Betesda Orphanage Christmas Fundraising

About Betesda Christian Orphanage

Located in Batam, Betesda Orphanage's mission is to give orphans and children whose parents are not able to provide the care and support for a better future. There are different reasons of children came to Betesda. They are fatherless and/or motherless, children from poorest family (indicated by the children could not afford to go school), broken family and abusive family. The focus is not only to accommodate, care and support those children but also to provide them with a proper education by sending them to school.

The orphanage was formed under Yayasan Bahtera Misi (Bahtera Misi Foundation), which responded to the need at hand in 2005 where an earthquake hit Nias island. The foundation involved in relief works in Nias for about two and a half months, aiding in distribution of food, providing medical services, conducting trauma counseling and raising funds for reconstruction of destroyed buildings. The foundation, desiring to do more for the future generation in Nias, decided to start an orphanage to accommodate and care for orphans. the orphanage is now managed by Pastor Zebua.

Starting with a just handful of orphans from Nias, the orphanage now accommodates 46 children from various parts of Indonesia and all are attending a public school. Currently the children are housed in 2 connected houses and 7 helpers (care takers) are managing the daily running of the orphanage and taking care of the children.

In the future, the orphanage hopes to have a bigger facility so that it can accommodate up to 80 or even more children.

Why this fundraiser is important during COVID-19 crisis

Esi and myself have been involved in supporting Betesda Orphanage for 3 years through our small family business Kulture Home Decor. We've given 5% of our annual profits to them and visited the children few times overt the years. During these trips, we were satisfied and reassured to see that Pastor Zebua was very transparent when explaining how he was using the funds. The children always looked healthy, well-fed and lively. We also noted that the kids stayed in the orphanage until they graduated (some have been living there for more than 15 years) and they're really like a big happy family.

Thanks to our previous fundraiser, we were able to help provide food, toiletries and medicines to the kids, which lasted for 6 months. Unfortunately, the orphanage is now running out of basic supplies. Since it is not possible to enter Indonesia easily anymore and because the orphanage heavily relies on support from Singapore-based individuals and charities, the basic supply-chain has been heavily hit.

Help us make Christmas a joyful celebration for the children

We hope to raise more funds in order to cater for the children's needs for the next year and ensure they spend Christmas without worrying about the future. The funds will be used as follow (in order of priority):

1. Food, toiletries and medical supply
2. School fees
3. Christmas gifts

If you have more questions about the use of the funds, please reach out to us via email ([email protected])

Thank you very much for you generosity and Merry Christmas!

Warm wishes,

Charles, Esi & Pastor Zebua