Newsletter February 2003

Most Respected Dear Friends,

We deeply do extend our Love and Thanks to each one of you for your kindness and support and the loving compassion which you have demonstrated by financial assistance through 'Warmington Link' to the Hosanna Children Home in Tamil Nadu, South India. Our first responsibility is to feed. clothe, educate and where necessary provide medical assistance to the children for whom we care. In particular it is my responsibility to obtain funds for the 'Home' and to ensure that the Children are adequately fed and given an experience of 'Loving Kindness' as exemplified by our 'Christian Faith'. You have helped to keep this missionary work alive and effective by the support you have given.

We now have just 125 children between the age of 4 and 14 together with 7 workers ( five of whom are members of our family). We have had to reduce numbers to this level so as to maintain our numbers to the current available resources. We feed and clothe our children as economically as possible and our staff are largely working with little thought of financial reward; nevertheless, it costs about £2,500 per month to sustain the life of the children and ourselves. We are grateful to you for the way our Lord Jesus uses each one of you to help this 'Mission' to meet the needs of the underprivileged and poverty stricken orphan children in our care and so find Jesus through love and salvation.

Senior children for the 'Home' have had to travel 25 miles over Indian roads morning and night to attend a Tamil speaking senior school at Cumbum. This has been costly and time consuming. With the aid of 'Warmington Link' and other agencies the Lord has provided us with the financial resources to buy a house close to the High School at Cumbum. We do thank and praise Jesus for helping us to provide for the senior girls in this way. This house is run by my brother Joel and his wife Vijaya who spent 24 years as Pastors with the 'Assemblies of God Church' but now they are full-time workers helping and guiding our Senior Girls.

Moving the Senior Girls to Cumbum has enabled us to reduce the intensity of housing for the younger children at Lower Camp, Periyar. In the past we have had many outbreaks of contagious diseases such as colds, fevers, whooping-cough and chicken-pox among the younger children but now we can use some of the accommodation to isolate sick kids and provide them with medical help.

We are now praying to provide a 'Health and Life Skills Training Unit' at Cumbum for our senior girls. After High School education the girls are more independent and want to stand on their own feet. Many want to learn more about Health Education and so become better wives and mothers or to become mid-wives or nurses. This will enable them to become more confident to do such tasks as administer medication and provide first aid to their caste communities who are so poor and live in remote villages. As girls are more rejected due to the socio-economic problems in the native caste communities this health education and training will help them to live and give service to others. Many girls in these villages have no proper education and guidance on these matters. Many of them get into trouble with polygamy and frequently ultimately end their lives after prostitution by committing suicide. So in many ways our 'Health Education' is going to redeem the lives of the underprivileged caste/community girls and bring them light and hope. This is the hope of our 'Christian Mission' and the ' Out -reach Work ' in the rural communities of our area.

We have short term needs as well as these longer tern aspirations. In particular we are praying that God will provide us with a new Jeep for transportation of foodstuffs and supplies and also for transporting sick children to the hospital which is 25 miles away for urgent medical treatment. We buy food direct from farms wherever possible to avoid the additional cost of tradesmen. This food has to be collected from local farms. Most of our rice and other commodities and supplies such as gas can be bought more cheaply in Cumbum. Our Jeep has done sterling service over the last six years but it now must be replaced. The cost of replacing our existing vehicle will be about £6,000. We live by 'Faith ' and pray for funds in order to replace this essential part of our 'Homes' equipment.

We are grateful to each one of you for your generous and prayerful support for this mission work especially as we know it will help young people in the remote forest communities of South India to become better members of our native communities.

With deep appreciation and in the name of Jesus

Yours truly

Pastor P. Immanuel

Director - Hosanna Children Home

LATEST NEWS
The funds have been raised to buy a jeep and here it is !