Blankets of Hope™
Hope for the Fatherless has created a social enterprise venture to provide a blanket and a message of hope and a future to each of the 16.2 million orphans in developing countries in a seven year period.
Blankets of Hope™ provides a humanitarian missions opportunity for individuals, churches, organizations and companies to provide specially made fleece blankets to orphans around the world. When put in the hands of local church partners to distribute, these Blankets of Hope™ become an evangelistic witnessing tool that children will treasure their entire lives.
THE PROGRAM’S DESIGN & INTENT
This venture not only delivers the humanitarian aid of a blanket, but is designed to:
- engage the local indigenous church in caring for orphans in their distress,
- provide a ministry opportunity to not only share God’s promise of hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11), but God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ using colors designed into the blanket,
- incorporate Christian micro-enterprises into the manufacturing of the blankets to provide economic benefit to their families and the local church, and
- establish the local church infrastructure needed to assist with and/or provide ongoing care and ministry to orphans in their distress.
Small $10 contributions for a Blanket of Hope™ will provide and distribute the blankets to orphan ministry partners around the world.
Half of that contribution will go into an Orphans’ Hope Fund administered by the Fellowship for the Fatherless — a strategic alliance of orphan ministries — to be distributed:
- to care for un-adoptable orphans,
- to provide grants for adoption and
- to incubate & strengthen orphan ministries.
HOW THE BLANKETS ARE USED
The blankets are designed around the theme “hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11:
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you, not harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”
The blankets incorporate the colors of the “wordless book” testimony in the fringes to be a constant reminder of God’s plan of salvation:
yellow — God’s Heavenly Home (Philippians 3:20)
dark — Sin (Romans 6:23)
red — Blood of Jesus (Romans 5:8)
white — Forgiveness of Sin (John 3:16)
green — Growth in Christ (2 Peter 3:18)
The design gives ministry partners — local indigenous churches — the opportunity to share with orphans about God’s plans to give them a hope and a future, and to adopt them into His family (Eph 1:5-6), which leads directly into the opportunity to share God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ using the “wordless book” colors.
Donors and small groups will also have the option of receiving their own Blankets of Hope™ kit(s) to make their own version of the blanket along with a Scriptural study on God’s Biblical command to care for the fatherless. These blankets can be kept as a prayer reminder, or the recipients can use them for a missions outreach in their local community to homeless shelters, children’s homes or similar facilities.
HOW CAN I HELP?
Hope For The Fatherless is currently manufacturing 2,500 blankets for immediate distribution to the orphans in China, Vietnam and Cambodia during the Chinese New Year celebration. To immediately donate on line and help underwrite the cost of a Blanket of Hope at $10.00 per blanket, please click here to go to the firstgiving.com/hopeforthefatherless secure site. If you prefer to send your donation by mail. Please send it to: Hope For The Fatherless, 1632 Flagstone Lane, Little Elm, TX 75068.
NOTE: Hope for the Fatherless uses the term “orphan” for children that have lost both parents. International reports refer to these children as “double orphans.” This statistic comes from the latest global survey available, Children on the Brink: A Joint Report on New Orphan Estimates and a Framework for Action (UNAIDS, UNICEF & USAID, July 2004) — 16.2 million double orphans, 143.4 million single-parent orphans.