"Defend the oppressed, take up the cause of the fatherless."
— Isaiah 1:17
Praveen left a career in human resources to serve vulnerable families in Sri Lanka. He and his wife Thavi are raising three young children of their own, and have given themselves to families that others overlook.
Lalana* was one of them. When Praveen first met her, she was raising a son with autism on her own — her husband had left. Together with their friends, Praveen and Thavi ran an event for a hundred families like hers, each paired with a volunteer for the day. Lalana's was a young mother. She stayed on, and drew others in to walk with the family. Eleven years on, Lalana is still raising her son, but no longer on her own.
Millions of children grow up without that kind of support. Praveen and his family are on a mission to change that.
Praveen serves as Implementation Lead with World Without Orphans (WWO), a global movement for a world where every child grows up in a safe, loving family and reaches their full potential. Rather than running programs itself, WWO brings a country's own leaders together and equips them to solve the problem where they live. WWO is active in 55 countries, and new movements are forming in 49 more.
In Sri Lanka, he co-chairs Engage Disability Network Sri Lanka, a national network bringing churches and communities together to welcome and support people with disabilities and their families — families like Lalana's.
What is learned here does not stay here. Praveen works with WWO's regional leaders across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America, helping what works in one country take root in the next.
Will You Partner With Praveen and Thavi?
Your monthly partnership helps Praveen:
- Keep families together — strengthening families raising children at risk, including those living with disability, so they don't lose the family they have
- Bring children back into a family — reuniting children with their own family where that's possible, and finding another when it isn't
- Equip the church to do both — bringing churches in Sri Lanka and Christian leaders worldwide to the same table to learn from one another, so more children thrive
Praveen serves full-time. World Without Orphans covers part of his family's support; the rest comes from monthly partners.
Would you be one of them? You can become a monthly partner using the form below.
Praveen and Thavi would also love you to walk with them in prayer — write to Praveen at praveen@worldwithoutorphans.org for occasional updates and prayer requests from Sri Lanka.
*Name changed to protect her family's privacy.