Dear Friends,

I wanted to send you this brief update on the Christian refugees in Sri Lanka.

If you read the June issue of our magazine, you will probably recall an article there about the recent refugee crises created by Sri Lanka’s civil war. That war has officially ended in just the last few weeks as government forces finally defeated Tamil rebels. But tens of thousands of people have been internally displaced who fled from the war zone.

Partnering with our personal friends who head the Foursquare Churches of Sri Lanka, the nation’s second largest evangelical denomination, we have been aiding believers with essential food and clothing who have been forced to live in IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camps. The Sri Lankan government has promised to resettle everyone within six months, but that is unlikely because so many villages have been destroyed, and land mines the must be cleared and so on. So most of the 250,000 displaced people have resigned themselves to many months of continuing to live in the IDP camps.

Although the media was forbidden to gain access or take photos inside Sri Lankan IDP camps, because of our assistance in one camp, our partners were permitted to take a few photographs there, which I just recently received. I have added a few of them below for you:

6,000 people live in this tent city, and this is just one part of the tent city

Water distribution

Some of our family there

The ”front porch” of his tent

Daily bath ritual

Not a happy camper!

We hope to keep you informed periodically as the CRF Fund is only highlighted in our monthly magazine a few times a year, but your contributions are often hard at work assisting Christian refugees.

On behalf of those who are benefitting from your compassion, thanks so much.

David Servant
Heaven’s Family Director

Learn more about how the Christian Refugees Fund is making a difference in the lives of persecuted and displaced Christian refugees around the world.

Hniang Sung Par, from Canaan Orphanage in Myanmar, is glad to have sponsors from New Mexico

Dear Friends,

It’s been a while since we’ve updated you on all of the good things being accomplished through the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund. A lot has been happening over the past few months! Let me give you a quick overview…

Before and after: Mephibosheth Orphanage got a makeover with a new paint job! Their building will now be protected from the elements and will last longer, thanks to gift to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund. (Orphan’s Tear also provided funding for Mephibosheth’s kitchen, on the right.)

Becoming more self sufficient: Living Hope Orphanage, now with a coop full of chickens. They had funds to build the coop, but needed help to fill it with chickens. For just a few dollars per chicken, Orphan’s Tear U.K. helped Living Hope purchase 100 chickens. Now those chickens are laying eggs which help to provide extra income for the orphanage. It’s wonderful when an orphanage takes initiative to find methods to become more self-sufficient.

Construction is almost done: At left, Lakhu Orphanage, and at right, Life Orphanage, both in Myanmar. I’m sure the kids are excited to move into their new homes!

More construction almost done: At left: the nearly-completed building for the Mission to the Homeless Children in Tanzania. At right: Emmanuel Orphanage in Myanmar is in the middle of building a new dorm, both funded by means of gifts to the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund and the Dorms for Orphanages Fund.

Besides these things, over the past few months the Orphan’s Tear Special Gifts Fund has also provided:

• A tractor for Goshen Orphanage so that they can plow and harvest their rice field (a field provided last year by Orphan’s Tear).

• Oxen (2), a yoke, plow and cart for Jordan Orphanage so that they can plow and harvest their
rice field (a field provided last year by Orphan’s Tear).

• A new gate for Shalom Orphanage (whose building was funded by Orphan’s Tear).

• A tractor for Shalom Orphanage so that they can plow and harvest their rice field (a field provided last year by Orphan’s Tear).

• New toilets and a well for Mercy Children’s Home (whose building was funded by Orphan’s Tear).

• A compressor and motor for water supply, and zinc roof sheets for a kitchen at Life Concern Orphanage (whose building was funded by Orphan’s Tear).

• Mosquito nets for Anna’s Orphanage for the children to sleep under.

• New toilets for Life Orphanage (whose building was funded by Orphan’s Tear).

• Funds to start the construction of Jordan Orphanage’s new building.

• 10,000 fingerling fish so that Shalom Orphanage can raise them in the large pond they recently hand-excavated (on land provided by Orphan’s Tear) and then sell them for a profit.

• Significant help to several orphanages that are not yet supported on a monthly basis by Orphan’s Tear.

Thanks for making all these blessings possible.

More Orphans Coming to OrphansTear.org

If you’ve been on the Orphan’s Tear website lately, you may have noticed that we are running low on orphans! This is a good problem to have, as it means that a lot of children now have sponsors, and we can start accepting the orphanages on our waiting list. You can expect some new kids to be on the site soon!

