Newsletters
These are monthly newsletters. You can read them on the website or have them emailed to you. If you want to subscribe, please send an email to newsletter@sanctuaryhome.org.
October 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.Thank you all for your continued prayers and support for the mission of Sanctuary Home. Over the past month, six more children have been sponsored. We currently have only three more waiting, and once they are sponsored, we do not have plans to add more children in the near future. Seventy children is quite a large group! The staff at SH do a fabulous job. Please pray for this gifted group of workers who put in long hours and have so many roles to fill: Isaac and Mary, the volunteer directors, who manage the whole operation; Rajanikanth, the warden who is specifically responsible for the children and their activities; Jayarao and Anil Kumar, who run errands, buy food, do odd jobs, and help the warden with all sorts of things; Victoria, who cooks a LOT of food three times a day over a small camping style stove, Kumari, who teaches sewing lessons and brushes and braids over 20 heads of hair every morning; and the doctor, who is endlessly on call, keeping our kids as healthy as he can. The staff receive a total of $325 per month, but the difference they make in the lives of these children is priceless.As you probably know, the mission of Sanctuary Home extends beyond helping orphans. Thanks to Ruth Jackson, SH also supports a group of ten widows each month. Although we have not focused on this aspect of the work, we will be updating the website soon to reflect this opportunity. While in India, Isaac spoke with Ruth about the plight of widows, specifically Christian widows in the Tenali area, and we spent a day interacting with them and seeing with our own eyes. When Ruth returned home, she and her group of widowed friends (The Ya-Ya Merry Widows!) decided to forego one of their dinners each month in order to support destitute Indian widows. This is not as involved as our work with the children as we do not have specific widows to sponsor and there is no correspondence. We send $60 every six months, and Isaac distributes the money to the ten widows he selected, and they use the money to feed themselves. There is certainly much more room for this aspect of our work to grow. Please email us if you would like to become involved in any way. During our next trip to India, we plan to spend $1800 on another widows' conference, where we will speak to them and interact with them, and most importantly, distribute rice and sarees to about 150 widows. We are so pleased to have this opportunity to feed and clothe these women.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.September 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.Akhil, one of the new children at SH, recently underwent successful surgery to correct his vision. The total cost of the surgery and hospital stay was only $250, paid for by Akhil's sponsor. Thank you! The other children are doing well, although it is the season for illness as the rains and weather changes intensify. Isaac says that as soon as one child recovers, another is sick. The doctor is caring for them as needed. Although specific money was not raised to pay for water heaters, we have decided to provide them anyway with some of the extra funds we have received over the past months. Soon they will be installed and at least provide a level of comfort so the children can avoid cold showers during the winter. Although the winter temperatures in South India do not seem cold to those of us used to American weather, Indians can be seen shivering and bundled in scarves and sweaters when it dips down below about 80. Low temperatures in AP are now about 70; by December the lows could be down to 60. There are still nine children waiting to be sponsored.Artwalk was a success, with about 700 visitors the first month. Ruth has sold many of her paintings and photos, but there are still a few left. The notecards made by the children have also sold well, but are still available. Please email us if you're interested in purchasing any of these items. Our Night In India dinner was also a success; the India team raised over $2000, which will be divided ten ways and go towards our plane tickets. Thanks to everyone who volunteered their time or decorations to help us. The photo at right is our India team at the dinner, from left: Grace Hall, Cynthia Michaud, Jana Beck, Charles Taylor, Amanda Pettit, Virginia Pettit, Ray Pettit, Randy Uthe, Bryce Powell, and Emily Antilley. We are very excited to be headed back to India, this time with a dedicated and skilled team, and we're working hard to prepare special programs for the children as well as behind-the-scenes business work. Because of the numerous events this fall, we have decided not to plan a fall sponsor gathering. Instead, we will plan our next gathering for early spring, which will give us a great opportunity to talk in person about the trip. This time we will be giving Christmas gifts to the children again, so each sponsor is asked to send an additional $20-$25 between now and December so these gifts can be purchased before we arrive. If this amount doesn't fit within your budget, your child will still receive a gift. If you have the means to provide a bit extra, it will help ensure that there is enough for every child.FYI: Sanctuary Home will be represented at the ACU Lectureships with a booth in the Teague Center, Sept. 16-19. Sanctuary Home will be represented at Play Faire Park on Sept. 22; we will be doing henna for donations during their music festival. Sanctuary Home will be participating in Spotlight on Children in Need, a Missionfish special event from October through December.