Meet our team.

The compassionate individuals who make our mission possible through their dedication, expertise, and unwavering commitment to serving others.

Zoraida Samuel

Founder & Managing Trustee

Around the same time she witnessed a person living with mental illness being beaten by a shopkeeper and a policeman after taking an apple from a roadside cart. She took her questions to God asking Why did you let this happen? In the midst of her prayers, it became clear to her heart: “I created you.” She began to understand that perhaps God was asking her to respond to what she was seeing. Soon after she came across a woman on a busy street trying to cover herself with a man’s shirt. These moments remained with her and what began as questions slowly became a burden she carried before God. As she continued to pray. The path began to take shape. The name Rehoboth from the Bible came into this journey as a name given with meaning — a place where God makes room. What followed was not something she had planned from the beginning. It started with two women in a small rented house. In those early days, Zoraida continued working with Little Drops and used her salary to care for the home with the support of her mother and her husband. She did not know where the journey would lead but she continued with what God placed before her. One step followed another. At each stage God brought people at the right time, opened doors and provided what was needed. Looking back the story of Rehoboth is a testimony of how faithfully God has carried what began so simply from two women in a small rented house to a place where many lives have found care, dignity, belonging and hope.

Binu Jeremiah

Head - Welfare and Engagement.

Roja Esther

Head - Health and Operatons.

Long before she became a doctor, the young Roja had already begun to understand what it meant to serve. Her parents taught her from childhood that serving mankind is serving God. While she was in her 10th standard, her heart was drawn towards elderly people who were alone and helpless. She would visit them,

Edgar Jones Paul

Trustee

Edgar Jones Paul grew up in a simple family where life taught him the value of perseverance from a young age. After losing his father while he was in the 6th standard his mother raised eight children through many difficulties. Even walking several kilometres to school became part of his everyday life. Those early experiences taught him to see beyond his own circumstances and notice the struggles of others. Years later he came across an elderly woman

Some moments stay with us long after they have passed. For Zoraida Samuel, a few such moments slowly became the beginning of a journey she had never planned for herself. During one period of her life, she came across a boarding school where the younger children would return to their families during holidays while some of the older students were not taken back because of their age and the challenges and responsibilities involved in caring for them.

sit with them, listen to them, clean their wounds and help with their dressing. During one of those visits, an elderly woman told her, “You should become a doctor.” Those simple words stayed with her. As she prayed for God’s direction, she saw herself in a white coat, walking through a hospital corridor among people living with disabilities. Though her father had dreamed of her becoming an architect, God was gently leading her in a different direction.She went on to study at Madras Medical College and began her medical journey serving rural communities. She later served for a decade as a Medical Officer at the Indian Air Force Station, Tambaram, caring for mothers and children and taking part in healthcare operations.

Over the course of her career, Dr. Roja has also spent around 35 years working in corporate as occupational health physician, serving organisations including Hindustan Unilever Limited, Rane and MAS holding. She has also conducted health-awareness programmes for corporate teams on various health and wellness topics. But medicine was never only a profession for her. It was a way to serve. Years later, God brought her to Rehoboth, where she found a place that brought together the vision she had carried since childhood caring for the vulnerable and the forgotten. Even here, God prepared her to serve beyond the boundaries of medicine, leading her into operations and the many unseen parts of sustaining the ministry.

Her journey reminds us that a vision God places in our hearts may begin as something very small — a person we notice, a burden we carry, a prayer we make. We may not see the whole path, but when we are willing to follow, God reveals the next step.

Binu came to know about Rehoboth through Edgar Jones Paul, a trustee of Rehoboth. When she first visited, she felt a quiet desire in her heart to contribute to the lives of the women. She began by spending time with them, teaching Bible stories and songs, praying with them and listening to their stories. Little did she know that this simple visit would become a journey God had already prepared for her. As she listened to their stories and grew closer to them, God slowly opened her heart to see that caring for the women was not only about giving them a safe shelter. They also needed someone to listen, moments to celebrate, places to go and simple reasons to smile. What began as a quiet burden in her heart slowly became a way of loving them through little moments of joy. The same heart of care extends to the children of Rehoboth Special School. She continues to be involved in their lives, going beyond what is expected whenever a child needs a little more attention, encouragement or love. When the first wave of COVID-19 brought fear and uncertainty, God gently reminded Binu that He had not forgotten the women of Rehoboth. With His grace, she continued to be present with them when many were unable to come, trusting Him for each day and each step. She did not depend on her own strength; she simply trusted that the God who had placed these women in her heart would give her the grace to stand beside them. What began with one visit became a journey of faith, service and love — a journey where Binu continues to see God’s hand in every step.

Sumita Verghsee

Trustee

more than a place of service, it has become her second home. Through all these years chechi has walked closely with Zoraida Samuel and the Rehoboth family. To stand beside someone for so many years, through moments of joy, uncertainty challenges and change, takes more than responsibility. it takes patience, understanding, prayer, and an unconditional love that remains. She has stood beside Zoraida not only in the good days but also through the difficult ones, much like a mother who stays, carries, encourages and quietly strengthens. Her presence has been a blessing to Rehoboth and a source of strength through many seasons. Her love for the women is just as personal. She does not see them as people to be served from a distance but as her own. And this is the greatest lesson that her years at Rehoboth has taught others is one doesn’t need great knowledge to make a difference but to have a passion, determination, commitment and the willingness to love someone as our own. With God as her strength, chechi continues to give herself to the Rehoboth family – not simply as a trustee, but as a person who has chosen to belong.

on the streets covering herself with a newspaper with no proper place to stay. This image stayed in his heart causing a burden and gave birth to a desire to take action. What looked like a small moment became a gentle nudge from God towards something greater. With faith and compassion Paul and his childhood friend began Little Drops in 1991 caring for destitute elders. This journey later became connected with Rehoboth which began in 1998. As a Trustee of Rehoboth, he has continued to support the ministry from its early days walking alongside its work and its people. His life reminds us that sometimes God begins a beautiful work with something very simple . A heart that notices a heart that cares and a heart willing to say yes.

Caring, sharing and helping were values that Sumita Verghese grew up with. What began as something taught at home gradually became a way of life and a heart that naturally looked for ways to care for others. Through Mr. Paul of Little Drops, God led her to Rehoboth and what began as a connection slowly became a place very close to her heart. Sumita has been affectionately called “Chechi” by both the staff and residents of Rehoboth, as she has truly been a sister to all of them. For more than 15 years, Rehoboth has been