Norfolk link to Nepal street children mission

Wendy Bircham who is currently a licensed minister at St Andrews Church in Gorleston will soon be setting off to Nepal loaded with goodies for the children of the Morning Star Children’s home for Street Children. Wendy is the Administrator for the home which she inherited from her parents, Harold and Barbara Blake

 

Her Parents were missionaries and teachers with the Baptist Missionary Society and the United Mission to Nepal in 1987. They felt a great deal of distress and concern by the plight of abandoned and destitute children of Kathmandu. 

 

These children were living and sleeping on the streets or around the temples and even inside old houses. As time went on the children’s physical, mental and emotional development became severely hampered. This situation soon became a new street culture and the children were known as the street children.

 

 In May 1990 they were coming to the end of their time in Nepal and Harold was soon to retire. They were very sad as they knew that they would have to leave many friends behind. Although they held so many wonderful memories, the plight of the street children lay heavily on their minds.  They went to what was to be their last United Mission annual conference and met someone called Nepali Bishnu Parajuli. They discovered that he had been working with the destitute children and had a burning desire to help even more. 

 

A few days later they met with Bishnu for prayer and talks as they all shared the same vision to help the street children.  They continued to work with him learning to understand the children’s needs and problems and how to recognise which situations were genuine and those that were not.

 

The couple rented one floor of a house in the poor quarter of central Kathmandu and fitted it out for their first six children. Bishnu gave up has part-time job as a teacher and became a full-time house parent. The home was named the ‘Morning Star Children’s Home’.  

 

Harold and Barbara returned to England after they had made financial arrangements for the running of the home and for money to be sent to Bishnu each month. The home grew over a period of five years which meant that Morning Star Home had to move from one rented house to another.

 

It was in 1995 when a Dutch Mission came to hear of their needs to have a house of their own and as a result unreservedly donated enough funds to buy a beautiful house on the outskirts of Kathmandu among green fields and fresh air.

 

There are currently 59 children in the home where they are cared for by loving house parents Bishnu and Muna. They also receive love and support from sponsors in many parts of the world.

 

Due to the fact that Harold and Barbara became older and less able to run things they found it increasingly difficult to keep on top of the administration in the UK.  However, their daughter, Wendy, has now taken overr and she will be going out to asses what needs to be done and to meet the children and get to know them better. People have been very generous. On one occasion they didn’t know where they would get £600 to replace the home's generator and then just out of the blue they received a donation for the exact amount. There was another occasion when they needed a new well and thy received a gift for that also. God has really blessed the work and has provided for them.

 

There is much political unrest in Nepal and consequently many of the children have witnessed their parents murdered before them. One little girl called, Manjella, was strapped to her deaf and dumb mother’s back and because of this the child’s eyesight was badly affected due to the fact that she only saw her mother’s head and consequently her eyes opened sideways. The home took her in and paid for her medical needs they took her to an eye surgeon and her eye problem was corrected and she is now able to attend school and has managed to catch up with the other children. 

 

Wendy reported that in January a new website,  www.mscc-nepal.org.uk ,was set up as a free gift and also a Power Point presentation. This has given them the technology to promote Morning Star to churches and small groups.

 

The annual running for the Morning Star Home costs are in the region of £24,000 and Wendy, God willing, tries to send £2,000 a month to Nepal.  Although it seems a lot of money to find, it's a small amount to cover the cost to feed, home, educate and provide medical care for 59 children and our house parents.  We are always most grateful for any contributions towards this cost.  It doesn't matter how small a gift is every pound can be a blessing to a child and make a difference to a child's future and well being.

 

If you would like Wendy to visit and give a presentation  or if you have any ideas for fundraising events or if you would like to get involved with spreading the word about Morning Star then please contact her on 01493 667989 or by email wendy@mscc-nepal.org.uk.