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.August 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.August is a very exciting and busy month for Sanctuary Home. Recently the Abilene Reporter-News featured an article about Ruth Jackson and her India paintings. It was a wonderfully written article with great photos, still available on their website. August 9th is Artwalk, which also features Ruth's work. The exhibit is titled Children of India, and the paintings and photographs will be on display through October 1st. The artist reception is August 9th from 5:00-8:30pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St., Abilene TX. There is always lots to see and do at Artwalk, so if you can, please come join us for this special time. There will also be prints available of the paintings. The notecards with art by the SH children will also be for sale. Please email me if you are interested in purchasing a painting, print, photo, or notecard, but are unable to attend Artwalk. The children Ruth painted include Durga, Jeevanbabu, Ramesh, Malathi, Rebekha, Ramya, Sandyarani, Babblu, and Bhavani. We hope to have the paintings and notecards on the website soon. Proceeds from the sale of paintings, prints, and notecards will be donated to Sanctuary Home.As you know, we are planning a trip to Sanctuary Home this winter. A total of ten team members will be going this time, and we are busy raising money to pay for our plane tickets ($1290 each) and expenses while in India ($300 each). On August 25th, we will be hosting a Night In India Fundraiser Dinner. The proceeds from this dinner will go towards our travel expenses. Tickets will be on sale starting Sunday, August 12th, $20 for adults and $10 for children under 12. The dinner will feature Indian food (a bit less spicy than the real thing), Indian music, henna painting, and a fabulous silent auction with a limited number of Indian items. These items recently arrived directly from Tenali and include carved elephants, sarees, Punjabi dresses and traditional shirts, bangles, anklets, knitted caps, handbags, fabric, and more. The dinner will be held at Highland Church of Christ. If you'd like to buy a ticket, they will be sold the next two Sunday mornings at Highland, or you can email me and I will reserve one for you.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.July 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.The building has been completed - praise God. Now that the building is done, we are prepared to take in an additional twenty children. Their photos and profiles have been added to the website. There are several sibling groups, and a few who need medical care. Already, six have been sponsored and have moved in. If you know of anyone who is interested in helping one of these children, please direct them to our website, www.sanctuaryhome.org. Thanks!The big sale on June 23rd was very successful. We raised almost $900, and the money was used to pay for the stair railings. Thanks to everyone who helped, especially the Taylors, who hosted the sale and donated so much.Along with the good news, we have an unfortunate situation to make you aware of. Jansi, a 15-year-old girl at Sanctuary Home, has left. Her mother, who was unable to care for Jansi, returned to insist that it was time for her to be married. After the initial shock of this news, we spent a lot of time trying to understand what was happening and why. We learned that in India, a girl is a burden from the day she is born, simply because of her gender. Once she reaches physical maturity, her family views her as a huge liability and marries her as quickly as possible. Isaac explained to Jansi's mother that Jansi was not a burden because she was well cared for in SH. He explained that finishing her education would enable her to support herself and her family in the future. Although these things seem obvious to us, we have been assured that these concepts are completely foreign to the typical rural Indian. Even though the legal marriage age in India is 18, and the dowry system is technically outlawed, there was nothing Isaac could do to stop the mother. Jansi left with her mother and was married on June 28th to a 21-year-old man whom she had never met. She was in ninth grade, but her education is now over. Should she ever be able to visit SH for continued sewing lessons, we will certainly provide them, although her return is unlikely. Because of this situation with Jansi, we are taking all steps possible to prevent similar situations in the future. If you would like more details, please contact us and we will be happy to give you more information. Please pray for Jansi's future.On a happier note, Ruth Jackson has almost completed her stunning paintings, prints, and notecards to be unveiled at Artwalk in August and September. Paintings include some of individial SH children, scenes of India, and more. The paintings will probably sell very quickly (several of them have been pre-sold), but there will be prints available of some of the paintings as well. The notecards are lovely, and each one has a photo of the child artist on the back. Almost all of the first forty children are represented, as well as a few of those who moved in later. If you don't live near Abilene but are interested in purchasing any of the notecards or other artwork, please contact us and we will put you in touch with Ruth. If you'd like to see Ruth's art in person at Artwalk, come to the Center For Contemporary Arts, Thursday August 9th, 5:00-8:30pm, 220 Cypress Street in downtown Abilene.