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Doing Good – June 17, 2020

In Galatians, Paul says, “…let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” While in Galatians, Paul is talking about living a life by the Spirit, we can certainly apply this Scripture to our lives these last few months (I know I sure can!). COVID-19 has certainly caused all of us to change our schedules and choose to pursue good.

We have been able to help feed well over 1,450 people for weeks in India because of you! From the bottom of our hearts thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming.

We aren’t stopping any time soon! We’ve expanded our resources for our students’ by providing school books for them at home, monthly supplies for our girls as well as continuing payment for our teachers. While these might seem like basic resources – they are a huge step towards progress and care for our families.
Thank you for joining us to bring hope in these simple, yet much needed ways.

We are so grateful for each of you!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

We will continue with the Emergency Food Relief efforts as long as there is a need. India, like the USA, is slowly beginning to reopen…though the economic impact is still unclear for our families.

———————————————————————————————————————————————-We can’t say it enough? – May 28, 2020

Dear Friends,
We truly can’t say thank you enough for the immense outpouring of love for our students and their families in India. We have been able to help feed well over 1,450 people for weeks because of you! From the bottom of our hearts thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming.

We are so grateful for each of you!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————-TLC Packs for Our Girls – May 20, 2020

We have had such an incredible response enabling us to continue our Emergency Food Relief efforts. Thank you!

We are seeing the hand of the Lord amidst the hardship and impact of the pandemic. It would be easier to focus on the negative and extreme but we are choosing Hope.

This has been such an incredible open door into the homes of the children we serve at our schools. We have prayed for a way to reach the families – we just never thought it would be through a global pandemic!
We recently discovered that our teenage girls have found it hard – to nearly impossible – to get the supplies they need monthly to take care of themselves.

Before COVID19 put the world on pause, we had planned to hold health and wellness classes this summer for all of our children, but specifically for our girls. We had a team that planned to join us, with two nurses coming to help teach.

Could you help us get our girls, as well as their moms, the supplies they need to make their life just a little bit easier right now?

Each pack costs about $4 and contains a one month supply of pads and 2 new pairs of underwear.

Thank you for joining us to bring hope in a simple, yet much needed way.

We are so grateful for each of you!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————–Butterflies and COVID-19 – April 20, 2020

The sun was shining here in upstate NY today, though its still freezing outside. We have caterpillars that turned into butterflies that are just waiting to be released, but the weather isn’t warm enough yet! I kind of feel like our butterflies at this point, really wanting to spread my wings and get outside and back to my normal activities!

Our Emergency Food Relief efforts continue to provide food for families who are in desperate need. We are feeding sponsored children and “not-yet-sponsored” kids – the latter category of families are so surprised when we show up with food for them too!

Thank you for joining with us!

——————————————————————————————————————————————–Choose Hope…give Hope? – April 15, 2020

What better message than Choose Hope in this current season!
It’s that time of year again – T-shirt time! We had great success with our T-shirts last year when we sold them to help fund raise for our family trip to India over the summer. We raised over $1400 which was nearly triple what we did in 2018!
This year 100% of the proceeds of our T-shirt sales will go directly into our Emergency Food Relief efforts. Lockdown in India was just extended until May 3, which means we will have an even greater opportunity to continue feeding our students’ families during this crisis.

We have two designs this year and if you order by April 20th you should receive your shirts just in time for Mother’s Day!

T-shirts are just $20 and come in a variety of colors. Click on the pictures to see each design’s selection of colors.

Grab a T-shirt (or two!) and help us feed our students!
Thank you friends.
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–It’s looking a little different this year…right? – April 12, 2020

Happy Easter friends near and far…He has Risen.

With all that is going on the world – and all that is not…I found myself just wanting Easter to be over this year. We can’t go celebrate with family, we can’t go to church, we can’t even celebrate with friends who are close by. This was shaping up to be a pretty yucky Easter. I’ll admit I was having a hard time yesterday…and finally just said to the Lord – “I just want it to be Monday so I can get back to my routine.”

And the Lord so graciously whispered to me – “…don’t.”

