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
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and those who are in need,
serving communities in India,
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Nepal, Bangladesh,
Sri Lanka, Myanmar,
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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
has proven 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 spans
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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Welcome to Myanmar.
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Child Impact International
has been sponsoring
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over 600 children
in Adventist schools
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all across the
Southeast Asian nation.
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Over 95% of the population here
in Myanmar practices Buddhism,
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in fact, Myanmar is
one of the most religious
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Buddhist countries in the world.
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The Seventh-day
Adventist Mission
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was established
here 115 years ago,
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and Adventist education
has played a central role
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in spreading the
gospel in Myanmar.
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The challenge is that a
decent education is expensive.
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Most people can't afford it.
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This is where an organization
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like Child Impact
has such a great impact.
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They are concerned and committed
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to the welfare of
children in need here.
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Today, we joined Jim Rennie
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on a visit to Myanmar
Union Adventist Seminary
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and see what Child
Impact is doing to bring hope,
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salvation, and a future
to needy children in Myanmar.
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Well, I'm back here in Myanmar,
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and I've just had a
four to five-hour drive here
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to the seminary.
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And on this trip,
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we really want to
meet some of the students
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that you have
sponsored and see the difference
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that we're
making in their lives.
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Come and join me on this
trip as we meet these students
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and see the
impact on their lives,
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which is very real.
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Come with me.
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Myanmar Union
Adventist Seminary,
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or MUAS, as it
is commonly known,
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is the only
Adventist institution
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of higher learning in Myanmar,
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and it plays a
very important role
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in developing young minds
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who are the future
torch bearers of the church.
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Presently,
there are 600 students
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at the college
taking religion, education,
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and business as
their fields of study.
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Most of them
come from financially
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difficult backgrounds,
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and 160 students are
sponsored by Child Impact.
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These young people
come from all over Myanmar,
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and Child Impact is
making it possible for them
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to be able to learn and acquire
skills needed for employment.
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I'm here at
Myanmar Adventist College,
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where there are
group of over 160 students
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that are sponsored by
Child Impact International,
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and just meeting with them
and just talking with them,
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it's so exciting to
see the real difference
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that sponsorship is
making in their lives,
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standing behind me
are the future doctors,
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the future
dentists, the future nurses,
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teachers, and pastors,
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and this will
impact on their lives.
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This will impact on
their family's lives,
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and but most of important,
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have a big impact on
the church in Myanmar.
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Just looking at their
faces you can see the difference
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that sponsorship is making
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not only in the
lives of their children
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but of their
families, their community,
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and the church,
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just shows the
success of sponsorship.
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For us, in our union,
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the Child Impact sponsors,
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international
sponsorship is very important
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because it is among the
many sponsorship programs,
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it is the biggest,
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it sponsors more
than 600 students
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in our union.
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We have more need
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for the sponsorship.
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The Child Impact International
can sponsor most of them,
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most students can learn,
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and most students can be,
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what to say, in
one or other way,
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they can help the child
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when they
finish their education.
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Education is
vital in this country.
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It is important
education is subsidized
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so that we can
create the environment
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in which children
have an opportunity
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to learn and
achieve their dreams.
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And the Adventist school system
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not only helps children
grow mentally and socially
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but they also
have an opportunity
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to grow spiritually.
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Well, as we all know,
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Seventh-day Adventist education
was prepared and launched
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through very
intensive information
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that God gave
through Ellen White
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as to how
Seventh-day Adventist education
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ought to be
different from other places.
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It was to reach the
head, the hand, and the heart.
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It was to help people
following in Christ's ministry,
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helping children, young
people, physically, mentally,
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socially, and spiritually,
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helping them to
become a whole person
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so they can be
sent from those schools
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to be wonderful
testimonies for the Lord.
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Seventh-day Adventist education
is unique and it is powerful
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because it's from heaven.
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To move forward with
its focus in Myanmar,
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Child Impact has established
the Educate Myanmar Fund.
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The purpose of this fund
is to help sponsor children
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in Adventist Mission
schools here in Myanmar
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and help with
resources and other needs
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such as classrooms.
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The college has many needs,
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and Child Impact also address
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another important issue
of congestion in the dorms
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and other infrastructural needs.
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Currently, it is
helping the college
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in finishing the
building of classrooms
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for theology students.
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It's quite exciting to see
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what is happening
with this building.
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Yes.
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I'm here with Dr. Connolly,
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who is the
president of the Myanmar
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Adventist Union College,
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and I'm talking with him,
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I can now see how important
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that the theology
and religious training is
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from the Myanmar
Adventist Union College.
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It's the only source of
Bible workers and pastors
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for the country of Myanmar.
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And so Child
Impact International
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is real excited that,
with the help of our sponsors,
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we can sponsor Bible
students and theology students.
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But also, if possible,
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we can help with the finishing
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of this new
theology department building.
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The Educate Myanmar
Fund is fully committed
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to helping
Adventist schools in Myanmar.
