Frequently Asked Questions

• Who is Warm Blankets Orphan Care?

  ~ Warm Blankets began in 1999 as a private effort of Craig and Barb Muller and Bob and Mary Beth Hoyler of Illinois. (See the Who's Who page for pictures). They started by funding projects to restore the lives of orphans in the most desperate third world countries of Cambodia, India, and Central America. The mission has grown as it has teamed up with other orphan focused organizations into Thailand, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia and East Timor. Warm Blankets' largest mission growth has been in Cambodia where over 100 structures have been built in local villages to be homes for orphans and homeless widows. These facilities also serve as churches, community centers and sometimes as schools.
  
  Craig Muller, founder, is a successful businessman whose past CEO and Board level experience in technology companies has given him an approach to serving the poor and the orphan by using his knowledge of innovative Web technology in a unique way. Warm Blankets Orphan Care uses everything from cellular systems to satellites in coordinating efforts to rescue orphans from extremely remote and often life-threatening situations.
  
  The mission of Warm Blankets Orphan Care International is to restore the lives of orphans in partnership with churches, corporations, organizations and individuals who have a passion to help needy, parentless children. (See the Our Mission page for more information).

• What are the key guiding principles that contribute to the success of the Warm Blankets mission?

  1. Each home is first a church. Children need to be brought up with absolutes that the Bible fosters. Relying on God as our provider and guide makes all things possible.
  2. Children should be rescued and nurtured in or close to the area where they were brought up, so small homes are built in local villages.
  3. It is in the best interest of orphaned children to be reunited with extended family members.
  4. We do not build large institutions that can become overcrowded and impersonal and force children to be moved far from their familiar surroundings.
  5. Based on James 1:27, we seek out homeless widows, especially those with children, as caregivers. Widows know the pain of loss the children are experiencing and they also need a placed to live and bring up their own children.
  6. The ratio of caregivers to children should be 1:5. This is probably the best ratio of anywhere in the world.
  7. We developed a model where a whole home is sponsored by an individual, church or organization. Disbursements are based on cost plus factors which are less dependent on the number of children than on improving conditions and services to the kids.(Child sponsorship is appropriate for a child who lives in a poor area with their parents, but that approach creates serious drawbacks in orphan home situations. Using child sponsorship as a criteria for revenue in a orphan home provides an incentive for the leaders to try to keep as many children as they can under the home's roof. It promotes mistrust because leaders may be less likely to try to reunite a child with their extended family when it means they will have less money to cover overhead costs.)
  8. Accountability and communications are accomplished by using comprehensive Web technology for each home that includes images of children, caregivers and image documentation of the general area. It also serves as a point where needs for the home are expressed.
  9. In all cases and in all countries, nationals should receive technological and computer training that will allow them to maintain the images records, reports, and information for continual communication with government agencies, sponsors and donors.
  10. Warm Blankets intentionally partners with organizations that work with indigenous leaders and workers rather than foreign missionaries as the means to accomplish their objectives.

• How are contributions and resources used in the field to support the rescue of children?

  1. Government agencies, sponsors, the medical community and other agencies require an enormous amount of documentations in caring for orphans. Warm Blankets has developed comprehensive methodologies and software to facilitate these required processes.
  2. Our mission in all countries is to train nationals to do the work necessary to create and maintain records. This gives older children job skills. It is a wonderful way to get people in a position that serves the Lord while they are learning job skills that may start them on a life long career. To do this, Warm Blankets has personnel both in the United States (USA) and in-country that focus on training people at the local level in the competencies necessary to make the overall operation as self sufficient as possible. The by-product of the training is that we can sometimes complete the work at a significantly reduced cost. Third world labor costs are sometimes a fraction of what they might be in the US.
  3. We have developed software solutions to make it easier to utilize non-English speaking nationals to gather critical medical, demographic and epidemiological information in the field and send it back to the USA.
  4. In the USA Warm Blankets has an internship program that focuses on communication between the field, sponsors and grantors. This involves maintaining over 100 websites to highlight and track the work being done specifically for the donors involved with that work. Images of children, general information about needs, and other relative information are posted to the websites daily by interns. This is an effective way in which Warm Blankets can serve the donor while also giving valuable Christian mission experience to youngsters in entering the workforce.
  5. Warm Blankets supports individuals and teams that go into the field to train indigenous persons in the skills needed to maintain the infrastructures required to care for the children and support the work of the Churches.