Don’t wish Sunday away.
Don’t wish Easter over.
Don’t just get back to your routine.

It is still Easter…He has Risen is still the greatest statement.

Ever.

Here’s what I am purposing in my heart to do today – to set aside the fear, the uncertainty, the sadness and see Jesus for who He is in this moment and in this season. Wanna join me?

He has Risen: the greatest triumph over fear, uncertainty, sadness, sickness and death. The very things we are fighting today – whether it be by staying home or those who are on the front lines of caring for the sick. He has Risen and He is here with us, among us, for us.

I pray each of you have a day filled with the knowledge of
His presence surrounding you in a tangible way.

Happy Easter friends. He has Risen.

We are in this together,
Pushpyar & Kimberly and family

——————————————————————————————————————————————Emergency Food Relief – April 5, 2020

Good news – no actually this is great news!! It’s happening…our directors were able to start distributing food to our families today! To each of you who have given – Thank you!

Together we are able to make an immediate, profound impact in these families lives – thank you! Our families have no other relief and because of your generosity we are able to provide them with food for their families. Thank you seems very inadequate at this point. But from the bottom of our hearts – thank you.

We have also a been able to secure a way to send money to our B school director thus opening up the door for us to provide food for 65+ more families in the deep jungle. Praise the Lord!

Unlike most American school districts we have not been allowed to open to feed our students or implement an off site lunch pick up. We need your help now more than ever as the country is on lock-down.

Our students’ families don’t have food stockpiled and can’t run out to the grocery store like we can. It’s vital that we provide food for them during this time. You can help us feed our students’ entire families – what a unique opportunity we have to reach into the homes of our students now.

This emergency assistance will include 10 pounds each of rice and flour, 5 pounds of lentils and salt. This should feed an average village family for about one week.

Our goal is to provide emergency assistance to each of our students’ families – we have 225 families at the J school and 65+ families at the B school that we can help.

Thank you for helping us bring hope to these families in desperate need!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————-India, COVID-19 and a way we can help? – April 2, 2020

Hi friends,
Pushpyar has been on the phone non-stop with our regional directors, our school teachers, as well as leaders in the villages that we serve. The intensity of the situation in our area (and all over India) is building. There is an abundance of misinformation circulating and fear is rising. Please join us in praying for the peace of the Lord to flood the nation.

Our regional director in that area was able to travel to our state capital to receive funds from our point person yesterday but shortly after the roads were closed. Please pray that we can get the remaining funds needed to him as well as for protection for him as he travels.

He was able to buy over 2,000 pounds of rice, 495 pounds of dahl and salt and 450 bars of soap to begin distribution tomorrow. Flour is currently unavailable in the market. However as long as we are able we will keep going to the market to seek out what we need.

The village chief and chief of police around the J school, have been so cooperative and are exceedingly happy that we are wanting and able to help in this time of crisis. This is an incredible, unprecedented open door!! Thank you for helping us serve these precious people.

We have not yet been able to secure a way to get funds to our B school students’ families. You can pray that we will find a way soon. There are over 65 families in that area that we have not been able to help.

We need your help now more than ever as the country is on lockdown. Our students’ families don’t have food stockpiled and can’t run out to the grocery store like we can. It’s vital that we provide food for them during this time. You can help us feed our students’ entire families – what a unique opportunity we have to reach into the homes of our students now.

This emergency assistance will include 10 pounds each of rice and flour, 5 pounds of lentils and salt. This should feed an average village family for about one week.

Our goal is to provide emergency assistance to each of our students’ families – we have 225 families we can help.

Thank you for giving!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————-*Update* WOW – you guys are amazing!! India, COVID-19 and a way we can help? – March 29, 2020

*Update* Wow – our whole family is in awe of how amazing you all are! Thank you!!!! In less than an hour you all stepped up and helped us raise enough funds to feed all 225 families at the J school for a week!

I’ve changed the goal amount so that we can provide for our families for another week. We are also in contact with our B school director and trying to find a way to get money to him to feed those additional 65+ families. They are an 8 hour car drive into the jungle and no one is travelling so this is proving to be more of a challenge. Please join us in prayer for the Lord to open up a way for us to feed these families.