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.June 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.We are very pleased to announce that the new building has been fully funded and will be completed before the end of June. Thank you to everyone who helped with the financial effort. Most of all, we thank God for continuing to provide everything that is needed for Sanctuary Home. Over the past three months, the value of the rupee against the dollar has risen; we needed an additional $800 to make up the difference. This money has also been raised. Additional money for the building will go toward building the stair railings (under $1000 total), which are still unfunded.Very soon we expect to have profiles available for up to 20 additional children. Some of these children will probably have medical needs that their new sponsors can provide. We are excited at the prospect of giving the gift of eyesight, or providing a necessary surgery that the child would otherwise never be able to get.The SH children started school this month. Navakiran, one of the oldest children, completed 10th grade and successfully passed college entrance exams. His sponsor has agreed to pay $250 to send Navakiran to college this year. With a college education, his future will be very bright indeed. Ch. Gopi, Malathi, and Sony each passed their 7th grade public examinations, and they can relax a bit this year with a less stressful 8th grade.SH children attending private schools (and difficult grades) this year include Naga Prasad, Prakash, Divya and Reetu (5th grade) and Srinu, Samson and Kiran (7th grade). Each of these 5th and 7th grade students will need about $100 for tuition payments and special tutoring. If sponsors want to contribute to this amount, it would be great. If not, the students will still be provided with the education we have planned on. Recently, the group celebrated Sai Kumar's birthday, as seen in the photo below.Plans for the December trip are going well and getting really exciting. Team members include Ray, Amanda, and Virginia Pettit, Charles Taylor, Jana Beck, Randy Uthe, Emily Antilley, Grace Hall, and Bryce Powell. Jana will be directing a Vacation Bible School for the children. We are exploring options and we hope to purchase a $2000 machine for pressing banana leaves into plates. The plates would be sold in India, the operation of the machine would employ several people, and the profits could potentially support ten families. We are very excited about this first venture towards self-sufficiency for Sanctuary Home. Fundraising for the leaf-pressing machine will take place NEXT WEEKEND.SH Fundraiser HUGE SALE!June 23rd, Saturday, 8am-12pmWhere: Taylor's Army Surplus City parking lot, under the big tent, 4042 North 1stSale items include LOTS of furniture, art prints, many items both new and used, plus garage sale items. Many of the new sale items have been in storage waiting to be sold, but have now been donated to SH in order to raise funds. There will be some great deals and exciting finds!Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
May 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.Things are going well at Sanctuary Home as the building work continues. The interior walls have been plastered and the building is already providing a cooler spot for the children to rest now that the weather is so hot. We have received $6120 for the building so far; we still need $2880. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to this project! Recently the children received the sports equipment (thanks to Mason Myrtle) shown in the photo below: new cricket bats, jump ropes, badminton equipment, soccer balls, and more.The SH Gathering last month was a success. Thanks again to the Taylors for providing a wonderful space for us to be together and celebrate Sanctuary Home. Ruth Jackson displayed her first completed India painting at the gathering - it's beautiful! She will be painting many more, and they will be for sale later this summer. Her art show is scheduled for Art Walk during August and September. For those of you who don't know about Art Walk, it is a monthly downtown Abilene event, held the first Thursday of each month. Ruth's art will be displayed at the Center For Contemporary Arts, and the art notecards featuring art from the SH children will also be for sale.In June, the children will start a new academic year. New uniforms are being made for them at this time. Please pray for their success this school year. Remember that those students in 5th, 7th, and 10th years will have an intense time of work ahead of them. Thank you for making it possible for them to attend school!We are currently planning our next visit to Sanctuary Home for December 27, 2007 - January 10, 2008. This trip will include nine team members. We will be doing many of the same things we did on our last trip, but we are very excited to be planning better this time since we know what to expect. Later this year we will most likely be fundraising for some of those plans. More information about the next trip will be in future newsletters.Fortunately, there are no pressing health needs at this time, but there is another very important prayer request. In the US, obtaining our tax exempt 501c3 status was a matter of meeting the qualifications, submitting an application, and paying the fee. In India, the situation isn't nearly as simple. It is a long, complicated, expensive process. Meeting qualifications may be less important than knowing the right people. Isaac has been diligently working on this process - obtaining an FCRA (Foreign Currency Regulation Act) number - for over a year now. The India side of the Sanctuary Home organization does meet the qualifications, and the official fees have been paid, but the status still has not been obtained. Until SH in India receives official status, they are in a less than ideal situation when it comes to receiving the money from the US to operate the children's home. We are working together, doing our best to make it work, but it isn't always easy. Please pray that this FCRA number will be obtained soon and that Isaac will be free of the financial hassles that continue to plague SH at this time.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
