Van Par Mawi, at New Eden Orphanage in Myanmar

Dear Orphan’s Tear Friends,

I’m happy to report that our second team successfully returned from Myanmar three weeks ago, and we were able to take new portraits of every child, sponsored and unsponsored, at the thirty orphanages that we assist there. As I’m writing this, several members of our paid and volunteer staff are sorting through them all, choosing the best portraits of each child, and assigning them appropriate numbers. Once that is done, we’ll upload them to our website so that, if you sponsor a child or children in Myanmar, you’ll be able to see their new portraits by logging in to your account at OrphansTear.org. I’ll let you know when that is all ready. There will also be a feature that will allow you to download a high-resolution horizontal photo (like the one above) that you can print out or use as “wall paper” or a screen saver for your computer!

Four Years and Counting…

Photos of Tanzanian orphans from our first email announcing Orphan’s Tear 4 years ago: Alex Chaka, Rehema Omari, and Sophia Thomas

This month marks four years since Orphan’s Tear began. After returning from Tanzania in February of 2005, I sent out an email looking for sponsors for 380 children in Myanmar and Tanzania. Since then we’ve expanded to include Christian orphanages in eight nations. Currently, 948 are sponsored. For this we praise God and thank you! It has been wonderful to pass on 100% of every sponsor’s gifts to the orphanage where their child (or children) live. We’ve learned so much in the past four years, and we thank you for your patience as we have learned. Our goal is to continue climbing the ladder of excellence!

The Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund

I haven’t reported on what we’ve been doing over the past few months with contributions to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund. So below is a quick run-down of the last few months’ major disbursements. It may be a little boring, but I just want you to gain an idea of what happens with gifts to that fund.

Jordan Orphanage: $1,000 for new toilets
Grace Orphanage (Yangon): $1,300 for a used hand-tractor for plowing their new rice field
Christ’s Home for the Needy: $2,150 for a mini hydro-electric generator
Shalom Orphanage: $1,260 for medical bills for two children hurt in accidents, $630 for electric meter box and electrical hookup
Mission to Homeless Children (Tanzania): $15,000 to complete the construction of their new building
Life Orphanage: $3,400 for the ongoing construction of their new building
Jehovah Jireh Orphanage: $1,500 for new toilets
Rapha Orphanage: $15,000 for their new building, $120 for a sewing machine
Handicapped Care Center: $2,850 for an iron gate and fencing, $1,000 for the surgery needs of the director’s wife
Lakhu Children’s Home: $7,000 to complete their new building
Grace Orphanage (Kalaymyo): $450 for a new electrical generator
Mercy Children’s Home: $1,000 for back surgery for the director
Emmanuel Orphanage (Kalaymyo): $7,500 for the construction of their new building
Mephibosheth Children’s Home: $450 to purchase an electrical generator
Life Concern Orphanage: $750 for drilling a well
Anna’s Orphanage: $300 for a child’s treatment for TB
Goshen Children’s Home: $500 for a rice barn to store the rice from the rice field we recently purchased for them, $300 for painting their dorm, $47.24 for emergency medical needs
Bethel Orphanage: $1,000 for new toilets
Emmanuel Children’s Home (Yangon): $1,000 for new toilets
Faith Orphanage: $5,300 for a water-retention wall to stop the flooding of their campus in the rainy season
Zion Children’s Home (unsponsored orphanage): $100 special gift
Taunggyi Orphanage (unsponsored orphanage): $300 special gift
Hallelujah Children’s Home (unsponsored orphanage): $450 + $146.86 special gifts
Tamu Orphanage (unsponsored orphanage): $78.74 special gift
Grace and Mercy Children’s Home (unsponsored orphanage): $200 special gift
Abandoned Children Orphanage (unsponsored orphanage): $236.22 special gift
New Eden Orphanage (unsponsored orphanage): $78.74 special gift
Children’s Refugee Center (unsponsored orphanage): $236.22 special gift
Light of the World Children’s Home (an unsponsored orphanage): $500 special gift

Many of those last disbursements, if you read them, are to orphanages in Myanmar that have not yet been adopted by Orphan’s Tear, and they thus have no sponsors for their children. The directors of those orphanages are often lined up to meet me when I am in Myanmar, and we do for them what we can.

Christmas Gifts Brought Great Joy

Finally, I’m happy to tell you that we were able to send five dollars per child, sponsored and unsponsored, to all forty orphanages that we assist each month, so that every child received a Christmas gift in December. Usually the directors of the orphanages buy the children clothing, blankets, or school supplies with the Christmas funds we send. Here is a letter from the director of one of our orphanages in Nepal:

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. With all your support we were able to buy Christmas gifts and to organise Children Christmas programme to our children. They were very happy to get Christmas gifts and they never had celebrated such a nice Christmas till now. Please convey our thanks to all the sponsors who have supported with financially and spiritually to our Children home ministry.

From Madhu/Gyani at Love and Care Children Home

OK, that should be enough news for this month! Thanks to everyone who sponsors a child, and everyone who has contributed to the Special Gifts Fund or the Dorms for Orphanages Fund. 100% of everything we receive is sent overseas to the orphanages we support with your help.

For the Children,

David