Child Impact International
is an organization giving hope,
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previously called Asian Aid.
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Child Impact
International is an organization
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fostering
permanent positive change
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in the lives of
disadvantaged children
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and their communities.
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Child Impact is
committed to making a difference
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in the lives of children
and those who are in need.
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Serving communities in India,
Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka,
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Myanmar, and will soon
expand to other countries.
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For the last 50 years,
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Child Impact has invested
in the futures of people
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and their investment is
proving infinite returns,
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driven by the
dedication to helping those
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who have the least.
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Child Impact is an organization
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focused on the
welfare of children,
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implementing
diverse development projects
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and sponsoring
thousands of children.
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Their outreach expands
from child rescue operations,
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to providing an
education for orphans, deaf,
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and the blind children
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giving them a
sense of place, a home,
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but above all, Child Impact
is an organization giving hope,
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giving hope to children,
giving hope to communities,
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giving hope to the
ones who needed the most.
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This is Hope in Motion.
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The Immanuel English
School in Jeypore, India
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is a boarding school
that has over 700 students.
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This large school
facility was built in 2006,
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largely to support and
educate poor tribal children
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from Adventist
backgrounds in this region.
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Eight-years-old Suraj Harijan
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is a second-grade
student at the school.
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And Arun Panda,
the school principal,
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took us to the village
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where we met with
Suraj's mother Pramila.
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Her husband had
died two years ago,
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and soon after
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the family came to live
with Suraj's grandparents.
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Suraj's father was
suffering from fits,
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and he was taking
so many medicines,
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but there was no cure.
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So one day, he
went to a nearby pond
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and he suddenly he
was attacked with fits
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and he fell down there.
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There was less water,
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but there was no one around
and he was drowned in the pond.
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And that is how he expired.
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And after that,
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her mother is
staying with her brother
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in a nearby village.
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Fits is what epilepsy
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is commonly
referred to in India.
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Suraj's father
suffered a convulsion
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while he was
bathing in a village pond.
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Although, the
water was only knee deep,
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there was no one around to help,
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and he drowned
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leaving Suraj's mother
widowed at a young age.
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For the life of widow
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in our Indian culture,
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especially those women
who are in a small village,
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a traditional village,
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it is very, very difficult.
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Life becomes almost
like a curse we can say,
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where the widows, they need
to have to depend on someone
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for any little help.
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They become helpless.
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And the more children they have,
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the more burden they have.
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And in some families,
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the in-laws or
their brother-in-laws,
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sister-in-laws, they
never take care of them.
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And indeed, they try to put,
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you know, negative
allegations on the widow.
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And everyone, since
there is no husband,
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they feel that
they can say anything
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because there is no
one to support them.
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So their life
becomes really tragedy.
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So being a woman,
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I know how they undergo,
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what stigma they undergo
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in the Indian
traditional village.
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Although they had a house
of their own, it was unlivable.
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Monsoon rains had
destroyed a portion
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of their tiny
thatch-roofed mud house,
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and living in it was
impractical and insecure.
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Unable to repair the house
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and not having a
safe place to live,
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Suraj's mother moved
into her brother's house.
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When husband dies,
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the mother is not secure.
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And the main breadwinner
for the family is the husband.
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So after the husband dies,
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the mother was helpless.
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Suraj's uncle
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who has recently joined
as a staff in our school,
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he told us
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that his sister's
condition is pathetic
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and especially the
children need help.
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And so he was the one
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who contacted us
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and then we were
able to get Suraj
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to come to this institution,
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and we are happy
that he is sponsored,
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and now Suraj is
studying in this institution.
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Suraj's uncle, Manoj Dayalu
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had just joined
as a teaching staff
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at the Immanuel
School during this time.
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And he requested the
school administration
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to help his nephew get
admission at the school.
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If Suraj did not come
to the school to study,
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he would have
spent his childhood
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roaming around in
the village and playing.
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After few years,
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he would have helped his mother,
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he would have done some work,
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and he would have
spent his remaining life
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as a daily labor.
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Suraj is small
now, but I could see,
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he is a very
active and clever child,
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studious child.
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He is doing very
good in his studies.
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And in near future, I
know he will stand on his feet
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and he's going to
take care of his mother
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and the little
sister that he has,
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and the mother
also need not to depend
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on his brother
or other relatives.
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And this boy is...
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I'm sure, he's going
to take care of his mother
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and his little
sister when he grows up.
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Suraj is fortunate
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to have received sponsorship
through Child Impact.
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Sponsorship for
boys, like Suraj,
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is like lighting a
candle in the darkness.
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And his sponsor
has lit this candle,
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not only for him
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but for his
widowed mother as well.
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When we talk about children
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and helping children
and impacting on children,
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and the Child
Impact is only the conduit.
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We help you, the
sponsor, connect with the child
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and the two of you
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are the people that
transform this world.
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So we are here to serve you
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as sponsors to
do the best for you,
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ensure that the policies
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and the
guidelines of the procedures
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are in place.
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So what you give
out of your generosity
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is used to the best effect.
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They impact the child
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in the most
profound way possible
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and create the
best opportunities.
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So to our sponsors,
you are on one side,
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the key player in
this whole picture
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and the child is the other.
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We are just the canvas.
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You guys paint the picture.
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So thank you for
your sponsorship.
