Dear Friends,

I wish I could share only happy news from the orphanages you help us support, but this month I have sad news. This sad news, however, is tempered by the hope we have in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We Will See Him Again

Ram Tang, a young man raised at Grace Children’s Home in Yangon, Myanmar, went to be with the Lord just before Christmas. Ram came to Grace as a little boy after his mother died and his bedridden father was unable to care for him.

Ram excelled at Grace. His favorite subject in school was history, and he loved soccer and playing the guitar. He turned 19 years old last August.

In January, the director of Grace wrote to us to tell us what had happened:

Ram Tang got sick and passed away just before Christmas. He almost never gets sick. He even played soccer in the first week of December at children’s conference. There was a competition for the children who can write songs and sing the songs they write. And at that competition Ram Tang also competed and got the third prize in that conference.

And then the next few days he got some fever and was dizzy. We sent him to clinic close to our campus and called doctor to our home to see him. Then doctor told us to go to our village’s hospital. We went there to that hospital and doctors told us to go to the biggest hospital in town and we went there to that hospital at 2 AM at night. We were five who went that night for Ram Tang. As soon as we got to hospital doctors did every test they can or they have instruments. … At last, they told us that that was a serious infection of malaria. It effected his lung and his lung does not work anymore. And after two days he passed away. And we had his funeral service at Grace. So, we, Grace, did not have a good time in December like we had other years.

We were very grieved to hear of Ram’s passing, but rejoiced that he knew Jesus. Orphan’s Tear isn’t just about caring for the physical needs of orphans, but also for their spiritual needs. At Grace, Ram lived in an environment where the gospel was preached and all the children were taught to love and fear the Lord.

Ram’s case is very rare. When we adopt a new orphanage in a tropical climate, it is always our priority to make sure each child has a mosquito net. If you have given to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund, you have helped protect children from malaria.

Thank you so much for not only giving to meet the physical needs of our orphans, but helping to meet their spiritual needs as well. Ram was blessed on earth, and now in heaven.

For His glory,

Elisabeth Walter
Director, Orphan’s Tear division