FAQ
Thailand is
one of many areas in which Warm Blankets Orphan Care partners with local
churches to rescue and care for orphans. Below you will find answers to
many commonly asked questions about Orphan Care and Warm Blankets Orphan
Care policies.
Table of
Contents
Who is Warm Blankets Orphan Care?
Warm Blankets began three years ago as a private effort of Craig and
Barb Muller and Bob and Mary Beth Hoyler of Illinois. (See the Who's
Who page for pictures). They started by funding projects dealing
with orphans in the most desperate third world countries of India,
Cambodia, and Central America. The mission has grown as it has teamed up
with other orphan focused organizations that affect orphan care efforts
in many countries. Warm Blankets' biggest success has been in Cambodia
where over 40 structures have been built in local villages to be homes
for orphans and homeless widows. These facilities also serve as
churches, community centers and sometimes as schools.
Craig Muller, founder, is a successful businessman whose past CEO and
Board level experience in technology companies has given him an approach
to serving the poor and the orphan by using his knowledge and technical
connections in a unique way. Warm Blankets Orphan Care uses everything
from cellular to satellites to coordinate the efforts to rescue orphans
in extremely remote and difficult situations.
The mission of Warm Blankets Orphan Care International is to restore the
lives of orphans in partnership with churches, corporations,
organizations and individuals who have a passion to help needy,
parentless children. (See the Our
Mission page for more information).
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What are some of the key guiding principles that contribute to the
success of the Warm Blankets mission?
-
Each home is first a
church. Relying on God as the provider and guide makes all things
possible! Children need to be brought up with absolutes that the
Bible fosters.
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Children should be
rescued and nurtured in as close to the area where they were brought
up as possible, so small homes are built in local villages.
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It is in the best
interest of orphaned children to be reunited with extended family
members.
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We do not build large
institutions that can become overcrowded and impersonal and force
children to be moved far from their familiar surroundings.
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Based on James 1:27, we
will seek out homeless widows, especially those with children, as
care givers. Widows know the pain of loss the children are
experiencing and they also need a placed to live and bring up their
own children.
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The ratio of caregivers
to children should be 1:5. This is probably the best ratio of
anywhere in the world.
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We will attempt to move
completely away from individual “child sponsorship” to a model
where a whole home is sponsored by an individual, church or
organization. Disbursements are based on cost plus factors which are
less dependent on the number of children than on improving
conditions and services to the kids. Child sponsorship is
appropriate for a child who lives in a poor area with their parents
but creates serious drawbacks in orphan home situations. Using child
sponsorship as a criteria for revenue in a orphan home incentives
the leaders to try to keep as many kids as they can under the homes
roof. It promotes mistrust because leaders may be less likely to try
to reunite a child with their extended family when it means they
will have less money to cover overhead costs.
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Accountability and
communications will be accomplished by using comprehensive Web
technology for each home that includes images of children,
caregivers and image documentation of the general area. It will also
serve as a point where needs for the home are expressed.
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In all cases and in all
countries, Nationals should receive technological and computer
training that will allow them to maintain the images records,
reports, and information for continual communication with sponsors
and resource givers.
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Warm Blankets will give
priority to organizations that use indigenous leaders and workers
rather than foreign missionaries as the means to accomplish their
objectives.
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How are contributions and resources used in the field to support the
rescue of children?
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Government agencies,
sponsors, the medical community and other agencies require an
enormous amount of documentations in caring for orphans. Warm
Blankets has developed comprehensive methodologies and software to
facilitate the required processes.
-
Our mission in all
countries is to train Nationals to do the work necessary to track
and maintain records. This gives older children job skills. It is a
wonderful way to get people in a position that serves the Lord while
they are learning job skills that may start them on a life long
career. To do this, Warm Blankets has personnel in the United States
(US) and in country that focus on training people at the local level
in the competencies necessary to make the overall operation as self
sufficient as possible. The byproduct of the training is that we can
sometimes complete the work at a significantly reduced cost. Third
world labor costs are sometimes a fraction of what they might be in
the US.
-
We have developed
software solutions to make it easier to utilize non-English speaking
Nationals to gather critical medical, demographic and
epidemiological information in the field and broadcast it back to
the US.