  (You can support the ministry by giving on our convenient on-line giving page).

• Does Warm Blankets have a religious affiliation?

  ~ As a Christian organization, Warm Blankets is non-denominational and works with many different churches and denominations. The organization is grounded in the scripture verse of James 1:27, which reads: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
  Our emphasis is on working with organizations that plant churches to be used both as a church and an orphan home.

• What are some of the ways sponsors help orphans and widows through Warm Blankets?

  ~Orphans' lives depend totally on our ability to serve the needs that any family such as your own would have (i.e. housing, schooling, food, loving care, etc.). You can help them by contributing your time, talents, and resources. Sponsors help the most in these areas:

  1. Whole home sponsorship - (Warm Blankets Orphan Care is not a “child sponsorship” organization.) We look to individuals, groups and institutions to help fund the cost of raising the children.
  
  
  2. Programs and special projects - By choosing areas of need such as the building or funding of projects related to septic systems, wells, vehicles, kitchens, emergency medical funds, bunk beds, etc., you affect the most basic issues of the boys and girls in the church home(s) you help.
  
  
  3. General operating funds - Without faithful donors or grants to cover our operation costs, our growth will stagnate. Our core systems and infrastructure depends on it. This is the hardest money for Warm Blankets Orphan Care to raise. We send 100% of all designated funds directly through to children's programs and homes. That is made possible through mature givers who know the importance of tight controls and accountability that is maintained through the General Operating Fund.
     Operating expenses are not the most glamorous place to give, so we want to acknowledge the people and organizations that contribute their time, talent and resources so that others are blessed with a chance to serve the orphans and widows in specific ways.

  4. Prayer - There are pictures of each individual child and their caregivers on each of the church home websites. Warm Blankets has a formal prayer list for orphans which may be obtained by request. In addition we ask that you pray for the Church Pastors, field personnel and villagers whose response to the Holy Spirit brings a childhood to a child who might not have had one otherwise.

• How many homes has Warm Blankets helped to build in Cambodia?

  ~ There are now over 100 homes completed to the extent that they are caring for children in a constructed building. There are numerous homes in various stages from planning to near-finished construction.

• Can we visit a church home?

  ~ Warm Blankets has traditionally organized four or five mission groups a year which visit the areas where we are rescuing orphans. We would strongly recommend you travel in one of those groups for safety and logistics reasons. Private trips can be arranged however. You should keep in mind that any persons having direct contact with the children are required to fill out an application and to submit to a background check. Please allow plenty of time for this process to be completed. (Applications can be found under Resources on the home page.)

• What is Whole Home Sponsorship?

  ~ As the name implies, it is support of a complete family of orphaned children and their caregivers that are part of one particular church orphan home. The contributors generally agree to work together over the years to supply financial, prayer and arms length nurturing for the whole church orphan home. Click here for more information about the Whole Home Sponsorship Program

• What is a church orphan home and how is it different from institutional orphanages?

  ~ Most people think of an orphanage as some sort of sprawling, dingy, isolated institution. Warm Blankets supports a quite different model. Based on pilot programs developed in Cambodia church orphan homes follow a strict model where the children’s home is designed for multiple uses. In Cambodia the buildings are designed with the child's safety as our primary concern. Sleeping and privacy quarters for the children and caretakers are separate from public areas used for church services, music or worship. In addition the facility may serve the local village in other ways such as serving as a community-training center. In some cases, the homes have been used as temporary medical treatment centers for surrounding villages. MORE...

• Who are Whole Home Sponsors?

  ~ Whole Home Sponsors are individuals, groups, churches and organizations that have committed to the financial, prayer and arms length nurturing of a church orphan home. Typical sponsor groups are made up of people with similar interests or geographically based affinities such as those who might attend a certain church or belong to a club or small group. The group might also include family members or neighbors. You can learn more about our Whole Home Sponsorship program.

• What are the steps involved in establishing and leading a whole home sponsorship program?

