The sandaled feet of four national missionaries who are taking the gospel to the unreached of Myanmar.

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we visited another four orphanages that are assisted each month through the child sponsorship program of Orphan’s Tear. The first three have very nice land, gardens and dorms, of which two were funded through gifts to the Dorms for Orphanages Fund and the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund. The fourth is a small orphanage with eleven children, ten of whom are sponsored, but we haven’t done anything for them yet in terms of land and buildings. When a few of us visited their existing facility—a small “house” that they rent for $30 per month—it brought back memories of our first visits to so many of our orphanages that are now much better off because of compassionate Orphan’s Tear sponsors. We wondered how anyone could live in such a place. They’ve recently had a problem with snakes infiltrating their living space. Outside the heat was sweltering, but inside the house it was worse. They have no fans, much less air conditioning. The director, named Anna, has been a dear friend and interpreter for us over the past six years.

This morning we hosted at our hotel swimming pool the teenage daughter of Anna, plus a young woman who helps Anna at her orphanage, and one of the older orphan girls. For Anna’s daughter, this has become sort of a tradition for us over the past six years. She has consequently become a proficient swimmer. For the other two girls, it was their first time of their lives to experience being in a swimming pool. Two of our team members gave them their first swimming lessons, and they had a great time. Afterwards they wanted to see what our hotel room looked like, and they got the first ride of their lives in an elevator. They also saw their first Western-style bathroom with a shower. Watching their reactions to these things gave me an overwhelming sense of how privileged I am.

In the afternoon, our team split into two groups to visit several sponsored orphanages in different locations in the region. My group visited an orphanage for which we’ve also funded a chicken project. They’ve got hundreds of chickens that lay eggs each day that they sell. We love to see our orphanages become more self-sufficient.

Tomorrow we fly to yet another city in Myanmar (that I will leave unnamed in this blog) where we have one special sponsored orphanage plus a national missionary whom we support. Below are a few photos from the last two days. Some of them show some of things that we do with gifts to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund besides build dorms. — David

Two friends at one of our sponsored orphanages

Orphan’s Tear-provided beds and mosquito nets (and dorm)

A typical orphanage kitchen

An Orphan’s Tear-funded egg factory

They don’t get any cuter!

Team-member David Growden playing in a game called “cane ball,” which is like volleyball, except you use your feet and head and not your hands. In this photo, David is strategically directing the ball away from the opposition, who unfortunately seemed to be anticipating his strategy.

A couple who direct an orphanage for which Orphan’s Tear built a solid building after their previous bamboo structure was destroyed by Cyclone Nargis