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It is making a brighter
picture for all these children.
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She says, "In this
village and everywhere,
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widow's life is very difficult.
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And I was struggling,
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but someone whom I don't know
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came forward to
help my son Suraj
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to get an
education in good school.
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So like me, there are so
many in surrounding villages
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and everywhere, and
they too are struggling.
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I wish more
people will come forward
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and give such help as
they have given to my son.
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And I would like
to thank all of them."
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That is what she said.
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The growing
realization of the need
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to support many
such single parents
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and their children
can be overwhelming,
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but it is reassuring to
know that with sponsorship,
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we can go about
making a difference
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one day at a time.
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Today, Child Impact continues
to fulfill its commitment
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to the welfare of
children who are in need,
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providing them
education through sponsorship,
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giving them hope, and a
chance for a better life.
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Imagine with me for a moment
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that you're a small child
living on the streets of India,
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the sandals on your feet
lost their comfort weeks ago,
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your favorite shirt
just got another hole.
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It's sad, mommy died last year
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but what makes
you feel even worse
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is that your dad
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chose not to be
your dad anymore.
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Hey, I'm Shawn Boonstra,
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Honorary Ambassador for
Child Impact International,
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an organization that
is a supportive ministry
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of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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Something like 15 to 25 million
little girls and boys in India
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share similar stories
to the one I just told you.
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Many are orphaned at a young age
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with little food
to eat and no hope.
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Child Impact
serves to bridge the gap
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between hardship and education.
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It's a unique ministry
that serves children in poverty
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in Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
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Over three and a
half thousand children
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are provided an
Adventist education
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and lives are changed
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through the numerous
development projects.
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Working in these countries,
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Child Impact has
come face to face
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with issues like child
slavery, poor or no education,
00:11:04.09\00:11:08.53
child
trafficking, abandoned babies,
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lack of clean water, and
a high number of orphans.
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This list is not
short on challenges,
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yet the needs are being met.
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You know, my family
sponsors Sheila, a young lady
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at the Sunrise
Orphanage in India.
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For the past couple of years,
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I'm proud of how my
family has been able
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to impact her
life for the better.
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Word has it, she
just started college.
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What I've come to understand
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is that the children
Child Impact supports
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are more than just
names, or faces on a screen,
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or a flyer,
00:11:44.43\00:11:45.97
they're people with a story,
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a story whose ending
has not been written,
00:11:48.74\00:11:51.87
instead another
chapter is being composed.
00:11:51.91\00:11:55.71
It reminds me of
something that Jesus once said,
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"Whatever you do
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for the least of these
brothers and sisters of Mine,
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you do for Me."
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Join me and others
like me throughout the world
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who are
sponsoring a child monthly
00:12:08.19\00:12:10.49
to provide like Jesus did,
00:12:10.53\00:12:12.56
to support like Jesus did,
00:12:12.59\00:12:14.80
to love like Jesus did.
00:12:14.83\00:12:17.23
You too can make
a lifelong impact
00:12:17.27\00:12:19.70
on the life of someone
00:12:19.73\00:12:21.07
who is waiting
for you to say yes.
00:12:21.10\00:12:23.30
Yes, today you will
consider sponsorship right now
00:12:23.34\00:12:26.88
with Child Impact or
one of our other projects.
00:12:26.91\00:12:29.78
Yes, to give hope to
a precious child today.
00:12:29.81\00:12:33.65
Sponsoring
children in activities
00:12:42.99\00:12:47.26
like these mission
schools and opportunities
00:12:47.30\00:12:50.63
is a tremendous way
00:12:50.67\00:12:52.67
to help form the
character of young people
00:12:52.70\00:12:56.54
as they look to the future.
00:12:56.57\00:12:58.07
They will never
forget their association
00:12:58.11\00:13:01.18
in a Christian environment.
00:13:01.21\00:13:03.08
And by God's grace,
00:13:03.11\00:13:04.45
many of them will become
00:13:04.48\00:13:06.11
members of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
00:13:06.15\00:13:08.78
It is absolutely
a powerful witness
00:13:08.82\00:13:12.29
to sponsor a
child in Child Impact
00:13:12.32\00:13:15.69
and so many other organizations
00:13:15.72\00:13:18.79
that help young
people to find Jesus.
00:13:18.83\00:13:23.30
Sponsoring a child not
only has short-term effects
00:13:23.33\00:13:27.80
but it has a long-term effect.
00:13:27.84\00:13:30.74
Sponsoring a child is investing
00:13:30.77\00:13:33.04
in the character of a
young person for eternity.
00:13:33.07\00:13:36.95
We're taping this
right here in Myanmar,
00:13:36.98\00:13:40.25
at the Myanmar
Union Adventist Seminary,
00:13:40.28\00:13:43.65
and about
one-third of the students
00:13:43.69\00:13:46.29
or one quarter of the students
00:13:46.32\00:13:48.36
are being
sponsored by Child Impact.
00:13:48.39\00:13:51.39
People who become
workers in God's church,
00:13:51.43\00:13:55.16
people who make an
impact in the community
00:13:55.20\00:13:58.27
have been people
who have been sponsored.
00:13:58.30\00:14:01.27
Your sponsorship is
absolutely an investment
00:14:01.30\00:14:05.27
in the future of the church.
00:14:05.31\00:14:06.64