Leaving for the Dominican Republic in only a few weeks!

 

The excitement is increasing as we finalize our plans to travel to the Dominican Republic with Stephen Baldwin and his family. We have several families going and are anxious to take off.

We covet your prayers as we complete our plans and as we travel. We are anxious to see the orphans again and see what new things we can do for them there.

For more information on this mission trip and other places we support go to our new website at www.foodfororphans.org.

Join us in prayer and in feeding these precious children.

To donate funds to help our team on this trip to the Dominican Republic or to help feed an orphan click here: Donate Now

When a Sparrow Falls From a Tree

Have you ever considered that if the all-powerful God notices when a sparrow falls from a tree, He must know when a child becomes an orphan? Why, then, are there so many orphans? And why don't we see each of them being cared for?

 
Honestly, I'd be lying if I said this thought never perplexes me.

In Matthew 25: 34-35, Jesus tells us about a day when the King will say to those on His right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink."

Could it be that God is asking us to see His image in those who suffer injustice and suffering? Could it be that God hides Himself in the stigma of the "unlovable"?

The King responds, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one for the least of these, you did for me."

Wow! This passage captures the very heart of God, the heart that longs for us to look into the eyes of the one who is hurting -- the broken -- and see the face of Christ. As we minister to the scarred individual, we are reaching out and touching Christ Himself.

Herein lies the challenge. Will you look into the face of the orphan, the sick, the stranger and the poor? Will  you look past their agonies and stigma? Will you look past all their hardness, deception and grief? Will you resist blaming or lecturing them about solutions to their problems? Will you look with eyes free of judgment, fear and disgust? Will you just gaze into their eyes and seek to absorb just a piece of their suffering into your own body? Will you purpose to see in them the face of the One who took all your inadequacies and nailed them to a tree?

Oh, the debt of love we owe!

Maybe orphan care is less about orphans and more about God crushing our very hearts. maybe it's less a matter of rescuing children from neglect and more a matter of rescuing us from the mire of self-absorption. Maybe it's not about just looking at a broken life, but  more about being broken as we see the face of Jesus.

You may ask, "How do I get the chance to see Jesus in the face of one so needy?" 

I challenge you to investigate the possibility of becoming  involved in one of our mission trips or pledge to give $15 a month to provide nutritious meals every day to one orphan ... every month. Allow God to work through your life and provide nourishment for a confused and hurting child. It is my prayer that God will challenge your heart to answer His call to become involved with Food for Orphans.

Go to our new website, www.foodfororphans.org and make your commitment now.

Naw Lah Lah Pho's Story

Naw Lah Lah Pho arrived at Grace Home from a village called Thayagon near Toungoo Myanmar.

Her father died when she was two years old and her mother suffered from mental illness. The mother abandoned the children and they lived with the grandfather for a short time. A Christian worker in the area knew of the situation and suggested that Lah Lah Pho come to Grace Home.

She was immediately taken in by the other children and has grown up in this environment. Lah Lah Pho has shown a love for the younger children and upon graduation from 10th grade has been taken on as an associate staff member, in training.

Last time we were in Myanmar for a week of staff training she attended every day and has become a wonderful role model for the children at Grace School. She has the heart of an evangelist. At school she told her friends about Jesus' love and is encouraging them to seek the Lord.

Now she thanks God for every situation and especially for the staff and workers at Grace Home that have been her family.

If you want to help orphaned children like Lah Lah Pho, log on to www.foodfororphans.org and make your pledge.

Every Minute of Every Day in the USA

$848,555 is spent on advertising
$665,905 is spent on legal gambling ...
$199,701 is speng on alcohol ...
$ 72,300 is spent on hair care ...
$ 66,590 is spent on bottled water ...
$ 60,882 is spent by cheerleaders on their sport ...
$ 34,246 is spent on cosmetics ...
$ 28,538 is spent on flowers ...
$ 28,538 is spent on perfume ...
$ 19,205 is spent on Prozac ...
$   1,902 is spent to purchase butterflies ...


2,137 pounds of popcorn is consumed ...
21,000 pizzas are purchased ...
1,000 cell phones are sold ...

AND -

30 more children become orphaned 

Only $15 a month will feed an orphan every day.

$ .50 a day or less than 4/100 of a penny per minute.