April 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed.Thank you so much to those of you who helped buy the new generator! The photo at left shows one of the SH boys, interested but cautious, as he eyes the shiny blue contraption. Because of the new generator, the children and staff at Sanctuary Home have lighting and fans whenever they need them, despite the frequent power outages. The uninterrupted power will be a lifesaver for keeping the mosquitoes out (thanks to the fans), and providing light to cook, eat, and study by. The generator is installed at the rented SH building for now; when the new building is complete, the generator will be moved. Thanks also to the donor who is providing monthly funds for the purchase of fuel for the generator. We praise God for continuing to provide so well for the children of Sanctuary Home.Recently an eye camp was conducted at the childrens' schools, and the SH children had their eyes checked. Dilip was found to be blind in one eye. He and two others, Pavan and Venkatesh, will be sent to Guntur to an eye specialist. We expect that Pavan will need glasses, and we're praying that we can do something for Dilip and Venkatesh as well, but that remains to be seen. Jansi is well on the road to recovery from malaria, but still requires medication at this point. Gopi Ch.'s condition remains a concern, but we will continue with the process of testing and pursuing a diagnosis and treatment. Thank you to all of those who are praying for these children, and the sponsors who have made special donations to cover the extra medical costs. Please know that the children pray for you, too. Even if you haven't written to tell them, we have kept Isaac informed when we know of sponsors who are struggling with illness or other disasters (such as house fires!). Isaac and Mary set an excellent example in this regard, and I know they pray for you and teach the children to do the same.The next Gathering for sponsors and friends (and anyone interested) is coming up soon:April 21st6pmat the home of Charles & Diana TaylorIf you need directions, you can call the Taylors at 000, or Amanda at 672-9046, or email me. What to bring:Sandwiches and/or finger foods such as chips or cookies - enough for your family and some to share. Drinks will be provided. What to expect: A fun time to visit and eat together, ask questions about the last India trip, learn about the next India trip, see additional video footage from India, receive a letter from your child (if you are a sponsor), etc. Kids are certainly welcome; the Taylors have a lovely barn where we'll eat and plenty of space outside for the kids to play. If you are a new sponsor (since the last sponsor gathering), we will videotape a greeting from you to your child to send to India. Ruth Jackson will have at least one of her paintings (from the India trip) on display and will tell about her experiences on the trip, and will share information about her paintings and notecards. Mehndi (henna on the hands) will be available - just for fun!Please join us for this special Gathering to celebrate the joy of Sanctuary Home.Several of you have asked us about direct deposit for monthly sponsorships. After researching the options, we've concluded that direct deposit isn't a service we can offer at this time. The expense would outweigh the contributions since we're a relatively small organization. However, there are other ways to make your payments less of a hassle each month. Many banks offer automatic payments for their account holders, and several of our monthly donors already take advantage of this. If you're interested, call your bank to ask about their automatic bill paying services; you can probably have your bank mail us a monthly check from your account. The other option is paypal, an online financial service at www.paypal.com. Once you set up a paypal account, you can set up a monthly payment through our website by clicking on Sponsor A Child on the How To Help page. If you have any questions, please email or call.One more announcement: Sanctuary Home has a new volunteer administrative assistant! Emily Antilley, one of our sponsors, has generously offered to help with paperwork and details every week. We are so thankful for her service; this is another answer to prayer. (Who knew there would be so much to do?!) You may receive an email from Emily as she shares this joyful burden with us.Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.March 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! We hope you are all well and blessed. Many of you received the DVD we sent out, and responded with lots of positive feedback. We're glad we could share the trip with you in this way. If you have not received a DVD, and would like one, please send us an email at amanda@sanctuaryhome.org, and include your mailing address.Recently, the SH children enjoyed an outing to downtown Tenali, where they experienced an exhibition. From what I understand, the exhibition was much like a travelling carnival with rides, games, food, and other attractions. The website has been updated with photos of the children riding the ferris wheel, playing midway games, sliding down a huge inflatable ship, and riding a little train. At left, the children pose with Rajanikanth. Anil is almost certainly the photographer. I am amazed that such a large number of children all went to the exhibition at once, and were so well managed that each of them was well mannered and returned to SH with no problems. This is further evidence of the chidrens' wonderful dispositions as well as the competence and excellence of the staff. They're doing a great job.Birthdays were celebrated in February with a cake and sweets, and the little gifts provided by one of the sponsors. All of the children enjoyed the party. In the photo below, Reetu is giving a sweet to Ramya. Rajanikanth is in the background. The other children are Pavan, Manova, Babblu, and Chamondeswari. Soon, the children will be receiving some new sports equipment, thanks to 12-year-old Mason Myrtle of Woodstock, Virginia. Mason heard about SH from his grandparents, who are sponsors, and he made and sold little yarn "humdingers" - and he raised $60! Part of his donation will be used to purchase new sports equipment for the SH children, and the remainder will go towards the generator. The generator will cost $1800, and so far we have raised $400. We are actively raising funds to purchase the generator as soon as possible, because the weather in Tenali is getting steadily hotter; power outages are at their peak during the hot season. In addition to many other benefits, the generator will provide power for ceiling fans, which will cool the children as they study and sleep indoors. Even more important, the fans help keep mosquitoes at bay, protecting