Dear Friends – what crazy, unprecedented times we are living in! I am also finding that we are in days filled with so much grace and the Lord is so very near. We pray you all are staying healthy.

We have an urgent, immediate need that we need your help with.

Two weeks ago, our schools were shut down by the government to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Early last week the entire nation of India was put on lockdown. Unlike most American school districts we have not been allowed to open to feed our students or implement an off site lunch pick up.

This emergency assistance will include 10 pounds each of rice and flour, 5 pounds of lentils and salt. This should feed an average village family for about one week.

Our goal is to provide emergency assistance to each of our students’ families – we have 225 families we can help.

Thank you for giving!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————–“I am courage” ~ from my heart – March 2, 2020
In honor of my mother in law I went back in the archives to find this post that I wrote about her in 2018.
She was deeply loved and it is a privilege to be a part of her family.

September 14th, 2018
This past spring Pushpyar brought home this picture of his mom. I was immediately drawn to it and saved it on my computer so I would know right where to find it {not true of the thousands of other pictures I have – lol}. I loved it, it spoke so much to me on such a deep level.

My mother in law is amazing. She would never say so…and probably doesn’t even believe it about herself. But she is.

She grew up in a tribal village deep in the jungle of northern India. She was one of many siblings, received very little education as a child and at young age contracted an eye disease that caused her to lose an eye. When she was a teenager, her parents arranged her marriage for her. She and her husband went on to raise four children. Her children are well educated, passionate, hard-working people who love their families well.

To me she is the face of courage.

I can’t imagine living the life she has…actually I can.
Now all I see over her is courage.

Sometimes courage looks like moving forward.
Sometimes courage means not giving up.
Sometimes courage means doing a new thing.
Sometimes courage means doing the same thing again.
Sometimes courage means forgiving.
Sometimes courage means loving when its hard and we don’t understand.
Sometimes courage looks an awful lot like the people around us.

I love these photos.
In 2012, it was shocking to me when I heard that my mother-in-law had never celebrated her birthday. To our kids it was a problem that must be remedied right away! So a few days later, we gathered the family and threw her a birthday party.
These photos say so much. They are a bit blurry but to me they show the joy of a little girl, who had to grown up too fast…and who was overwhelmed that we were celebrating HER.
To me, she represents every tribal girl who has been unwanted and forgotten, and we chose to celebrate HER.To acknowledge that SHE is a treasure.We love you Dadi.

We are making a difference – one child, one woman, one family at a time. So many times, I get overwhelmed because there is so much left to do. But then the Lord so graciously reminds me to have courage, to keep moving forward, to keep believing that He is Who He says He is. He is so kind to keep reminding us to be full of courage…and then He fills us with His courage.
Friends – be encouraged. Be full of courage. We can – we are – making a difference in this world. Its up to us whether we are making an impact for good or not. Let us be the ones who are full of Him, full of courage, so very full of His Presence that our impact can’t be missed.

Together ~ for good.
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————Thank you for praying? – February 29, 2020

Thank you all so much for the outpouring of love and prayer for Pushpyar’s mom. She passed away yesterday and we would continue to covet your prayers. Pushpyar, his siblings and dad traveled to their native village yesterday for their traditional ceremonies.

Thank you,
Pushpyar & Kimberly

My favorite picture of Pushpyar’s parents <3

————————————————————————————————————————————Pushpyar’s emergency trip to India – February 27, 2020

A Bit of Family News
We found unexpectedly on Monday that Pushpyar’s mom (Maa) was back in the hospital in ICU. After suffering a stroke in the fall, it took many weeks before she was released to come home. Pushpyar’s sister has been tirelessly caring for her but health continued to steadily decline.

We made some phone calls and since we had already purchased Pushpyar’s tickets for his spring trip in March, we were able to get him on a flight on Monday night.

Maa is currently on life support and the siblings have some hard choices to make in the days ahead. We would covet your prayers.

