Big Victory, Big Announcement

01 Jan

Big Victory, Big Announcement


Some of the children of Christ’s Home for the Needy in Myanmar, with fish they’ve raised and harvested

Dear Friends,

This month I want to tell you about a special orphanage in Myanmar. It is named Christ’s Home for the Needy. You may remember me telling the story of that orphanage in July of 2007, as the Chin State government ordered the director to destroy the orphanage building on a legal technicality. He had built the dorm with he and his wife’s life savings, and it was home for eighty children. It was an act of persecution on the part of the Chin State government, which has always been hostile towards Christians. The children were forced to live in makeshift tents. If you don’t remember the story, you can read Orphanage Building Dismantled by Government online.

Under some international pressure that resulted in Christ’s Home for the Needy being issued a building permit for construction of a new dorm, and with $27,000 in funding from Orphan’s Tear, a brand new and better dorm was completed near the end of last year. The Chin State government has not permitted them to write the word “Christ” on their orphanage sign, so Christ’s Home for the Needy is unofficially Cung Cung Children’s Home for the Needy. Through contributions to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund, we’ve also funded a mini-hydroelectric generator for Christ’s Home, so as long as the stream on their property is flowing, they have electricity. Here is a photo of their new building with some of the children who live there:

The children and adult staff have also dug a big pond on their property, where they raise fish to eat. Here is a photo of the boys harvesting a crop of fish:

The pond also serves as a swimming hole and rafting place. Apparently, sometimes the boys get it all to themselves!

Because Christ’s Home for the Needy is located in Chin State, it is off-limits for most foreigners. For that reason, we’ve never been able to visit or take portraits of the children at Christ’s Home for the Needy. So none of the orphans there have ever been listed for sponsorship on the Orphan’s Tear website. Things have been very difficult for them.

But as you are reading this, I’m in Myanmar, and I will soon be very near the border of Chin State. This time we’re sending a local Christian, whom we’ve trained to take photos with one of our cameras, into Chin State to Christ’s Home for the Needy. She’ll come back with portraits of the children. However, those portraits, along with the biographies of the orphans, will not be posted at the Orphan’s Tear website. The reason is because they will soon be posted on the new United Kingdom Orphan’s Tear website! U.K. citizens have already sponsored about fifteen of the children there through the efforts of our British friends Philip and Sandie Barker and John and Pam Rodger. Everyone at Christ’s Home is very excited about finally receiving monthly assistance that will help feed, cloth and educate the orphans there.

So Orphan’s Tear U.K. will soon be officially underway, and working in conjunction with Orphan’s Tear U.S.A. Orphan’s Tear U.K. already has registered charity status through Heaven’s Family U.K. This is a big event for all of us, and there is still lots of work and training ahead. If you live in the U.K. and could offer any help to the Barkers and the Rodgers, please let me know. Becky and I will be visiting the U.K. in early April.

I’ll be returning from Myanmar on January 30, and we’ll then get to work editing and posting the updated photos of all the children. If you sponsor orphans in Myanmar, you’ll soon be able to view them at your account at our website. We’ll let you know when they are all ready.


The director of Christ’s Home for the Needy, and his wife, have four children of their own. Here is a recent photo.

Finally, I would like to thank Karin Trotter, who has been volunteering lots of her time for Orphan’s Tear entering data and getting new photos ready to upload, and for her talented husband, Jeff, who will be designing the monthly Orphan’s Tear printed newsletter. (It is only sent to those without email addresses.) It is because of folks like them, and because of folks who contribute to the general fund of Heaven’s Family, that we can forward 100% of every sponsor’s monthly gift to the orphanage where their child lives. Thanks to everyone!

For the Children,

David

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