the children from malaria and other illnesses. While the generator is a priority, we are also raising money to finish the building, which will cost $9000. Thanks to our generous donors, we have raised $4500 already. Soon, the first installment will be wired to India, and construction will begin. Upcoming newsletters will have photos of the progress made on the building project. Once the building is finished, SH will have room for about twenty more children.Although their photos aren't even on the website yet, SH recently welcomed two new boys, Aramraj and Vijay Kiran. We are thankful to the family sponsoring these two boys, and we pray that they will both thrive and excel as they become part of the SH family. Thank you!Mark your calendars for the next sponsor gathering: April 21st. It will be a time for supporters and sponsors of SH to gather and visit. More information will be coming soon!Please pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
February 2007
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! You may have noticed that there was no January newsletter; we let the blog do the talking last month as we wrote about our trip to India.The trip was amazing and wonderful. It was so good to meet Isaac and Mary, their daughters and the SH children, and the staff members - finally face to face. We learned so much and feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to spend time with these sweet people. Isaac and Mary are doing a wonderful job, and we're happy to report that Sanctuary Home isn't just a job for them - it's their life. Rajanikanth and Anil radiate the same attitude of care and concern for the children, and we were repeatedly impressed with how they interacted with them. The children are now in a very good situation, thanks to God's intervention in their lives - through all of you who are supporting them and praying for them. Thank you all so much.The sponsor video was a success. They greatly enjoyed seeing your faces and hearing you speak to them, and Isaac also appreciated knowing more about so many of the sponsors. The children giggled and waved at the TV screen during their special moments. Each of them knows the name of his or her sponsor, and they are pleased to recite, in English, that they are thankful to you. We are working diligently to finish editing our video footage and get the final DVDs out to you. You'll see most of the children recite their thanks on the video. Thanks also to all of you who sent money to buy Christmas gifts for the children. The girls in the first photo are dressed in their new clothes, which they received in time to wear for New Year's Eve.While we were in India, Sanctuary Home grew to include six new children: Levi, Dilip, Venkatesh, Hanuman, Teja, and Sai Kumar. Hanuman and Teja still need sponsors, but all six have already moved in; we're confident they'll be sponsored very soon. Dilip's story is particularly compelling: his parents died four years ago; he continued his education for the next two years, but then had to quit school in order to support himself. He was collecting recyclables to sell, living in a slum area under a small tattered tarp. When Isaac took us to distribute food in the area, we met Dilip, and he asked to join SH. He wanted very much to go back to school. How could we possibly say no?You may have seen photos on the website and read in the blog about Isaac's vision for SH: to finish the first floor of the church building as a place for the children to live. After discussion and prayer, the SH board of directors has decided to move forward with this process. We are officially accepting funds for this project. Once the money is raised, the building will be finished, and the children will move out of the rental house and into their new facility. It will be large enough to separately house the boys and girls, have a large kitchen and several bathrooms - and we will have enough space to expand SH up to a total of 70 children. The cost for finishing this building is about $9000. We're also raising money to purchase a generator for $1800 and stair railings/grates for $700. These goals will be detailed on the website and updated as we make progress. Please call or email if you have any questions about the building project.Ruth Jackson did a great job of sharing her love of art with the SH children. She brought back artwork done by many of the children, and she is currently working hard to turn those bright drawings into beautiful notecards. Each notecard will have the child artist's photo on the back, and they will be available for sale when the project is complete. Profits from the notecard sales will be donated to SH. Ruth will also be doing a series of paintings inspired by her experiences in India; we will have more details in the future.Recently we received notice that Sanctuary Home has been granted tax-exempt status as a 501c3 public charity. Donations to SH are tax deductible, including those made in 2006 before we received the official status. This is great news, and opens many doors for the organization. We are now registered at Mission Fish, a charity helper for eBay.com. Anyone selling an item on eBay can choose to donate part or all of the profit to a charity, and Sanctuary Home is now on that list of charities to choose from. This is the first of many opportunities we're taking, thanks to our new tax-exempt status.We hope you enjoy the photos of the children and of India; over 300 photos are now on the SH website. Thank you all for your prayers and support of this wonderful cause. The children are happy and loved, and their needs are being met in more ways than we expected. We will be returning to India in the future, hopefully many times. Please contact us if you're interested in being a part of the next trip.Please continue to pray for Sanctuary Home, for the bright futures of the children, and that God will continue to give us the opportunity to help those in need.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
January 2007
There was no January newsletter; read the blog to learn about our trip to India.