Pushpyar will be in India until March 18th. He will be taking care of the schools, feeding program and updates for the sponsorship program while he is there but right now family comes first.

Thank you each so much for your love, support and care.

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————–You’re helping us do great things! Thank you? – February 25, 2020

Good afternoon friends,
Thank you all so much for your love, support and prayers.

We have had a few major curve balls thrown at us this week but God is faithful. The children at the schools are thriving and we are eager to report that the schools are growing!

We are happily feeding 200+ children every day. We could use your help with continuing to be able to provide them with a nutritious mid-day meal. We recently had some government officials visit one of our schools and they were so impressed with the work we are doing in a remote village. Thank you for partnering with us for this great work! One of the officials even volunteered to come back and teach a special class for some of the students so that he could help too! Volunteering is generally unheard of in our area, much less from a government official!

Could you chip in $5 or $10 and help us feed our students? Or better yet could you sponsor a day to feed all of our kids?

It cost just $23 to feed over 200+ kids for one day…which day this month do you want to cover?

Thank you for partnering with us to make a difference for good,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————–Raisin Bran & Fruit Loops – February 7, 2020

While visiting a friend as the conversation flowed easily and deeply, I happened to glance in the pantry and saw something that made me laugh…a cereal container labeled “Raisin Bran” but it was filled with Fruit Loops!
We had a good laugh together but I’ve continued to be challenged by the Raisin Bran/Fruit Loop picture because so many times I look at things and think “oh that’s just Raisin Bran – I don’t like Raisin Bran.” But more and more the Lord is showing me that making judgments based on simply a label or first glance or really even just being such a “rule-follower” that if it says Raisin Bran it has got to be Raisin Bran.

Maybe you know what I mean, perhaps you can see yourself in some of these situations…or some of your own.
If its a disrespectful teenager – they’ll always be disrespectful.
If its an ungrateful boss – they’ll always be ungrateful.
If its a hard situation – its always going to be hard.
If its tense family gathering – its always going to be tense.

But what about this one…
If its a poor kid in India – they’ll always be a poor kid in India.

I’ll admit that I’ve thought that before. The problems and situations our students face often seem insurmountable. And I so often forget that with God all things are possible.

My friend’s raisin bran label has helped me remember that no matter what the world has labeled us – God has poured incredible potential into each one of us!

Want to join us today in helping kids break free from the vicious cycle of poverty & the many labels that go with it? Chip in by clicking the link below.

Thank you for making a difference with us!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————————–Last day of 2019 to give! – December 31, 2019

Hi friends!

With your help, we have raised over $6,700 toward our Meals of Hope feeding program! We are now at 100% of our goal!

Thank you for giving so generously. Your sacrifice has been a catalyst for us; empowering us to continue to feed our 250+ students, 6 days a week. The number of people committed to pulling off this faith-filled endeavor now stands at 242. Thank you!

Will you continue to pray for us in the following ways?

More child sponsors. We currently have 37 and we would love to reach 50 children sponsored by June of 2020.
We are now completely responsible for running 2 schools. Previously we worked under the GEM organization in India but they have asked us to take over running their schools. There are many requirements that the government is placing on all schools and we need prayer for wisdom and resources.
That we would reach above and beyond our $7,000 goal for our feeding program in 2020.
We can’t thank you enough for your support and participation in our lives and in this campaign. Because of you, we have been able to get to this point.

If you know of anyone who would be open to supporting us reach our goal, would you kindly pass on our information to them?

We would be so grateful for any additional support so we can serve in India in 2020 and beyond.

We look forward to keeping you updated on this journey.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–Campaign update…Praise God! – December 30, 2019

Hi friends!

With your help, we have raised over $6,700 toward our Meals of Hope feeding program! We are now at 100% of our goal!

Will you continue to pray for us in the following ways?

If you know of anyone who would be open to supporting us reach our goal, would you kindly pass on our information to them?

We would be so grateful for any additional support so we can serve in India in 2020 and beyond.

We look forward to keeping you updated on this journey.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————-Merry Christmas! ❤? – December 25, 2019

Merry Christmas!
With love and blessings from the entire Hope Beyond Today family

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–You did it!!!!!❤? – December 19, 2019

You all are awesome! We did it! Our feeding program is fully funded for the remainder of the year! Thank you!!