Pocket change CAN save a life.

What do you have in YOUR pocket?

http://www.foodfororphans.org/

Tony and AJ

Brothers Tony and AJ are the best of friends.

They can't afford not to be since their parents died three years ago.

When their mother got sick, neighbors carried her away to a far off clinic. The boys came to visit her one morning and were told she had died. 

That's all.

Not,

"we're here to help you"

or

"come with us and we'll care for you"

or

"we'll take you to a foster home"

They were given no help at all.

Now the two boys live alone, barely surviving.

Their relatives were supportive at first, but eventually focused on their own lives.

Their uncle lives just across the road, but rarely helps them. Sometimes the boys go days without food.


Stories like these are stories we hear all the time when we talk with our orphanages. We would like to help ALL the orphans, but our donations only go so far.

You can help with a donation of on $15 each month. $15 will feed one orphan every day for a month. Won't you pledge to help just one little boy like Tony or AJ?


$15 is all it takes...the cost of eating one meal at a restaurant.


Visit http://www.foodfororphans.org/ or call 719-591-7777 and make your donation now.

Travel to Dominican Republic with Stephen Baldwin!!

This is a Special Invitation

from actor

Stephen Baldwin

“I and my family are planning to visit the Food for Orphans projects in the Dominican Republic … and I want you to join us. It’s going to be a lot of fun. There are only 20 spots left ... so sign-up now!”

The trip planned to the Dominican Republic is for Aug 9 – 13.

Cost: $865.00 plus airfare (Ground package covers double occupancy hotel room, all meals, bottled water, in-country transportation, translator, tours & museum fees, special dinner for orphans, and travel insurance.)

Itinerary:

• Aug 9: Travel to DR
• Aug 10: Visit orphanages; visit home for abandoned children of prostitutes, serve a special dinner to AIDS orphans
• Aug 11: Visit orphanages, visit children living at city dump, basketball with teen boy orphans
• Aug 12: Sightseeing, visit to very old fort, tour museum, shopping, free time
• Aug 13: Fly home

 Deadlines:

• May 30: A non-refundable $200 deposit per person must be received
• June 10: Air fare must be paid-in-full (However, you may make your own flight arrangements.)
• July 9: The remainder of the ground package must be paid-in-full

There’s not much time left, so RSVP immediately by calling 719-591-7777 or email info@foodfororphans.org.

You won’t find a more loved child anywhere in the world than
 Esmeralda. 

Many of you have been praying for this abandoned child who was left to die. This is an update to our post on December 10, 2009.

Review:

Esmeralda was conceived as the result of a brutal rape. Her pregnant mother tried to kill her by drinking a bottle of aspirin. Born blind with only one fourth of a brain, Esmeralda was given no hope. The doctors gave up on her, saying that she would be dead in less than one year ... and her mother abandoned her.

Last year, Esmeralda was in poor health. Taken off of life support, she was released by the doctors to go home to die. When we saw her in February, she was so frail and weak, we felt like she only had hours to live.

Update:

When the doctors removed all medicine and all life support, by a miracle, she did not die. This little girl, now 5 years old, became a fighter. She started to improve immediately, and Esmeralda is now recovering.

Today Casa Luz is her home again. The orphans, workers and volunteers are taking care of her with as much pampering as possible.

Continue to pray for Esmeralda … her fight is not yet over. Neither is her future.

If you would like to contribute toward Esmeralda's care, go to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ and make an online donation or call 719-591-7777 and talk to Gary.

Just the facts

• 145 million orphans worldwide
• 1 in every 13 children or orphaned
• 44,000 new orphans every day
• Every two seconds, another child becomes an orphan
• Every 90 seconds an orphan dies from malnutrition and hunger
• 400,000 orphans die every year of hunger and starvation
• Sixty million orphans go to bed hungry every night

OUR MISSION

Food for Orphans' mission is to provide food to as many orphans as possible. We partner with many orphans cregivers around the world who nee dour assistance providing food and care to the orphans.

Your $15 a month gift will provide life-saving healthful food every day to one precious orphan.

EFFECTIVENESS

Food for Orhans' primary focus is on the orphans' biggest problem - the lack of food. Proper nutrition improves their immune system, helps them fight off disease, helps them focus in school, and eases the ache in their belly. In an effort to maximize your gift, 87% of all donations goes towards program services ... feeding as many orphans as possible.

