Children's Opportunity Foundation Blog

Pictures February 2011

childrensopportunity — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:31:37 +0000

: Getting ready to attend school.

: What happens when a boy wears his shoes everyday…they wear out. Time to purchase 80 pairs of dress shoes for the children.

: Shagha brings a giant smile that makes everyone laugh. Uncle Shekar shares a piece of special bread.

: Tennis shoes are required for gym class at St. Josephs school.

: Chandani is just one of the girls who has learned to sew and helps out with mending clothes at BCH.

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

Friendships are Valuable!

childrensopportunity — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 16:53:42 +0000

Yesterday I was visiting with Rainie, an assistant to Irene at BCH, as she shared a funny story. A few days ago I was out playing marbles with the boys and had a blast. When the boys came in she asked them what they were doing. The boys replied, “We were playing marbles with Hailey and Akshya’s daddy” (My two youngest daughters who traveled to BCH in January 2010). To be honest, I was a bit taken back. I realized how much the kiddos of Bethesda value the visit and friendship with my children. You see 100% of them have had their hearts deeply wounded because of various life circumstances. When my daughters came and they ran around, pushed each other in the wheel barrel and jumped rope…a peer friendship was formed that gave them relationship and name. I am embarrassed to tell you that I have been asked dozens and dozens of times, “Where is Hailey & Akshya” why didn’t you bring them? Please Uncle bring them back to us soooooon.” I want to go on record for the Bethesda kids and state that their “official complaint” has been heard loud and clear. As you read this take a moment to ponder how special you feel when someone goes out of their way to “visit” you. Jesus said, “I will not leave as orphans, but will come to you.” The children at BCH have made it very clear that while adults are great there’s something special about a peer visit. Thanks for your interest in these amazing kids.

Gene

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

Hanging with the Kids!

childrensopportunity — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:55:34 +0000

I had a great day hanging out with the children at Bethesda today and teaching in the college. When we drove unto the campus my heart danced to see the smiles on their faces. As I said earlier, I am really asking God to let me see and understand in a more significant way what Jesus meant when he said in John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” When it comes to the orphan and widows it seems obvious that group would need to have protection, provision and long for presence. So when Jesus said to the disciples “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you”, He knew the disciples would need presence…God’s presence. That statement was made to grown men. I think it was understood that within the nature of a child whose been left alone—orphaned, there would be a longing to be have presence. Each day the children at Bethesda are experiencing PRESENCE as they receive loving care through the staff at Bethesda. It was a special treat for me to share in that today. My BKH (Bethesda Kiddo Highlight) came in an exciting game of marbles. I grew up playing hockey and wrestling not playing marbles. So it will come as no surprised that the Bethesda boys schooled me on the right way and wrong way to play competitive marbles. I was the victim of a five foot, precision guided shot that launched my marble off the playing field. I do wish I would have had the video running to capture their giggles at my utter defeat. I wish all of you were here but am so thankful you are praying and helping to make possible the protection, provision and presence each of these young people are receiving. Thank you so much!

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

Welcome to India!

childrensopportunity — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:49:04 +0000

“Good evening sir, Welcome to India” were the first words that greeted me upon my arrival. As I stepped out of the plane and walked down the stairs I was greeted with a warm muggy 82 degree heat at 12:15AM. When I left Minnesota last week we had just survived weather 100 degrees colder (-23 degrees), what a change. My alarm went off at 6AM and my first full day in India has begun. I smiled at 6:45 when I heard the bell being rung on the bike of the fellow who comes down the street every morning selling eggs. I am sitting here journaling with the windows open and the birds outside singing and making noise…life on the other side of the planet in February. This morning I get to see all the kiddos at Bethesda and I am thrilled. For my quiet time this morning I read John 14:18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” All over India there are over 33 million orphans waking up to this morning reality; 67 million in Asia and 147 million in the world. Whichever way you look at it that is a lot of little people. When Jesus said “I will not leave you alone as orphans” he knew what it meant. I understand the basic definition as being “desolate and without protectors, comfortless”. I am begging Jesus to give me a deeper understanding of how he understood it this trip. Jesus said, “I won’t leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” Thanks for joining me on my blog as we seek to bring help to the hopeless by “coming to them.”

