"Do not leave me here, I want to go to school. Oh please...please..." I tried to avoid his gaze but he held me with his pale and sunken eyes with tears trickling down his dirty and emaciated face. I tried to control my tears but to no avail. He moved closer and took my hand and looked at me pleadingly. I felt powerless; I just held his little and weak hand, and we cried on.
He is the second born of four children born to two different fathers. We had just buried his mother. She had succumbed to HIV/AIDS. He was now left with his aged grandmother. His father is alive but a drunkard who does not care about the welfare of his son. He goes to drink, leaving them to wander the village looking for what to eat. They move from village to village to survive. Their mother used to provide. She is no more. They have to survive... He is dirty and has a permanent ringworm on his head. He is dotted with skin infections and wounds that need medical attention. He has been using herbs but they have not helped. He badly needs to be treated to clear these infections.
At almost 14, Fred Mukisa has gone to more than four schools. Each time he tries to settle, the school will not allow him to study because he does not have a school uniform, school supplies, and school dues. He leaves that school and goes to another one. The father does not even know which school he has been to and does not care.
This is the state in which I met Fred when I traveled to the village for the burial of his mother who had been a friend. He looked starved and malnourished. This seemed not to bother him at the moment. His pale face and wide white eyes said it all. "I want to go to school like other children" was all he cared about. He clung to me all the time I was there. He would leave for minutes and reappear as soon as he disappeared.
His grandmother needed help too. She had depended on her daughter who, at the time of death, was living with her. As fate would have it, Fred's mother had lost her husband and all the property too. She was weak due to the ailment and could not work the field to provide for them.
"Will you take him please? I cannot support him," she said weakly to me the following day as I was preparing to leave. I accepted to come with him to Kampala. I decided that he would go to school and that I would keep him. When I told Fred that I was coming with him, he ran into their hut and gathered his belongings, which was only an old, torn, oversized shirt. He was all smiles and could hardly wait to leave the village to go to school.
Now Fred is a happy young man attending school on a daily basis. He has a school uniform and school dues are taken care of. He has this sweet smile and beautiful eyes that no longer look hungry. "Mummy, I want to become a teacher so that I can help others when I grow up," he says with a smile.
This is only going to be possible for Fred because of Partners In Action's commitment to reaching the many vulnerable and orphaned children of the world and brightening their lives as well as giving them hope through the sponsorship program and their visits to them. Fred is one example of the many that need to be reached, and this can only be possible if we have kind-hearted and willing people to help those they have never even seen.
There are several others at Anchorage Children Ministries (ACM) in Uganda who have a smile like Fred because they too are attending school and they have a home to run to. Some of them are totally orphaned, but they have somebody they can now call "mummy." Just a small difference in one child's life can cause untold happiness and joy.
Our prayer is for us to have an impact on the children we have. Right now we desperately need a financial breakthrough in the area of school dues, bedding, feeding, and medical care. We have had a difficult year as far as meeting school dues and other bills are concerned. We also would like you to pray with us to get a computer of our own to be able to communicate faster than it has been. Lastly we desire to acquire our own property so that we can put up homes for our children, school, nursing home, and farm to be self sustaining. We are thankful to God for making it possible to get through this year and all the provisions for us.
We salute you and wish a Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year.
We recently received a thank you letter from Bethlehem Community Centre extending warm and sincere appreciation for the help they received the last year:
The board of directors, management committee, staff, and children of Bethlehem Community Centre wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude and sincere appreciation to our overseas donors, friends, and well-wishers for the generous financial assistance extended to us during the year 2006.
We are also particularly grateful for your prayers and financial support following the demise and burial of one of our boys who recently drowned in a swollen river due to the heavy rains experienced in many parts of Kenya in the last two months.
We highly value your prayers and financial support. We send our Christmas greetings and goodwill to you during the festive season, and best wishes to the entire donor community in the coming year.
Thank you so much and may God richly bless you and your families as you continue helping us.
Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year 2007.
Sincerely, Pastor Mary Gakembu
Director, Bethlehem Community Centre
Sometimes situations seem insurmountable but become attainable with a little faith and the refusal to believe the voices around you. It's not always like this - we all know there aren't always happy endings, but if we let that stop us, what would we ever see accomplished or changed?