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

A Life-Saving Formula

"Kids Against Hunger" blessed the orphans of Food for Orphans last year by donating mover one-half million highly-nutritious meals.

The formulation of these meals was the result of the combined efforts of executives and researchers from Cargill, Pillsbury, General Mills, and Archer Daniels Midland. These scientists formulated a good that would meet all the nutritional requirements of severely malnourished children for physical growth and mental development.

The result was the creation of a balanced, high-nutrition food that can reverse the starvation process and restore a child's health and mental alertness.

The meal ingredients are formulated by food scientists to provide a rich source of easily digestible protein, carbohydrates and vitamins needed by an undernourished child's body and mind. The food is also acceptable to the broad diversity of ethnic tastes and religious differences around the world. The food offers all 9 of the essential amino acids required for complete nutrition; something that can't be said about other typical food relief sources such as rice or beans alone. it is also very simple to prepare: requiring only one cup of boiling water to make a complete meal.

Thanks to the generous gifts of several donors, we raised the money to ship the first container with 285,000 meals to the Central Africal Republic. As noted in a previous post, the African children loved the meals.

We recently shipped another container to our Dominican Republic orphanages. Recent hurricanes wreaked havoc on the island and it's people. Thankfully, our orphanages were not affected by the earthquake that leveled Port au Prince, Haiti.

Can we Count on You?

It takes 150 people, donating $150 each to ship one container of food. Each $150 gift will provide 1,900 healthy meals to orphans.

Will you become one of the "Special 150" and make a gift to ship this wonderful miracle of highly-nutritious food to the orphans who need it desperately?

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

Is Your Church Involved?

Has your church answered God's call to care for orphans?

James 1:27 "...look after the orphans ..."

Psalm 82:3 "... Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless ..."

Job 29:11-13 "... I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him."

Deuteronomy 24:19 "When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the fatherless."

Isaiah 1:17 "Defend the cause of the orphans."

Matthew 14:16 "Jesus replied, '... You give them something to eat.'"

John 21:15 "Jesus said, 'Do you love me? Then feed my lambs.'"

www.foodfororphans.org

You can volunteer

Want to do more? Please contact Food for Orphans and we will provide you with ideas on how you can answer God's clear call-to-action to care for Orphans.

www.foodfororphans.org
info@foodfororphans.org
719-591-7777

Orphans in Africa say "THANK YOU"

Hundreds of donors like you contributed to the special shipment of pre-packaged, chicken-flavored rice casserole meals to the orphans in the Central African Republic. This is the first time that the orphans had ever seen this kind of food, so they had to learn a new way of cooking.

But when they tasted this new food, they loved it! And as you can see in the pictures, they eat it in the traditional way,with their bare hands! How fun!

Thank you for blessing the orphans with this special shipment. It is exciting to know that together, we have provided them much needed food.

I am sure that you have saved many lives. You are a blessing to these orphans.

To continue to feed these orphans, go to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ and make your donation.

2009 ... What an Uphill Battle!

2009 has been a tough year for some of us. We are sad to report that Food for Orphans' donations are way down. And our hearts are broken that we had to reduce the amount of support for food we are providing to some of the orphans. Food for Orphans is definitely in a crisis ... but we believe that there are people that are wiling to "tighten-the-belt" just a little bit ... to save the live of ONE orphan.

We are trying to continue at the pace we started, but it's been difficult, even after cutting all of our expenses down-to-the-bone. Unfortunately, the orphans are very sad that there is not as much food. It is very difficult telling them that we had to make the reductions.

I truly believe that 2010 will begin on a happy and blessed note.

FACT: Over 1,000 orphans die every day from starvation.

But here is another fact ... ONE ORPHAN CAN STILL BE SAVED. That is ... if your family will make the commitment to feed ONE orphan (only $15 per month). All you have to do is log on to http://www.foodfororphans.org/ and fill out the donation form, checking the "monthly" box.

Please, begin the year by making the largest gift to the orphans that you possibly can. Help us get back on schedule with a feeding program for these orphans who deserve a better life.

Make it a Happy 2010 for the orphans by feeding ONE orphan and also making a gift to get the feeding program back on its feet.

Thanks, and Happy New Year.

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/