The Come-Back Kids, March 2009

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).

Like Paul, we all have a calling that is pulling us upward---to heaven. Our goal is the prize that awaits us there, and so we, just like Paul, "press on." It isn't easy, but this is our consuming passion.

Each month, we hope to give you a small foretaste of what it will be like when you reach your goal to stand before Jesus and hear His praise. The five short stories in this update each convey what you'll hear then, namely, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And as you view the smiling faces of those among "the least of these" who have been helped because of your kindness, that is also a foretaste of how it will be in heaven when you will meet those same folks face to face. They'll be smiling then too.

There are many others whom we couldn't fit into this magazine who will be lined up to hug you in heaven. Thank you for allowing Heaven's Family to serve you as you serve them. And on their behalf, thanks also. --- David

The Come-Back Kids
I Was Hungry at Work in Sri Lanka

Nagarasa and Luxmy Thurairajah

Like Job of old, Sri Lankan Christians Nagarasa and Luxmy Thurairajah must have wondered how much worse it could get. They lost their fishing boat and nets in 2004 when the Indian Ocean Tsunami smashed into Sri Lanka's coast the day after Christmas. Fellow believers in their church bought them a new boat about ten months later, but six months after that, it was seized by rebel soldiers to use in their fight against the Sri Lankan government. As a result, Nagarasa was suspected of aiding those rebels by yet another rebel faction, and he was targeted for death.

The Thurairajahs had no choice but to flee for their lives. They finally escaped the crossfire of Sri Lanka's civil war by moving with their five children to India. The journey wasn't easy, as Luxmy couldn't walk due to leg wounds inflicted during an Air Force bombing raid.

Life was not much better in the refugee camp where they lived, other than the fact that Luxmy did receive surgery there that restored her ability to walk without pain. But the family longed to return home one day.

That day arrived not long ago. When their region of Sri Lanka was recently restored to calm, the Thurairajahs returned to their village. The children were estatic to be back home. Nagarasa, however, had no means to start a business. He found odd jobs, but his income was barely enough to feed his family.

Nagarasa with his new boat, and the whole family that includes five children: Prathaban, Urenthiran, Sadurshan, Ketheeswaran and Pawaranjini

Partnering with the Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, Heaven's Family provided funds for a used fishing boat, motor and nets for the Thurairajahs. Now, just about every day, Nagarasa brings home fish to sell at the market that provide for his family. He is thanking God for Heaven's Family.

The Bigger Picture:Through the general fund of our I Was Hungry division, we regularly meet pressing needs of believers around the world.

Orissa is Burning
The Christian Refugees Fund at Work in India

Standing in the rubble: A husband and wife survey the damage to their home destroyed by Hindu fanatics.

In September of last year, fanatical Hindu mobs went on a rampage in over a thousand villages in India's Orissa State, attacking and killing Christians, and destroying their homes, businesses and churches. Their stated goal is to eradicate Christianity from all of India, starting with Orissa.

Tens of thousands of believers, many of whom are converts from India's lowest caste, fled into the jungles to save their lives, and many are still living in refugee camps, afraid to return to their villages. Over seventy new Indian martyrs are in heaven.

Kumudh Bardhan was caught by surprise by a Hindu mob as he was working in a field, and he was severely wounded. He was carried to his home by some people from his village. As his wife, Laxmi, and their two children were waiting for transportation to take him to a hospital, another Hindu mob attacked their village. All the Christians ran for the nearby jungles to hide, but Kumudh's family stayed in their home since he was so severely hurt and not able to move on his own.

The mob dragged him from his house to the village church, which they entered and vandalized. After setting fire to the interior of the church, they came out and poured kerosene on Kumudh. Then they burned him alive in front of his wife, daughter and son, ignoring their cries for mercy. Once he was dead, the mob attacked them. Months later, Laxmi's son Tikina still had bullet fragments lodged in his thigh. He has since received medical attention with funding from Heaven's Family. Laxmi's daughter Lalitha also suffered bullet wounds in her legs.

Our primary Indian representative who visited Orissa wrote,

The entire family is traumatized by this incident and still after three months are in an unconsolable state. They were at the Sunday service in which we took part. All through the service this family was crying, crying and crying....They have not returned to their village since this episode. They are living in a relief camp from where they came to the church. They need some employment opportunities through which they will earn their livelihood.

Laxmi Bardhan

Partnering with churches in Madurai, Heaven's Family has provided funds to help Laxmi and her two children start a tailoring business and telephone service shop whereby they can be self-supportive, as well as funds for house rent so they can move out of the refugee camp. Things are looking a little brighter for them now.

The Bigger Picture: Through our Christian Refugees Fund, we've entrusted $12,580 so far to trusted and time-tested Christian leaders in India to meet very pressing needs of our Indian family affected by the Orissa violence. Much more help is needed.

Aftermath in Orissa: Surveying the damage and waiting in line for food

Portraits of Love
The Native Missionary Fund at Work in Myanmar

Thankful for their supporting family in the U.S.: Native missionaries Khamh, Ni Ni, and Nathan in Myanmar

Little churches can do big things! One such church meets in the modest home of Rod and Jamie Auria, in Dormont, Pennsylvania. Several years ago, during a Heaven's Family team mission trip to Myanmar, Rod got to know a gifted young interpreter and Bible teacher named Khamh Lian Thang. Recognizing his potential in Christ, Rod returned home hoping to persuade the folks in his house church to adopt Khamh as a native missionary. He succeeded.