We are so blessed to be able to feed all 250+ students all 6 days a week that they are at school – thank you for making this possible!

From Giving Tuesday until now you all raised over $2,200 so that our program is fully funded AND we have a jump start on 2020. Thank you!

Many blessings to you amidst the hustle and bustle of the season,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

If you’d still like to give towards our feeding program and help us get even further along for 2020 – please jump on in and join us!

———————————————————————————————————————————————-All I want for Christmas this year…❤? – December 15, 2019

Connection.

That’s what I want for Christmas this year.

Connection with my husband. Connection with my kids. Connection with family. Connection with friends. Connection with the people we serve.

What connects us to each other?
A shared last name? Of course.
Shared beliefs? Sure.
Shared goal? Yup.
Shared workplace? Definitely.
Shared experiences? Absolutely.
Shared tragedies? Undeniably.

But when do you feel truly loved or connected with someone?

I’ll let tell you when I feel undeniably loved and connected – when they meet a need I have. Whether its something I asked for or wanted but especially when I haven’t asked – they just knew and did something about it. I think God wired us this way. I believe God so loved us and wanted connection with us that He met the greatest need we would ever have by making a way that we can be connected with Him forever.

When our needs are met, we feel loved.
When we feel loved, we feel empowered.
When we are empowered, we find our purpose.
Finding our purpose brings about destiny and identity.

What can God do with people who are loved, empowered with purpose and full of identity?

Anything He wants.

Most of all this Christmas I want a deeper connection with God. The One who made me. Created me. Outlined a good plan for me.

And you know what? I believe that’s what God wants too. Its the whole reason that Jesus came. It is what this season is all about…His absolutely extravagant & unbelievable love for us. The God of the universe – who created every. single. thing. wanted connection with us…with me and with you. What a gift!

Merry Christmas, friends! May you feel His presence surround you in every place you go this season.

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

Would you join us in loving, connecting and impacting a generation of children in India? Our end of the year campaign is to fully fund our feeding program.

———————————————————————————————————————————————We love Tuesdays…and its #givingTuesday! – December 3, 2019

I (Kimberly) have been reading Bob Goff’s books – Love Does and Everybody Always. {I highly recommend them!} One of Bob Goff’s emphasis is how “ministry” can be in the ordinary, every day things that we do. So many times we label or put people in ministry on a pedestal and really Jesus is calling us all to do “ministry” because ministry is just loving like Jesus did! Giving sacrifically in every day moments, every single day. Loving the one in front of us right now. It has been a personal challenge to me – because I want to put “ministry” in one box and “regular life” in another…but they are really intertwined. And I want to love like Jesus did all the time, not just Sunday mornings or when I have my “ministry” hat on.

Amidst the busyness of the holiday season we have today – Giving Tuesday. And we sure could use our help. Would you consider joining us in reaching our goal of fully funding our feeding program for the rest of the year? You can give online using the button below or send your donations to the address given. Your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $2 or $200. Every single dollar helps. Thank you for your support. We are currently feeding 250+ students, six times a week and we need your help to finish the year strong!

Hope Beyond Today exists to see India and its precious people, especially its children released from poverty. This is accomplished through emphasizing the great importance of education, and making an education available to as many tribal children as possible.

Thank you friends for making what we do possible!
Kimberly and Pushpyar Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————-No turkey here…but we are SO grateful for you! – November 28, 2019

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends! May you be filled with love, joy and Hope today and every day!

In India, we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving but we have many kids, parents and staff that are SO thankful for each of you!! Thank you for giving and supporting feeding and educating these wonderful children!

Together we are providing Hope for one, Impacting families, educating a generation and changing a nation!

Much love, blessings and thankfulness from our family to yours,
Pushpyar, Kimberly and family

————————————————————————————————————————————————–A season of thankfulness ☺ – November 19, 2019

It’s the season of thankfulness right?
We see the words…

Thankful.

Grateful.