-
In the US, Warm Blankets
has an internship program that focuses on communication between the
field and the sponsors and grantors. This involves maintaining some
fifty Web sites to highlight and track the work being done
specifically to the donors involved with that work. Work, images of
children, general information about needs, and other relative
information are posted to the web sites daily by interns. This
is a great way in which Warm Blankets can serve the donor while also
giving valuable Christian mission experience to youngsters in
entering the workforce.
-
Warm Blankets supports
individuals and teams that go into the field to train indigenous
persons in the skills needed to maintain the infrastructure which is
required to care for the children and support the work of the
Churches.
(You can support the
ministry by giving on our convenient on-line
giving page).
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Does
Warm Blankets have a religious affiliation?
As a Christian organization, Warm Blankets is non-denominational and
works with many different churches and denominations. The organization
is grounded in the scripture verse of James 1:27, which reads:
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is
this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep
oneself from being polluted by the world."
Our emphasis is on working with organizations that plant churches that
are used both as a church and an orphan home.
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What
are some of the ways sponsors help orphans and widows through Warm
Blankets?
Orphans lives depend totally on our ability to serve the needs that any
family such as your own would have. (i.e. housing, schooling, food,
loving care, etc.) You can help them by contributing your time, talents,
and resources. Sponsors help the most in these areas:
-
Whole
home sponsorship
- (Warm Blankets Orphan Care is not a “child sponsorship”
organization. We look to individuals, groups and institutions to
help fund the cost of raising the children.
-
Programs and special
projects - By choosing areas
of need such as the building or funding of projects related to
septic systems, wells, vehicles, kitchens, emergency medical funds,
bunk beds, etc., you affect the most basic issues of the boys and
girls in the Church Home(s) you help.
-
General operating
funds - Without the faithful
givers who graciously cover the operation costs the growth will
stagnate. The core systems and infrastructure depends on it. This is
the hardest money for Warm Blankets Orphan Care to raise. We send
100% of all designated funds directly through to children’s
programs and homes. That is made possible through mature givers who
know the importance of tight controls and accountability that is
maintained through the General Operating Fund.
Operating expenses
are not the most glamorous place to give, so we want to acknowledge
the people and organizations that contribute their time, talent and
resources so that others are blessed with a chance to serve the
orphans and widows in specific ways.
-
Prayer
- There are pictures of each individual child and their caregivers
on each of the 42 Church Home web sites. Warm Blankets has a formal
prayer list for orphans which may be obtained by request. In
addition, we ask that you pray for the Church Pastors, field
personnel and villagers who’s response to the Holy Spirit brings a
childhood to a child who might not have had one otherwise.
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How
many homes has Warm Blankets helped to build in Cambodia?
Through the first half of 2002, thirty-five homes are now completed to
the extent that they are caring for children in the constructed
building. There are another ten homes in various stages from planning to
near finished construction.
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Can we
visit a church home?
Warm Blankets has traditionally organized four or five mission groups a
year which visit the areas where we are rescuing orphans. We would
strongly recommend you travel in one of those groups for safety and
logistics reasons. Private trips can be arranged however. You should
keep in mind that any persons having direct contact with the children
are required to fill out an application and to submit to a background
check. Please allow plenty of time for this process to be completed.
(Applications can be found under Resources on the home page).
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What is
Whole Home Sponsorship?
As the name implies, it is support of a complete family of orphaned
children and their caregivers that are part of one particular Church
Based Orphan Home. The contributors generally agree to work together
over the years to supply financial, prayer and arms length nurturing for
the whole Church Based Orphan Home. Click here for more information
about the Whole
Home Sponsorship Program!
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What
is a Church Based Orphan Home and how is it different from institutional
orphanages?
Most of us think of an orphanage as some sort of sprawling, dingy,
isolated institution. Warm Blankets supports a quite different model.
Based on pilot programs developed in Cambodia, Church Based Orphan Homes
follow a strict model where the Children’s Home is designed for
multiple uses. In Cambodia, the buildings are two levels. The upstairs
is used as sleeping and privacy quarters for the children and caretakers
while the downstairs are used for church services, music and worship. In
addition, the facility may serve the community village in other ways
such as serving as a community-training center. In some cases, the homes
have been used as temporary medical treatment centers for surrounding
villages. MORE..
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Who
are Whole Home Sponsors?
Whole Home Sponsors are individuals, groups, churches and organizations
that have committed to the financial, prayer and arms length nurturing
of a Church Based Orphan home. Typical sponsor groups are made up of
people with similar interests or geographically based affinities such as
those who might attend a certain church or belong to a club or small
group. The group might also include family members, neighbors. You can
learn more about our Whole
Home Sponsorship program.
