I hope your Thanksgiving is a blessed time with friends, family and fellowship, not to mention good food! We have so much to be thankful for.
Speaking of being thankful, I can assure you that your sponsored child (or children) is thankful for your consistent support. A number of our staff members just returned from two weeks in Myanmar, where they visited our 40 sponsored orphanages. They spent time playing games with all the children, and gave them all donated candy and small toys. It was like Christmas in November.
Speaking of Christmas, every year around this time we ask our child sponsors to consider sending an extra $5 for each child they sponsor so that our orphanage directors can buy new Christmas clothes for their orphans. If the Lord provides, well over 1,000 orphans and unwanted children in the eight nations where Orphan’s Tear serves will receive new clothes on Christmas morning, which they all excitedly wear throughout their simple, day-long celebration of Jesus’ birth, and all the following year.
Great stories are worth repeating, so I wanted to share one that I shared with you last year at this same time. It is a letter I received just after Christmas of 2009 from one of our orphanage directors in Myanmar named Sonny. We had just begun to help his orphanage, Beulah Children’s Home, when we visited Myanmar in November 2009, but we had not yet found sponsors for his children. Below is his letter. Get ready to shed some tears.
Dear Loving Friends,
Greeting to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peace and Joy of New Year to you all. First of all, I humbly request you all to read what I felt in this time Christmas.
For me and my family, it was an unhappy day that I could never forget. If it were possible, I would postpone Christmas day for Beulah Children Home.
We woke up early in the morning on Christmas morning and gave thanks to the Lord for what He has done. But my children were not happy that much. I know why they are downcast. But I said to them,”OK, take a bath and wear your clean clothes (not new clothes).” And they obediently took a bath and wore their cleanest clothes. And then we went to the church to praise and worship God. On that morning I was to preach. I was pretty excited to preach on Christmas day.
When we arrived to the church, I saw many other children wearing their new clothes and coming to the church. But my children are wearing their old clothes.They were happy but not wholeheartedly. Because they were jealous of them as they are children, orphans who never wear a new shirt. They have a new father and mother and they will rely on us totally, but when I can not do anything for them, how disappointed thing for my children. I asked myself so many questions.
When I saw them, my children, sitting by other children with their old clothes, I dared not to look at them. My heart was totally broken. I said to myself I am nothing to do God’s work. Since time was passing on, Chairperson called upon me for preaching. As standing on the pulpit I read my chosen Bible verse (Micah 5:2). My tear were flowing down on my cheek. I could not speak a little while. After that I took a new strength and spoke and said,”Though we are poor, small, orphans and have nothing today, we have Jesus Christ who has been born today. How blessed people we are. Today Jesus has been born for the poor, the orphans, widows, and the oppressed.” Then I stopped my preaching.
We went back to home and I called all of them and said to them,”My beloved children, please forgive me (your father) for my poverty, I know I am very poor but the God whom I am believing, I am worshiping and praising every day is very rich. He has a plan for you and for me in the day to come.” After that only we all felt happy and tear of joy flowed down on our cheek.
Dear loving friends, Christmas is a precious and a happy day for some, but for us, Beulah Children Home, we who are fatherless and motherless, it is a day of crying in human side.
And also if it were possible, we Beulah Children Home want this coming New Year to be postponed. We are afraid of this New Year though I used to be eager to reach Happy New Year before. The reason is that our agreement for renting our house will be ended in January. We do not know what situation will come to us in this New Year, for other Happy New Year.
Dear Friends, it is a humble request from Beulah Children Home to pray for us that the exact need we have may be met.
I wish you all a blessed happy New Year…
I’m happy to report that we were able to help Sonny and his orphans with the rent payment that was needed. And just a few months ago we helped him buy a home for the orphanage—complete with a fish pond! All nine children at Beulah Children’s Home have been sponsored by compassionate friends like you. And this year we’re trusting that all nine children will receive Christmas clothes, as well as the rest of the orphans in our sponsored orphanages.
A new group photo by their new fish pond, and a happy boy, Aung-Aung, with his first catch!
Will you help us give your sponsored child his or her only Christmas gift this year? 100% of every contribution to the Christmas Gifts for Orphans Fund is used to provide gifts for the children living at our 51 orphanages around the world. $5 provides clothes for one child. If you feel led to contribute more than $5 for each of your sponsored children, that will be great, as it help make up the difference for sponsors who don’t read this email! Just click here to contribute by credit card or bank withdrawal. Thanks so much!
A couple of happy children with their new clothes
For the children,
Elisabeth Walter
To learn how you can best meet the needs of orphans, click here.
