Spring 2016 Jericho Street Echoes
Transcription
Spring 2016 Jericho Street Echoes
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love for the little children on today’s “Jericho Road” Message from LCW President Jericho Street Echoes 2016 Dear Sponsors and Donors, Thanks to your faithful donations and prayers during 2015; LCW/LCP was able to fully meet all budgets. God is so good and we thank Him for keeping His mighty hand on this ministry. So many children and youth's lives have been changed because you cared and gave to make a difference. I can only imagine where these children would be today if not for LCW/LCP. A Publication of Little Children of the World, Inc. Little Girls Working in Dump Touched Our Hearts There are still many children and youth who are hurting, helpless, hungry, neglected and suffering who need our help in this new year. Our work is far from over. We still answer their cries by reaching out in love, compassion, and help to meet them at the point of their need and lift them up to a better and brighter life. Each of you are "Givers" and it is exciting to hear that your giving may be making you happier and healthier according to recent research which shows that "Givers are Happier". Elizabeth Dunn, a psychology professor who studies happiness at the University of British Columbia in Canada says "People who give money to charity tend to be happier and also healthier than others". She further states, "Money doesn't seem to buy quite as much happiness as many people assume". She added, " in experiments where people were given money and told to spend it on themselves or others, givers were happiest afterwards." Dunn also said, " People who donate money to charity are happier in poor and rich countries alike. You don't have to have a lot to experience the emotional benefits of giving." Ms. Dunn even suggests that giving can improve your health. She concluded, "Giving is not just heartwarming, it may be quite literally good for our hearts." Thank you for your continued support through donations and prayers. We pray God will truly bless you with good health, happiness and contentment during this New Year. Blessings, Thank You For Helping LCW/LCP Change Lives! Thank you. These simple words cannot capture the depth of gratitude the children, as well as the adults, at LCP feel about your support of this ministry. Lives have been changed, souls have been saved, children have been educated, overall health is better, housing has been improved, and livelihood has been created. You are a part of this incredible journey of hope for the people of the Philippines. With your gifts in 2016, God will continue to do amazing things in the lives of those who have so little. Office: Jericho Street Echoes Glenna Houk Waller President & CFO [email protected] A quarterly Newsletter Published by Little Children of the World, Inc. Margie Mangham Vice President, Development [email protected] Marie Lou Abbott LCW Sponsorship Coordinator Vice President, Admin. Services [email protected] Melanie Foster LCW Treasurer [email protected] Cara Grobbelaar LCW Secretary [email protected] Marciana Hope (Leyte) T/F 360-326-8061 [email protected] Marcia Fisher (Haiti) T/F 865-457-0065 [email protected] Little Children of the World P.O. Box 37 Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Editor - Peggy Houk Barnesville GA 30204 Barnesville GA 30204 Layout Designer - Cara Grobbelaar Tel/Fax 770-358-2771 Permit No. 22 The Name: Jericho Street Echoes suggests that the “Jericho Road” in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan is the city street of our time, and the victims are too often the street children – 150 million of them worldwide! www.littlechildren.org Return Service Requested Mission Statement: to help develop caring communities for the world’s children at risk. Volunteer Opportunities: LCW has an ongoing need for volunteers at both its international headquarters and its overseas project sites. Please call or email the Georgia office for more information. Address Changes: Please send all address changes to the return address on this label. Please help LCW/LCP change the world one child at a time. Spring 2016/ Volume 29, No. 1 Chan gin g Li ves Th rough S pon sorshi p One Saturday, Martin and I (Janet) visited Smokey Mountain, a mountain of trash, continually kept on fire. At first the stench was overpowering, but we adjusted to the smell quickly. Imagine the emotion as we see the piles of rubbish and the well ordered groups of people sorting through it to collect anything of value (mainly cans, cardboard and plastic bottles). We stopped to talk with two ladies who each had a little girl working with them and we learned both were members of LCP, but were on the waiting list to be sponsored. The ladies work at the dump 3 days a week, the maximum number of days allowed because there are so many people trying to make a living this way. They earn between 250 and 350 pesos per week ($6 to $9). We left Smokey Mountain and went to visit