Angela Par Te, Director of Emmanuel Children Orphanage, after she had wiped away her tears.

Dear Friends,

This will be my last blog post from my time in Myanmar, but I want to share what happened today. Today’s experience was just another reminder of why we do what we do.

The tears began to flow from Angela’s eyes as she shared with me the plight of Myanmar’s orphans, and she often choked on her words because of her tears.

This was the first time I had met Angela Par Te in person, although I’d corresponded with her over the past few months about the 15 orphans in her care.

Angela told me that most orphans in Myanmar are sent to Buddhist monasteries. Monks will travel around Myanmar to find orphans, and then promise their relatives that they will give the child an education. Because the relatives are already struggling to provide for their own families, they often take the monks up on their offer. While the children do get an education, they are also raised as Buddhists and become monks.

Angela said that even poor Christian families will give their children up to the Buddhist monasteries. All for the sake of an education since they can’t pay their children’s school fees.

Angela appologized for the tears, but I was thankful for them. I got to see her heart for raising up children to love the Lord Jesus, and to provide a way to escape a life of Buddhism.

While this might be the end of my travel blogs from Myanmar, I write at least once a week about encouraging stories and updates from our orphanages. Stay tuned for more news about the orphanages!

Elisabeth Walter
Director, Orphan’s Tear division