February 25, 2009

Dear Friend of the Farm,

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of one of the most beautiful and spiritually rich times in our liturgical calendar—Lent.  Over the next 40 days, we are called to enter in the desert with Jesus, to reflect on His greatest act of sacrifice and love, and to prepare our hearts for his death and ultimate resurrection.  I invite you to join with the Farm of the Child family during these 40 days, to offer your acts of prayer, abstinence and almsgiving to the benefit of children, staff, volunteers and all those served by the various ministries of the Farm.  All around the world, members of the Farm family will be joining their hearts in prayer, offering the following devotions:

Farm of the Child Rosary – Each of the 50 Hail Mary’s will be offered for one of the children served at Farm of the Child.  The names and photos of these children can be downloaded from our website at http://www.farmofthechild.org/scrapbook_newsletter.php  Please join us in this powerful prayer!

Way of the Cross – Each of the stations, beautifully illustrated with photos of the Farm and our neighboring communities, shares a theme for meditation, a biblical passage and statistics about the realities of poverty, suffering and hope in Honduras.  The Farm of the Child Way of the Cross can be downloaded from our website at http://www.farmofthechild.org/scrapbook_newsletter.php Please join us in this profound spiritual preparation for Jesus’ walk to Calvary and His ultimate sacrifice and promise of redemption.

Get your Kids involved – Catholic schools across the U.S. are supporting the Farm this Lent through prayer and almsgiving.  Help your kids to see what a difference their small sacrifices can make in sharing their many blessings with the children at Farm of the Child.  Share the news with your kids and your local Catholic school.

http://www.farmofthechild.org/scrapbook_newsletter.php

We also invite you to consider ways in which your own commitment to sacrifice through abstinence and fasting can be an offering of almsgiving to the children and poor families of Honduras served by Farm of the Child.

A weekly sacrifice of the following x 6 weeks of Lent:

1 gourmet coffee/week at the local café = $25 = Milk for 50 children for 1 month

2 days of biking or walking/week instead of using the car = $100 = Rice & beans rations for the Farm for 1 week

1 day of fasting/week = $150 = Meat rations for the entire Farm for 1 month

Or according to your own creativity and personal sacrifice, consider these Lenten alms:

$250 = A daily nutritional snack for all school children for 1 month

$500 = Vegetable rations for the entire Farm for 1 month

$1000 = Egg rations for the entire Farm for 6 months

$5000 = Rice and beans rations for the entire Farm of 1 year

$10,000 = Sponsor one family home with food and loving foster parents for 1 year

Our goal is to raise $40,000 during this Lenten season--$1,000 for each day of Lent!  Please help us to reach our goal.  For your convenience, offerings of Lenten alms may be submitted online at www.farmofthechild.org/donate.php. 

And, please let us know of your prayer support by joining our online community on Facebook Causes – Farm of the Child.  Join today and stay up-to-date with news from the Farm! http://apps.facebook.com/causes/113059/43734321?m=cc366e79

Thank you for joining all of us at Farm of the Child in our preparation to accompany our Lord on the road to Calvary.  May your heart be filled with the knowledge and peace of His great and eternal love for you through his life, death and resurrection.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Zulena Pescatore

Founder & President