the homes of the girls, and heard their heart rendering stories. By Janet Miller Jelli- " I am eleven years old and live with my Auntie and my nine year old brother, Julius. Our mom and dad used to fight and one day it got so bad that my dad killed my mom. My dad was sent to prison where he died. My Auntie said she would look after us, despite having very little herself. She works scavenging on the dump three days a week and my brother and I help too. To pay our rent Julius feeds the owners goats and pigs scraps we find in the dumpsite. We go to school and are Jelli standing in front of her home. both in grade three because I missed two years of school when I Judelyn - "I am ten years was younger. We love school and have good grades. Julius has old and live with my paran 85% and I am first honor student with grade of 95%. We are ents, three sisters, and missing lots of our school supplies as we only have the notetwo brothers. My father books, pencil, and ball pen given to us by our community. I still is a pedicab driver with need shoes, a back pack, and some crayons." very low income. We help our mum work in the Life is very hard for the family, but they are full of initidump. Our parents want ative and hard work. They have no running water. They bathe us to go to school, so the and wash clothes in the river that runs alongside of the dump. Judelyn and her mother community gave us some The children carry wanotebooks, a pencil, and a ball pen. We are all doing well in ter from the river to school (my grade is 91%) even though we do not have backwash their dishes and packs, shoes, and other school supplies. Our home has one feed the animals. Often sleeping area for everyone and the living area has no walls. they are short of food Often we do not have enough to eat. " and have to eat a thin porridge made from Martin and I saw some really delightful children who rice. obviously loved each other and were a happy family, despite living in extreme poverty. When we arrived, Judelyn moved Jelli and Judelyn some clothes off the plastic chair so I could sit down. I couldn't After the stories of Judelyn and Jelli were shared with help but be moved friends, the heart of Craig Mansell, from Bisbane, Austrialia, when I saw what was was touched. He now sponsors both girls. Their lives are forevwritten on the chair: er changed because of sponsorship. These are just two of the Jesus loves us and my hundreds of stories of children who are desperate for help family. Thank you, the and hope. Please reach out today and change the life of a end!!!! child through Sponsorship. Luther Carroll, LCW Founder Luther Carroll, the brother of Peggy Houk and Bettie Elwood went home to be with the Lord, January 12, 2016 at the age of ninety-three. Uncle Luther played football in high school in Etowah and graduated in 1943. He was accepted at the Merchant Marine Academy, located in Kings Point, Long Island, N.Y. He served in the Naval Reserve from 1949 to 1966 and spent twenty eight years at sea as a Merchant Marine Engineer. Luther served his country well and had a heart of gold. In spite of the teasing from his fellow seaman, he always purchased me a doll in each port. Even after I married and had a daughter, he continued to bring Melanie dolls from all over the world. Every summer when he was home, our family looked forward to going to Tennessee. He would take us to the lake in his convertible, and we would spend the day swimming, having picnics, and riding in his boat. He blessed all our lives with his love and care. By Glenna Waller Your gift to the LCW Endowment Fund is very important to the long range sustainability of this ministry. Over the past twenty-nine years LCP has impacted the lives of thousands of children and youth in the Philippines. The Endowment Fund will help insure that LCW/LCP continues to bring help and hope in the years to come. Luther with Bettie Elwood and Peggy Houk After he retired, Luther returned to Etowah, Tennessee where he remodeled his parents home. He loved to build and graciously built large buildings around his home for the use of LCW. He and my mother had such fun buying materials and decorating each building together. For years Aunt Bettie used these buildings for the International Headquarters for Little Children of the World. LCW still has board meetings there twice a year. He was an amazing man who was so generous and will forever be missed. Luther Carroll Luther was one of the founders of Little Children of the World and Little Children of the Philippines. He touched the lives of thousands of people around the world. Even today when I am in the Philippines his former sponsore d children ask about him and tell me how he changed their lives and futures forever. I can just see him in heaven where lines of people come up to say, "Thank you for giving so my life could be changed." Only in heaven will he ever know the full impact he had on this earth. LCP Dorms Give Second Chances LCW Endowment Fund - Give a Gift That Keeps On Giving