Thank You

As always, 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,

Charity
Director Orphan’s Tear Division

Dear Friends,

I couldn’t resist sending you the testimony of the four-year-old girl in the photo above. She lives in Rwanda, East Africa, and her name is Ornella. The testimony that follows is from Justin Nkundabagenzi, with whom we partner for manufacturing biosand water filters for the poor. Justin is also a church planter. A couple of weeks ago, he wrote to Heaven’s Family International director, Chuck King, who has worked in Africa with

Justin. Here is his first report:

Dear Chuck,

Love and greetings. I am happy to let you know that our church house is doing quite well, I must tell you that God has moved in our midst like never before. A case in point is where recently, a certain lady who is a member of our church lost her child meaning that the child diied, and was brought to us for prayer. I was not present and my wife took the dead child into her arms and prayed so intensively for more than an hour and then began thanking the Lord for the healing just in faith, then suddnely the child resurrected. Then followed wild excitement from the mother and other fellow believers as tears were in plenty while the testimony became the source of overwhelming joy for many who learn’t about it.

Let us keep praying for each other for the strengthening of God’s Kingdom.

Yours in
Christ,

Brother Justin Nkundabagenzi

Chuck wrote back asking for more details and a photo. Here was Justin’s reply to Chuck’s inquiry:

Bro. Chuck!

Warm greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Now as for the details on how the child was resurrected, actually as I told you before, I was not around. I was on a trip to Burundi, and a neighbor of mine who happens to be a member of our church came to my house in tears seeking at least to share her grief and possibly be assisted in the funeral or whatever.

As this lady describes it, she said she woke up around 3 a.m when she heard her daughter Ornella 4 years of age breathing very difficultly. She was worried and she stood up and took the child in her arms. As soon as she took her in her arms, the child ceased every movement, she lost grip, the head was falling in all directions on her loose neck, the eyes were staring without any expression just like a doll’s.

The mother came accompanied by another church member, both in tears. The child was apparently dead since the body was so cold, no breathing, no any sign of life. They knocked on our door, and after some moments my wife went to open for them.

She immediately took the body from them, as they were crying and screaming, she laid it down on the ground and started to pray. She says she was so caught in prayer that she lost the notion of time and prayed for more than one an hour.
She then felt like she has to urge everybody to start thanking the Lord. As they started doing so the child came back to life immediately opening very wide her eyes in a such a frightening way; says my wife.

And the body that was extremely cold before became very hot; hotter than the normal body temperature; it was amazing.

The child started crying and her mum was the more in tears but this time the tears were of joy and gratitude to the Lord. My wife asked her to take the child to see a doctor for further investigations on the health state of the child. That very morning she took the child to the clinic. They have done every kind of test but couldn’t find anything! The doctor declared to the lady and said “Madame, your child is in perfect health you shouldn’t worry!”

And that was the story. The child is now very well without any complaint. The mother is so thankful. Last time she gave her testimony in the house church. She was again in tears as she was relating the facts.

That is the miracle we have lived here. It just reminds us Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever.

Remain blessed!

Justin

Now you can understand why I couldn’t resist sending this to you. Please feel free to pass this on to encourage others.

Every blessing,

David Servant
Heaven’s Family Director

Dear Friends,

I wanted to inform you of some members of our spiritual family who have been recently helped through the Critical Medical Needs Fund.

First, there is a little girl named Irasema in Mexico who has dramatically benefitted from your gifts to the Critical Medical Needs Fund. Her story is highlighted in our June magazine, so I won’t give away the details here. But you will be very blessed reading her story, knowing that you helped make her miracle happen.

We’ve also been helping with the medical bills of the director of Jehovah-Jireh Children’s Home, an orphanage that we assist each month in Myanmar. That director’s name is Zir Liana. He was at death’s door with some serious heart and lung problems, but now is hopefully on the road to recovery. I can’t explain to you exactly what his medical problems are, as his wife and the one other person with whom we’ve been corresponding don’t know the English words to describe his sickness. But Zir was in desperate need of more sophisticated medical help than he could obtain in his small city, so we sent him to a major city in Myanmar, and it appears that he is now receiving much better treatment. (I have detailed copies of all his medical bills from the hospital.) The prognosis is still uncertain, so please pray for Zir Liana. Lots of children depend on him.

