FROM WORTHLESS TO PRICELESS!

When Angelina was dropped off at the Dominican Republic orphanage, the caregivers nearly gagged when they saw her.  They had never seen any child in such terrible condition.  Not only was she starving to death, but she was full of worms and parasites, and her small, bony body was covered with open sores.  Instead of clean, healthy hair, her tiny scalp bore several raw, open sores full of squirming maggots.  She had been considered worthless, but her rescuers saw that this little bundle of human misery was priceless.

God saw her intense suffering and responded to the prayers and tireless love of her new caregivers with His specialty - miracles!  She was completely healed from all of the parasites, worms and infections!  He began  healing her heart, too.  By the tender age of five years old, she was running and playing with the other children, smiling joyrfully and acting like a normal child. 


Their smiles say it all! 

They are loved and fed now!



 When the caregivers first saw Angelina, it was nearly impossible to envision a normal future for her, but the impossible has happened.  She is being loved, cared for, fed and clothed.  She might remember that her parents abandoned her and that no one wanted to care for her.  She might remember being hungry and hurting all over her body.  She might remember what it was like to be considered worthless, but those days are over for Angelina.  She is surrounded by love now!  She knows she is priceless!




Gary VanDyke embraces orphans
in the Dominican Republic

Children like Angelina are the reasons we do what we do.  They are priceless to God and to us.  We provide food to the orphanage that rescued Angelina, and to so many others also unloved, abandoned and orphaned.  We change the future of these children by giving them the strength and nourishment to live and grow.  Their needs are great, but we start with the most critical.  Jesus said, "Feed My lambs," and that's exactly what we do.

 Choosing to feed just one child for $15 a month seems like a small step, but when it is the difference between life and death to that child, it's a giant step toward a hopeful and promising future.  

We Help Care For 600 Orphans in the Central African Republic!

There are 600 orphans in orphan care centers we support in the city of Bangui, Central African Republic. CAR is home to a staggering number of orphans, largely due to AIDS, but also as a result of civil war and parasitic disease. In fact, of the 4,000,000 people living in Central African Republic, one-third are orphans!  A community in Bangui near one of our centers is built on a mass grave, which is poisoning the water, making the children in the area very ill.  Everyone, including Edmond, the orphan director over the Bangui centers, is heroically living life without many basic needs. Even so, Edmond lives and breathes caring for the orphans in his centers. 

The centers in Bangui also provide Bible instruction, occupational training, and tutoring. The teachers are asking for more food to send home with the orphans because they are not getting enough, but there are other important reasons to send food home. Many families forced to care for orphaned children in their extended familyare burdened by another child to feed when there is already so little to eat. When the orphans can bring food back with them, they are viewed differently, as helping provide for the other children in the family who are just as hungry, but aren't orphans. Food for Orphans is partnering with Vision Trust to send a large shipment of food to Bangui. 

The teachers are champions of the orphans in this region. They visit the homes of the children and check on each one, reporting illnesses to the center nurse, and exploring why some children have not been coming to the center. They, along with Edmond and his family, demonstrate daily what it means to obey James 1:27, faithfully caring for the fatherless and the orphans. They do everything they possibly can to safeguard these fragile, precious little ones, but they are facing enormous challenges.

Orphans in countries such as CAR deal with many more layers of tragedy and loss once they lose their parents. In addition to being a burden to their caregivers, they are often loaned to work for other families, which means that they are unable to walk to the center for school and their meals. Removing the children from the centers who are not being allowed to utilize the resources set aside for them is a very painful decision, but it seems to be the only way to let the orphans' caretakers know they can't use the orphans as they want to without losing needed food and support.

Please pray for Edmond, his family, the teachers, the 600 orphans in our centers, and this troubled nation where even the children with parents are suffering from hunger and disease. Please pray for the resources to send a large shipment of food and supplies to this area, and for God to show that He is the Father of the fatherless, and that He is faithful to meet their needs through those who have so much more. 

Are You Growing A Garden Like This?

There is a beautiful place in impoverished Zimbabwe called God's Garden, carefully grown and nurtured by Yana and Davison. And what makes it so beautiful? Not what, but who! Yana and Davison, and the 500 children they love and feed. Only 240 double orphans (no living parents) are registered with God's Garden to be fed and cared for, but more than 250 children with one parent who do not get enough to eat at home also line up at mealtime, and they are fed along with the others.  Some of the children walk 10 km just to get a meal. 

