Photo: 7-year-old Mai, an orphan at one of our homes, is happy to receive highest honors in her second grade class.
We are very happy to share a powerful story of one of our orphans, 7-year-old Mai, who now lives a happy life full of redemption and hope at one of our orphan homes in Myanmar. Before she came to live with us, she lived in Kachin state where her father left her and her mother. Her mother could not support her or provide what she needed for school. Mai and her mother did not have sufficient room for sleeping or eating, and they were unable to travel to where they needed to go in Yangon. While they were living in these poor, stressful conditions, a local woman who knew of our programs befriended Mai and her mother. She told them about our orphan homes and Mai’s mother decided it would be best for her daughter to live under our care. When she arrived to us she was very malnourished but soon gained weight and energy from having three square meals a day and finally a comfortable space to sleep each night.
Last year Mai became very sick with tuberculosis, but we were able to provide her with quality medical care. She recovered quickly and is happy to be in good health, and thankful for the security we can provide for her. Mai has lived with us for 3 years now and she is in the 2nd grade at school — her favorite subject is Burmese, the native language of Myanmar. She studies hard, she is an obedient student, and she recently received the highest honors for her grade level at school. After school Mai enjoys playing games with her friends. In her own words, “I am happy because I have new clothes and good food. I am happy now. Thanks for your praying for me and support for me.”
Photo inset: (Top-left): Mai is thankful to now have three square meals a day with ingredients from our local farmland. (Top-right): Mai is grateful to have a loving family of sisters and brothers at her orphan home. (Bottom-left): Mai (second from left) enjoys spending time with her sisters at the home. (Bottom-right): Mai is happy and content with her new life at our orphan home.
We are grateful for success stories such as Mai’s because due to the crippling effects of extreme poverty and disease in South Asia, millions of children are orphaned, often falling victim to child prostitution, human trafficking, or forced labor. Peace Gospel’s orphan homes in Myanmar act as safe harbors in the midst of this darkness, offering orphans a way out of the dead end of despair and hunger. Through the work of our organization, these precious children are provided a loving home centered on Biblical principals of God’s love for them.
In other news from our Myanmar programs, a problem has arisen at our piggery: our Buddhist neighbors have built a new pagoda and are not allowing a piggery near their place of worship. Out of respect for their desires and our wish to maintain peaceful relations with our neighbors, we have plans to dismantle our old piggery structure and build a home rental property on the same plot. We would like to begin the construction this month, expecting to complete the new home in March or April.
With your support, we hope to raise $9,500 which would enable our faithful native team to charge $225 in monthly rent, providing them a funding generator of $2,700 annually. The investment would pay for itself in just 3.5 years. This additional funding generator will be added to our list of other small business enterprise operations: a preschool scheduled to open in May, our 12-acre farmland enterprise consisting of a rice paddy farm and a garden where we cultivate organic, nutritious ingredients for the children’s meals. We also desire to raise hens for egg production because they will be a beneficial addition to our farmland enterprise, and provide a good profit at market. We look forward to keeping you posted on all of these developments.
In all of these measures, we strive to go beyond rescue to rehabilitation and restoration, through education and proper equipping, and through providing the orphans with loving, nurturing home environments. One can only imagine the exponential ripple effect these children will make in the world as they eventually graduate and go on to lead successful, productive lives.
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