Participants:
Series Code: HIM
Program Code: HIM000226A
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00:07 Child Impact International is an organization giving hope.
00:11 Previously called Asian Aid, 00:13 Child Impact International is an organization 00:15 fostering permanent positive change 00:18 in the lives of disadvantaged children 00:20 and their communities. 00:21 Child Impact is committed to making a difference 00:24 in the lives of children 00:25 and those who are in need, 00:27 serving communities in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, 00:30 Sri Lanka, Myanmar, 00:32 and will soon expand to other countries. 00:34 For the last 50 years, 00:36 Child Impact has invested in the futures of people, 00:39 and their investment has proven infinite returns, 00:42 driven by the dedication 00:43 to helping those who have the least. 00:45 Child Impact is an organization 00:47 focused on the welfare of children, 00:49 implementing diverse development projects 00:52 and sponsoring thousands of children. 00:54 Their outreach spans from child rescue operations 00:57 to providing an education for orphans, deaf, 01:00 and the blind children 01:01 giving them a sense of place, a home. 01:04 But above all, Child Impact is an organization giving hope, 01:08 giving hope to children, giving hope to communities, 01:11 giving hope to the ones who need it the most. 01:14 This is Hope in Motion. 01:21 In my role as CEO of Child Impact International, 01:26 it was my privilege to visit Myanmar again. 01:29 Myanmar used to be called Burma. 01:33 Most of the country is very low lying 01:36 and consists of rivers and deltas, 01:39 and much of the transportation 01:41 both for people getting from here to there 01:44 and for industry 01:46 and freight is done on the river. 01:51 Myanmar is one of the most devout 01:53 Buddhist countries in the world. 01:55 And it was my privilege to visit 01:56 one of the larger temples near the seminary. 02:00 And here I am 02:01 with the principal of the seminary, 02:03 as he showed me around the temple. 02:06 The temple was actually closed on this day. 02:09 But we were able to get in and have a look around. 02:12 You have to take your shoes off 02:13 and that can be very uncomfortable 02:16 walking around the rough floor of the temple. 02:19 Some of this is real gold and some is imitation gold. 02:23 It's actually very interesting that Myanmar has 02:26 one of the highest giving rates per person 02:29 despite being a very poor country. 02:33 After we left the temple, 02:35 we left by car to visit one of the local villages 02:39 near the academy. 02:41 This village located near the academy 02:43 has actually about 10 of its children 02:46 that attend the local Adventist school 02:48 and academy. 02:50 And I went to visit the village leaders 02:53 just to talk to them about how important 02:56 the education of their children is. 02:59 This lady is one of the village leaders, 03:02 and also one of the village elders 03:04 was there. 03:05 And through the principal 03:06 were able to express their extreme gratitude 03:09 for the fact that their children 03:11 can attend the local Adventist mission school, 03:14 and the older children can go to the academy. 03:18 These children are very happy 03:20 and live a very peaceful village life. 03:23 But still, Myanmar, 03:25 poverty is twice as high on the rural areas. 03:28 And some of these families struggle to survive. 03:32 After visiting the village, we returned to the seminary, 03:36 and in this classroom, 03:37 five of the children are from the village 03:40 that we had just visited. 03:43 At this time, the Myanmar church 03:45 was celebrating 125 years, 03:48 and it was my privilege 03:49 to travel with our world leader, 03:52 Pastor Ted Wilson. 03:53 The great emphasis, of course, in many parts of the world 03:57 is to reach out to many people who are not members 04:01 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 04:03 We're doing this recording right here in Myanmar 04:07 where Child Impact 04:09 is having a very strong impact 04:13 on many of the students. 04:14 It's an amazing opportunity and these mission schools 04:18 to touch the lives of young people, 04:22 not just for their professional lives 04:24 in the future, but eternally. 