Davison and Yana care for God's Garden with just a few faithful volunteers who feed and teach the children .  To these children, they are the link between life and death. 




Zimbabwe has some serious problems.  The government wanted to stay in power, so they took land away from farmers and divided it up, giving it to lots of people who have no idea how to grow anything, so the new landowners would vote for them. Furthermore, the country is in a very serious, longterm drought and there is no irrigation. 

Most medical personnel have left the area because of the dramatic lack of medical equipment and supplies.  When children need treatment, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to find what's needed.  How tragic for a country that is being devastated by AIDS and HIV!  Most of the 500 children have worms and other parasites from their dirty water, and many are ill with infections and viruses.  Yana and Davison want to raise enough money to dig a well to provide clean water to their children. 

VisionTrust and Food for Orphans is partnering with Yana and Davison to provide a large shipment of food, medical supplies, over-the-counter medicines and children's books to enable this faithful couple to continue caring for God's Garden.

Emmanuel

“And they will call him Emmanuel:

[Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14]

Recently my church had a guest speaker come to talk to us about his charity helping orphans of the world. He told a story that really moved me….and I think it will move you too.

“Milton” had just taken the position of president of this orphans charity when he found out that they had 800 orphans who had lost their sponsors because of the economic downturn. He decided then that the charity would not take on any new orphans until those 800 were sponsored again.

Now, during a trip to some of his orhans in Africa, he was asked to speak with a man who had walked for two days to talk to him. Milton agreed and sat to talk with this man. The man told him he was a retired teacher who owned a small farm. On his farm he was caring for 157 AIDS orphans…all by himself. Due to the drought in their country, the farm wasn’t producing enough for the children to eat. He had walked 2 days to ask Milton if his charity could find sponsors for his children.

Milton explained to him that although he understood his predeciment, he would not be able to help his children because of their new policy. He explained how they were trying to find new sponsors for the 800 children who had lost their sponsors because of the US economic problems, and their new policy was to find sponsors for these children first.

The retired teacher nodded his understanding and asked if he could pray for Milton. “Sure,” Milton told him. Then the teacher stood up, put his hands on Milton’s shoulders and prayed for Milton, the charity, the 800 children who needed sponsors and for the “horrible horrible economic troubles in the United States.”

After that prayer, the teacher thanked Milton for his time, left for his two day walk back to his home and Milton sat there feeling “this small.”

When he turned to his interpreter, Milton asked, “what was that man’s name?” His interpreter replied, “Emmanuel.”

Did you know “Emmanuel” means “God With Us”? It took a man, walking two days and praying for what he thought was a horrible situation here in the US — when he had 157 starving and sickly mouths to feed, clothe and educate all by himself — to bring God’s will back into the charity. One cannot arbitrarily decide to help or not to help when God is in the details. HE will find the way, we just have to let Him lead.

Since their meeting, Milton has managed to find sponsors for almost all of Emmanuel’s kids. After telling that story, members of my church were lining up to sponsor one of Emmanuel’s kids.

Now, Food for Orphans has been asked to help this charity with food to help feed their orphans. We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be able to help feed Emmanuel’s kids, but we are a small charity and our funds have all been earmarked for existing orphanages.

This is where you come in. We know you can find a way to help.

How many times have you eaten out this week? Two? Three? More? How much did you pay for just ONE meal? In the US, the average meal in a nice restaurant costs about $15.00. ONE meal. That same $15.00 would feed ONE orphan, ONE healthy meal, every day for ONE month!

Now, is your waistline starting to expand? Could you forego just ONE meal out each month so that an orphan could have healthy meals EVERY DAY for a month?

Think about it. And that’s a pretty small sacrifice to make. It will make you healthier and it will make that orphan healthier. Of course we wouldn’t think of limiting you to ONE meal…how about 2 or 3?

“Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world.”

That’s how the song goes. I think He’d want us to love them too. All of them.

Won’t you follow His example and help us feed those hungry little ones?

ONE meal is all it takes.

$15.00. ONE meal for you.

Thirty meals for ONE orphan.