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But more importantly,
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it is committed to helping
give young boys and girls
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from difficult
backgrounds an opportunity
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to receive an
education through sponsorship.
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I'm here in the boys' dormitory
at Myanmar Adventist Seminary.
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It's a large room with over
20 boys sleeping on the floor,
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which to us is a little strange
but, in fact, culturally,
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this is how they
probably live at home,
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in their village house,
and they sleep on the floor.
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I'm here with Sangha,
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who is an inspiring
story from sponsorship.
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He comes from a very
large family of seven siblings,
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and he's the only
one getting an education.
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His father is a
farmer, a poor farmer,
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and the rest are at
home, working in the field.
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Sangha, at an early age,
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was given the chance to
go to an Adventist school,
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and he's been
through the high school,
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and now he's at the seminary
doing the religious studies
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and theology course.
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And we're real proud
of his achievements today,
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just to show the
pressure for finance
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and how poor his family
is, in those three years,
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Sangha's only been home twice
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because he has to do
a job on the holidays,
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he has to work
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just to cover the rest
of his overhead and costs
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in getting through college,
and he's really got a dream.
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And, Sangha, tell
us about your dream.
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What do you want to achieve?
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I want to be a good
pastor, so I'm religion major.
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Right.
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So Sangha wants to go
onto do his MA in theology,
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and he wants to be a pastor,
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and he wants to be
a successful pastor.
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And once again,
that's really exciting.
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And we want to support
Sangha as he goes ahead.
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And it really
shows you how sponsorship
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through the
different facets of education
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is now turning this young
man into a real success story.
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And we're so proud
of what he has achieved.
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Sangha is one such story
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of how sponsorship
is having an impact
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on the lives of these students
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but also on their
families and their communities.
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And as I travel around,
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it's just so exciting
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to be able to
meet these students.
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And shortly, I'll introduce
you to two young ladies,
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one who's doing a business major
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and wants to
have her own business.
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And it just shows the impact
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that sponsorship is
having beyond the education.
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It's giving their families hope,
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it's giving
their communities hope,
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and it's having an
impact totally on these
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Adventist mission
schools and seminaries.
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I'm so proud of the work
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that I see sponsorship is doing,
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and I want to thank
you for your support.
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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 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,
00:12:03.22\00:12:05.35
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.
00:12:09.72\00:12:12.86
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
00:12:17.80\00:12:19.67
between hardship and education.
00:12:19.70\00:12:23.10
It's a unique ministry
that serves children in poverty
00:12:23.14\00:12:26.11
in Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
00:12:26.14\00:12:31.18
Over 3,500 children are provided
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an Adventist
education and lives are changed
00:12:34.72\00:12:37.69
through the numerous
development projects.
00:12:37.72\00:12:40.42
Working in these countries,
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Child Impact has
come face to face
00:12:42.32\00:12:44.39
with issues like child
slavery, poor, or no education,
00:12:44.43\00:12:48.73
child
trafficking, abandoned babies,
00:12:48.76\00:12:52.00
lack of clean water, and
a high number of orphans.
00:12:52.03\00:12:55.90
This list is not
short on challenges,
00:12:55.94\00:12:58.87
yet the needs are being met.
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You know, my
family sponsored Sheila,
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a young lady
00:13:03.14\00:13:04.48
at the Sunrise
Orphanage in India.
00:13:04.51\00:13:06.31
For the past couple of years,
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I'm proud of how my
family has been able to impact
00:13:08.08\00:13:10.92
her life for the better.
00:13:10.95\00:13:13.12
Word has it, she
just started college.
00:13:13.15\00:13:16.86
What I've come to understand
00:13:16.89\00:13:18.79
is that the children
Child Impact supports
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are more than just names
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or faces on a screen or a flyer.
00:13:23.50\00:13:26.30
They are people with a story,
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a story whose ending
has not been written,
00:13:29.10\00:13:32.27
instead another
chapter is being composed.
00:13:32.31\00:13:36.08
It reminds me of
something that Jesus once said,
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"Whatever you do for the least
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of these brothers
and sisters of Mine,
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you do for Me."
00:13:42.78\00:13:45.05
Join me and others like
me throughout the world,
00:13:45.09\00:13:48.42
who are
sponsoring a child monthly
00:13:48.46\00:13:50.79
to provide like Jesus did,
00:13:50.83\00:13:52.89
to support like Jesus
did, to love like Jesus did.
00:13:52.93\00:13:57.63
You too can make
a lifelong impact
00:13:57.67\00:13:59.93
on the life of someone
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who was waiting
for you to say yes.
00:14:01.34\00:14:03.74
Yes, today you will
consider sponsorship
00:14:03.77\00:14:06.61
right now with Child Impact
00:14:06.64\00:14:08.78
or one of our other projects,
00:14:08.81\00:14:10.18
yes, to give hope to
a precious child today.
00:14:10.21\00:14:13.92