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

News From Angers, France

childrensopportunity — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 13:58:07 +0000

Today is Saturday and a day of relaxation for the French. France is much like the US in that this is a day for running errands, shopping and youth sports. We went down town Angers today and walked through the open market. This feels like Seattle a wee bit and then the flare of a good flea market. France is a very diverse country and heavily influence by a migrant population. There are many people from the eastern block countries like Poland as wells as a huge north African population. Most of these people have migrated here for the opportunity to better their lives and start fresh. Today I shared the recent Childrens Opportunity update video that was mailed to the donors and sponsors last November in the US. Dave and Cyndie Mumfords and their family sponsor several children and do Gene & Peggy Mumford (Dave’s parents). They each enjoyed watching the video and it was fresh reminder to me to capture as much as I can when I arrive in India in just a few days. Marielle Mumford (9 years old) shared that she had seen the Bethesda kiddos in pictures but appreciated “live action”. “I guess they are just kids like me,” she said. It doesn’t really matter if you are an American, French or Indian kiddo, they all desire the same things. To be loved, provided for, protected and given opportunities to grow and mature. To do all of that in a Christian environment is the heart of the mission for Bethesda Children’s Home. I want to give each of you a big thank you who personally pray for this kids and then sacrifice creature comforts to provide for their daily needs. You are making a difference and I hope to report many of those details next week. Thanks for reading this.

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

Safe In His Arms

childrensopportunity — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 21:35:06 +0000

Isaiah 41:13 - “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

I am continually amazed at how God prepares us for the task He calls us to. Last night as we were packing Gene and I talked about whole hearted obedience to God. It is not always easy to say, “Here am I send me, or my husband, or my children, yet when He asks us to go, are we ready to follow? For the first disciples there was not even a question about following, they picked up their nets and immediately followed. If I were completely honest I would have to say I still have the questions, “Why me, why Gene, why our family, there must be someone else who can do this? And then I hear my Savior say, To whom much is given, much is required, Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. (Joshua 1:9) As we prayed together this morning as a family we know that God is going before Gene on this trip and He will remain faithful to all of His promises. I would not be honest if I told you I was typing this with not a tear flowing down my check, yet in the midst of the tears there is a settled peace that only my Savior can bring and I know we are safe in His arms.

All 100 pounds of the luggage was safely checked. (You are allowed 100 pounds ) Yes, Gene could not go to India without taking all of the kiddos 5 soccer balls, 3 volleyballs, 400 pieces of bubblegum, an Awana tug of rope, bean bags, and other fun things for the kids. I think he managed to find some room for a few articles of clothing. A special thank you to all of you that helped in purchasing and gathering the items to take to India.

We will do our best to keep the blog updated. Pray for all of us that we would continue to willingly follow Him and remain safe in His arms.

For the Witte’s,

Cheryl

Filed under: India Trip February 2011

childrensopportunity — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:07:20 +0000

My parents figured you would all want some updated pictures of the kids, but all of my stuff was packed so my dad uploaded some from his camera…

— Sarah for the fam

Filed under: India Trip 2010

childrensopportunity — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 08:09:50 +0000

So we had a change of plans (not surprising being we’re in India) we ended up leaving Bethesda yesterday instead of today. We had quite a bit to do today, and mom and dad ended up visiting another children’s home last night. They said the people that run it are a really neat couple. Other than that I didn’t get very many details because they got back late and I was already asleep. Yesterday was a super exhausting day that just seemed to drag out, and the days events kept changing. Phyllis, Harold and Luther had a goodbye service for us and all of the kids that happened before lunch. The majority of the kids (minus the Manipur kids) leave for school around 11ish so we said goodbye to all of them and told them we wouldn’t be there when we got back because we were told that we would leave after lunch. Well, lunch came and rolled around and nothing happened. I went upstairs with marissa and hung out in the room for a while. Me and my mom were able to transfer the 52 bio’s that Phyllis has started to my mom’s computer. So Chris, your going to have some fun projects when we get back Around 5:00ish they called us down to the chapel for the goodbye service for everyone (the faculty, students, and the kiddos) I kinda figured that we would leave after that, but the jeep couldn’t make it back to the college because of a special program that was going on at the school. So mom, dad, auntie, and uncle left. Me and marissa stayed behind with Hailey, akshya, and Sipporah. We ended up staying till 7:30ish by the time the jeep got there, and by that time all the kids were back so we had to say goodbye to all of them again. They were all doing pretty well, but they had us like surrounded… it was kinda funny. So we kept inching closer and closer to the vehicle. Then quite a few of the kids started crying and yea. It was hard. Hailey cried almost the entire way home. Poor Sipporah was so confused to as what was going on. she kept saying, “Hailey stop! We’ll come back on Monday. Hailey! Why are you crying? Stop! My mommy will bring us back! Hailey I said stop crying!” I was just getting a kick out of the whole thing. I tried explaining to her why she was crying, but she wasn’t really paying attention to me. Finally Me and Sipporah started singing and Hailey finally stopped crying but every time we would stop singing she would start again. It was so cute! Then we started singing Christmas carols. Marissa joined in, and I bet our driver thought we were nutso! But we had fun! Me and Hailey even performed for Marissa the “cabbage patch doll” song from CDT (akshya surprisingly slept through all of this). Everyone was still gone when we got home. We gave the little girls baths, my dad called and ordered us pizza, so we ate, then headed upstairs to put the girls to bed because it was getting late. But then we realized that if we feel asleep that the door was locked, so my parents couldn’t get in. So we stuck the key outside in my dad’s shoe. The door dead bolts and everything from the inside so I made super sure that all of the dead bolts and everything were unlocked so they could get in. Sure enough both me and marissa fell asleep with the girls. Thankfully Marissa heard the phone ringing (I was completely out of it!) so she jumped up and grabbed it. It was uncle calling letting us know my parents were waiting downstairs to get in. So she ran downstairs to let them in. I had done a super good job of unlocking all the deadbolts I had just forgotten that I had locked the outside screen door… Whoops my bad But hey they made it in so it’s all good. We don’t have anything too crazy planned for the rest of the day. Our flight leaves around 3:00 A.M so hopefully we will all be able to sleep! Love you all! See ya in a few days!

