"God’s Favorites: THE POOR"
Dear Friends & Partner, Greetings in Jesus name.
God has favorites. This may surprise you, because most of us would like to think God treats everyone equally. But He doesn't. The Bible clearly says God's favorites are the poor—those who are stomped on, ignored, and bypassed.
According to Proverbs 19:17, "If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—and he will repay you!" (NLT)
Did you know that over half the world—more than 3 billion people—lives on less than two dollars a day?
One out of every two people in the world is wondering:
What am I going to eat tomorrow? Where am I going to sleep? Will I find basic health care? Will I even have a future?
How are we going to respond to the suffering of 3 billion people living in extreme poverty?
Proverbs 28:27 says, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses." (NIV)
There are only two sides—the righteous that are doing something for the poor and the wicked that are not. We must stand on the side of the righteous!
Causes of poverty
Though some people become poor because of laziness or bad decisions, most people are poor because of circumstances beyond their control. Calamities, like natural disasters, war, and disease, take away people's livelihoods every day.
Additionally, cultural systems keep millions of people bound in poverty. Political systems trample on the poor as they make tyrants richer. In addition, in some religious systems, being born into a certain level of society means you have no hope of ever moving up in the world. Corruption also keeps people in poverty. Business and government leaders take bribes and kickbacks; they seize land for their own gain. People who have worked very hard can lose it all because of corruption. Yet another cause of poverty is the cycle of hopelessness, where poverty exists for generation after generation. People have been poor for so long that they know no other life. Children learn by example and word not to expect anything better. Therefore, they grow up with no dreams, ambitions, goals, or vision.
In the vast majority of cases, poverty is not a matter of character; it is a matter of circumstance.
How can you help?
God's answer to poverty is the church. There are four ways you can help change the lives of those in poverty:
1. Treat the poor with dignity. Don't assume you know why a person is poor. Get to know the person by asking, "Would you tell me your story?"
The Bible tells us in Romans 12:16: "Give the same consideration to everyone alike. Pay no regard to social standing but meet humble people on their own terms."
Abundant Life Care is addressing the global giant of extreme poverty by assisting the poor and treating them with dignity.
2. Offer opportunity. Most of the world's poor could climb out of poverty overnight if they just had the opportunity.
Galatians 6:10 says that when we have the opportunity to help someone, we should.
At Abundant Life Care, we provide an opportunity to the poor and underprivileged. We teach children and youth there is a good God who loves them. We provide an opportunity to young girls to help them escape from the trap of child labor to study in private English schools. These girls are studying to be teachers and doctors. We feed 100 children 1,200 hot, nutritional meals every month. If it were not for these meals, these children would have nothing to eat! To sponsor a girl’s education cost less than $30 per month. We can feed one child a hot, nutritional meal for 50 cents.
3. Defend the poor from inequity. Proverbs 31:7 tells us to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and to defend the rights of people who have nothing.
Abundant Life Care provides another service to the less fortunate people in India with an opportunity to those affected with leprosy. We teach health and good hygiene to the adults, youth, and children. In February 2007, we stared providing a monthly ration package containing five kilograms of rice, two kilograms of cooking oil, one kilogram of dhal (green gram or lentil), two bars of soap for bathing, and two bars of soap for washing their clothes—all for $10 per person each month.
We have selected fifty people in the age group from 60 to 85. We currently are able to support fifty people a monthly. This opportunity to the leprosy colony has opened the door for ALC to bring the Gospel to a place that would have otherwise been closed! Those affected with leprosy are coming to Christ. Many of them are strong believers and worship God in a way that puts us to shame! We have also started a weekly Kids Club, where more than 50 boy and girls come to hear the Word of God.
4. Share with generosity. The Bible says in 1 John 3:17: "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" (NIV)
When you see people in need, do not tell them to call a church. Instead, work to meet their needs yourself, because you are the church.
In India, we have gathered together with our Abundant Life Care Ministry Team & ALC Indian Board members to train this next generation of young believers to take care of the orphans and widows!
At Abundant Life Care, we challenge corruption so the poor will have opportunities and someone to take care of them and love them. We have taken the challenge to rescue the orphaned, abandoned, neglected, unwanted, and unlovable children in India!
Being Transformed from Darkness to the Kingdom of Light
Can we believe that God can heal the world of all the misery and make it a place that each child has a home? The ALC Home for Boys is a shinning example in providing orphaned children with food, shelter, clothing, love, care, and a better life!