December 2006
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! November was a very good month for our organization. It has been a busy time, but God continues to help us through and provide what is needed in every way.The Sponsor and Supporter Gathering was a huge success. Thanks so much to the Taylors for hosting the gathering in their lovely barn. They went to so much trouble and put in many hours of work preparing, and it definitely showed. Thanks also to all of you who brought food and spent the evening with us; we missed those of you who live far away. Over half of the forty-two children were represented, and we were also blessed to have Mike Kaminski, our board member from Massachusetts, fly in for the weekend. Entertainment was provided by Julia Tolosa and Katie Taylor on violins, and later by an old-time guitar band. We plan to have more gatherings in the future.We have been collecting video greetings to take to India. Many of you have already done this, and we are very excited to be able to share this with the children of Sanctuary Home. Seeing your faces and hearing your voices will make a lasting impression and help the children feel more connected to their supporters. Thank you all for your kind words to them: we're praying for you, we love you, you're part of our family, you're special to us. We can't wait to share greetings with you from the children. If you'd still like to be included in the greetings video, you can meet with us in person before December 20th, or email us a video clip before that date. If you can't do the video, don't worry. The extra children will be included in the greetings video in another way; none will be left out.For Christmas, we will be giving each child a second school uniform, a set of play clothes, a nice bookbag, and one other item, such as a toy. All of this is estimated to cost $15-$20 per child. The money has already been sent to Isaac, who is currently working to purchase and wrap the gifts. While in India, we will put the Christmas cards many of you have given with the gifts, and they will be presented on New Year's Day. Thank you to all of those who have donated money to buy these gifts! If you'd still like to make the donation and/or send a Christmas card to your child, please mail it to us as soon as possible at Sanctuary Home For Children, P.O. Box 2238, Abilene TX 79604. If you'd like to send a Christmas card to Isaac or any of the staff members, please also mail them as soon as possible.We set out to raise a certain amount of money in conjunction with our upcoming trip, including $840 for Christmas,$1000 for a computer and accessories for Isaac, $750 for the widows conference, $600+ for art supplies, $90 for birthday gifts, and $290 for sewing machines. We will also be providing a new sari for each of the 150 widows at the conference, and rice. Through your generous donations, God has provided all of this and more! Each of these expenses has been met. Excess funds will be used to pay the Sanctuary Home staff in the coming months (a $275 monthly cost) and unforeseen medical expenses for the children should they arise. We are so excited to be able to provide all of these things for the children and the home; thank you so much for your help.As you know, three of us will be in India from December 28th through January 11th. We fly from Abilene, TX, to Dallas, TX, to Frankfurt, Germany, to Chennai, India. If you've looked at a globe, you'll realize that India is almost directly across from us in Texas. Our flight travel time will total over twenty hours. Once in Chennai, we will take a 6+ hour train ride to Tenali. Hopefully, we will all sleep well on the plane, because we arrive just before the New Year's celebrations. Isaac has a busy schedule planned for us, including spending time with the Sanctuary Home children over several days, speaking to Indian Christians at several different churches, hosting a widows' conference, and more. The Sanctuary Home blog is now up and running, and linked to our website. We will be writing our experiences as much as possible, and uploading the entries to the blog when able. If uploading during the trip is a problem, we will upload them once we return to Texas. We will also videotape as much as possible, and will share that with you, too.Please continue to pray for Sanctuary Home, and Ray, Amanda, and Ruth as we travel.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
November 2006
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! Great news: all of the forty-two children have sponsors. In only six months, by the grace of the Lord, Sanctuary Home has completely filled with children. We praise Him for this and for the opportunity to be a part of it. If you or someone you know is interested in sponsoring a child, it isn't too late. A few of our current sponsors have graciously offered to sponsor staff members instead if there are more people who want to sponsor a child. We also have situations from time to time in which a sponsor is unable to keep their initial commitment, and we will need to seek another sponsor for that child. Please email us for details if you want to sponsor and haven't done so yet.More great news: Last month we asked for prayers on the behalf of two children, Malathi and Gopi. Both of them had grown weak and been confined to bed. Malathi was suspected to have a heart condition, and Gopi was plagued by fainting spells. We received donations to cover their medical care, a total of $200, which included a brief hospital stay for testing. Thanks for your prayers! Malathi had pneumonia and a weak heart beat, and Gopi was diagnosed with anemia. Both children require only medication and are slowly but surely recovering. Remember that this testing and treatment would not have been available to them only months ago. God is using all of us to literally save lives in some of these situations. What a blessing it is to be part of something so significant!The first letters have arrived from the children. We have mailed some of these to the sponsors already, if you live outside of Abilene. We will be distributing the rest of the letters at the sponsor gathering on November 18th. If you can attend and have not yet contacted us, please email or call as soon as possible. If you're not a sponsor, this is for you too - friends, donors, and supporters of all kinds are welcome.Sponsor and Supporter Gathering: On the evening of November 18th, we will have our first sponsor gathering, which will be held at the home of Charles and Diana Taylor here in Abilene. All sponsors who are able are encouraged to attend this special time together. We will get to know each other