— Sarah for the fam

As we run in this race—As our best effort we bring–We are spurred on by the fact—-That we must win for the King. (Branon) The Christian life is not a Sprint it is a Marathon!!!

I Cor. 9:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Yes I fell like I have been running a marathon the last five weeks, but as our time in India comes to a close I am reminded of this verse. We kept telling one another “Finish strong”. By God’s grace He has given us the strength that we have needed to complete the tasks He had for us while we were here. We are spending today doing laundry, changing bedding at the guest house and cleaning here before we leave this evening for the airport. We are hoping to get a little nap in before we head to the airport. Please pray that our connections in London all go smooth. We heard this morning flights were being canceled coming into Chicago because of the weather, so we are praying we miss all of that!!! AN extra nights stay in the airport would not be good!!!!

It was bitter sweet yesterday, I am ready to come home but it was so hard to say the so long for nows!!! A few of the girls started to cry and I was trying not to, but those of you that know me, know that did not last long!!! I kept telling them we loved them and we would be back again. Little Moses had tears streaming down his face as they did the good bye prayer for us!! One of the things we commented on was these kids know how to love and receive love, that is a healthy thing so seeing the tears was good!!! They are being given love and they can receive it!!

We can not thank you all enough for following our journey with us. Your notes have been a blessing, we will post more pictures when we get back to the USA. We send our love to each of you and we will see you soon!!!

Cheryl

Filed under: India Trip 2010

childrensopportunity — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:44:15 +0000

So we’ve come to our last week here. Craziness! We are packing up as I type getting ready to head out to the college for out last 3 days there. We will stay there till Wednesday night then head back here to finish up the last minute packing. Pray for us (Wednesday morning your time) as we are saying all of the goodbyes. That’s always the worst part of the trip, and it will be especially hard this time! This past week me and marissa helped cari out with the medical examinations. Marissa did the eye-testing, height, weight, name, age and birthday (when they knew it) while cari did pulse, respirations, blood pressure, and checked their lungs, and I got to plug all the info into the computer. It was fine the first day because we were only bringing in two kids at a time but then the second day we had like 10 kids in there at a time plus another 5 outside waiting. That was interesting as I had both cari and marissa giving me information for different kids at the same time. I sure hope the right info ended up with the right kid J No major issues that we found. A couple had irregular heartbeats, one girl had really bad eye-sight, and one boy had a really high blood pressure, but nothing major. Me, marissa, and Phyllis got the upside room to ourselves for 3 whole nights! (mom, dad, hailey, akshya, auntie, uncle, and sipporah went back to vashi) It was SO nice. We kept commenting on how quiet it was without mom and the little girls in there. It was fun getting to hang out with Phyllis as we haven’t really had a chance since we’ve been here too much. No pictures this week as I didn’t have my camera. But I’m sure when we get home we will have a ton to share with everyone. Well, the jeep is here. Can’t wait to see ya’ll in a couple days!!!

— Sarah for the fam

Morning from India,

It is hard to believe this is our last week here. The time has gone by very fast and God has been so faithful to us. We have seen His hand working in so many ways. We are heading back out to the children’s home today to begin saying our goodbyes. Pastor Bryan and Cari have had a great time and we have loved having them here. Cari has completed all the medical assessments of the children and Pastor Bryan will finish the last video footage today before they fly out this evening.