That makes a BIG difference.

Log on to our website foodfororphans.org and donate now.

Make your own One Meal Miracle.

Be an Emmanuel.

You’ll be glad you did.

http://www.foodfororphans.org/ 

The Last Supper?

Here’s an interesting interpretation of Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” by the late Joey Velasco.  I found the juxtaposition of the children with Christ at the Last Supper to be quite profound … at least as far as Food for Orphans is concerned.

Think about the title of this blog, “The One Meal Miracle”. Do you know where that came from? It came from Jesus himself. He performed a one meal miracle when he fed the 5,000 from a small boy’s lunch of 4 loaves of bread and 2 fishes. That is our inspiration here at Food for Orphans. We want to make every meal for the orphans we support to be that miracle.

The children in this picture by Joey Velasco appear to come from several socio-economic levels. Some are dressed nicely for a meal with the Savior. Others maybe not so nicely. Some may have parents. One is apparently a street kid who’s learned to fend for himself however he can by taking money from the purse while he’s looking around to see if he’s getting noticed.

See the small child beneath the table? He’s the orphan. He’s stuffing his poor face as fast as he can because he’s so hungry. These are the little ones we try to help. We don’t want them to feel like there’s not enough food. Jesus would feed them all they need. Food for Orphans wants to do that, too.

The children we feed come from many many different circumstances. Some are desperately hungry like the little one under the table, just grabbing the scraps. Others are in better places, in an orphanage that feeds their little bodies as well as their little souls, and gives them a nice soft bed to sleep in and lots of hugs and love. But we know they all need help. I sometimes wonder, “how many of our little orphans have had their ‘last supper’? The very thing we are trying to prevent happens anyway … somewhere.

Consider the story I posted a couple of years ago about Stanislas:

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 earlier his aunt also died.

Life had been tough for all of his nine years. After his aunt's death, he faced the challenge of finding food on his own. As an orphan in the Central African Republic, Stanislas' home was made of mud and sticks. He was hungry all the time because finding food was very difficult. His body was weak and his bones were twisted from malnutrition.

But Food for Orphans promised Stanislas that we would make sure he had food to eat every day. That day he enjoyed a rare lollipop. That night, brave little Stanislas died.

We wish we had found him sooner.

We know we can't feed all the starving orphans in the world,

but we’d like to try.

This is where YOU come in.

How many times have you eaten out this week? Two? Three? More? How much did you pay for just ONE meal? Did you know that in the US, the average meal in a nice restaurant costs about $15.00. ONE meal. That same $15.00 would feed ONE orphan, ONE healthy meal, every day for ONE month!

Now -- is your waistline starting to expand? Could you forego just ONE meal out each month so that an orphan could have healthy meals every day for a month?

Think about it. That’s a pretty small sacrifice to make. And it will make you healthier and it will make that orphan healthier. Of course we wouldn’t think of limiting you to ONE meal…how about 2 or 3?

“Jesus loves the little children. All the children of the world.”

That’s how the song goes. I think He’d want us to love them too. All of them.

Won’t you follow His example and help us feed those hungry little ones?

ONE meal is all it takes.

$15.00. ONE meal for you.

Thirty meals for ONE orphan.

That ONE makes a BIG difference.

Log on to our website foodfororphans.org and donate now.

Make your own One Meal Miracle.

You’ll be glad you did.

Support Food for Orphans with GoodSearch

I guess you've noticed the GoodSearch link to the left. Food for Orphans earns donations when you use GoodSearch and indicate Food for Orphans as your charity.

You can even download the GoodSearch toolbar on your own web homepage and any time you search and shop online Food for Orphans will benefit.

http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/food-for-orphans

Try it today!

GoodSearch you search, they give.

Update on the SAC and Schools

 Today, we are privileged to work with the most socially active students in the history of our country. Food for Orphans wants to offer schools an amazing opportunity to channel that enthusiasm and challenge students to be society’s next great generation of adults who will care for those in need.

 In September of 2010, Food for Orphans, created a new program to mentor the next generation in philanthropy and giving. This is our School Fundraiser Program and our Student Advisory Council (SAC).

 We have seen firsthand the passionate and effective way children respond to the needs of other children.