So is the story with little Costel from our Hospital Project in Brasov, Romania. As an infant, a piece of his fibula bone was removed as a result of osteomellitus. The doctors had hoped that the bone would grow back, but it did not. Costel has not been able to learn to walk as a result. Sarah and Steffi from our team chose to stand in faith on this case and raised the 10,000 Euros needed to see Costel be able to travel to Germany for an operation to replace this bone. Costel is from a very poor village and without this intervention he would have been destined to a life of unimaginable poverty, not being able to walk or work for himself. Lots of hope and love have changed Costel's life forever.
Throughout Burma (Myanmar), children as young as eleven are being forcibly recruited into Burma's national army, the largest user of child soldiers in the world. Without their parents' knowledge or consent, they are sent to military training camps where they are routinely beaten and brutally punished if they try to escape. Once deployed, they may be forced to fight and/or carry out human rights abuses against civilians, including other children.
There are said to be over 300,000 child soldiers in the world. The Asian Wall Street Journal says one quarter of these are located in Myanmar (Burma), which is is roughly 40% tribal ethnics. Many of these groups are autonomous and are at odds with the current military regime that rules Myanmar. Some of these ethnic groups (like the Shan and Wa) are also major producers and traffickers of opium and amphetamines. Within this complex ethnic social structure, wars and armed conflicts abound. Children are at high risk in these conflicts. Not only are they at risk of losing parents, but they also are at risk of being conscripted into the armies themselves.
Our home is open and prospering since 1997. The children continue to outperform all the other children in the region both in sports and in academics. We eventually caught the attention of the local government. We used this as a platform for church planting, and we now have several thousand new believers in the area. We also launched various development and education projects in the region.
In 2004, the local government contacted us to help over 1,000 children, which we did. A year later, we were approached once more to take in more children. Not everyone in the government, or even neighboring countries, wanted us to take these children. But in May of 2005, we had thirty-five child soldiers (all with malaria) sleeping in our already crowded children's home! In August, we finished some cottages and another forty children joined our place of refuge. Today, most of these children know Jesus. They are the talk of the entire district...how could these children have changed so much? It is amazing! They are not like the child soldiers we first met.
Our Colima, Mexico orphanage received a letter from one of their long-time volunteers, Michelle Longstreet, praising the gift of volunteering at a home. Please read her story and let it inspire you:
In February, it will be nine years that I have been volunteering in "La Casa Cuna." I originally came down on several work teams through my church and fell in love with the children. At that time, there was only "La Casa Matriz," now there are nine different homes. After the work team trips, I took a two-month leave from my job and volunteered in "La Casa Matriz."
I fell even more in love with the children and the work that was being done here to care for them. I went back home and raised money and made arrangements to take a leave from my job for a year and never went back. When someone told me he thought I would be here for five years, I told him no way...one year and that was it. Well the one year has continued on for almost nine years now. I have a heart to love and care for these children. It is a blessing and a privilege in my life to have the opportunity to serve here. The kids bring so much joy to my life…..I came to be a blessing in their lives, but they have blessed my life greatly.
Even with the heartache and challenges, these children need people to love and care for them - to be examples of Christ's love and introduce them to His salvation. To train them in the way they should go. So even if there is heartache I have to remember that they need someone to care for them...even if it is for a short time.
If anyone is thinking of volunteering in any of the homes short term or long, I think it would be something you would be grateful you did. To take the challenge and trust God to use you here in the lives of these children...you will be blessed and changed!
Polley Maquiran, 14 years old, has been experiencing symptoms of epilepsy. The doctor suggested that he undergo an EEG to determine which type he has so that an appropriate medication may be prescribed. Polley is in his second year of high school and doing well in class until lately. His attendance in school has been greatly affected since he experienced seizures in school. It is a traumatic and an embarrassing incident for him that his behavior and attitude has changed accordingly. Please pray the good Lord will bless him and give him hope.
We would like thank all the people for their donation towards food.
A medical clinic is currently being put in place at Mercy Home.
For continued direction with our plans to build a school and for progress with the medical clinic.
Food, clothing, vocational training tools, school fees, medical fees.
Suubi
We praise the Lord for the good performance of our children in their midterm exams. We thank the Lord for providing them with wisdom. (Proverbs 8 and 9)
Pray for our children to stop falling sick as often as they do. If we join in prayers together, we are sure the gentle hand of the Lord will reach out to them.
(Psalms 18 and 40)
Pray for our children to perform well in the forthcoming end-of-term exams. Since it is the last term of the year, they are anxious to go to the next classes during the new year.
