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Missions

Save It for My Brother

Carol and Jacob* left careers in management to prepare for missions. Their unique blend of management experience and Bible training equipped them for a special ministry. Since the early 90s they have worked establishing educational, medical and orphanage ministries in parts of the world that have desperate needs.

Losing both parents at a young age is traumatic for any child. In some parts of the world, however, children who are orphaned face the possibility of starvation and death.

The parents of Jan* and Byo* died unexpectedly of disease shortly after Byo's birth. Their grandparents, like most of the villagers in the remote area of the country, live in a stick house with a dirt floor and a campfire in the center of the living area to provide heat during the cold nights. With an annual income of about $35 U.S. per year they were unable to provide for their grandsons' needs.

Carol remembers when the desperate grandparents brought the boys to the orphanage. Orphanage officials said they could accept 4-year-old Jan, but because of inadequate staff to care for babies they could not accept any child under two years of age. Six-month-old Byo would have to remain in his grandparent's care.

From that moment on, Jan would only eat half of the rice from his bowl. At every meal he would give his bowl of food back to the director and say things like, "See, I only ate half of my food, please save the rest for my brother." Or, "See I don't eat much, my brother can come here to live and he can eat the rest of my food." For six months Jan made this plea on behalf of Byo.

When the grandparents returned with Byo, the 1-year-old was unable to sit up, stand or walk. He was literally dying of starvation. The orphanage director knew if she didn't accept him, he would end up dying, so she relented and took him into the program.

As the grandparents were leaving they said, "Don't worry he won't eat much, he only eats rice and salt." That's all they had been feeding him, and they were giving him their best.

Jan and Byo are inseparable and with the care given them at the orphanage they are thriving.

The orphanage opened 5 years ago with about 350 children who now receive the basic necessities of life. "But please pray," Carol pleads. "They tell us there are still about 500 orphans living in the mountains, taking care of themselves, eating roots and berries, waiting for a chance to be accepted in the orphanage."

*Names have been changed.