  ~ The first step would be to contact us at Warm Blankets Orphan Care. We can go over a couple of options with you. If you are going to be sharing the sponsorship with some friends or family, we will give you multiple copies of the materials we use to explain the process. There is also a short application we can email or fax to you.
  
  Among the options for sponsoring children on a regular basis, the two most common options are “sole” sponsorship of a whole home and “shared” sponsorship of a home.

  1. A sponsor could be the sole sponsor for an orphan home - From land purchase to a completed church home an individual or organization could do it all. In this case, you or your group buy land, build, staff, rescue children, and fund the entire project. Cost: $60,000 start-up plus travel and teams cost and an ongoing management cost of $2400 per month. Warm Blankets assists in the contacts and management of the process.
  2. Shared Sponsorship Effort - You or your group concentrate on Orphan and Widow care. In this case, Warm Blankets will work with partners to find the funds to build a new church home or upgrade an existing church home. With our partners, WB supports the initial infrastructure at least until the home is able to support a full 40 children. Once children are brought in, you or your group step in. What the Lord wants is people caring for people. It is discipleship, not sponsorship. It quickly becomes a situation where your life is changed through the lives you change.
     
     Multiple families might join each other to serve as a caring group for a church home in Cambodia. The cost ranges from $1200 to $1800 per month. Short-term trips for small projects would help cement the relationship and allow for special projects like fans in the church, concrete pads for play areas, land mine barriers, lighting, screens for windows and doors, agriculture projects, eye glasses, inoculations, English lessons, training in worship, sewing, and others.

• What kind of communication and information can we expect from our church home?

  ~ You will receive a packet of information about your home, which will include information about the children, the geography, the area and country of Cambodia and specifics about the home.
  
  You should expect delays in communications due to the logistics of the country, which has no infrastructure. There are now over 100 homes in Cambodia. They are spread throughout the country. There is no mail system. At least half of the year the roads are impassible because of monsoon rains. In the dry season, many of the bridges are out. All of this is to say that communication and contact are not on a regular basis!
  
  Technology such as cell towers and cell phones are costly and move up the priority list slowly. However, there is usually someone from the central office in Phnom Penh that visits the home once a month or so. On occasion, if the person visiting has been trained to do digital photography, has a camera with him/her and has some time, he/she will take some pictures. At the very least, he/she will relay any major changes in the children's health, care or accomplishments to the main office. The main reason for the visit is to perform certain site survey observations relative to quality of life and material issues such as checking the well, inventory of food, delivery of goods, checking on supplies, intaking new kids, praying with caretakers, worship leadership, etc.
  
  In addition to the visits by field staff, at least one and sometimes more of the Home Fathers, Home Mothers and the Pastors are required to come for training once a month in Phnom Penh. This is a very precarious trip for most of them, by the way. At this training, they will be asked for updates on the children's health, conditions in the home, etc. Bible study and Orphan care are main topics for the training.
  
  If there is any information that represents significant change in the conditions at the home or relative to immediate needs, we will contact a designated person or group of persons, generally by e-mail. We also love to share pictures. So we’ll let you know if we get any new ones.

• How would I find an established whole home sponsorship group of people who are seeking other participants to join their group?

  ~ There are groups that have a shortfall on a monthly basis until they establish a full contingent of givers and participants that cover the total commitment for their church home. We will help you find a group that fits your desires to serve. Contact the Warm Blankets Orphan Care office toll-free at 877-577-1070 or email us at information@warmblankets.org . You may also contact us through the Warm Blankets website (click here).

• Are my gifts to Warm Blankets tax deductible?

  ~ Warm Blankets Orphan Care International is a 501 (c)3 charitable organization recognized by the IRS. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Whether or not your gifts are deductible on your tax return may depend on your own financial situation and the tax form you use.

• Does Warm Blankets do adoptions?

  ~ Warm Blankets Orphan Care is a ministry that serves as a means for indigenous villagers to care for orphans in their own countries and does not include arrangements for adoptions. However, you may want to check with organizations that only deal with needy children (like World Vision) to find out who they might recommend as a viable adoption partner.

• How do kids get to a school?