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What
are the steps involved in establishing and leading a whole home
sponsorship program?
The first step would be to contact
us at Warm Blankets Orphan Care. We can go over a couple of options
with you. If you are going to be sharing the sponsorship with some
friends or family, we will give you multiple copies of the materials we
use to explain the process. There is also a short application we can
email or fax to you.
Among the options for sponsoring children on a regular basis, the two
most common options are “sole” sponsorship of a whole home and
“shared” sponsorship of a home.
-
A sponsor could be
the sole sponsor for an orphan home
- From land purchase to a completed Church Home an individual or
organization could do it all. In this case, you or your group, buy
land, build, staff, rescue children, and fund the entire project.
Cost: $60,000 start-up plus travel and teams cost and an ongoing
management cost of $2400 per month. Warm Blankets assists in the
contacts and management of the process.
-
Shared Sponsorship
Effort - You or your group
concentrate on Orphan and Widow care. In this case, Warm Blankets
will work with partners to find the funds to build a new church home
or upgrade an existing church home. With our partners, WB supports
the initial infrastructure at least until the home is able to
support a full 40 children. Once children are brought in, you or
your group step in. What the Lord wants is people caring for people.
It is discipleship not sponsorship. It quickly becomes a situation
where your life is changed through the lives you change.
Multiple families might join each other to serve as a caring group
for a Church Home in Cambodia. The cost ranges from $1200 to $1800
per month. Short term trips for small projects would help cement the
relationship and allow for special projects like fans in the church,
concrete pad for play area, land mine barriers, lighting, screens
for windows and doors, agriculture projects, eye glasses,
inoculations, English lessons, training in worship, sewing, and
others.
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What
kind of communication and information can we expect from our Church
Home?
You will receive a packet of information about your Home, which will
include information about the children, the geography, the area and
country of Cambodia and specifics about the home.
You should expect delays in communications due to the logistics of the
country, which has no infrastructure. There are now over 40 homes in
Cambodia. They are spread out throughout the country. There is no mail
system. At least half of the year the roads are impassible because of
monsoon rains. In the dry season, many of the bridges are out. All of
this to say that communication and contact are not on a regular basis!
Technology such as cell towers and cell phones are costly and move up
the priority list slowly. However, there is usually someone from the
central office in Phnom Penh that visits the home once a month or so. On
occasion, if the person visiting has been trained to do digital
photography, has a camera with him/her and has some time, he/she will
take some pictures. At the very least, he/she will relay any major
changes in the children's' health, care or accomplishments to the main
office. The main reason for the visit is to perform certain site survey
observations relative to quality of life and material issues such as
checking the well, inventory of food, delivery of goods, checking on
supplies, in taking new kids, praying with caretakers, worship
leadership, etc.
In addition to the visits by field staff, at least one and sometimes
more of the Home Fathers, Home Mothers and the Pastors are required to
come to training once a month in Phnom Penh. This is a very precarious
trip for most of them, by the way. At this training, they will be asked
for updates on the children's health, conditions in the home, etc. Bible
study and Orphan care are main topics for the training.
If there is any information that represents significant change in the
conditions at the home or relative to immediate needs, we will contact a
designated person or group of persons generally by email. We also love
to share pictures, so we’ll let you know if we get any new ones.
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How
would I find an established whole home sponsorship group of people who
are seeking other participants to join their group?
There are groups that have a shortfall on a monthly basis until they
establish a full contingent of givers and participants that cover the
total commitment for their Church Home. We will help you find a group
that fits your desires to serve. Contact the Warm Blankets Orphan Care
office at 877-33-BLANKETS (877-332-5265) or email us at information@warmblankets.org.
You may also contact us through the Warm Blankets Web Site (click
here).
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Are my
gifts to Warm Blankets tax deductible?
Warm Blankets Orphan Care International is a 501 (c)3 charitable
organization recognized by the IRS. All gifts are tax-deductible to the
extent allowed by law. Whether or not your gifts are deductible on your
tax return may depend on your own financial situation and the tax form
you use.
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Does
Warm Blankets do adoptions?
Warm Blankets orphan care is a ministry that serves as a means for
indigenous villagers to care for orphans in their own countries and does
not include arrangements for adoptions. However, you may want to check
with organizations that only deal with needy children (like World
Vision) to find out who they might recommend as a viable adoption
partner.