(Proverbs 8 and 9)
We need some shoes, sandals, bed sheets and sweaters for our children. We are now in a rainy season and it is normally cold especially in the mornings and evenings when it rains.
Children say they need a special meal every weekend.
Mojo
Praise God that all the children are healthy and go to school.
We praise God that these children have someone to assist them.
Praise God that He has blessed our donors.
People whose life and property are affected by recent flood in the country.
For commodity prices to go down.
Boxes and storage lockers.
Hope for the Hopeless
We are enrolling more children in public school.
Pray for our project work and fund for our new home.
Sleeping materials, chairs and tables to sustain the orphanage population.
Extra funds for more food.
The Shepherd's Fold
For the changed life. This is both in their daily living as their bodily needs are met and able to go to school. The weekly meetings have made a great impact in their life, especially in their connectedness to God and ethical living.
The beneficiaries thank God and PIA for the monthly provisions and weekly Bible studies.
We thank God for our kids that they are healthy and can attend school regularly.
We want to thank PIA for standing with us to help the poor.
We pray for kids in our project to have the fear of God and know Jesus personally and have success in their studies.
We are praying for PIA staff to be blessed by God.
We are praying for all poor children and orphans in our country.
School uniforms
Money for school fees
Romania
For the children and our volunteers.
Our volunteers and supporters.
We are currently at 2000 diapers per month, but need 3500.
Funds to supplement children's meals with healthy snacks, yoghurt and fruit.
Funds for educational toys.
Funds for an activity room in the hospital.
Funds for a vehicle to transport children to the villages.
Remember the Poorest
It's always a joy to see little children streaming into the school compound after the summer holidays. We thank God for enabling us to add grade 1 to our education program this academic year.
We praise God for supplying our need for a new Christian principal for our KG School to replace the previous school director who left for the States recently.
Again, we're grateful to God for enabling us to purchase school supplies in time before the commencement of school. We praise God for two of the street children had baptized in one local church.
We are very pleased for most of the street children going to finish their vocational skills training and ready to start another phase of life of seeking jobs or other means of generating income.
Pray that we may have dedicated and exemplary teaching staff and that the school may be a vehicle for demonstrating God's love and mercy to the surrounding neighborhood.
We request your prayer support concerning the alarming inflationary trend because it's becoming virtually impossible to make any sensible price adjustments. Every two or three days there is an upward increase of commodity prices.
We ask you to stand with us in our effort to find a more conducive learning environment for our students living in the northern section of town. We need a place where they can get their tutorial lessons and some space for playing games.
We need more desks, chairs and other facilities to run the school on a more or less smooth condition.
We also need more teaching personnel.
Almaz
We praise God for giving us strength and wisdom to carry on with our work and for supplying us with the resources to help the orphan children.
We are grateful to God that he has helped our donors who supports us. God bless you!
House rent increased. Please pray for us.
Please pray that God might provide more of the necessities of the orphans' needs.
That God might touch the life of many of the children in deeper spiritual experience.
Pray for us that God increase our resources more abundantly, so that we may be able to adequately meet our planned objectives.
We pray that our donors might be able to raise ample funds and meet our request.
The biggest challenge we face is price fluctuation day by day. We are struggling to purchase items necessary for the month.
California Teacher is Making a Difference at RSJB by Kelley Kulina
Rancho San Juan Bosco - Imagine being in church one morning and hearing the pastor share about his recent visit to an orphanage in Mexico and imagine being moved to make a difference. That's what happened to Kelley Kulina when her pastor shared one morning in her church about the needs of the children and youth living at Rancho San Juan Bosco. Their story inspired her to do something special and get involved at RSJB on a weekly basis teaching English. She recently shared her story with us:
"During a service at my church, the pastor mentioned that the staff had gone to an orphanage in Mexico. I asked him about it after the service and immediately knew I wanted to be a part of this ministry. After many years of trying, my husband and I have no children. The only 'child' in our family is my fiercely independent niece who is now 22. I really wanted children in my life. Now I understand why God didn't give me children of my own. He gave me about 30!
"My background is in teaching ESL and French at the high school level. I called Misael, and here I am. That was five months ago.
"I basically teach an ESL class. We use a book and a computer program I really like in my high school class (nine students). We are getting into the 'nuts and bolts' of English: verbs, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary. In primario, we do a lot of language development. We have been on adjectives for the last month or so. With the 'pequenos,' I am working on the alphabet, three-letter words, and phrases.