  ~ In many cases the church home is located so that it is accessible to a village school. Where the distance is too great or no teachers are available, temporary teaching is done right at the home. The area that is used for church services is set up as a school.
  
  Monsoon season presents a challenging situation where it is a long distance to school and there is no vehicle. A small trailer hauled by a motor scooter would not only serve as a school bus, it could be used as a means to haul goods back from market or from farm donations. A pickup type truck would even be a better solution. There are very few vehicles of any kind in our system.

• Why isn’t Warm Blankets Orphan Care involved in foreign adoption?

  ~ In the areas of the world where the incidence of orphans is high, the value of life and human rights are generally low. Poverty is rampant and corruption is common. This combination of circumstances sets the stage for the unthinkable practice of child trafficking. In underdeveloped third world countries, the selling of babies for “adoption” to US citizens is a multimillion-dollar business.
  
  According to one of Cambodia's largest human rights organizations, the League for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights (Licadho), the moneymaking potential in foreign adoptions is so great that it has inspired a network of unofficial ''recruiters'' who scour neighborhoods in search of young children. These recruiters often manipulate birth mothers with lies or false promises in addition to cash in order to get them to turn over their children.
  
  For Warm Blankets Orphan Care to be effective, we have to be above reproach with regard to caring for true orphans. In order to keep children in their native land, growing up in their own culture, it is important that we concentrate on giving long term care where needed and reuniting children with their extended families, if possible.

• Can Warm Blankets Orphan Care recommend an adoption agency for those seeking adoption?

  ~ To be sure we will not be part of or accused of trafficking in children, it is our policy that no officer or employee of Warm Blankets Orphan Care recommend or work with any parties involved with the transfer of children to adoption agencies or organizations.

• What are the policies of Warm Blankets Orphan Care relative to reunification of orphans with theirextended family?

  ~ If it doesn’t put a child in jeopardy an orphaned child should be brought up by the extended family. Our policy of always building small homes (no more that 50 children) in or near a local village allows us to keep children in the local area where they were brought up. The proximity of the home to an indigenous community increases the probability that a child will be found by a family member that may be searching for them.
  
  In addition, we will seek out the extended family members through inquires in nearby villages. We also require an extensive interview process to find out all we can about an individual child. This will sometimes uncover a relative that the child may have thought they would never see again.

• How are the caretakers recruited?

  ~ They are typically recruited from the local church congregation. Church homes start as what we call “cell churches”. A cell church is a small group of people who start meeting as a result of one person who has actively witnessed the Good News of Jesus Christ. Usually, that person is actually someone who heard about the Gospel from another church planted by the same group that is building the church homes.
  
  Services, Bible study, and fellowship in a cell church usually take place in a small shack such as those typical in remote villages. Most times it is the home of someone in the church, probably the pastor. Church homes always spring up from a cell group. In that way we know that there are enough growing Christians that the home will have caregivers. Churches are asked to seek out the most qualified caregivers as leaders first.  The organization is grounded in the scripture verse of James 1:27, which reads: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."  We therefore require that church homes seek out trainable, willing, Christ-seeking widows as the mainstay of the overall caregiver network.

• How is religious training accomplished?

  ~ Home children, caregivers and the children and guests from the local area are offered Bible teaching on a daily basis. In many of the homes, Bible study is done before breakfast every day. In the early evening, there is always a time of worship. Many homes have an array of musical instruments. As the kids are taught how to play the instruments worship time is enriched with their contributions.
  
  If you would like a copy of a video tape of a typical worship time, contact us at Warm Blankets. We would be happy to send you one. Periodically, worship videos are also put on the Web.
  
  Bibles are still a scarce commodity in rural areas. We search out Bibles in the native language. In Cambodia, we teach the children with colorful picture Bibles and Biblical materials in the Khmer language. The biggest shortage is for the village kids and their parents. The cost of supplying the villages with Bibles is not taken from the support money for kids. Therefore, we seek separate outside contributions for this purpose. In some cases the Bibles are donated, but the distribution can be costly. Bibles are not just handed out randomly. To be effective, we look to support nationals with the gift of evangelism to be able to witness to the recipients as they make them a gift of the Bible.