“If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”– W. Clement Stone

This Thanksgiving, while we’re all gathered around the supper table enjoying the turkey with all the trimmings, making memories with loved ones, and ever thanking the Lord for all his blessings, it’s important to remember the words of Mr. Stone.

As Christians, we must remember that it’s not the rituals we follow that make us Christians, but who we serve, and according to James 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.”

This #GivingTuesday, we’re asking you to do exactly that. This year, New Beginnings has once again partnered with the global movement of giving. #GivingTuesday is an event that inspires worldwide giving to nonprofit organizations and occurs on December 1 this year.

For those of you who may not have been keeping up with international news, there’s been a lot of political unrest surrounding the newly passed constitution of Nepal. The neighboring nation of India, from which Nepal gets 95% of its supplies, publicly declared that it was unhappy about the constitution, saying it discriminated against an ethnic Indian community. In actuality, a powerful group of Hindus are angry because the new constitution allows for other religions to exist in Nepal.

Since then, many trucks carrying food, medical supplies, oil and gasoline have been prevented from crossing the border into Nepal, due to an unofficial economic blockade imposed by India. Nepal is a small, landlocked Himalayan nation that depends on its neighbors for trade. What’s more, the earthquake experienced by Nepal last April has caused landslides, blocking trade routes to China, thus leaving Nepalese people with an ever dwindling supply of food, fuel, and medical supplies.

In light of all this turmoil, our thoughts and prayers are with Bobby Adhikari and the truly orphaned children at the New Beginnings Children’s Home on the edge of Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. This Christmas, we cannot send them supplies and gifts directly since the political unrest has made the delivery system unreliable.

What we plan to do instead is to raise funds and wire them directly to Bobby, who will use them to buy supplies and gifts for the children. This way we can ensure that these children have a merry Christmas, and we will also be stimulating the Nepalese economy, which will help the country as a whole heal from this crisis.  

Our goal is to raise $3,900. At the very least, we can assure you a minimum 90% of the funds will go directly to the orphanage in Nepal (the other portion will be used only to promote this event). We plan to spend $2,500 on food, supplies and gasoline due to the increasing costs of these supplies. The other $1,400 would be used for Christmas gifts for the children and the orphanage staff inside the country of Nepal.

Here’s how you can help:

1. Pray. The country of Nepal and the children there have experienced much grief and hardship over the last seven months. God can heal their land.
2. Give. Click here to donate. $5 or $5000. Donations will be used to provide Christmas gifts for the children in our Nepal Children’s Home.
3. Share. Through social media, tell us and others why you’re giving to #ChristmasInNepal this year. Use #ChristmasInNepal and encourage others to give as well.