Blessings.

…nearly everywhere this time of year. I love the fall season -with the cooler temperatures, bright blue sky and beautiful fall foliage in upstate NY. I love being thankful and cultivating that in my kids – we still do a thankful tree every year.

But this fall for me – its been hard to be thankful. I feel like I’m still catching my breath from a whirlwind summer & early fall. But the Lord has so graciously reminded me that I can choose to be thankful in every season. In the midst of pain and great loss there are still many things to be grateful for…like a loving, patient Father in Heaven.

Our time in India as a family was so powerful. I plan to send out a few emails as the year comes to a close with more details of what we were able to do together and share stories from the kids themselves.

Our feeding program is still holding strong feeding 300+ children, 6 days a week. We have some exciting new plans for expansion in 2020. Stay tuned to hear AND join us in feeding our students…You can donate using the button below.

Pushpyar has returned from his trip to India – Cambodia – India…He was able to stay for an additional week to help with the care of his mom. Please continue to keep her in your prayers as she remains in ICU. Thank you.

Friends – I’m so thankful for people like you who have joined with us in our mission to bring Hope to India’s children living in poverty. Thank you!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————–Update on Pushpyar’s mom? – October 30, 2019

Dearest Friends,

Pushpyar’s mom is still in critial condition in ICU. She has not awakened yet. We are asking the Lord for wisdom and provision for her care.

We are so grateful to the Lord that He still heals today. Would you continue to pray and believe with us for Pushpyar’s mom complete healing?

Thank you,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————–Would you believe with us? ? – October 26, 2019

Dearest Friends,

I’m starting off today on a very personal note.

On Thursday, we received word from Pushpyar’s niece that his mom had had a stroke and was in the hospital. We are asking for prayer for his mom for complete recovery, for wisdom for the doctors as well as wisdom, peace and unity among Pushpyar, his siblings & his dad.

We are so grateful to the Lord that He still heals today. Would you pray and believe with us for Pushpyar’s mom complete healing?

Thank you,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-Cambodia and India ? – October 21, 2019

Pushpyar is in CAMBODIA! He and a team from NY are there together. They finished orientation today and are ready to serve the rest of week. We are so excited about what God is doing and how we are being offered the opportunity to partner with Him.

This week Pushpyar will be serving women and children who have been rescued out of human trafficking. They are working with a ministry called “Extreme Love Ministries” who have a full time base in Cambodia and serve these precious women and children all year long.

Extreme Love Ministries works in Phnom Penh with women and children rescued from human trafficking. Pushpyar & the team will be serving along side local onsite partners who work with men, women and children in trafficking prevention, rescue and aftercare.

Pushpyar will be traveling from India to Cambodia on October 19th and returning to India on October 26th. Join us in bringing Hope to Cambodia!

Pictures are from dinner with a local family and in local transportation, not anyone who Extreme Love serves. We seek to honor and bless everyone we come in contact with. Everyone deserves dignity.

Check out the links below to see how you can help! There’s three awesome ways you can jump on board and get involved…Pushpyar’s trip to Cambodia & India or help us with our outreach project for the fall – Uniforms!

Sending so much love to you and yours – the Lakra family

——————————————————————————————————————————————Planes, uniforms and more! – October 15, 2019

Pushpyar is in India! He arrived on Sunday, after 3 days of travel.
He’s met with our national coordinator and plans to visit the J school later this week. We are happy to continue feeding our 300+ students, partnering with three schools for the education of these precious children as well as reaching out in their families to learn how to best serve them individually.

Here’s what coming up next!! Pushpyar leaves for CAMBODIA on Saturday! He will fly to Cambodia to join a team and serve there for an entire week. We are so excited about what God is doing and how we are being offered the opportunity to partner with Him.

Sending so much love to you and yours – the Lakra family

——————————————————————————————————————————————–Pushpyar is going to Cambodia!! – October 15, 2019

Pushpyar is so excited to be joining a team that is going to serve and bring Hope to Cambodia. He will be working with a well established ministry called Extreme Love Ministries.
Extreme Love Ministries works in Phnom Penh with women and children rescued from human trafficking. Pushpyar & the team will be serving along side local onsite partners who work with men, women and children in trafficking prevention, rescue and aftercare.
Pushpyar will be traveling from India to Cambodia on October 19th and returning to India on October 26th.
Join us in bringing Hope to Cambodia!