"My ministry is not only focused on teaching English but also getting these kids educated. My interest is in raising money for them to go on to college if they choose. Some of these kids are very, very smart and will be able to contribute greatly to the world and to God's kingdom if given the opportunity."
Kelley is making a difference in Mexico and you can too! Many people come down to share their talents and skills with the children in Mexico and you can be one of them. God can use any talent or skill you have, or even just use your time and energy to make a difference in a child's life.
Grace Church in San Bernardino Starts Work with WTK by Jeremy Francis
Wa' Ta-Lus Kuateí - Grace Church from San Bernardino answered the call to help WTK Children's Home expand to be able to care for more children. PIA staff got together with Laura to help take a look at her property and to learn about the potential and the dreams that she has to expand the home to be able to care for more children.
Some of the work she started on her own, but every little bit of help goes a long way. Laura developed a building plan and proudly shared with me the architect's drawings of what WTK was to be in the future.
On a Saturday morning the team of twelve from Grace Church showed up ready to work. They went straight to work reinforcing some crumbling stairways and preparing the work site. They then began the hard work of filling and leveling the ground and also mixing cement to stucco the interior of the bathroom and laundry room that is being built.
The team from Grace Church was the first American group to visit WTK and do work there, so it was a unique experience for both the team and the kids. It wasn't all work though; the team was able to spend time with the children and bond a little bit before heading back to San Bernardino.
As they left they felt the satisfaction of helping Laura take one step closer to her dream and made plans to come back shortly to help her take another step forward.
Tecate, Mexico - Christmas in Mexico is not unlike the Christmas traditions that are celebrated in the United States. In fact much of the Mexican Christmas tradition along the border is heavily influenced by the US. Here in Mexico children still hear about Santa Claus and make lists and write letters. Mexico has its own traditional Christmas songs, and Mexican artists also write new Christmas songs each year. Many of the songs talk about Bethlehem and as many of you know Belén (our daughter's first name) is Spanish for Bethlehem. So our dear little daughter is getting a complex, thinking that Christmas is all about her!
The similarities don't stop there, in Mexico they have lights - and lots of lights. The park is lit up beautifully in lights; from the rotunda to the Nativity scene in front of the Government Palace (yes, the government puts up a nativity scene!), everything is ablaze in lights. They also have a Christmas Light Parade that runs through the downtown area and this year there were over eighty floats decked out with Christmas scenes and pumping out festive music.
Traditionally in Mexico the hallmark of Christmas celebrations is the observance of the Posada, where children reenact the part of the Christmas story where Joseph and Mary search the town for a place to stay but the are told "no hay lugar" or there is no room. The children go from home to home looking for a place to stay, sometimes carrying a small model of Mary and Joseph or at times with children dressed as Mary and Joseph. Finally they come to a place where there is room for them and at that home they have a great party.
The party is marked with a traditional dinner, usually pasole or birria (two different kinds of soup) and, of course, tamales, but sweet tamales made from pineapple or cinnamon. It wouldn't be Christmas without sweets either - with flan, cake, and lots of candy. A new addition to the Christmas tradition in Mexico is also the fruit cake. I know most of us don't prefer fruit cake, but down here they love it!
The holiday season doesn't end with Christmas though, it continues on until January 6 which is Epiphany or King's Day, and that is marked with huge celebrations and other very special foods. But I'll have to tell you about that another time!
From everyone in Mexico we send our warmest Holiday greetings and want to express our gratitude for your continued support of the ministry in Mexico. Without your support and prayers we would not be able to see God work in such a tremendous way in the lives of children and families in Mexico.
Please pray with us for the following needs in our ministries in Latin America:
Jeremy and Karen are fundraising; please consider them in prayer and consider supporting their vital ministry. For more information on supporting the Francis's, please contact Jeremy Francis at jfrancis@partnersinaction.org
Wa' Ta-Lus Kuateí is in need of a 15-passenger van, or donations to purchase one.
Rancho San Juan Bosco is in need of staff sponsorships, specifically $2200 per month to hire additional staff.
Both orphanages have many children who need sponsors. Please consider becoming a child sponsor.
"Do not leave me here, I want to go to school. Oh please...please..." I tried to avoid his gaze but he held me with his pale and sunken eyes with tears trickling down his dirty and emaciated face. I tried to control my tears but to no avail. He moved closer and took my hand and looked at me pleadingly. I felt powerless; I just held his little and weak hand, and we cried on.