in person, have delicious food, prepare video greetings for the children in India, and learn about the upcoming India trip. Charles will be serving homemade chopped brisket sandwiches; guests are asked to please bring a side dish or dessert to share (we still need more beans). There will be small gifts available to purchase and send at this time. Ruth Jackson, Abilene artist, will be accompanying the Pettits on the trip to India, where she will be conducting an art class for the children and also for widows, and the art supplies will be available for purchase to help us offset some of the costs. It will be a wonderful evening at the Taylors. Please email amanda@sanctuaryhome.org or call 325-660-7619 to RSVP and get directions.We will be preparing Christmas packages in December for the children. Each package will include a second school uniform, one set of play clothes, a bookbag, and another toy or personal item. The estimated cost per child is $15-$20, and we are requesting that the sponsors donate this gift. Thanks to all of you who have already sent money for the Christmas gifts! The items will be purchased in India, where prices are much lower and there will be no shipping charges or import taxes. If you would like to send a Christmas greeting card with us, we will attach it to your child's package before they receive it. The $15-$20 gift and card can be mailed to us at Sanctuary Home For Children, P.O. Box 2238, Abilene TX 79604, or you can bring it to the sponsor gathering. If you are unable to help with the Christmas gift, we understand. If you are able to donate more than $20, the additional money will be used to ensure that each child receives a Christmas gift, and beyond that, to purchase gifts that will be used by the group, such as board games or sports equipment. All of the donated money for gifts will be used for that purpose only.More items of interest: Two weeks ago, we finally mailed in our application for tax exempt status. Although it will be months before we are approved, all donations to Sanctuary Home are still tax deductible since we have started this process in good faith. (The same goes for donations made in the past as well.) Also, we have new brochures about Sanctuary Home and fliers about the India trip. If you would like to have some to distribute to others, please email us and we'll send them out.Three of us leave for India in seven weeks. We hope to take video with us of the sponsors greeting the children. If you are unable to attend the sponsor meeting but would like to send video greetings, you can mail your video to us at the Sanctuary Home address, or email a video clip. If you live in or near Abilene and can't attend, please email us to set up an alternate time to record greetings with us. If you have something very small that you would like to send with us to India, please bring it to the sponsor gathering and we will do our best to accomodate you. While in India we will be taking lots of video footage, and we can't wait to share it with you all when we return.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.
October 2006
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! In September, we welcomed seven more children. Currently we have thirty-eight children sponsored; we only need four more sponsors. This is great news!September was a busy and exciting month for us, both in the US and in India. In India, the children were treated to an outing at a nearby park with a playground. They enjoyed a lovely picnic and had a wonderful time playing on the twaddles (seesaws), slipperies (slides), jungle gyms, and merry go rounds. Please visit the website to see lots more photos of this event. Because these beautiful children now live at Sanctuary Home, they can once again focus on being children. Thank you sponsors and donors for making such a difference in their lives.The following is an excerpt from Isaac's email regarding the outing: By God’s grace the children are alright except few. They are continuing their studies well and prosperity day to day is seen in them. They are very friendly with each other. Their brotherhood is a roll model to so many children over here. Early morning breakfast, lunch in the afternoon, snacks at evening and supper in the night we serve for the SH children. All the children in SH created in me a feeling that they are all my children only. 6th, October, 2006 in the afternoon they visited park which is situated 3 kms from us. I did hire 4 four wheelers and few autos for this round trip. The snacks and biscuits were served in the park. Traddles, slipperies merry go round and etc things were enjoyed by them. I could not measure their joy how it was when I heard about this trip.In the photo below, four girls enjoy a snack at the park. The girl third from left is Malathi. Isaac has asked for prayers on her behalf as her health has been poor. She will soon be undergoing medical tests focusing on her heart. Please remember her in your prayers. There has also recently been an outbreak of Dengue Fever in India, and we are praying that it will not reach Sanctuary Home. Currently there are cases reported in several states, including Andhra Pradesh, but no cases in Tenali. Hopefully when the monsoon season is over, this threat will greatly diminish.On the evening of November 18th, we will have our first sponsor gathering, which will be held at the home of Charles and Diana Taylor here in Abilene. All sponsors who are able are encouraged to attend this special time together. We will get to know each other in person, have delicious food, prepare video greetings for the children in India, and learn about the upcoming India trip. Charles will be serving homemade brisket; guests are asked to please bring a side dish or dessert to share. There will be small gifts available to purchase and send at this time. Ruth Jackson, Abilene artist, will be accompanying the Pettits on the trip to India, where she will be conducting an art class for the children and also for widows, and the art supplies will be available for purchase to help us offset some of the costs. It will be a wonderful evening at the Taylors. Please email to RSVP and get directions.We will be preparing Christmas packages in December for the children. Each package will include a second school uniform, one set of play clothes, a bookbag, and another toy or personal item. The estimated cost per child is $15-$20, and we are requesting that the sponsors donate this gift. The items will be purchased in India, where prices are much lower and there will be no shipping charges or import taxes. If you would like to send a Christmas greeting card with us, we will