HopePacks – Carrying Hope to the Children of India

Our Annual Spring Outreach Project for 2013 is Backpacks!  Every HopePack helps carry a message of hope to children caught in the cycle of poverty.   Backpacks in certain villages of India are considered a luxury, so many children use old, torn plastic bags or sacks to carry their school supplies every day.

In 2010, we gave the students backpacks and we are doing it again!  Having a backpack teaches students that their education is important – and they are, too!

August 2012 Team Ministry

In August, we were delighted to host 3 US team members for three weeks.  The team from NY brought hygiene pack supplies, which included washcloths, toothbrushes, soap and other personal care items.  The J school children not only received the packs but also were taught by Betsy Dahar about the benefits of good hygiene.  Mike and Kim Richmond also helped administrate the distribution of the packs and blessed the teachers of all three schools during a teachers’ seminar.  There was also several training sessions that were taught by the Richmonds.

We were very blessed to have such great quality people come and invest in us and in our ministry!  If you are interested in coming on a missions trip, please contact us for an application and more information about upcoming trips!

Incredibly grateful for the dear family & friends we have been blessed with.

In September, we were tremendously blessed to receive 34 Operation Christmas Child boxes.  What a delight it was to deliver these special boxes to the girls at the B school.   We received 34 boxes and there were exactly 34 girls enrolled in the 1st thru 4th grades at the B school.  How cool is that?!  G*d is so faithful.

We are incredibly grateful for those that connected us with these wonderful gifts.

Meagan Smith served our family as well as Hope Beyond Today for four months at the beginning of 2012.  We were truly blessed by all her love, care and hard work!  {And her innovative foot measuring device that saved us hours!}

Thank you, Miss Jessica & Miss Brittany! We had a great time with our first EBI interns this summer.  Jess & Britt served tirelessly and with eager hearts.  It was a pleasure having them here, and they blessed Hope Beyond Today.

In the month of August (2012) we will be distributing Hygiene Packs at the J school.  Mrs. Betsy Dahar (a nurse & wonderful preschool teacher) will be teaching the students about the importance of personal hygiene, including hand washing and dental care.

Many of you donated items for the team to bring with them (Thank you!) and there are some items that will be purchased in India.  Thank you so much to all who donated for this project!  We look forward to giving you a great update as the packs are distributed!  Thank you so much for all your donations!

Pushpyar has been traveling to the J school 4 to 6 times a week as headmaster.  The school continues to grow, which is a very good thing!  Thank you for your prayers as he continues as the headmaster at the J school and the director of 3 schools.

Approximately 100 children from area Kids’ club programs gathered for a day of fun, food and learning about G*d.  Students from the youth group helped to plan and run everything from the w*rship time to the games and the Book memory competition.  Younger children memorized Psalm 23 while the older students tackled the entire fourth chapter of Matthew!  Meagan gave a short teaching about the Good Shepherd and led the children to ask Him to guide their lives.  After prizes were awarded, everyone sat together to enjoy a wonderful meal.  Please pray that G*d’s spirit would continue to work in these young lives!

The R school has a new home!  Land lease changes required a move for the R School and G*d faithfully provided a different plot of land to rent for three years.

The land had no buildings on it, so workers were hired to build a new structure during spring break, and construction is nearly complete!

Students returned to nine new classrooms, a well and pump, bathrooms and a school office this session.

Pushpyar is helping oversee this project as well.  A few of our One by One students attend this English medium school.  Please pr*y for safety as the project is completed, for wisdom for the school leaders and for favor for land use in the future!

Steps of Hope ~ An outreach program of Hope Beyond Today & One by One

You can CHOOSE to give some SHOES, so when these kids are walking miles they can smile! 

What: A practical ministry to distribute one pair of shoes and two pairs of socks each to 400 students in Northeast India.

When: Early April to “kick off” the new academic session

Why: Because children walk as long as two hours to reach school – and many don’t even own one pair of shoes!!

Updated to add: More than 300 students received a new pair of shoes and two pairs of socks through the Steps of Hope program this April!

Most of our students walk to school and it can take them as long as two hours to travel one way. Some children wear thin flip flops, but many have no shoes at all, so Steps of Hope will help keep children safe and healthy this school year.

For some of our students in the remote villages who attend the B school this was their very first pair of shoes.   Third, fourth and even some fifth graders received shoes and were SO excited at the thought of shoes of their very own.

Thank you for your donations toward helping bring a smile to these precious children’s faces and putting shoes on their feet!