This is the state in which I met Fred when I traveled to the village for the burial of his mother who had been a friend. He looked starved and malnourished. This seemed not to bother him at the moment. His pale face and wide white eyes said it all. "I want to go to school like other children" was all he cared about. He clung to me all the time I was there. He would leave for minutes and reappear as soon as he disappeared.
Now Fred is a happy young man attending school on a daily basis. He has a school uniform and school dues are taken care of. He has this sweet smile and beautiful eyes that no longer look hungry. "Mummy, I want to become a teacher so that I can help others when I grow up," he says with a smile. 
Our prayer is for us to have an impact on the children we have. Right now we desperately need a financial breakthrough in the area of school dues, bedding, feeding, and medical care. We have had a difficult year as far as meeting school dues and other bills are concerned. We also would like you to pray with us to get a computer of our own to be able to communicate faster than it has been. Lastly we desire to acquire our own property so that we can put up homes for our children, school, nursing home, and farm to be self sustaining. We are thankful to God for making it possible to get through this year and all the provisions for us.
We recently received a thank you letter from Bethlehem Community Centre extending warm and sincere appreciation for the help they received the last year: 
We highly value your prayers and financial support. We send our Christmas greetings and goodwill to you during the festive season, and best wishes to the entire donor community in the coming year.
Sometimes situations seem insurmountable but become attainable with a little faith and the refusal to believe the voices around you. It's not always like this - we all know there aren't always happy endings, but if we let that stop us, what would we ever see accomplished or changed? 
Throughout Burma (Myanmar), children as young as eleven are being forcibly recruited into Burma's national army, the largest user of child soldiers in the world. Without their parents' knowledge or consent, they are sent to military training camps where they are routinely beaten and brutally punished if they try to escape. Once deployed, they may be forced to fight and/or carry out human rights abuses against civilians, including other children. 
Our home is open and prospering since 1997. The children continue to outperform all the other children in the region both in sports and in academics. We eventually caught the attention of the local government. We used this as a platform for church planting, and we now have several thousand new believers in the area. We also launched various development and education projects in the region. 
Our Colima, Mexico orphanage received a letter from one of their long-time volunteers, Michelle Longstreet, praising the gift of volunteering at a home. Please read her story and let it inspire you:
I fell even more in love with the children and the work that was being done here to care for them. I went back home and raised money and made arrangements to take a leave from my job for a year and never went back. When someone told me he thought I would be here for five years, I told him no way...one year and that was it. Well the one year has continued on for almost nine years now. I have a heart to love and care for these children. It is a blessing and a privilege in my life to have the opportunity to serve here. The kids bring so much joy to my life…..I came to be a blessing in their lives, but they have blessed my life greatly. 
Even with the heartache and challenges, these children need people to love and care for them - to be examples of Christ's love and introduce them to His salvation. To train them in the way they should go. So even if there is heartache I have to remember that they need someone to care for them...even if it is for a short time. 
Polley Maquiran, 14 years old, has been experiencing symptoms of epilepsy. The doctor suggested that he undergo an EEG to determine which type he has so that an appropriate medication may be prescribed. Polley is in his second year of high school and doing well in class until lately. His attendance in school has been greatly affected since he experienced seizures in school. It is a traumatic and an embarrassing incident for him that his behavior and attitude has changed accordingly. Please pray the good Lord will bless him and give him hope.
Rancho San Juan Bosco - Imagine being in church one morning and hearing the pastor share about his recent visit to an orphanage in Mexico and imagine being moved to make a difference. That's what happened to Kelley Kulina when her pastor shared one morning in her church about the needs of the children and youth living at Rancho San Juan Bosco. Their story inspired her to do something special and get involved at RSJB on a weekly basis teaching English. She recently shared her story with us:
Wa' Ta-Lus Kuateí - Grace Church from San Bernardino answered the call to help WTK Children's Home expand to be able to care for more children. PIA staff got together with Laura to help take a look at her property and to learn about the potential and the dreams that she has to expand the home to be able to care for more children.
Tecate, Mexico - Christmas in Mexico is not unlike the Christmas traditions that are celebrated in the United States. In fact much of the Mexican Christmas tradition along the border is heavily influenced by the US. Here in Mexico children still hear about Santa Claus and make lists and write letters. Mexico has its own traditional Christmas songs, and Mexican artists also write new Christmas songs each year. Many of the songs talk about Bethlehem and as many of you know Belén (our daughter's first name) is Spanish for Bethlehem. So our dear little daughter is getting a complex, thinking that Christmas is all about her!