Through gifts to the CMN Fund, we’ve also been providing restorative surgery for a pastor’s son and worship leader named Moses in Kibwezi, Kenya. Moses was hurt in an accident when a bus in which he was a passenger was hit head-on by a truck. One of Moses’ legs was broken in two places. His jaw was also broken and he lost five of his front teeth. He endured three operations on his face, receiving implants, as well as one operation on his hip and another on his leg. The family spent everything they had in the process, and Moses was still without his front teeth, which has made speaking difficult and leading worship embarrassingly impossible.

Moses Mumo		Zir Liana

We got Moses to smile for a “before” photo above. I hope to send you the “after” photo once he has his new dental bridges. He’ll then be able to lead his father’s congregation in worship once again.

These three cases are just a sample of members of our spiritual family with critical medical needs whom we’ve been able to help over the past few months. So once again, thanks so much. I’ll try to keep you periodically informed by mini updates of how the Critical Medical Needs Fund is working around the world.

Sincerely in Christ,

David Servant
Heaven’s Family Director

Learn how you can provide life changing operations for our spiritual family around the world.

Dear Friends,

Below is some uplifting news that we’ve recently been receiving. As you know, the result of safe water is less sickness and more health. Because of your compassion, members of our spiritual family around the world are enjoying those blessings.

First, here is a photo of the children of Hope Children’s Home in Kenya, who are now benefitting from a biosand filter from Heaven’s Family:

Your gifts to the Safe Water Fund have not only been helping poor believers in Kenya, but also in Rwanda and India. The establishment of filter production centers in those nations is resulting in lives being saved. Hundreds of families are benefitting. Below is a photo we just received of biosand filters that have recently been completed in our production center in Kenya:

And here is a very encouraging letter from Justin Nkundabagenzi, our biosand team leader in
Rwanda:

Hi,

Love and greetings! I’m sure you are doing fine by God’s grace. We are going on with the filter work trying to help people to improve their hygiene and sanitation standards.

The filters distribution we have just completed was conducted in a very poor village called ‘Sabe’. The houses are so tiny there at such an extent that even the inhabitants can find hardly where to put their beds. So we couldn’t place the filters inside the very houses. We had to set up shelters just meant for the filters; and it is the village chief who keeps the keys of the shelters.

It was such a joy in the village! Actually in this place they have no drinking water. There are a lot of diseases related to lack of hygiene and unclean water; especially that they have no toilets and people have to pass stools in the open air.

There is a high rate of children mortality there; maybe because the adults can resist better to different infections. Even by the time we were there for distribution of filters there were funerals for a child who had just died. The main cause of death is diarrhea. The common belief there is that this children mortality is due to poisoning/sorcerers.

I tried to teach some basics of hygiene and explain about the use and benefits of Biosand filters.

After they had received the filters, they expressed their deep gratitude and prayed …. so that they can stand against the economic crisis which is affecting the whole world, since so many people on this end are still not unable to access to good drinking water. So biosand filters are badly needed.

Thanks again and God bless you for all the good work you are doing to help the helpless.

Justin

Finally, here is a photo we received that is heart-breaking. It shows a typical water source in rural Africa. Can you imagine getting your drinking water like this every day?

In Christ,

Chuck King
International Director
Heaven’s Family

Learn how you too can help provide safe water for our spiritual family around the world.

Dear Friends,

I wanted to share with you some uplifting news that recently came to us from China. We’ve been funding an indigenous ministry that smuggles Bibles and other Christian literature into China for distribution within networks of house churches. That ministry receives letters of thanks that are smuggled back to them. Below is an example of one of those letters that was recently received, along with the English translation.

TRANSLATION:

I first greet you all in Christ. I already heard of your evangelism project early on. Now I live in Chang Lin village of Yunnan Province. After I read the Tortured For Christ, my spirit was so strengthened and I learned how to look upon God and how communism still worked against the thoughts of God, which made me to hate it more. From that day on, I began to attend the meetings in the house church and later served there, witnessing God’s wonderful deeds. I encountered Jesus at 1 April 2000. Thereafter I often delivered the bibles for you. With man that is impossible, but not with God; is anything too hard for God? There are more and more Chinese people coming to know Jesus, so please pray for our leaders in China. I pray that all Chinese people can know God, for China was so-called ”the Divine Land.” I hope the implication of this name can be realized.

On behalf of Chinese believers, thanks so much.

Emily Growden
Director Bibles for Believers  Fund

You too can have a part in getting Bibles to some very thankful Chinese recipients! Learn how you can provide Bibles for Chinese believers.