From 1 orphan to about 135 !

by Errol Mannon

We started personally supporting one orphan and we wound up with about 135 in five orphanages in 4 countries in Africa and Asia supported by us and our ministry partners!

In the 1990s, Gretchen and I began sponsoring an orphan boy in India through another ministry. We supported him until some of his distant relatives picked him up and hired him to work for them. We were sad for him, but we knew there would be another orphan that would need our help. We began to pray about it and ask the Lord to lead us to another orphan. The Lord said to me, “How about 30 orphans?”  I said, “OK, Lord. That would be great if you provide us with the money to feed them and support them.” A short time later I received an email letter from Pastor Samuel in South India who was asking for assistance with his 30 orphans in his orphanage.! Did he say 30 orphans? I knew that was God, so I wrote him back and sent him a love gift of $20. That was all I had at the time. His orphanage was Happy Home Children’s Orphanage.

Samuel wrote me back and thanked me profusely. He told me that when he received our $20 love gift that it brought tears to his eyes because it was the first gift he had ever received from America. It gave him hope that he would actually be able to support his 30 orphans over the long haul. He renamed the orphanage Gretchen’s Happy Home Children’s Orphanage. Many years later, Samuel started another orphanage for special needs kids with 22 children. We call that orphanage God’s Mercy Children’s Home.

Samuel’s 40 orphans in 2018 – S India

Next, we were contacted by Pastor Isaac in Uganda. He had about 100 orphans at that time that he was struggling to feed and support and asked for our help. We said yes, if the Lord provides the money to feed the children. Then Pastor Daniel in Kenya asked us for our assistance with his three new orphans. We said yes, of course. Then we received a request for assistance from Pastor Samson in North India with his 11 orphans. Again we prayed about it and felt led by the Lord to say yes. Now I want you to understand this happened over a period of years, not a period weeks or months. Then we received another request for assistance from Pastor Bhim in Nepal for his 12 orphans in his Faith Children’s Home of Nepal. We prayed about it and asked the Lord to provide the funds for these 12 orphans as well. The Lord said yes, so we said yes. That’s how, over a period of 12 years, we went from one orphan to about 135, and we are so happy to be able to help feed and educate these precious children, and bring them up in the admonition and nurture of the Lord!

Isaac’s 60 orphans in 2021 – Uganda

In 2023, one of the children in our Nepal orphanage, Bindu,  graduated from High School.  Both she and David  went to live with relatives. So our Nepal orphanage closed.

David, one of the last 2 orphans – 2023 – Nepal

It says in James chapter 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” To visit the fatherless orphans means more than just stopping by and saying hello, it means to visit them to discover their true needs and to help meet those needs.

We are thrilled to have been able to send funds monthly to these children in 4 countries. Although the number of children we have is constantly fluctuating, we still have about 135 orphans in the 5 remaining orphanages in 3 countries. We have 3 homes in India, one in Uganda and one in Kenya. We have consistently provided food for the children over the years. When finances have allowed, we have also helped with their clothing, educational needs, and even dishes for meals.