Dear Emmanuel supporters,

I count you as a faithful friend of the children of Emmanuel and a fellow member of this family that cares for them. They urgently need each member of this family to act right now.

Would you consider committing to at least one of the calls to action at the bottom of this email?

There are so many amazing things happening daily at the children’s home. I wish I could call you personally and just pour my heart out to you about all that God is doing here through faithful friends like yourself.

Bryan and his 6 other family members all slept on the only bed that his family has. He told me how he would sleep on the floor most nights as that was actually more comfortable. He explained how sometimes his mother wouldn’t have enough food for everyone, that he would go hungry, and how there is no heater and that he would get really cold. Not surprisingly, he told me his favorite things about living at Emmanuel now is that there is lots of good food, that his new room has a heater, and that he has his very own bed, all to himself!

Veronica is one of countless who have grown up at Emmanuel. She showed up with her husband last Sunday, and Becky and I had the privilege of meeting her. Her mother brought her to Emmanuel as a girl where she spent “the best years of childhood.” Smiling at her husband of 6 years, she told us that if it hadn’t been for Emmanuel, she would have been raised on the street with no chance of a future. How Emmanuel impacted her the most, she said, was that she was given a “family.”

However, the future of everything happening here is being threatened at this moment due to raising operating costs and decreased donations.

As Becky and I joyfully move forward in our new roles of directing this amazing place, overflowing with vision and new ideas, we must also pause to face the reality that…

	Support from churches, which has been the fabric of Emmanuel’s existence for 50 years, has gone down over 50% in the past 5 years.
	Many of the 85 children currently in our care are new and do not have a single sponsor. Very few have all 4 of the sponsors necessary, resulting in a lack of 100 or more individuals that would commit monthly.
	A new tax law just passed in Mexico raised sales tax in our city to 16%. Property and vehicle taxes are also due this time of year.
	As you know, utilities dramatically increase during these winter months to keep our facilities warm, but we are also experiencing a big increase in utility costs in general compared to last year.
	Strict regulations being newly mandated by the Mexican government are becoming more oppressive and counterproductive than they are helpful, requiring a growing list of needs we must address regarding our facilities and staff in order to legally have the permission to remain open.

We need a miracle this week in order to pay for all of the needs of the children and the salaries of our staff. Today all of our children have returned from the weekend, classes are in session, and our teachers and staff are busy hustling about to care for them. Before I tell them the seriousness of our current financial situation, I wanted to reach out to you first because I believe you have a God-given role in this miracle.

I made the following video for you to watch while you prayerfully consider committing to one or more of the following urgent needs.

Pray for Emmanuel for 5 minutes between 10:30am and 11:30am MT. This is when we as staff gather to pray daily.	COMMIT NOW
Sponsor a child to invest in his/her life both financially and relationally.	COMMIT NOW
Setup a reoccurring donation to help cover our increasing operating expenses.	COMMIT NOW
Give a one-time donation to help us get through this next week.	COMMIT NOW
Forward this email to someone you believe will take action.	COMMIT NOW
Share this message/video from our Facebook page to your friends.	COMMIT NOW

The need is great, but we believe our God is greater! This place is named after Him. It’s His and these children are His. It was His idea to create this place, and it’s to glorify Him that it remains today.

Thank you for being a part of this family and for taking action for the love of these children.

In sweet expectancy,
Adam and Becky Sebastian