The story of the ALC Boys Orphan Home is an inspiring example of a powerful ministry outreach. The orphan home started with six boys in 2004. A senior pastor and his family provide the leadership for the home. We are in the process of moving the boy’s home to Hyderabad, because the boys need a better education. This orphan home is the only place these underprivileged orphaned children can call home.
The orphan home now houses eight boys, and we plan to add four other boys soon. These boys come from different villages. These poor children were saved from the misery of living on the streets; some were rescued from child labor. The ALC Orphan Home is providing food, shelter (a rented house), clothing, education, medical care, and all other needed financial support. However, more than anything else, we provide a loving family. The senior pastor and his family have become the loving family for these boys. We cannot replace parents, but we can provide godly parents as a role model.
We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, but we forget that he is someone today! The future of any country lies in the hands of the youth, and every child has a right to an education. It is important that basic education and facilities are provided to each child. ALC desires to provide a better living for these poor orphaned children. We believe that their hopes are not far from reality! We believe we can provide their education with our own ALC Boys Home & School building. We need equipment for the home and school. We need to build sleeping and eating facilities. We know there will be many people who will want to contribute to this dream. ALC and YOU are the people behind this dream! Together we can make this world a better place for many unfortunate orphaned children. We want the ALC Boys Home & School building to be equipped with a school bus, ceiling fans, tube lights, generators, refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters, safe drinking water, beds and bedding, dinning tables, desks, and much more!
These children live neither in the past nor future; they enjoy the present, which very few of us are able to do. This Boys Home & School building will bring immense satisfaction to those who support it, knowing they are helping to provide the betterment of lives of these children. We cannot make heaven on earth nor can we hide from reality, but what we can do is look outside our own comfortable world and reach out to these innocent children. The main desire of the ALC Home and School is to change the lives of these children, helping them grow up with the love of God and become godly leaders.
We invite you to become a partner today! Help us to do what God has called us to do at Abundant Life Care: pray about getting involved. You can help to change a life with a donation as small as $30 per month! That is what it currently costs to support one of our ALC orphan boys for his food, shelter, clothes, education, and medical check-ups on a monthly basis. We will need to buy a school bus, build a home, build a school building, purchase furniture, etc. You can be a part of this missionary endeavor.
In addition, from the ministry already mentioned about the Boys Orphan Home, ALC is providing an outreach to orphan girls also. We have purchased land and are currently constructing a house for orphan girls in the city of Hyderabad, India. Right now, in the beginning stage, we will be able to house 12 to 20 girls, but eventually we want to care and provide for 144 girls! The first phase of the Girls Orphan Home Project is under construction!
Loving by action
When we assist the poor, we are practicing God’s kind of love. The Bible says we should stop just saying we love people and instead really love them and show it by our actions. (1 John 3:18). That’s what Jesus did.
When we say we want to be in India for the next 20 years serving the poor children, we mean it!
When Jesus said something, it was finished, and you could count on every word He said. You could believe Him! These poor children in India need someone like you and me to be able to count on. They need someone to be there when they call on them. Someone to love them, just the way you love your own children.
The question is this: Are we willing to follow in the footsteps of Jesus? Are we willing to become poor for the sake of these children in India and the other countries of this world?
In leaving His position in heaven, Jesus identified with people in poverty: "You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus Christ was. Though he was very rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9, NLT)
Our prayer for you is simple: We pray that you will open your life to the poor as Jesus did!
Jesus opened his life to the poor and he made it clear that his followers should too. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says: "When you put on a luncheon or a banquet, don't invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you." (Luke 14:12-14, NLT)
Remember, when you give to the poor, you are giving to God—and He will repay you!
Everyone can be a part of this ministry by praying for us everyday!
If you would like to support Abundant Life Care, note the following:
How to support:
Online Giving: Simply visit www.abundantlifecare.net, click on the donate button, and you will be launched to Papal, which allows you to contribute financially to ALC.
Checks: Make checks payable to: Abundant Life Care
Send to:
Abundant Life Care
1017 El Camino Real # 394
Redwood City, CA 94063
Please email us when you send a check with date & amount
For further information on these methods of support, contact us.
Contact info:
Web Site: www.abundantlifecare.net
Email: ALCIndia@aol.com
We appreciate this opportunity to share!
Thank you and God bless you as we partner together!
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