By Carmenia Benosa Mark Errol is a seven year old boy, who lived with his parents and two siblings, in a very small house made from scrap pieces of wood, bamboo, and empty boxes with no source of safe drinking water, electricity, or comfort room (bathroom). One day, his father left them. Their mother has only a elementary education and no permanent job. She strives hard to work, always asking the neighbors to let her wash clothes, clean ,or do any other household chores to earn money. There is never enough food, so the children are hungry and malnourished. Their life became even more difficult when their mother became sick. Each day Mark's older brother carried him barefooted to the market which was very far from their house to beg for food, until one day they learned about LCP. When they arrived home that day, they told their mother about the place called LCP that helped little boys like them. A few days later, they visited LCP with their mother and attended the Sunday Worship Service. There, they began to learn about Jesus who cares about them and their needs. They enjoyed Sunday School with the other children who also came from poverty stricken homes and heard how LCP was bringing help and hope into their lives. Since Mark was the youngest, his mother decided to let him move into LCP's Hanson Dorm where he would be cared for and be able to go to school. Mark is in grade one, never misses class and shows interest in school every day. He participates regularly in class and does not make any trouble in school or in the shelter. He said, "I want to be a policeman someday." Mark loves to play soccer and other ball games. As a young boy, he is respectful of others and prays for his family. His mother now has a job as a house helper, making life better for her and the other two boys. Mark is settled and happy in the LCP Dorm and now shares his story with the other boys during Bible Study and devotion time. Without LCP and the Residential Dorms, what would have happened to this precious little boy? Without your gifts making the Dorms possible, all these children would be in harm's way on the streets risking life and limb, without food, shelter, hope, or the knowledge that Jesus loves them. Please continue to give, so that other boys and girls, like Mark, can be saved from a life of hopelessness and despair. Christmas At LCP By Pastor Roy Berame For more than two and a half decades, a little group of people, full of faith and love, has bonded together to become Little Children of the World (LCW)/ Little Children of the Philippines (LCP) to help children and parents in Dumaguete City grow spiritually and become able to overcome poverty. Every year, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus who came to save the lost and to serve the least, we also celebrate the birth and achievements of the LCW/LCP ministry. Together the parents and children partake in the merriment and mirth of Christmas because we know Jesus is the reason for the season. We worship, share food, receive gifts, play games, and laugh together. As a community, we celebrate Jesus who came to invite people, young and old, rich and poor, lowly and mighty, to believe in the good news of salvation, to repent, become new, and to participate in God’s reign through a life of faith, love and righteousness. LCP/LCW endeavors to live out the mission of Christ. Administrators, staff, sponsors, donors, partner organizations, and volunteers together work to usher holistic development for children, youth, and parents to establish caring and sustainable communities that serve as a witness to God’s love, glory, and honor. Every day, we accomplish the tasks in many different ways as we flash our smiles of good will and extend our hands of service to those in need. We care for children and youth at risk, for children with special needs, and enable parents to care for them at home. We assist the educational pursuits of children and youth, and train them to contribute to God’s Kingdom of peace and righteousness. In each community, parents come together weekly to study and reflect on God’s Word to deepen their understanding and commitment to God and His purposes in their lives. Celebrating this, we gather every Sunday to worship, study, and fellowship in God’s love and goodness. This whole ministry is a celebration in faith because, in spite of our failures, God grants us grace through Jesus Christ to become new. Having received the right to become children of God, we partake in God’s mission to reconcile the world to Him, and to be channels of His blessings of love and abundant life. Every day we celebrate. To God be the honor and glory. Amen. Our sincere thanks goes out to all the people who gave so that everyone at LCP could receive a gift at Christmas. You brightened our lives and we thank God for each of you. Please also continue to give to the Peace and Faith Program so that others may learn about Jesus and His saving Grace and everyone at LCP can grow through Bible Study and prayer.