Although this year has held challenges and changes none of us could have anticipated, we are delighted to report that we have been able to provide support for all of the ministries we decided to focus on this year.

Over the years, as we have looked for projects aimed at helping poor and suffering people around the world, it has been a delight to discover several that were begun and continue to be led by friends who were students at Bethany. Three of these, St. Johns School in Tenkasi, India, Care Corner Orphanage in Chang Mai, Thailand, and the Transition Center in Uzbekistan, have been serving poor children and young men and women for many years.

Concerned for the many poor children in their home city of Tenkasi, India, who were not being educated, our friends Swarna and Thirumalai began St. John’s Christian School in 1996. Their goal was to bring the message of love, hope, and salvation in Jesus Christ to poor Hindu and Muslim children and through them to their families.

In the early hours of August 25, 2017, violence broke out against the Rohingya people in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, who are described as being among the most unwanted and persecuted people in the world. The atrocities committed against them are impossible to comprehend.

In 1995, Ricky Tan, a graduate of Bethany, and his wife Lay Hwa began Care Corner Orphanage with 28 boys and girls.  Since then, one thousand children have been cared for.

Amy and Tim Hedden, graduates of Bethany, moved to Kunming, China, with their six children in 2008 to serve China’s orphan population. Although it’s difficult to determine just how many orphans are in China, the reality is that there are thousands of children housed in state run orphanages all over the country.