Global news roundup reveals significant progress on major campaigns to improve the lives of orphans and trafficking survivors under our care

Today we are very happy to bring you a news roundup of all the fruits of your generosity and God’s miraculous provision. We have so many encouraging updates to relay to you.

The purpose of today’s story is to provide an update on how far our 2020-2022 campaigns and projects have come from originally just being a hope, dream, prayer, or a request.

It’s been an immensely challenging couple of years for our teams in the field, but thanks to your support, we are excited to share a very encouraging progress report.

INDIA

We begin our report by circling back to a campaign you helped fund in 2019-20. We are thrilled to report that thanks to recent breakthroughs with local government favor, the first 24 pillars of our India Technical College were laid the week of September 12.

Getting to this stage was a daunting task that had many uphill battles due to the pandemic and bureaucratic backlogs, so this is very significant news.

You might recall that, once complete, the Technical College will be a significant funding generator for our programs.

High school students graduating from our orphan care program will receive scholarships to attend the college, giving them the opportunity to break the generational cycle of poverty.

However, while we have local clearance to begin construction, we still have some hurdles to clear in getting the permission to officially launch the college.

So please remember these bureaucratic challenges in your prayers for our India team.

MYANMAR

I am thrilled to report that our Myanmar orphan home construction project is now 100% complete, electricity is connected, and our children are so happy to be in their new home! The project was funded, thanks to your generosity, during our 2020 year-end campaign but we were beset with many challenges due to the military coup that took place shortly thereafter.

We thank you for being a part of this journey. The previous temporary facilities on our new campus were vastly insufficient for the longterm needs of our children. So this provision is a very welcomed grace for our beloved Myanmar family.

If you missed the original news about the Myanmar orphan home campaign, you can find the background story here. You can also read our interim report we last provided about the progress of the home and challenges we faced along the way here.

NEPAL

In some very uplifting news, we are elated to pass along to you that 15 young women were recently rescued from human trafficking in Nepal and were brought to our new, bright, and spacious rehabilitation home.

The girls are receiving counseling, medical care, room & board, literacy coursework, and trade school classes that cover: craft-making, tailoring, cooking, and gardening.

Our rehabilitation home is the beginning of their healing process, supporting them emotionally, financially, and physically in this next chapter of their lives. We are so grateful they have found a safe haven of support through these critically important programs you make possible.

An entirely new gardening project is being cultivated at the new home as we type. We cannot wait to share photos with you as soon as we’re close to our first harvest.

Be on the lookout for some of their craftsmanship as seen in the merchandise they’re creating via our trade school. You’ll find them on our website or at one of our pop-up shops this holiday season.

Thank you for supporting the girls’ programs through our pop-up shops, they find it extremely encouraging to know you are enjoying their work.

PHILIPPINES

Funds raised during our year-end 2021 campaign for our Cebu, Philippines girls home have been slowly but surely enabling the continued progress on the renovation and expansion of their kitchen, living quarters, and study areas. We are at about 60% complete and hope to see completion by early 2023, God willing.

We have seen some supply line challenges along with unprecedented inflation causing some setbacks. We also experienced a general delayed start after the devastation of the last cyclone that made a direct hit on Cebu this past December.

Despite the home construction not being finished yet, that hasn’t stopped our students from returning to school. They just started their new fall semester– check out their sharp new uniforms below.

UGANDA

It was June of last year we announced a campaign to construct our new girls dormitory for our Uganda boarding high school. Our donors generously responded, we met the goal, and we began the construction process as soon as possible.

However, similar to the Philippines, we have also experienced delays in our current construction project due to supply line challenges, inflation, political unrest, and particularly intense monsoon seasons since we began.

But we are very happy to announce that the work on the new dormitory for our main campus in Uganda is now 95% complete. All that remains to be done is the installation of some window shutters and other fixtures.

The model of our high school is a sort of “TOMS Shoes of education” approach– families who can afford the education pay tuition and that in turn helps us generate scholarships for our orphan and trafficking survivor students who live on campus. Scholarships are also subsidized by our donors. All told, God has miraculously provided a way for us to accommodate 350 boarding students on the 6-acre campus.

A big thank you goes out to all who contributed to this very needed improvement for our girl students on campus. They have been living in temporary quarters for far too long. We are all extremely grateful for the provision of this 9th building on our high school campus.

CONCLUSION

We are overwhelmed with renewed faith in this beautiful next chapter for our overseas communities.

With so many years of turmoil, setbacks, and strife, it is refreshing to be able to deliver so much good news from our field directors about the positive impacts your generosity and support have created for them.

Thank you for helping our local leaders feel supported in these daunting tasks of construction, rehabilitation, and education for our women and youth.

We are so grateful to our donors and communities for coming together to help lift up and raise these who are under our care into a future of safety, healing, and hope.

We give thanks to God for protecting these foundations. Your support in helping us maintain our mission has made all the difference in making sure our homes and schools are places children and women can actually call home vs. just another institution.

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