigner) & myself. Two to three days per week, we make the journey to the Howrah Train Station. We have been ministering in this area for the past three years and have therefore built a good rapport with the children as well as the Howrah train Authorities. Most of the children that we visit are very dirty and have open cuts that are infected. We distribute shampoo, soap & lice remover and take care of the minor cuts and injuries. At times, the injuries are more serious and we need to take them to the hospital for proper care. Walking along the train tracks for a kilometer or so, we see many children emerge from their make-do shelters. The needs of these children are numerous! We do whatever we can to show them that they are valuable and that there truly is hope for them.

Last February, we approached the Minister of Railways with a proposal, asking permission to use one of their abandoned train cars for a centre for these children. Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected and we are still without a base in the Howrah area to minister to these children.

Once a week, we take approximately ten to twenty of the Howrah kids by taxi to our "Coffeehouse" Centre inKalighat. We minister to them through Bible stories, songs and prayer. Kalighat.

We minister to them through Bible stories, songs and prayer. They have the opportunity to draw, paint and do other activities in a safe and loving environment. We also provide them with a hearty lunch. It is difficult for us to choose which children will come to the coffeehouse each week and which ones we will have to turn away. Our space in Kalighat is very limited and the number of children desiring to come is increasing. Our next step is to provide a residential centre for these children.

Ministry to ladies in the Kalighat red-light area

Around the same time that we began the Howrah Ministry, we also felt led to start a ministry for the sex-workers in Kalighat. Monique and I prayed and walked in this area for several months and met a devout Hindu man who was willing to rent out his small store-front property to us. It is located very close to the Kali Temple as well as Mother Theresa's Home for the sick and dying.

Our "At The Well" Centre is known by the ladies in the red-light district as the "Coffeehouse." It is a drop-in centre where the ladies come in and spend time with us. We often pray and have worship times with the ladies who are open. It is also our "Prayer house" where our team regularly intercedes for the Kalighat area and for the ladies working in the red-light district. The "At the Well" team consists of Monique and six volunteers (nationals) that are very committed to the ministry. Two of these women are pastor's wives, which is very encouraging as many Christian Indian women see this type of ministry as taboo. The team meets at the Coffeehouse every Tuesday and Friday for a time of prayer and devotion and then they split up and visit the brothels. The two different groups of women that they minister to are the Bengali women and the Nepali women. Many of these ladies have been forced into prostitution at a very young age or have succumbed to this profession due to severe poverty. Their stories are tragic & heart breaking. It is our desire to see these ladies set free spiritually, physically and emotionally. We know that Jesus can renew their hearts and minds!

On Saturdays, we have an informal church service for these ladies and their children. The Greek Orthodox Church ( a 3 min. walk) has kindly permitted us to use their outdoor premises for our services. Last Saturday, February 4th, we had a total of 65 women & children (including 7 volunteers and 4 guests). One of the ladies who accepted Christ last year brought six other ladies form the red-light area to the service with her. We are truly amazed at what God is doing in the hearts of these ladies. They are choosing to come to church for 1 1/2 hours instead of waiting on the brige with the hope that they will get a customer. Another one of our young ladies that we had been working closely with, accepted Christ on the last day of 2005 at our church service. Several others lifted their hand that day and we are seeing much fruit. We continue to pray that God will have His way in the hearts of all these ladies and that we will see a spiritual change in Kalighat.

We are excited about a business that has been started that has provided jobs for our ladies. We will finally be able to give jobs to these precious ladies which will bring them dignity, self-worth and FREEDOM!