HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES?

That might sound like an aggressive statement ... but read on and you'll understand what I mean.

According to the US Department of Labor, every month, the average US household spends:

• $50 on personal care products
• $65 on tobacco and alcohol
• $157 on apparel
• $222 on food away from home
• $225 on entertainment

Now some of these figures might not reflect what YOU spend, but they are the national average here in America.
So, back to the original question, "Have you got what it takes?" What it takes ... is only $15 a month.
That's how much of an investment it takes to save the life of ONE orphan by providing ONE meal a day ... every day.
So have you got what it takes ... Do you have $15 a month? Your gift of $15 a month will provide ONE meal everyday to a needy orphan ... and save his/her life.

So, please, trim a little here, cut bak a little there ... just do whatever it takes to feed and save the life of ONE orphan.

You can make your gift online by visiting our website ... http://www.foodfororphans.org/.

Pray for Esmeralda

I'm asking you to pray right now for little Esmeralda, a 5-year-old orphan I met in Peru. Esmeralda was conceived as the result of a brutal rape. Her pregnant mother tried to abort her by drinking a bottle of aspirin. Born blind with only one-fourth of a brain, tiny Esmeralda was given no hope. The doctors gave up on her and her mother abandoned her. A feeding tube was inserted and the nurses waited for this innocent child to die.

Eventually she was sent to the orphanage where she was held, fed and loved. There she thrived.

Esmeralda learned to eat and loves to be held. For five years, she successfully fought for survival ... all because someone simply took the time to show her some love.

But now Esmeralda is in poor health. Over the past 6 month, her little body has deteriorated at an accelerated rate ... and again ... the doctors expect her to die.

Because of your donations, Esmeralda has experienced the loving touch of her caregivers, other orphans and the love of Christ.

Thank you for praying for this little girl and those who love her.

Another container of food is ready to ship.

It's not often a miracle happens multiple times. Food for Orphans was recently contacted and told that another container of this very nutritious food was going to be available to ship very soon. Now that is really a miracle!


Now we have a unique opportunity to ensure that more orphans will receive a life-saving meal every day. 285,000 meals are ready to go, but they have to just sit there until we can ship them.


If you would like to ship 1,000 of these meals to the orphans in the Dominican Republic, then make your donation for $75. This shipment is ready to go, it literally is waiting for shipment.

Be like Jesus ... Feed 5,000

If you make your donation for $375, we will be able to ship 5,000 of these pre-packaged meals to the orphans. Jesus fed 5,000, and now so can you.

We need your help now. So please log on to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ and make a sacrificial gift today.

Myanmar Recovery is Slow

The country of Myanmar has suffered greatly from natural disasters these last few years. Hundreds of thousands have died, and thousands of children have been orphaned.

The young lady in the photo is one of those victims. She lost both her parents in Cyclone Nargis last year. Now she has dedicated her life to helping to care for the other orphans in the orphanage. She is such a wonderful blessing to others.

Earlier this year, Food for Orphans president, Gary VanDyke, and his wife, Renee, visited the orphans in Myanmar. While there, they were blessed to be able to train over 100 dedicated workers who are caring for the orphans of Myanmar.

Food for Orphans and donors like you are feeding nearly 500 orphans in eight separate orphanages in Myanmar.

If you aren't presently a donor, won't you consider pledging at least $15 a month to feed 1 orphan every day? It's really very easy.

http://www.foodfororphans.org/

Look at this face ...

Isn't she beautiful?

But ... she has no family. Just the other children and caregivers in the orphanage where she lives in the Central African Republic.

Our goal at Food for Orphans is to make sure that she gets healthy meals every day of every month.

This is where we need your help. With the simple donation of $15 [the cost of one meal out] each month, this little girl can eat healthy meals every day.

That's not much on your part to make a HUGE difference in her life.

Think about it, ok?

Go to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ to make your donation and your pledge.

GIVING BACK: Feeding orphans is couple’s mission

The darkness of cancer hasn't extinguished the light that impassions Gary and Renee VanDyke to feed hungry orphans. Although both were striken with cancer last year, donations to the nonprofit organization, Food for Orphans, grew 4,000 percent from 2007 to 2008.

"The desire to help orphans is universal. It's been phenomenal," Gary says.

Gary has witnessed first hand the realities of orphans who are barely surviving. In the Central African Republic orphanages are full and children living on the streets create human piles at night to keep warm while they sleep. AIDS is rampant in many countries. In Thailand, evidence of the flourishing child sex trade is obvious and seemingly unstoppable.

"There's a big difference seeing it on TV and walking into a village of poverty, seeing the need and feeling it under your feet and tasting it on your tongue," Gary says. "I found organizations were helping with education and health care, but no one was focusing on food for orphans."