Because of their consistent support, Khamh has launched a missionary training college in the most unreached state in Myanmar. His students are being trained to preach the gospel and establish churches where there are no known Christians.

The support of the Auria's house church has also allowed Khamh to find a wife and marry her, a joyful Christian named Ni Ni who is a big help to Khamh. In Myanmar, if a newly-married couple doesn't have a baby within a year, people think that something might be wrong. Happily, nothing is wrong with Khamh and Ni Ni, and they are now the proud parents of a little boy named Nathan.

Proud of their humble missionaries: The Auria House Church with a beloved portrait

We know scores of other gifted young ministers in many nations whose ministries would be even more fruitful if someone helped them with regular financial support. For this reason, we've started the Native Missionary Support Program. We can link you, your home fellowship, or your church to an effective native missionary who needs your help. You can set the dollar amount that you would like to send each month, from $20 to $200. We will automatically deduct the amount you choose from your bank account each month if you live in the U.S., or you can have it automatically charged to your credit card each month no matter where you live in the world. We will forward 100% of what we receive to your native missionary.

Perhaps the best part of our Native Missionary Support Program is that you will receive personal monthly reports from your native missionary in the field, in imperfect but understandable English. If you desire, you can reply and correspond.

Most of the unreached people of the world can only be reached by native missionaries. If you are interested in adopting one, drop us an email at NativeMissionary@HeavensFamily.org and we'll work out the details with you. You'll share in the reward of your missionary, on earth and in heaven!

Pan Cakes Like Grace
The Widows Fund at Work in Sri Lanka

Widow Dissanayake Sumanawathy, with some of the Sri Lankan "pan cakes" she now sells for a living

Seven years ago Dissanayake Sumanawathy lost her husband to suicide. One year later, her 16-year-old son attempted to kill himself by poisoning himself. He did not succeed, however, and suffered nerve damage, making him bedridden.

Two years later some pastors were distributing leaflets in Sumanawathy's village advertising a healing service at a nearby church. Sumanawathy asked them to pray for her bedridden son. They did, and he was partially healed, to the degree that he was able to get out of bed and move around. Having been a Buddhist all her life, Sumanawathy was greatly touched by those pastors' concern and Jesus' mercy towards her son, and she gave herself to Him. Not long after, she opened her house to be used for church gatherings---right in the midst of a Buddhist village. She has consequently been persecuted, and her house has been attacked on several occasions, but she has remained faithful to the Lord now for four years.

Only partially healed and suffering emotionally, Sumanawathy's oldest son is not able to work at age 22, so she must labor to take care of him and her younger son, who is 14 and in school. She sometimes works in the rice paddy fields when work is available, earning $3.50 per day, as well as does other odd jobs. However, with a recent grant of $200 from the Widows Fund of Heaven's Family, Sumanawathy has opened a small restaurant of sorts. Every day she makes common Sri Lankan foods which she sells for a profit. Her speciality is a Sri Lankan breakfast food known as pan cakes, which are similar to tortillas stuffed with scraped coconut and sugar. They are sweet, like God's grace!

Three of the other 18 Christian Sri Lankan widows whom we've recently helped with small business start-up grants

The Bigger Picture: Through gifts to the Widows Fund, Heaven's Family recently helped eighteen Christian widows in Sri Lanka with small business startup grants.

Filter Number 15
The Safe Water Fund at Work in East Africa

Moses Wandera and his youngest daughter, Elizabeth, beside the new biosand filter in their living room

He does not know what a "weekend" is. Seven days a week, sunup to sundown, Moses Wandera labors under the Kenyan sun at a farm owned by a doctor. At the end of each day he retires to a small hut that he has erected on the farm property, to be greeted by his wife, Jane, and their three small children. For his work, Moses earns 400 Kenyan Shillings per week, equivalent to about $5. Jane sometimes takes in laundry for better-off neighbors, for which she earns 38 cents for a full load. The Wanderas represent one-half of the world's population, who live on less than two dollars a day.

Jane draws the family's drinking water each day from a nearby stream. As a result, her children have frequently been ill from waterborne diseases. But last Christmas, some local Christians came to their house with a big, heavy blessing---a biosand water filter from Heaven's Family. It now sits in their "living room" providing as much pure water as they need. Everyone in the family has been healthier.

When we received the photo above, we asked if there was any other way that we could help the Wandera family. We learned that Moses wanted to own a bicycle taxi, by which he could supplement his meager income by giving rides to paying passengers during his off-work hours, and by which he could earn an additional $30 per month. His ultimate hope was eventually to quit his farm job to devote all his time pedaling a bicycle taxi, which is more profitable. So we purchased one for him for $130, using contributions to the I Was Hungry General Fund.

The Wanderas left the Roman Catholic Church in frustration a few years ago, and are not yet born again. But their hearts have recently been very softened, and they now regularly attend a house church where they are seeing God's love in action. Please pray for them.

The Bigger Picture: Heaven's Family, in partnership with Thirst Relief International, has so far manufactured and installed 120 biosand filters in the homes of very poor families in Kenya and Rwanda. One filter costs about $50 to manufacture in Kenya, including labor.

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Parting Shot
No Bridge? No Problem.

A motorcycle ferry in Myanmar