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How do
kids get to a school?
In many cases the Church Home is located so that it is accessible to a
village school. Where the distance is too great or no teachers are
available, temporary teaching is done right at the home. The area that
is used for church services is set up as a school.
Monsoon season presents a challenging situation where it is a long
distance to school and there is no vehicle. A small trailer hauled by a
motor scooter would not only serve as a school bus, it could be used as
a means to haul goods back from market or from farm donations. A pick up
type truck would even be a better solution. There are very few vehicles
of any kind in our system.
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Why
isn’t Warm Blankets Orphan Care involved in foreign adoption?
In the areas of the world where the incidence of orphans is high, the
value of life and human rights is generally low. Poverty is rampant and
corruption is common. This combination of circumstances sets the stage
for the unthinkable practice of human trafficking. In underdeveloped
third world countries the selling of babies for “adoption” by US
citizens is a multimillion-dollar business.
According to one of Cambodia's largest human rights organizations, the
League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Licadho), the
moneymaking potential in foreign adoptions is so great that it has
inspired a network of unofficial ''recruiters'' who scour neighborhoods
in search of young children, often plying birth mothers with lies or
false promises in addition to cash in order to get them to turn over
their children.
For Warm Blankets Orphan Care to be effective, we have to be above
reproach with regard to caring for true orphans. In order to keep
children in their native land, growing up in their own culture, it is
important that we concentrate on giving long term care where needed and
reuniting children with their extended families, if possible.
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Can
Warm Blankets Orphan Care recommend an adoption agency for those seeking
adoption?
To be sure we will not be part of or accused of trafficking in children,
it is our policy that no officer or employee of Warm Blankets Orphan
Care recommend or work with any parties involved with the transfer of
children to adoption agencies or organizations.
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What
are the policies of Warm Blankets Orphan Care relative to reunification
of orphans with their extended family?
If it doesn’t put a child in jeopardy, an orphaned child should be
brought up by the extended family. Our policy of always building small
homes (no more that 50 children) in or near a local village allows us to
keep children in the local area where they were brought up. The
proximity of the home to an indigenous community increases the
probability that a child will be found by a family member that may be
searching for them.
In addition, we will seek out the extended family members through
inquires in nearby villages. We also require an extensive interview
process to find out all we can about an individual child. This will
sometimes uncover a relative that the child may have thought they would
never see again.
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How
are the caretakers recruited?
They are typically recruited from the local church congregation. Church
Homes start as what we call “cell churches” . A cell church is a
small group of people who start meeting as a result of one person who
has actively witnessed the Good News of Jesus Christ. Usually, that
person is actually someone who heard about the Gospel from another
church planted by the same group that is building the Church Homes.
Services, Bible study, and fellowship in a cell church is usually
practiced in a small shack such as those typical in remote villages.
Most times it is the home of someone in the church, probably the pastor.
Church Homes always spring up from a cell group. In that way, we know
that there are enough growing Christians that the Home will have
caregivers. Churches are asked to seek out the most qualified caregivers
as leaders first. The organization is grounded in the scripture verse of
James 1:27, which reads: "Religion that God our Father accepts as
pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their
distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." We
therefore require that Church Homes seek out trainable, willing, Christ
seeking, widows as the mainstay of the overall caregiver network.
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How is
religious training accomplished?
Home children, caregivers and the children and guests from the local
area are offered Bible teaching on a daily basis. In many of the Homes,
Bible study is done before breakfast every day. In the early evening,
there is always a time of worship. In many of the homes, there is an
array of musical instruments. As the kids are taught how to play the
instruments, the worship time becomes the high point of the day.
If you would like a copy of a video tape of a typical worship time,
contact us at Warm Blankets. We would be happy to send you one.
Periodically, worship videos are also put on the Web.
Bibles are still a scarce commodity in rural areas. We search out Bibles
in the native language. In Cambodia, we teach the children with colorful
picture
bibles and biblical materials in the Khmer language. The biggest
shortage is for the village kids and their parents. The cost of
supplying the villages with Bibles is not taken from the support money
for kids. Therefore, we seek separate outside contributions for this
purpose. In some cases the Bibles are donated, but the distribution can
be costly. Bibles are not just handed out randomly. To be effective, we
look to support Nationals with the gift of evangelism to be able to
witness to the recipients as they make them a gift of the Bible.
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