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You are a child's reason to hope

In the poorest neighborhoods of Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS epidemic find themselves without parents and without hope. Some are able to find shelter with relatives – they are the fortunate ones. The less fortunate children find themselves alone, living and sleeping on the streets, begging for food.

In rural villages throughout Cambodia’s Pursat province, it is not unheard of for children to lose count of how many of their siblings or friends have died as a result of the impoverished living conditions they are forced to endure. Water-borne diseases, malnutrition and a lack of education all conspire to threaten the lives of young and old alike on a daily basis.

Think about it for a moment… death is so commonplace in families and communities that children lose count of how many people have died.

I’m praying that you will not set aside the urgent needs of these children. I’m asking you to say yes to their plea for help.

They cannot be here to ask you in person, but my prayer is that the desperate nature of their situation will speak to your conscience and resonate deeply with your compassionate heart.

Friend, there are so many reasons to say YES to these children today.

• In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, your gift of $55 will ensure that orphans are provided with shelter, grief counseling, food, water, clothing, medical attention, education and, depending on their age, vocational skills training that will enable them to become self-reliant.


• In Pursat province, Cambodia, your gift of $75 will help provide the materials needed to build a small school that will serve the village children. The  Cambodian government has agreed to provide the teachers and cover all ongoing operating costs.


• A very generous gift of $500 will help construct one water-well, ensuring that families and their children have access to clean water for drinking, bathing and irrigating small garden plots. Children will no longer become sick and die of diseases that are completely preventable. Malnutrition will be a thing of the past because families will be able to grow enough nutritious vegetables to fill their plates at every meal. Extra produce will be sold at the local market, generating much needed income that will be used to purchase life’s most basic necessities.

Friend, you and I live in a world where it is almost impossible to count all our blessings, great or small.

These children, however, live in a world where it is almost impossible to count even one blessing beyond the love of their parents.

Your generous gift today will be a big blessing for a child that has known only suffering and heartache.

Please be the person who lifts an orphan child up off the street and gives them the comfort and care they so desperately need

Be the person who gives a child the gift of education, encouragement, and the self-confidence required in order to become self-reliant as they grow up.

Be the person who gives clean drinking water to a child that has never known what it’s like to not risk getting sick simply by drinking a cup of water.

Friend, please... be a blessing to children who have known only hardship and suffering.