The “Accidental” Emmanuel Orphanage #2

11 Mar

The “Accidental” Emmanuel Orphanage #2


Emmanuel Orphanage’s brand new building, and the children in the upper balcony

I want to tell you a story this month about Emmanuel Orphanage One and Emmanuel Orphanage Two.

About three years ago, when we were visiting the many orphanages that we help in Kalaymyo, Myanmar, I was requested to visit Emmanuel Orphanage. I was told there were just ten children and that they were very desperate. I was much too busy to visit one more orphanage. But as providence would have it, I happened to be nearby on my final day in Kalaymyo, and my guide suggested that we stop in for a few minutes. So we did.

The director wasn’t there, but I visited for a few minutes with the children and the director’s sister. Their situation was heartbreaking. They lived in a very tiny one-room rented house. They had nothing. None of the children attended school because there was no money for school fees. Food was sparse. I asked the children what their favorite food was. They said, “chicken.” I asked them if they ate chicken every week. “No.” Every month? “No.” Every year? “Maybe.” They ate chicken once or twice a year. I left them $200 to buy some chickens, but the director later wrote me and said that the landlord would not allow chickens to be raised on his property.

I didn’t bother to take portraits of the children, knowing that we had hundreds of children waiting for sponsorship already, and so taking more portraits would be pointless. But some friends in France contacted me not long after, wanting to support an orphanage, and they could afford to sponsor fifteen children. I thought of the desperate situation of Emmanuel Orphanage, and to make the story short, we started sending $300 that we received from our friends in France each month to Emmanuel Orphanage.

Soon I received an overjoyed letter from the director. He was overwhelmed by our kindness and repeatedly thanked me. Their lives had been saved, he said. But his name was different than the director of the Emmanuel Orphanage I had visited in Kalaymyo. Upon investigation, I discovered that our partners in Myanmar had given that $300 to a different but equally-desperate Emmanuel Orphanage in a different city (Yangon)!

After some inward debate, I finally decided to instruct our Myanmar partner to each month give Emmanuel Orphanage in Kalaymyo $200 (sponsoring all ten children) and give Emmanuel Orphanage in Yangon $100 (sponsoring five of their children).

Since then, we’ve found more sponsors for both orphanages. We’ve also purchased land for both orphanages. And we’ve provided funding for both to build their own buildings. Emmanuel Orphanage in Yangon is complete (see photo above). Emmanuel Orphanage in Kalaymyo has just begun construction and have finished their foundation. Praise God for happy endings!

Below is a letter we received from pastor Jonah Kham Nawl, director of Emmanuel Orphanage Yangon, telling how his orphanage ministry was started. (I have corrected his spelling and some of his grammar):

The beginning of our orphanage and its existence are as follows. We have already got vision from God…But under the guide of God five Buddhist children without parents came to our church and they begged us to feed and look after them since 2002. We were glad to see them because we wanted to make them change as Christians and also we wanted make them happy and prosperous. We wanted them to be make mature in every thing. So, we accepted then as their parents.

Soon fiveteen children came to us from the Buddhist monastery. We wanted them to be mature in everything such us health education and Christianity. In that mean time some could not attend school. But we let them attend schools whether they are ten years or more. In that time we have no sponsors. Some times we faced with shortage of food and we were in trouble. But God supplied food in time. We some time found that God help even the unbelievers.

After Orphan’s Tear’s aid, we are totally twenty-two and seven gets sponsor. Then you built us a good building. The chilren have complete set of learning aids, such as book, ballpen uniform etc. They can eat bread now. We submit them to some good schools. Now they are advancing more and more. And we can buy bread more. If they all get sponsors they will be more prosperous and happy. We are more prosperous spiritually and physically. Now they can have self-confidence by themselves. They are not coward at all. They are reliable. We are glad because both you and God are wiping the tears of our orphans. Thanks a lot.

New Portraits Almost Ready

Four people have been spending many hours over the past two months organizing, numbering, filing, cropping, editing and preparing all the new portraits of our Myanmar children. Those portraits are almost ready to post at the website. By next month’s update, they’ll be there. You’ll be able to log in to your account at Orphan’s Tear and see how your child has grown! Thanks for your patience in this.

Older Orphans

We currently have about eighty sponsored children who are over age 18, an age which is actually over our intended limit. We’ve been showing them some grace because most it seems are still in school. If you are a sponsor of an over-eighteen-year-old child, please anticipate receiving notification of the ending of that child’s sponsorship in the future. You will, of course, be given the opportunity to “adopt” a younger unsponsored child then.

That is all the news for this month. Thanks to everyone who sponsors a child, everyone who has contributed to the Special Gifts Fund or the Dorms for Orphanages Fund. And because 100% of every gift to Orphan’s Tear is sent overseas to benefit the orphans, thanks to everyone who has given to the General Fund of Heaven’s Family, which makes possible the administration of Orphan’s Tear!

For the Children,

David

To learn how you can best meet the needs of orphans, click here.

Most

1 Recent Comments

  • Mobolaji Korede Oloyede

    You are doing an amazing job. God bless you all.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pin It on Pinterest