As Villages flood, Our Orphans have asked to send you a very special message this Thanksgiving
This year the world has seen a lot of floods in the United States and India is no different. In eastern India, flooding from cyclones coming off of the Bay of Bengal flooded several villages where Mission of Joy has pastors and churches.
In the past 24 hours, more than 9 inches of rain fell where our ministries are located. Hundreds of homes have been swept away and more than 55,000 people have been evacuated from their homes.
Reports that come in tell us that many hundreds of believers in low-lying villages are now homeless. Many are without clothing or access to food. We ask that you remember to pray for all of these who now suffer as winter approaches. Please pray for protection against disease as this is a great danger now.
We know that there are many Americans also suffering through great difficulty. More and more, I find that I must go to God Himself for the needs and difficulties we face. I know that we don’t have near the resources to meet the challenges of suffering that sweep across lands and continents.
In India, there are no true social service programs that come to the aid of the poor when disaster strikes. As disappointed as we may be with our agencies at times—such as FEMA—at least we do have some kind of social safety net.
In America, we can give thanks that there are such things as non-profit charities that aid those in need. It surely isn’t enough, but it is something.
So, it is a pleasure for me to send a message to you from our children, from our orphans who no longer wander the streets in search of food or a place to get out of the rain and floods. I want to send a message to you from all of the children that go to sleep under a strong roof in a room that is warm. I want to send you a message from all the children who were lost, but now they’re found, who were father and motherless, but now they know a Heavenly Father. Who never knew a single day of peace or security, but have now found rest.
Our children have asked me to send you all that they have. They send you, this Thanksgiving, their grateful hearts. They want you to know that, apart from you, they might not even be alive. They can’t speak English, but are learning to write it. But since this is the month Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, they wanted to be sure you knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that your love has been felt and has changed their lives.
You see, they see the floods and know they are safe from them, on the tiled floors and patios and play areas. They know you can’t see them, or their smiles, but they just wanted to be sure that we let you know: “Please tell them, we send them our grateful hearts.”
That is my thanksgiving message to you. As we give thanks for our own blessings, know that you have 200 hundred other blessings halfway across the world. And they are smiling, and they are singing, and they are walking on dry ground. Because you cared enough to look beyond your own needs and problems and reach out in love, your blessings give you their thanks. |
