Welcome to the Harvest Bridge podcast. A part of our work here at Harvest Bridge is connecting local leaders in South Asia with people like you, here in the United States. Through our podcast we want to provide a place where you can hear their voices and listen to their stories in their own words. There is a transcription available for those who prefer to read these stories. In this episode, we will hear more about the many ways Harvest Bridge is coming alongside children in South Asia and Myanmar. 100 children in Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar are currently supported monthly by Harvest Bridge. This support provides for their basic needs including food, shelter and education. Harvest Bridge also provides critical funding for education in response to war or natural disasters that interrupt their regular educational programs. After the floods last year in Nepal, funds were sent to 250 children to provide clothes, food, and educational supplies, allowing them to go back to school instead of being forced to drop out. 565 children in India attended after school tutoring programs run by our supported pastors and missionaries.
Beyond meeting the basic needs of children in South Asia, the ministry leaders we support continue to address broader children’s issues, like medical care and safety in their communities. Hundreds of children have received medical care through vaccinations and medical camps. Priya*, who leads the GATE ministry in India, recognized the need for safety education programs for children, including safe touch and stranger danger. Listen as she shares about just one of these programs:
“I’m teaching the small children also how to be like wise. ‘When someone calls you, don’t go. Someone gives you a chocolate, don’t eat. So you have to be very careful. Call police at that time. If the police are not attending the call, immediately, give me a call. I will transfer the call’, like that. So, they are really beautiful and smart children from our gypsy colony.”
Ministry leaders in Bangladesh have identified areas where human trafficking is most likely to occur and work with local police to rescue children and arrest their traffickers. Last year, 114 girls were rescued through their efforts. You can hear more about this ministry in our Bangladesh podcast released last month.
Not only is Harvest Bridge helping provide direct assistance for children’s programs, but ministry leaders are partnering with families to develop their long term sustainability and independence. Jandi* in Nepal leads savings groups that help families in poverty save funds for the future and support one another when needs arise. These savings groups are allowing almost 1000 children to go to school in Nepal. She shared in a recent call about the impact this is having on children and their parents:
“So it’s really good. And we saw a great impact in the families, and the churches, and all the church saving group members, and they told [us] ‘now we don’t have to run here and there to get the money, to get education for our children. We have savings group, at our church, run by us. And last one, two years time, 500 new children could go to school, and this time, almost 1000 children could go to school because of this saving group ministry in different churches throughout the country. It’s really really great impact, and they are so happy like, ‘wow, we have our own place to ask [for loans].’ And the little bit, the service charge they pay, they will get themselves. Yeah, they are excited. And children who could go to school means, like, it’s great impact in the community.”
Another key goal of children’s ministry is discipleship. Ministry leaders are offering children’s discipleship education programs, distribution of children’s Bibles, and Vacation Bible School each summer. Last year, more than 1,150 children attended VBS programs with your support. As we release this podcast, ministry leaders are again conducting VBS programs for children to share with them about the love of Jesus. Children from gypsy colonies in India to villages in the Andaman Islands are playing games, singing songs, receiving food and hearing the gospel story.
This year we are excited to share that local churches here in the United States are raising funds through their own Vacation Bible School programs to support children in Myanmar. The children in Myanmar are especially vulnerable, as the violence of the civil war continues to increase, including the recent bombings of schools and the forced conscription of teens to serve in the military. Children there also face daily challenges with poverty and disease, as well as the ongoing impacts of the devastating earthquake in March. Pastor Pan* shared more about the challenges the children in a particular orphan home are currently facing:
“Because of the heavy fighting which took place last year, they have been fled to another place, where they are living now. They have been suffering and struggling in many ways.They have been facing many difficulties and hardships like food crisis, medicine, clothes, and everything.That is why this orphanage home needs our prayers and our support.Their monthly cost is just about $3500 to $4000, which includes their food, clothes, medicines, and education. So I want you to pray for this home that the Lord will protect them and bless them. And also because of your prayers they will be greatly blessed and benefited.”
Through your support, in 2024 210 children and guardians in Myanmar were evacuated from warzones. 132 of those children received needed medical care after developing illnesses while living in the jungle, after fleeing the junta. Your support also provided for dengue fever vaccines to protect 54 children from this painful illness. An orphanage was equipped with solar panels that provided electricity during frequent blackouts.
The leaders in Myanmar worry about the long term impacts for the children as the war continues to interrupt their daily lives and education. Pastor Pan’s wife, Nilar*, shared more with us about this issue. She speaks here in Burmese, and you will hear Pastor Pan translate her words into English:
“As a mother of these children, it is so painful when they don’t have a good chance of learning education and also, what they lost, all for the future. It is so painful, but we still hope in God that He will open a way for them to be good men and women in the future. And what we are wanting [for] them is, we try our best to train them to become good men and women, for their parents – maybe one [parent], maybe for their mother, maybe for some other people, for their father – but for some of the people, no more parents. But what we do [for] them is to be a good men and women and a good education, a good educated person in the future. But right now, it seems to me that, to me, that their future, their future will be very low, but we still hope in God, that God will take care of the future.”
Pastor Thang* in Myanmar echoes her concerns, sharing how the impacts of the war will continue to be felt in this next generation.
“We have difficulties to manage [in] our life and even for the children. For their future education, [the] education system is very worse. We’re in the bottom of education, so we would like [you] to pray and help us and donate for the life, especially for the young children and then the parents who have lost houses and who have lost everything they need, food and shelter. And for the children, they need education, a good education. For that, we need to back up with a lot [of help]. So we cannot do by ourselves. We need hands to support and hands to help us for this next generation in the coming days ahead, years, [who] will be our leaders.”
There is still much work to be done, and your giving makes a difference. The children of Myanmar are grateful for you. One teenager, Sung, wrote “Thank you for your support. Your generosity has given me an openness and a future, and your support means more than words can express.” A young teenager, Ruth, shared this message (Burmese message). Ruth shared here her greetings and gratitude for your prayers and for helping them in this time of difficulty.
Through your prayers and generosity, God is using you to bring hope, healing, and opportunity to children across South Asia and Myanmar. From providing safety and education to meeting urgent medical needs and discipling the next generation, your partnership is equipping local ministry leaders to continue to care for children in transformative ways. Thank you for being part of this story. To learn more and support this work, follow us on social media, or subscribe to our email list to learn more about the ministry of leaders throughout South Asia who are doing much, with little.