We will be having a big party for the kids tonight, cake and special chicken and rice, a birthday celebration for Hailey as well as a party for the kids. We will hand out candy bars and all their letters from their friends in the USA. Gene has finished teaching his classes. The students enjoyed their time with him and we would hear many giggles coming from the classrooms the days he was teaching. I will be finishing working in the education cabinet today, organizing and restocking the shelves with notebooks, pencils and erasers that Marissa bought all of the kids. I am also trying to finish a sewing lesson that we started. Between thread running out, needles breaking and the machine not working it has been a long drawn out process.

Pray for us as we leave Wed. evening, actually our Thursday morning here. Our flight leaves at 3 AM so pray for sweet rest on the plane!!! We can’t wait to see all of you. We send our love.

Cheryl

Filed under: India Trip 2010

childrensopportunity — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:29:48 +0000

Hey all! So I have good news… The bag which we have dubbed as “the missing bag” can no longer be dubbed as ” missing” as it has been found! PTL!!!! My cousin informed me yesterday that it was delivered via FedEx sometime Friday morning (U.S time) How it got there, we have no idea, we are just thankful that somehow/someway it did. I’ve been informed that I owe all of you two apologies. The first for the lack of blog postings. I was just too exhausted last week when we came back to the guest house to post. As far as the second apology, I understand that many of you are holding me personally responsible for the vikings loss on Sunday. Ok ok i’m sorry everyone, but hey look at the bright side! I won’t miss my team playing in the super bowl! Now that we have the apologies out of the way…

We had another amazing, yet exhausting week. This week was different as the last as out “newness” is wearing off which is nice because we are able to work better with them. My dad and mr. mumford left on Wednesday and get back sometime tomorrow. Dad called on Saturday and said all was going well. From what we understood the train ride went well, though they have lots of stories to tell. We are getting ready for Pastor Bryan and Cari flying in tomorrow night. We have it worked out where we will all be able to meet them here in Mumbai (minus Phyllis who went back to the Bible college today after church) they will come to the guest house Monday night then we will all head out to the campus on Tuesday morning. It will be kinda fun seeing more white faces walking around the campus Hard to believe we only have 10 more days in India. The time flew by SO fast! I was talking with Marissa last night and I was like “you know I’m not homesick. I don’t want to go home, but yet i’m ready too. If that makes sense. It’s gonna be really hard leaving the kidddos again but i’m ready to go home and see everyone” and she was like “yeah, I don’t miss the novelties (my own room, my bed, stuff like) that but I miss the people”. So I decided that either all of you need to move to India or i’m gonna bring all of the kiddos home with me. Hmm… I don’t know which would be easier. One of the girls came up to me and said “sister, i’m going to bind you and not let you leave” I said, “Well, Mary why don’t you just go hide in my suitcase and i’ll take you home.” She looked at me and said, “Oh ok.” Then of course I had like 20 girls telling me they were going to hop in my suitcase as well so I may need to shop for a bigger suitcase. Although I think as soon as the plane landed and they felt the temp they would all be begging me too take them back. The weather here has been pretty gorgeous the entire time though I must admit, as crazy as it sounds, I miss the snow!

I have so many funny stories and pictures, but with how crazy these kids are it would take me ages to write them all so i decided I would share just a few starting with my favorite:

It was republic day and the majority of the Bethesday girls and me and Phyllis had just finished a match of a game (of which I don’t remember the name.) Anyways, we were all taking a break and watching the boys match, all the sudden one of the girls became so intrigued because she realized that when she pressed on my skin for a little bit her fingers would leave a mark for a split second. Then once one girl discovered it they all wanted to see (it must be an Indian thing because Bob I remember you doing the SAME thing to me over and over and over again) So while they were doing this Nandini looks over at me and says, “So sister if I come to America will my skin become as white as yours?” I cracked up and then have her a quick science lesson on pigmentation

I wasn’t here for this one but my mom and marissa found this one super humorous. There’s a little boy here by the name of Job, who’s just a little stinker! So my mom was teaching and Marissa looks over and Job is sitting there weaving a pencil in and out between my mom’s toes. Marissa said it made it all the more funny because he was totally fascinated with it and wasn’t even trying to be funny. On top of it my mom was trying super hard to ignore and keep going on with the lesson, but they both almost lost it.

I want to try and get video tape of this one for all of you, these two girls (Mary and Nandini) have this thing going on where whenever they see me they start impersonating an American person… It is SO SO funny. They start talking louder, and faster, and start waving their arms around wildly while trying their best at an American accent.

So I hope you all enjoy the pics! Have an awesome Sunday! Love you all!

–Sarah for the fam

Filed under: India Trip 2010