 No matter where they live, children have the same needs, wants and desires. They need food and shelter, they want to be loved, and they desire to help in whatever way they can.

Currently, we have students in over half the country working as Ambassadors for Food for Orphans. We are currently involved in Colorado, Texas, California, Delaware, Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Missouri, Nevada, Illinois, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, and West Virginia.

As of today, we have 76 Student Advisory Council members representing 64 schools across the nation. These students have met the criteria we established for the SAC and have been recommended by their teachers and school administrators. These students are ambitious and have a desire to help those in need. We are adding more students daily.

 In order for these students to meet each other and share ideas, we have created an online forum http://forum.foodfororphans.org/. This is a site where the students can post the new things they are learning from the curriculum we have developed in the Student Advisory Council Handbook.

We have also created a website http://www.mysac.org/ for the students to find out more about the SAC, along with an SAC logo.

The School Fundraiser Program and Student Advisory Council are off to a great start and are continuing to grow as God blesses the endeavors of Food for Orphans.

http://www.foodfororphans.org/

719-591-7777

Tanzania / Dar es Salaam / Morogoro

Dar es Salaam

Gary and Renee arrived in Dar es Salaam Wednesday, Nov 3rd at 6:45 p.m. and Alex was there waiting with a sign.



road to Morogoro



We then started the 4 hour ride to Morogoro. The traffic was very congested, causing a lot of pollution. It took 2.5 hours just to get out of the city. The ride in the dark, passing trucks on blind curves, just before the crest of the hill, would have been scary, but we were too tired to worry.  However, we did pray!

Alex was a warm and loving host. We checked into the hotel, which was new and very clean, and had air conditioning, but the electricity was off. Thankfully, we had electricity for most of our stay!  After a cold shower and a sound sleep, we started

the day Thursday by visiting Morogoro pre-school project.

The children ages 2-7 looked really good. It was a encouraging to see them sing and eat lunch. The children 7 and older meet at the pre-school after school for tutoring and Bible. These children start 1st grade at 7 yrs. old.

 

We also met Alex’s family.  He lives right next to the church where the pre-school and church are. Hilda, his wife is very pregnant – due on Nov 15th. She shyly admitted that she hopes for a girl, but will be happy with either. This will be their 4th biological child and 7th child including the 3 they've adopted. They live in a very small home that is the same as the homes the children live in – very African.

Alex and his family has lived in this neighborhood for 10 years. Even

after several attempts to kill him and his family with knives, he refuses to leave. He has told the Muslims that he will stay even if they kill his family because he loves them and wants to teach them about Jesus. The community now accepts him and allows their children to be taught the Gospel in his pre-school and learning center.

Following the pre-school and community visit, we went to the Hotel so that Renee could train some of the staff. Five of us had lunch and talked through many of the details. We did not finish after three hours so we planned to meet again on Saturday afternoon, which worked well because they looked overwhelmed and Renee was tired.

Friday morning Alex was about an hour late picking us up because a 20-year-old mother of one of the children had died.  We then went to meet the 300 children at Chamwino, and made three home visits as planned. The children were being fed a porridge and were being taught ABC’s and numbers. They are mostly children of street kids and very needy. The parents don’t value school at all and would rather have the kids wander or work.

  

Construction has begun on a building, with walls about 4-5 feet tall so far, for the children to meet in.

Right now they meet outside in the hot sun at Rehema Kagombe’s house. She is an older muslim convert who is truly dedicated to these children.

After lunch, Alex surprised us with a plan to go to the Mikumi Game Preserve about an hour out of Morogoro. We saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, baboons, water buffalo, wart hog, impalas, gazelles, and really enjoyed spending time with Alex and Emmanuel.

Inuka, a night school for older youth ages 15-21, will most likely be discontinued due to lack of positive results.  Alex is praying about this and believes the funds will be more useful with the younger ones. They used to live in an office building at the edge of town and Alex fed them. He no longer has the funding to provide food or shelter. Girls get hungry enough to prostitute themselves for a meal and boys steal to eat.

