How can I be sure that my gift is actually benefiting my child? Although you are sponsoring one child that you “adopt,” your monthly gift actually benefits an entire orphanage, so that in each orphanage, sponsored children are not given preferential treatment over unsponsored children. Our prayerful goal is to find sponsors for every child at every orphanage that we assist (and we hope that you might even help us find sponsors by sharing about your child with others). In any case, your monthly gift directly benefits your child and other children in the same orphanage. Orphan’s Tear uses none of the contributions received for fund raising or administrative purposes. 100% of everything we receive from you directly benefits orphans. General gifts to our parent ministry, Heaven's Family, provide the administrative costs of Orphan's Tear. Orphan’s Tear works with orphanages that we have personally visited and with orphanage directors whom we personally know. Every orphanage we assist is required to have a board of trustees consisting of respected Christian leaders within the community who are not the director’s family members or orphanage employees. Orphan’s Tear USA is also overseen by a similar board of directors. Annual financial statements are available upon request. We are committed to financial integrity. Are my contributions tax-deductible? In the United States and United Kingdom, yes. Orphan’s Tear is an outreach ministry of Heaven's Family, a tax-exempt nonprofit organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service. We are also hoping to obtain tax-exempt charity status in other countries where our sponsors live. If you would like to help us in that regard, please contact us. Can I write a monthly check instead of having the money automatically withdrawn from my checking account or credit card? Yes you may. We would prefer, however, to auto-debit your bank account or automatically charge your credit card each month, because that reduces our administration expenses. Plus, you never have to remember to write a check, and you never have to use a stamp! Auto-debit is completely safe and secure, and millions of such transactions take place every day. Can I write a check for an entire year of sponsorship? Yes. You can contribute monthly, quarterly, yearly, or whatever way is best for you. We would prefer, however, to auto-debit your bank account or credit card, because that reduces our administration expenses. I live outside the United States. Can funds be automatically withdrawn from my bank account? Unfortunately, no. We can, however, accept checks from foreign banks. Please make certain that the amount of your contribution is equivalent to $20 U.S. dollars, and add 5% for our bank's currency exchange fee. The best way to contribute if you are outside the United Sates is through your credit card via PayPal. Simply click on the "donate" link which is located at the bottom of every page of this website. That will connect you to the PayPal website where you can follow their simple instructions. You can elect a one-time credit card donation or regular monthly automatic credit card donations. Can I make a “one-time” contribution? Yes! Practically every orphanage with which we work has need for capital improvements. Orphanages are in need of dorm buildings, water wells, toilet and kitchen facilities and so on. Your single contribution to the Orphan's Tear "Special Gifts Fund" can have a lasting impact on the quality of life for many orphans. Can these children be adopted? Wouldn’t that be a better way to help them? There is no doubt that adoption would be a better way to help orphans. International adoption is possible in many countries (click here to see the list), but Myanmar and Tanzania, for example, and many other countries like them, are not on the list. Moreover, the children we are helping in Myanmar will never be adopted by anyone in their own country. They are from a minority ethnic group called the Chin, and the Chin people are all too poor to adopt children, most living on less than $2 a day. People of other ethnic groups in Myanmar are not likely to adopt a Chin child, even if they could afford to do so. Even if children could be adopted from any and every country in the world, there are over 140 million orphans in the world, and there just aren’t enough people who want to and who can afford to adopt them. So child sponsorship is the best alternative we presently have. Can I correspond with my child? Administrating a correspondence program adds considerable expense to child sponsorship programs, such as international postage and the employment of translators. We want to keep our sponsorship costs as low as possible. Additionally, children whose sponsors don’t write as frequently as other children’s sponsors can be wrongly led to believe that they are less loved. Sponsors are often burdened with enough neglected responsibilities that they don’t need even more nagging guilt regarding neglected correspondence with their orphan. Finally, because some sponsors adopt numerous orphans, for them, correspondence with all their children would be impossible. Although it is not possible to correspond with your child, it is sometimes possible to visit your child at his or her orphanage in a group tour. (For information, please contact us.) Can $20 a month really provide what an orphan needs? In rural Myanmar, yes. People in Myanmar (and many other developing countries) often live on about one dollar per day, so a child can be sustained for two-thirds of that. In Tanzania, however, about $25 per month is needed to sustain one orphan. Keep in mind that all of the orphanages that are assisted by Orphan’s Tear were already in operation when we began our partnership. All of them were already receiving limited assistance from Christians or churches in their own countries, but they were struggling. With your help, we are able to significantly improve the quality of the lives of the children. Even in Tanzania, any orphanage will gladly receive monthly gifts of $20 per child. That extra help is a real blessing. We think it is a good idea to help existing orphanages with supplemental support that already have indigenous support. That way we aren’t robbing indigenous Christians of the blessing of obeying the Lord’s commandments to care for orphans, nor are we creating a market for orphans or promoting unhealthy dependencies. And we are glad to provide a means whereby any Christian in the world can find the joy of obeying God’s commandment to care for orphans. Why do some of the Myanmar orphans have yellow paste on their faces? Burmese mothers have long used sandalwood paste as a sunscreen on their children’s cheeks and noses. This practice has evolved into creative form of face-painting, and on older girls, as a cosmetic means to enhance attractiveness. Interestingly, most tan-skinned Asian people think that white skin is the most beautiful! They certainly don’t want their skin to darken from exposure to the sun! Is Orphan’s Tear a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)? No. Although we appreciate the degree of accountability that is required to be a member of the ECFA, the standards are not high enough to meet our satisfaction. It disturbs us, for example, that the ECFA accepts major Christian humanitarian and relief ministries whose top persons are paid in excess of $380,000 per year (you may research this for yourself at www.give.org). We believe this is inconsistent with what the Lord Jesus taught and exemplified regarding self-denial and godly stewardship. Orphan's Tear and its parent organization, Heaven's Family, has no employee who receives more than $30,000 in annual compensation. Our financial affairs are monitored by a board of trustees, and we follow stringent accounting policies. Our annual 990 Form, required by the I.R.S. of all non-profit organizations, can be viewed by clicking here. |