Fedja Orphanage
In Haiti there is an estimated 1.2 million children living at risk out of a total population of about 8.5 million. Of this number approximately 400,000 are orphans, and 200,000 have the streets for addresses where they are beaten, abused, molested, and lured into sodomy. Those are God’s children in need of an ear to hear their cries, a mouth to tell others about their pains, a hand to labor on their behalf, an eye to see them as they truly are and never forget their faces, and a heart to feel with the determination to do something about their destine.
You may have heard the story about the orphanage, a story of faith begun with a pool of children collected from all spectrums of hardship living in Haiti and placed in a sheep barn with the belief that God, the faithful one, would honor His promise to take care of His own. When Tammey Shimon arrived in Haiti for the first time in 2004 with a group from Westlink Christian Church, the children were still living in the sheep barn. I am sure there was a lot going on in her mind about the living conditions of those children, but her belief about an assurance of blessings promised to all of God’s children born by faith prompted her to name the orphanage “All of God’s Children.” Questions about how we were going to take care of those children had no answers, but we turned to Him. So far God has proven that those are His children for whom His son died and for whom He will continue to care. God sent many people to that sheep barn including our friends from Five Oaks who decided to take the orphanage as their protégé. Land was purchased, and Mike, the architect, was sent to Haiti to work on blueprints. God miraculously got the United Nation’s mission in Haiti involved and they performed excavation work for us evaluated at over $700,000. This was unheard of, but with the Lord everything is possible!
The construction of the building has been an ongoing project since 2005 while our 56 children were moved to a small transition house. Through our many struggles we have seen the mighty hands of the Lord stretching out to provide for the children’s daily sustenance. God has constructed a story behind each one of those little hearts. They have their story to tell and many people will stand in awe when someday, these children can finally stand on their own to account for where the Lord has taken them to make them such great recipients of His blessings. But the story being told right now is a collective one that includes all of you who have had a role to play in the lives of those children and GVCM. This is your story to tell your friends, your churches, and your neighbors so that they also can join in our jubilation. October 12, 2009 is a date we will remember. We will remember when our friends from Five Oaks joined us in a great celebration as we finally moved the children in their rightful house.
My friends, this is a milestone of uncommon accomplishment for GVCM. According to James 1:27, you have practiced the acceptable religion of the Lord by helping to take care of these orphans. Your partnership with GVCM and the orphans of Fedja is a testimony that with persistence and faith we can achieve our God-given goal. In this case it is the pursuit of happiness and success for those precious children of God. Altruism and philanthropism are natural inclination of mankind. Most people want to help another fellow human being, but how and where is what they don’t know. GVCM has provided the answer for you. You can continue to help us make sure that the sun of hope never goes down in the hearts of those little ones. We want to continue preparing these children to become productive members of society and of the kingdom of the Lord. But we cannot do it without your participation. Remember that when you solve a problem for others you schedule a divine solution to a problem in your own future.
The building has been made livable, but it is not totally complete yet. We only have about 56 children in there right now, but we are building for many more children. 40% of the hard core construction is still a project and 40% of what has been built still needs some touch ups.
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