Grace and peace, friends!

... it's Daniel LaBry & Paul Pham -- along with Brian Kalsbeek, Gary Bellig, Alisha & Toby Lund and the AuYeung Family!

... and with us in those pictures are some of the orphans we're supporting in Vietnam.

Happy New Year ... and thanks for taking a moment to stop by our Blankets of Hope™ fundraising page. (And thanks to everyone at the bottom of this page who has given so generously so far ... and we also welcome their friends & family!)

Our goal is to get 2,500 blankets sponsored -- just $10 per blanket -- to begin distributing to orphans in Vietnam and China as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in February 2007. (That's the blanket Daniel is holiding in the picture!)

... and your gift is fully tax deductible. It is administered through the not-for-profit ministry we've founded, Hope for the Fatherless -- and you can conveniently donate right now through this secure website just by clicking above.

WHAT WE NEED YOU TO DO?  We are asking you to sponsor at least one blanket ($10) ... and then to share this opportunity with as many friends and family as you can by forwarding this e-mail to them with a personal note encouraging to visit our site and do the same. 

Our prayer is that your heart will be touched and you will underwrite 5 blankets for $50 ... 10 blankets for $100 ... 50 for $500 ... 100 blankets for $1,000 ... or even more.

And don't forget your Church -- please share this opportunity with your missions pastor or children's director ... we would love to talk to them to share more information about what we're doing and how they can be involved, including how they can start their own adoption loan fund!

WHY 2,500 BLANKETS? In addition to blessing and caring for orphans in their distress ... we have an opportunity to bless Christian couples seeking to adopt children internationally. We've teamed up with the ABBA Fund (www.abbafund.org), and a portion of the support raised will help underwrite interest-free, covenant loans to couples needing financial help to adopt.

For about every 2,500 blankets we get sponsored ... enough proceeds can go the ABBA Fund to create one more loan -- a loan that is paid back over time by the couple, and then loaned out again, and again, and again.

And 2,500 is our goal for early 2007 ... our prayer goal is 50,000 blankets by Chinese New Year 2008. Please pray for our efforts.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress ..." - James 1:27

WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE BLANKETS & THE MONEY?   You can get the full download on the Blankets of Hope™ on our temporary Hope for the Fatherless website (www.hopeforthefatherless.org).

Every $10 you give will bless an orphan in China or Vietnam with a blanket, the love of Jesus Christ through local church partners in those areas, and the message of "hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

About $4-5 of each $10 gift covers the blanket and allows it to be delivered by local church partners who will also share with the orphans God's desire to adopt them into His family (Ephesians 1:5-6) and then will use the colors in the blankets to tell them about His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ.

About $1 of each $10 gift also supports an impoverished believer in China who is making the blanket through a Christian microenterprise partner ... who then gives to their local church.

The other $3-4 of each $10 gift goes to the ABBA Fund to go toward establishing an adoption loan, and about $1 or less goes to Hope for the Fatherless, the ministry administering the program, and to pay things like credit card processing fees.

The blanket was conceptualized by Daniel and Paul and some friends as an evangelistic outreach to orphans and their care providers (and a special thanks to our graphic design friend Sherry Wilson who turned our idea into an actual design).

(Right now, Paul and Daniel do not receive salaries from Hope for the Fatherless ... and won't do so until the ministry is funded and capable of supporting full-time staff. We hope to get Paul funded as soon as the Lord provides. As for Daniel, it may be 3-5 years. In the meantime, God is blessing us through other means of providing for our families -- but we ask for your prayers as our hearts' desire is to work full-time in international orphan ministry efforts in Southeast Asia and China.)

HOW MUCH HAS BEEN RAISED TO DATE?  The thermometer at the top of this page is tracking our specific goal of 2,500 blanket sponsorships -- or $25,000. To date, more than $36,000 has been raised to launch Hope for the Fatherless and to initiate a demonstration project for the Blankets of Hope™ to get the infrastructure in place for the ongoing venture.

Now that the foundation is in place, we are prayerfully and confidently working on reaching at least 50,000 orphans with blankets before the Chinese New Year in 2008 ... which will provide orphan ministry support to local indigenous churches ... encourage and bless impoverished believers making the blankets ... and provide several interest-free, covenant loans through the ABBA Fund to help Christian couples adopt.

HOW DO YOU DONATE?  Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also one of the most efficient ways to support our fundraising efforts as we launch our Hope for the Fatherless International ministry efforts (check out more on the left-hand side of the page, or by visiting www.hopeforthefatherless.org).

If it's a large gift, please help us avoid credit card processing fees by making out your check to "Hope for the Fatherless" and mailing it to us at:

Hope for the Fatherless, 1632 Flagstone Lane, Little Elm, Texas 75068

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might be blessed by an opportunity to get involved in the fields of the fatherless (Deuteronomy 14:28-29; 24:19-22).

To learn more about the orphan care crisis internationally, spend a few minutes under the About Us section on the temporary Hope for the Fatherless website.

Grace and peace, friends,

Daniel LaBry & Truong Paul Pham

“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.” - Deuteronomy 24:19-21