attach it to your child's package before they receive it. The $15-$20 gift and card can be mailed to us at Sanctuary Home For Children, P.O. Box 2238, Abilene TX 79604, or you can bring it to the sponsor gathering. If you are unable to help with the Christmas gift, we understand. If you are able to donate more than $20, the additional money will be used to ensure that each child receives a Christmas gift, and beyond that, to purchase gifts that will be used by the group, such as board games or sports equipment. All of the donated money for gifts will be used for that purpose only.Three of us leave for India in eleven weeks. We hope to take video with us of the sponsors greeting the children. If you are unable to attend the sponsor meeting but would like to send video greetings, you can mail your video to us at the Sanctuary Home address. If you live in or near Abilene and can't attend, please email us to set up an alternate time to record greetings with us. If you have something very small that you would like to send with us to India, please bring it to the sponsor gathering and we will do our best to accomodate you. While in India we will be taking lots of video footage, and we can't wait to share it with you all when we return.Thank you all for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.September 2006
Greetings, sponsors, donors, and friends of Sanctuary Home! In August, we welcomed two more children, Chamondeswari and Nagavijay. We have room for eleven more; currently we have thirty-one children sponsored.One of the highlights of the past month has been the childrens' new uniforms. Before, they were wearing their somewhat tattered street clothes and had received special permission from the headmasters of their schools to attend for a time, even though they didn't have uniforms yet. The photo at left shows the children in their street clothes. A number of sponsors have asked about buying clothes to mail to the children, and we have explained why it is better to buy the clothes in India: it's much less costly. For their uniforms, a tailor visited Sanctuary Home, measured each child, and custom-made the uniforms for $5 each. What a bargain! Once the new clothes were delivered, a special ceremony was held and each child was presented with their new school uniform. The photo below is the "after" picture. More photos of the ceremony are available at the Sanctuary Home website. The children with pink shirts are in primary school; those with white shirts are in secondary school.Last month, flooding in Andhra Pradesh caused lots of problems in Tenali. Many of our children became ill with fever, chills, and coughing. Fortunately, with proper medical treatment, all have completely recovered. If these children were on their own, living homeless, they would not have any hope of medical treatment. Thank you again for your support. Also in medical news is the good report that Buddu's cataract surgery is complete and she is recovering well after a brief hospital stay. Thanks for your prayers on her behalf.We travel to India in just 16 weeks. Before then, we will be emailing information about what you can send with us to your child. We will have at least one gathering here in Abilene so sponsors can meet each other, learn about the trip, and especially so we can take video of the sponsors to share with the children. If you don't live near Abilene (and would miss the SH gathering), we would love to receive a DVD or video message from you to your child. We plan to bring back messages from the children to their sponsors as well.Thank you for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.August 2006
July was a good month for Sanctuary Home. We are still growing, by God's grace, and currently have 29 children sponsored. Because we have so many children, Isaac has hired a second woman to live in the home and help with the cooking and general duties. She also has experience as a seamstress, which will be very useful as we plan to train the girls in just such a vocation.We also lost some children in July. Several disappeared before they were chosen for sponsorship, and two children ran away from the home after only a few days. Isaac spent days trying to trace them but was ultimately unsuccesful and was forced to give up the search when he hurt his back. He is recovering well. Please pray for him as he makes tough decisions regarding the children. He has to decide when to let a child go and accept a more willing child instead. Pray also that the children will recognize the opportunity they are being offered and make the most of it.Last month we listed our expenses, including $500 for legal fees in the US and $2000 for legal fees in India. We also had two fundraisers: a dance class for preschool girls (organized and directed by Helen Donaldson), and a garage sale. I am pleased to announce that the dance class raised $580 and the garage sale raised almost exactly $2000! This meets both of those expenses perfectly. Currently Kevin Wellborn is hosting a Pampered Ched catalog show fundraiser. To order, visit http://www.pamperedchef.biz/donnasdesserts, click on Order Products, and type in "Sanctuary" to locate the fundraiser. Thanks Kevin! Thanks Helen! Thanks to everyone who donated so many wonderful items for the garage sale, and to the Cannons, Taylors and Ellis', who were such a great help.We have recently added several new people to our board of directors: Charles and Diana Taylor and Linda Egle. They join Ray and Amanda Pettit, Joe Cannon, Tom and Toni Dolan, and Mike Kaminski. The board meets once a month to review operations for Sanctuary Home and plan for the future.Something new at the website: Isaac recently sent 19 photos of the children. It's wonderful to see them running, playing, smiling, and laughing. There are also photos of the children eating a meal, washing their dishes on a rooftop, the food they eat, and playing board games and cricket. You can see the photos at http://www.sanctuaryhome.org/august06photos.htm.Prayer needs: Buddu Makeni has cataracts and will have surgery to repair her vision after a course of medicine. Pray for an easy surgery and a full recovery. Pray for the children who have disappeared or left the home. Pray for Isaac's back trouble, that he may have a full recovery. We thank God for providing so many sponsors and donors to help the children of Tenali. We praise Him for providing for all of our legal fees!Thank you for your prayers and support of Sanctuary Home. God bless you.July 2006
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
Sanctuary Home - Who We Are - The Story - The Children - How to Help -Tenali, India - Contact Us