04:27 As I visit these classrooms, 04:29 I can really see the difference 04:31 that you the sponsors are making for these children. 04:35 These children come from very poor backgrounds, 04:37 and to see their eagerness to learn 04:40 and to see them singing songs about Jesus 04:43 really shows me that sponsorship 04:46 is a very effective way of sharing the gospel. 04:49 Sponsoring children in activities 04:54 like these mission schools and opportunities 04:57 is a tremendous way to help form the character 05:01 of young people as they look to the future. 05:05 They will never forget their association 05:08 in a Christian environment. 05:10 And by God's grace, many of them will become 05:13 members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:15 It is absolutely a powerful witness 05:19 to sponsor a child in Child Impact 05:22 and so many other organizations 05:24 that help young people to find Jesus. 05:31 Welcome back to our program about Child Impact, 05:35 and one of these projects that you have going 05:37 is called Operation Child Rescue. 05:40 When I was there, 05:42 I saw a little bit of this program. 05:45 It is really, really awesome and exciting 05:48 as well as very important. 05:50 Jim, tell us about Operation Child Rescue? 05:52 Well, when you operate in India, 05:56 you start to understand what trafficking is. 05:59 To be honest, it's hard to comprehend the size of it. 06:03 But it's believed that about 20% of the trafficked children 06:08 are in India. 06:10 Obviously, with young girls in the sex traffic 06:13 and brothels, 06:14 but also with young boys in beggary operations 06:18 and child labor. 06:20 And so, we just feel we had to be involved, 06:23 so we've partnered with a lady 06:26 who runs a rescue operation in Bangalore. 06:31 And she actually goes in and rescue girls, 06:36 raids these brothels and rescue girls. 06:39 And to be honest, 06:41 it takes a lot of something to do this, 06:44 but she ties them with the police force 06:47 where she can. 06:48 And we are so excited 06:50 that we can help fund this rescue work, 06:53 it's girls from brothels 06:55 but it's also young boys and... 06:57 Young boys from slave labor operations 07:02 in factories 07:03 and that sort of thing. 07:04 Okay. 07:06 We've also funded a rescue center, 07:09 so we've fully sponsored 07:12 the three years a home in Bangalore 07:15 where these girls can go, 07:18 they're safe there, they're secure. 07:20 There's very tight security. 07:23 And we are funding that rescue home 07:28 for the girls. 07:30 The second part that we're involved in 07:33 is baby rescue. 07:35 Yes. 07:36 We have an Adventist gentleman 07:37 that runs a baby rescue operation 07:40 in Bangalore also. 07:42 We have children that are abandoned 07:44 on the streets, 07:45 are abandoned in police stations, 07:47 are abandoned at hospitals 07:50 are taken to the baby rescue center. 07:53 Very touching to visit there, 07:55 to see little babies that have been rejected 07:58 or just left somewhere. 08:01 And so, supporting that, we believe is very important. 08:05 Indeed. 08:07 The next part of the rescue program 08:10 is slum rescue. 08:12 And we support 08:15 the Vizag slum school. 08:18 A large amount of the children 08:20 come from very rough backgrounds. 08:23 Now, you've visited the Vizag slum school 08:26 when we were on the trip. 08:29 What were your impressions and takeouts from that visit? 08:34 Well, the visit to that slum 08:36 is something that I will never forget. 08:38 Right in the middle of this bustling city, 08:41 we walked into this place 08:43 and the stench was everywhere, 08:46 the thin, frail bodies of the people who live there 08:49 who make $2 a day or less, 08:53 truly made an impression upon me. 08:55 But the thing that brought me 08:57 a degree of comfort was visiting that school 09:00 that is operated and supported by Child Impact. 09:04 Dozens of precious children 09:07 are going there to get an education 09:09 and to have the opportunity of a better future. 09:12 And an excellent example 09:14 was that beautiful young lady that you introduced me to. 09:18 She went through that school, 09:20 thanks to Child Impact, 09:22 was also sponsored to go to secondary school. 