DECEMBER 2001
December, 2001 Greetings from Vietnam,
A few months ago a friend gave me a small book, The Prayer of Jabez. I have been praying this prayer ever since. 1 Chr. 4:9-10: Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain! So God granted him what he requested. I believe God has answered that prayer. He is enlarging our territory. First, we met with Care and Protection of Children Committee (CPCC) of Tien Phuoc in Quang Nam, about 70 km. from Da Nang. They have asked us to purchase 20 sewing machines and start a sewing class for handicapped children. Tien Phuoc is a very poor area with many minority children. This is our first door to open in Quang Nam and in one of its poorest areas. Second, Family # 3 has no funding to operate next year, and may have to close. Closing the family house will put 30 children back on the streets. It costs $500 a month to house, feed, clothe, provide medical care for, and educate these children, and to pay the house mothers, cooks, and other help. We have been asked to fund this, or at least part of it, if we can. Please pray about these needs as we take a step in faith. The question is how big a step do we take? It has also been on our hearts to provide scholarships to a computer class for 15 needy children in Da Nang. The cost for that is about $150 - $200 a month. For those of you who are new to our newsletter, the Street Children Program we work with runs 5 homes for street children. Each home, or "family", is run like a big family of 30 children. In addition, night school, special schools, university, and vocational training are provided for over 600 other very poor children. Many in Vietnam will have a more joyful Christmas because of you. Below left, you see children from Family #5. I am sorry, but I am in Dalat as I write this and do not have pictures of Family #3 with me. Below right are pictures of a minority Rac Lay Tribe from the mountains outside Nha Trang. They have traveled 40 km. to attend church - see the small truck full. Others walk or ride bides. There were over 200 attending. I am told there are over 400 believers in all. Please pray for them. Many do not understand Vietnamese - they have their own language.
December 2001 Update & Bulletin
We have helped to provide Christmas gifts and a visit with "Santa" (Rex Scharp from Alaska - with a real long beard) for over 600 street children, 45 handicapped children, and 200 church children. We can only hope that all will one day know the real meaning of Christmas. Greetings from L.O.V.E.! We hope you all had a blessed Christmas. We know this has been a tough one for many people, but we also know the King who was born on the first Christmas is still on His throne, and always will be, Praise the Lord! Below are some photos of the sewing machines we provided for handicapped children in Tien Phuoc, and the first class of 20 students. God bless you in the coming year, and please keep L.O.V.E. and Vietnam in your prayers. Below the photos is an update message from Mr. Reggie.
Thank you all for your
prayers; this has been a special week. Rex Scharp came here from
Alaska (Janet, thanks for letting him come) with a long beard and
red Santa cap and has blessed so many children who have had their
first real Christmas. We have distributed over 600 gifts to street
children here in Da Nang, 45 emotionally handicapped children, and
over 200 children in the church. |
