October 2014 Update and Year-End Fundraising

October 2014 Update Meet Michael I would like to introduce you to Michael Banda! He is the newest child to come into full-time family care in one of COTN Malawi's Children's Homes. Michael was referred to COTN Malawi through the Malawi Government Social Welfare Office. He comes from Mchinji, a town one hour West of Lilongwe, just close to the Zambian border. Michael is just 3 months old and his mother passed not long after his birth. The whereabouts of his father are unknown. He came to COTN Malawi severely malnourished and suffering from infection, but since then has been admitted to African Bible College Community Clinic (where Madalo works) for treatment and proper nutrition support. He is gaining weight and getting healthier each day!  Children like Michael are the reason that Malawi runs full-time family care Children's Homes in addition to our Village Partnership Program. At times there are children who simply have no other option and may even die without full-time intervention. Michael now has hope for a future because of the intervention, support, and love he will receive each day as part of a COTN Malawi Children's Home! As a new child, Michael will need sponsors. Please check out this link if you would like to become one of his sponsors.   A New Baby of Our Own As Well! Well the long-awaited day finally came! Paul Kondwani made his appearance just two days after his due date on October 19th at 8:20pm, weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces. Madalo was in active labor for about 7 hours, though her water broke and we had gone to the hospital the night before around midnight. It was an amazing experience being there in the delivery room and seeing my son being born before my eyes. I will treasure that experience forever! Baby Paul is now 11 days old as I write this. He is already gaining weight and developing. Madalo is recovering well and both of us are getting as much sleep as can be expected! We love our new son and pray for God's hand to be on his life as he grows. Please pray with us as we figure out this whole parenthood thing! We are currently in the process of getting Paul's official Malawi Government birth certificate which will then allow us to register his birth at the US Embassy, making him a US citizen, and getting his first US passport. Please pray that this process goes smoothly and quickly so that we can travel with him in December to come to the US for Christmas. Year-End Fundraising We are coming up to the end of 2014 which means that we are in the season of raising funds to support our work in 2015. We are so grateful to everyone who has supported us either through one-time donations or through monthly support this year and pray that God blesses you for that sacrifice. For 2014, we have been able to raise $11,725 out of a needed $21,600, or 54% of our needs. The rest is made up from support from the COTN budget, which unfortunately means that it cannot go towards in-country programs. As you can imagine, a new baby brings a whole new set of expenses! Our goal is to raise $24,000 to support us in 2015. The good news, is that through our current monthly supporters, we already have $11,700 or 48% of that covered! Which leaves us with just $12,300 to raise for the whole year! If you are reading this, I would ask that you prayerfully or thoughtfully consider either becoming one of our monthly supporters or to give a one-time donation to help cover this $12,300 needed to support us in 2015. You may be thinking that you can only give $15 or $20 a month, what difference could that make? That translates into $180-$240 for the year and that definitely makes a difference! Anyamount helps if many people join together with us to reach this goal! Click this linkto go to our support raising page and make either a one-time or monthly donation.   Other Ways to Support Children of the Nations As I said, any amount that we are unable to raise to go towards my salary has to then be made up by coming from COTN. This means that those funds are not going towards programs or projects in our countries. So, if you prefer, I would also like to share some opportunities for you to give directly towards those in-country needs. We are always needing more sponsors for our children. If sponsoring a child with a monthly donation sounds like something you are interested in, please take a look at this link showing all of the children in Malawi who are still in need of sponsors. You can choose a child of any age from 3 months old, like Michael, all the way up to a University student needing support for her or his tuition and other college-related expenses. In addition to sponsorship, there are also some great one-time projects we are trying to fund for Malawi in the coming year. Community Health Clubs, new vehicles, continuing construction of our secondary school-so many great ways to get involved! Take a look at this link to browse and find out more about those projects. If you decide to sponsor a child or give towards a project, please let me know. We really appreciate each one of you who takes the time to read our updates and pray faithfully for us. Feel free to share this newsletter with your friends and family as well so that we can add to the network of people in the COTN family!   Much Love,   &    Jeremy and Madalo Macias Like our page and follow along on Facebook! Children of the Nations (www.cotni.org) is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and is rated as a 4-star organization for financial management by Charity Navigator. All of your donations will be accompanied by a receipt and are tax deductible in the United States.

Prayer Needs For Baby Paul in his first few months and the new mom and dad as they learn to be good parents! For Baby Paul's US citizen registration and first passport application to go quickly and smoothly so that we can travel to the US in December. Jeremy and Madalo as they raise funds for support in 2015. COTN Malawi, as they have recently lost one of their University students to a road accident. Continue to pray for COTN Sierra Leone as they work to keep their campus and communities safe from the Ebola Virus that is currently affecting West Africa.