09:25 And she is now studying to be a nurse, 09:27 and when I asked her, 09:28 "Why do you want to be a nurse? 09:30 And where you want to go when you finish studying?" 09:33 She said, "I want to come back right here to my slum 09:35 because both of my parents have AIDS. 09:38 I want to take care of them, 09:39 and I want to take care of the people here." 09:42 Can you imagine what would happen 09:45 just in that slum 09:46 without the support of Child Impact? 09:50 And that's right, and that's why 09:52 our rescue program in the slums 09:55 by giving a child an education, 09:57 we're actually rescuing them 09:59 from the potential of being trafficked or sold. 10:02 That's right. 10:04 Now the fourth aspect of Operation Child Rescue 10:06 is the rescue of orphans. 10:08 Now, yes, quite often orphans are brought by family members, 10:12 but also we rescue children. 10:15 We rescue them from railway stations, 10:18 we rescue them from the streets, 10:20 and we take them to an orphanage. 10:22 Now about six or seven years ago, 10:24 we built Sunrise Home 10:27 which is located in the country in Bobbili 10:29 near the blind school. 10:31 Yes. 10:32 Fantastic place. 10:33 Now once again, you've visited Sunrise, 10:36 what did you think of Sunrise? 10:38 Well, I was really impressed 10:39 because they have built that place beautifully. 10:45 It is secure, it is large, in fact, 10:48 a dorm was just dedicated when we were there. 10:51 We had hundreds of people 10:53 coming for worship that day, do you remember? 10:55 Yes. 10:56 And what I can't forget 10:58 is the smiles of those children. 11:00 Yes. 11:01 Those children who have been left to die 11:05 in many cases. 11:06 Their families can't afford them 11:09 or there's something wrong with their health 11:13 or something else, and they're just dumped. 11:17 And every week, 11:19 children are brought to the gates of Sunrise Home, 11:23 and there they find a place. 11:25 They find love, they find parents, 11:28 basically their spiritual parents, 11:31 the sponsors here and the teachers there. 11:35 But one of the things 11:36 that really, really hit me the hardest 11:40 was to learn 11:41 that the area is surrounded by venomous snakes. 11:46 Yes. 11:48 And people get bit, 11:49 and they die all the time around there. 11:51 Yeah. 11:52 And yet, the director of that school told me that 11:54 not one time 11:56 has there ever been a snake found inside the orphanage. 11:59 And that tells me 12:01 that angels are standing guarding that orphanage 12:05 so that the children are not harmed by these snakes. 12:09 That speaks to the power of God and His blessing over Sunrise. 12:14 Right. 12:15 So you've heard about the four aspects 12:17 to Operation Child Rescue, 12:19 and the unique thing about Operation Child Rescue 12:23 is not that we're giving the kids an education 12:25 which we are, 12:27 it's not that we're giving the kids a home to live 12:30 which we are, 12:31 but we are rescuing them, many of them from death. 12:35 We are actually giving them life 12:38 and giving them hope. 12:39 And I just hope that you would give consideration 12:43 to supporting this important project 12:45 with Child Impact 12:47 and its Operation Child Rescue. 12:51 Hi, I'm Jean Boonstra, 12:53 associate speaker at the Voice of Prophecy. 12:56 Now I'm sure that you're aware 12:57 of the global problem of human trafficking. 13:00 At Voice of Prophecy, 13:02 we are privileged to partner 13:04 with Child Impact's Operation Child Rescue 13:07 to help these young girls 13:08 that are caught in prostitution, 13:11 the young boys doing labor at a very young age, 13:14 and these young babies that simply need a home 13:17 and someone to love them. 13:19 It's our privilege to partner 13:21 with Child Impact's Operation Child Rescue 13:24 and be part of the solution 13:26 to give that hope. 13:28 Now is this something that appeals to you, 13:31 and would you like to learn more about 13:33 and be a part of this? 13:34 Well, I encourage you to get in touch 13:36 with Child Impact International today. 13:39 They would love to hear from you. |
Revised 2019-10-31