A visit to Myanmar has already been made this year, where they found the orphanage they were supporting had burned to the ground in a kitchen accident. The children were distributed to other orphanages to live while they waited for the slow wheels of government beauracracy to turn in order to rebuild. Gary and Renee plan to visit South Africa and the Dominican Republic this year. Other countries where they support orphanages include Venezuela, Liberia and Peru. They also want to visit Haiti, Cambodia and China to see about starting projects in those countries.

"Children hear the Gospel,but they aren't required to become Christians or agree. We're talking about survival here!" Gary says.

Renee says, "It's rewarding to visit and see the difference in children from when they began the program. They no longer have lice; their hair is shiny. They are healthy looking. You can see the impact."

To Help: http://www.foodfororphans.org/ or call 719-591-7777.

Orphan Sunday is coming -- November 8, 2009.

November 8 is being recognized by thousands of churches across America as Orphan Sunday, a day to pray for and bless orphans around the world.

Food for Orphans requests your participation in Orphan Sunday. Ask each family to doante ONE meal per month ($15) to feed ONE orphan every single day. Their ONE Meal Miracle.

Share ONE meal ... Feed ONE orphan. It's that easy.

Make November 8, 2009 Orphan Sunday at your church....and be a part of a ONE Meal Miracle.

http://www.foodfororphans.org/

He was hungry all the time ...

While visiting the orphans in Central African Republic, we met Stanislas, a brave little nine-year-old boy.

His aunt had been caring for him since his parents died, but a few nights ago his aunt also died.

Life has been tough for all of his nine years. Now he faces the challenge of finding food on his own.

As an orphan in the Central African Republic, Stanislas' home is made of mud and sticks. He is hungry all the time because finding food is very difficult. His body is weak and his bones are twisted from malnutrition.

But Food for Orphans promised Stanislas that we would make sure he had food to eat every day. Yesterday he enjoyed a rare lollipop.

Last night, brave little Stanislas died.

We wish we had found him sooner.

Help Food for Orphans find them sooner. Help us be there for more children like Stanislas. Help us make Stanislas' 9 short years mean something by helping to feed more orphans in the Central African Republic -- and elsewhere.

Simply donate the cost of ONE meal out -- a mere $15.00 US -- each month to feed ONE orphan every day for ONE month.

Make your own ONE MEAL MIRACLE.

Don't let another Stanislas die because you hesitated.

http://www.foodfororphans.org/

MAKE YOUR PLEDGE NOW.

Thinking about the orphans ...

Today there are more than 143 million orphans in the world; and every two seconds another child becomes an orphan.

42,000 new orphans every day
400,000 orphans die every year due to malnutrition
70% say that food is their greatest need
60 million orphans go to bed hungry
90 seconds, each time another orphan dies from malnutrition.

Sixty million orphans cry themselves to sleep every night with pain in their empty bellies ... alone, scared, and hungry. A lack of food is the orphan's biggest problem.

"The first three years of life are the most critical period of brain growth and development. Child hunger causes physical and mental impairment that may never be reversed. Child hunger also creates tremendous costs that are completely unavoidable. There is no better investment in a prosperous future than investing in ending childhood hunger." [John Cook, Ph.D., of the Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, a nationally-recognized expert on child hunger ... http://feedingamerica.org/newsroom/press-release-archive/child-food-insecurity.aspx]

The mission of Food for Orphans is to make sure that as many orphans as possible receive at least one nutritious meal per day. But we can't do it without you. Please help us feed these precious orphans.

Make a difference in the life of an orphaned child. Show them that someone cares. Become their Champion.

Go to http://www.foodfororphans.org/. and make your pledge.

Thinking about the orphans ...

Today there are more than 143 million orphans in the world; and every two seconds another child becomes an orphan.

42,000 new orphans every day
400,000 orphans die every year due to malnutrition
70% say that food is their greatest need
60 million orphans go to bed hungry
90 Seconds - an orphan dies from malnutrition

Sixty million orphans cry themselves to sleep every night with pain in their empty bellies ... alone, scared, and hungry. A lack of food is the orphan's biggest problem.

"The first three years of life are the most critical period of brain growth and development. Child hunger causes physical and mental impairment that may never be reversed. Child hunger also creates tremendous costs that are completely unavoidable. There is no better investment in a prosperous future than investing in ending childhood hunger." [John Cook,Ph.D., of the Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, a nationally-recognized expert on child hunger, conducted this analysis ...

The mission of Food for Orphans is to make sure that as many orphans as possible receive at least one nutritious meal per day. But we can't do it without you.

Please help Food for Orphans feed these precious orphans. Make a difference in the life of an orphaned child. Show them that someone cares. Become their Champion.

Go to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ and make a difference by making a pledge.