May09 Web Newsletter

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THE STORM LEFT 2-3MILLION HOMELESS,2 MILLION WITHOUTFOOD,60,000ORPHANS AND OVER300,000 DEAD.

It also left an opportunity for Christiansto demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ tothose in need - to be His hands and feet.To not simply tell people Jesus lovesthem, but to demonstrate His love.It is our responsibility to help thesepeople, not the responsibility of thegovernment, United Nations, or otheragencies. It is the role of the Church. Jesus compels us to act on behalf of theleast of these; believing what we do forthem we do for Christ. In this spirit, out of obedience to theWord of God, acting out of love and compassion for thepeople of Burma, we have been working to make a difference.It is humbling to see how God has used us. Amidst thedarkness, despair and hopelessness, we see Christ’s light shineeven brighter.As we reflect on the past year, the devastation, the rebuilding,and the hope of Jesus Christ, His faithfulness isoverwhelming. He has brought provision for His people, andused us as vessels to minister His love! Broken vessels that weare, he has chosen to use us. Teams from VBB have delivered140 duffel bags full of supplies to Myanmar. Each bag weighs50 pounds or more, so that is over 7,000 pounds! Acontainer was also sent containing 270,000 rice meals. Allwas done as a witness to the great love and compassion of our God.The cyclone also gave us the opportunity to offer a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus! After the storm animmediate need was clean drinking water. We were able tosend a water purification system and water purificationsupplies. Jesus often described himself as the Living Water. Inlight of those words, what greater gift can we give than clean,pure, life-sustaining water? It reminds me of Jesus words inMatthew 26:37 and 40, “Then the righteous will answer him,‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirstyand give you something to drink?’ The King will reply, ‘I tellyou the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of thesebrothers of mine, you did for me.’”

to look after orphans and widows in their distress and tokeep oneself from being polluted by the world.”It has been a year since Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar,and the task we have been given,without the strength of the Lord,would be overwhelming.

GOD’S WORD TELLS US “RELIGIONTHAT GOD OUR FATHER ACCEPTS ASPURE AND FAULTLESS IS THIS:

We were able to purchase rice and feed people, but theBurmese people’s true desire was to be self-sufficient. On theIrrawaddy Delta many people made a living by growing ricebefore the cyclone brought the seawater inland and wiped outrice production. As part of the rebuilding effort we purchasedenough rice seedlings to replant 3,500 acres of rice. For$90,000 the seedlings would yield enough rice to reseed thearea and feed 63,600 people. We were not only able to feedthese people, but offer them the hope of being able to supporttheir families and feed their children.The people of Burma are very grateful for the help theyreceive. However, they desire to support themselves. We offera microenterprise loan program in Myanmar to help womenstart small businesses and have a 100% payback rate! We areworking to expand this program as now the needs are evengreater. We assisted in purchasing a tea farm in NorthernBurma to support pastors and employ Christians. We raisedfunds for a medical clinic which offers free medical anddental care and the facility is used to distribute food andsupplies. We are working to send a medical container toBurma. All is done to demonstrate the love of our Savior.

WITH ALL THAT WE HAVESEEN,NOTHING HASCAPTURED OUR HEARTS LIKETHE CHILDREN.

As teams return, the picture etched in their minds is that of theorphans. We need to protect these precious children who are atrisk of human trafficking. Girls as young as seven years old areat risk of being sold to work in the brothels of Thailand.Young boys are forced to join the brutal military governmentor at risk of recruitment by terrorists. Boys and girls are at riskof being sold as slaves to perform menial labor.In stark contrast, our goal is to place them in Christianhomes where they can experience the healing and restorativelove of Jesus Christ. Pastors and Burmese Christians haveoffered to work with these children. We are supporting apastor who has received 28 children into his home. We haveexpanded a Methodist orphanage, more than doubling theircapacity. VBB purchased a plot of land to build 4orphanages, each housing 100 children. The first home isnearly complete and will begin housing children in June.Construction has begun on the next 2, and they are expectedto be completed soon after the first. In addition we areraising funds to complete an orphanage that will house 500-1,000 children.Teams that spend time with the children are changed. In spiteof all these children have been through and their great loss,they remain full of the hope of the Lord Jesus. Teams go,intending to minister to these children, but are often taughtand ministered to in return. It reminds me of the phrase,“And a little child shall lead them.” The following is anexcerpt from Chylo Laszloffy on a recent trip to Myanmar.“The children gathered in the small church that is there andsang for us. It touched my heart to hear all of the young onespassionately singing to the Lord. After spending a couplehours there, we went to a village where VBB has built amedical clinic. When we pulled up there were close to 200village kids waiting there to greet us. They were so excitedthat we came. We spent an hour playing with them, signingtheir hands, and taking pictures with them. Many of thesechildren are orphans and are being taken care of by thesupport of the YMCA here. It was a bit overwhelming to bethere, because there were so many children that wantedattention from us.

IT REALLY TOUCHED MY HEARTTO SEE THE JOY IN THE LIVESOF ALL THESE KIDS.

Though they have so little, they are so full of joy. Many of these kids are believers, even though most of them have beenraised Buddhist. We had taken some candy out with us forthe children, but there were way more children thanexpected. When we ran out of candy, the children were notupset, but rather thanked us that we had even brought any. I

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