There are many ways you can help. Just one is to make a pledge of $15 per month to feed one orphan.  One $15 pledge will feed an orphan every day for a whole month. Won't you join us in keeping these precious ones alive and healthy?



http://www.foodfororphans.org/

719-591-7777

White House Presents Lifetime Achievement Award

PRESS RELEASE:
November 17, 2010


Food for Orphans, an international non-profit, has announced that their President and Founder, Gary VanDyke, has received the “President’s Call to Service Award” from President Barack Obama for his outstanding volunteer service. This award from the White House is the highest Presidential Volunteer Service Award and requires the recipient to have contributed at least 4,000 hours of volunteer service.

Upon receiving the honor, Mr. VanDyke said, “To receive this award is more than a blessing to me. Starting Food for Orphans has been a joy every day and it is inspiring to see its growth and watch as thousands of Americans step up and help us save the lives of orphans around the world.”

Mr. VanDyke then announced Food for Orphans’ new initiative, the Student Advisory Council (SAC). The SAC will engage thousands of volunteer high school students in every state in the US in a custom curriculum designed to develop the next generation of philanthropists. According to Mr. VanDyke, “We expect many of our students to also qualify and receive Volunteer Service Awards based on their own volunteer service to feed orphans internationally.”

In his 2002 State of the Union address, President George W. Bush issued a challenge to all Americans to make time to help their neighbors, communities, and Nation through service. He called on each person to answer his call to service and help foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility. The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation created the President's Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation (the Council) was established in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers are making in our communities and encourage more people to serve. The Council created the President’s Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.

Food for Orphans is recognized as one of the world’s leaders in feeding orphans. Their mission statement is:

 “To supply at least one nutritious meal per day to as many orphans as possible”

The organization funds orphan feeding programs primarily in third-world countries, ensures that donations are used wisely, and confirms that each orphan is cared for and loved. Funded by donations from donors across America and around the world, last year, 86% of all Food for Orphans’ donations went to its Program Services.

Contact:

Gary VanDyke, CEO
Food for Orphans
3710 Sinton Rd. suite 170
Colorado Springs, Co 80907
http://www.foodfororphans.org/
info@foodfororphans.org

The OmegaChild Project

 

The OmegaChild Project's purpose is to encourage US adoptions.

Food for Orphans will give a monthly stipend to the adopting family to help defray the cost of their new family member. This stipend is offered without regard to the adoptive child or the adoptive family’s race, nationality, religion, or economic status. Food for Orphans asks for nothing from the family in return.

The OmegaChild Project will also link the family receiving the grant and the church sponsoring the grant. Every effort will be made to connect the sponsoring church and the adopting family as close to the church location as possible.

You can make The OmegaChild Project possible for a family near your church for as little as $50.00 per month or $600.00 per year.

Gifts to support The OmegaChild Project can be sent directly through the

Food for Orphans website at http://foodfororphans.org/

The OmegaChild Project

WE'RE LISTENING ...

Food for Orphans is interested in your ideas.

We want you to put your collective heads together

to share your ideas with us and other students around the nation.

We're looking for fresh ideas to help discover new ways to feed as many orphans as we can every day.



Being part of the Student Advisory Council has many benefits.

• Experience. As a member of the SAC, you will get the opportunity to work with a successful international charity. This is experience that will be helpful on your college admissions portfolio and resume.
• Collaboration with other students around the nation. The SAC gives you the opportunity to meet other students around the nation and share ideas, insights and inspirations.
• Education. As a member of the SAC, you will have th chance to learn about philanthropy, leadership and business management. You have the opportunity to be mentored by the Food for Orphans' dedicated and passionate staff.
• Certificate of Achievement. After your year of service to the SAC, you will receive a Certificate of Achievement from Food for Orphans that can be included in your college admissions portfolio and resume.
• Letter from the President of the United States of America honoring your work with Food for Orphans after 100 volunteer hours.

So, whaddya say? Are you interested? Already have ideas?

Are you IN?

We will be starting the program very soon

so keep a watch on our blog or check it out on our website.

We can't wait for you to get started!!

http://www.foodfororphans.org/



Construction Team Needed

Venezuela

Our orphanage in Venezuela needs some construction teams to come and help finish the orphanage and campground projects. 

No Pay.

Great Fellowship.

Great Food.

Any Takers???

About 10 people are needed for the construction team.
A date hasn't been set.

So hurry to get in line and get your name on the list!

Contact Gary VanDyke at CEO@foodfororphans.org for the most current information.