————————————————————————————————————————————————-What’s going on?? – October 7, 2019

You might be asking…What have we been up to & where have we been…?

We returned from India almost seven weeks ago and we once again hit the ground running! We have had some very high highs and also some very heartbreaking lows in these seven weeks. {One of the awesome highs was just yesterday when our oldest turned 16!! How is that even possible?!} Through this last seven weeks we know and cling to the truth that God is working all things together for our good and that He is worthy to be trusted.

Though things have been quiet on the email and social media front we have as always remained focused on the children we serve. We are happy to continue feeding our 300+ students, partnering with three schools for the education of these precious children as well as reaching out in their families to learn how to best serve them individually.

Here’s what coming up next!! Pushpyar leaves for India AND CAMBODIA on Friday! Yup – this Friday October 11th Pushpyar is leaving for a month long trip. In the middle of his trip to India he will fly to Cambodia to join a team and serve there for an entire week. We are so excited about what God is doing and how we are being offered the opportunity to partner with Him.

Sending so much love to you and yours – the Lakra family

——————————————————————————————————————————————-Help us outfit our students with physical education uniforms! – October 7, 2019

During our recent trip to India we realized that other area schools provide both standard school uniforms and physical education uniforms. The PE uniforms consist of track pants, athletic top and sneakers so that students are prepared for active play/sports. Indian students wear these uniforms, instead of their standard school uniform, on Tuesdays & Saturdays, the days they receive physical education.
Outfitting our students with PE uniforms provides them solidarity with other schools, allows them to be properly attired for physical activity/sports and decreases the wear on their normal daily school uniform.
Each PE uniform set costs $10.
Thanks for helping!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————–What a whirlwind! – August 19, 2019

Greetings friends!

I’m so sorry for the lack of communication the last 2 weeks – that was certainly not our intention!

One hinderance was that our internet was so incredibly slow at night (the only time I was able to get on the computer) that it made it nearly impossible to write any updates!

The second and more prominent reason we haven’t communicated is because, while we had some pretty incredible highs our final week in India, we also had some very scary lows.

Wow – what a whirlwind the last 2 weeks were! In our last email we asked for prayers to be able to finish strong – boy we sure didn’t know how much we were going to need those prayers! Our plans changed drastically when first I (KimB) and then Livi fell slightly ill – ill enough not to be able to travel to Pushpyar’s native village but we both recovered easily with rest and sticking close to home for the day.

However, Isaac suddenly got sick one day and battled hard for over a week before he began to gain ground on his health. It was quite scary – being in a foreign country and all. But God was so in the details of his recovery – I can’t wait to tell you about it!

I’ll write more later but just wanted to check in to let you all know we are home in NY now, safe, sound and recovering! There is still so much work to do in India and we so value your participation! What an honor it was to serve our precious brothers & sisters together as a family.

Thank you for your prayers and support. We are so deeply grateful.
Pushpyar, Kimberly, Livi, Jazi, Josh, Bekah and Isaac

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-More from Livi? ? – August 5, 2019

Another quick note from Livi:

Wow! All three weeks of art lessons have been completed and filled with so many smiles, smiles from students and teachers alike. Although there were several stressful points before lessons, once I stepped into the classes to hear the chorus of “Good morning, miss,” then all fear, all worry, all negativity dissipated. I felt such strength, such confidence going in, and as lessons continued, I realized that no one is ever nervous about getting to be with friends.
That is what my “students” have become to me. I didn’t realize how close we could become in such a short amount of time! I have loved every moment with the kids from all three of the schools, whether it was playing soccer, making them smile for pictures during breaks, or just getting to teach them. I wish that I could spend more time with these 350+ blessings, and I can’t wait to see how they will grow when we look back to this trip. God is so good, and I am very glad to have been able to have this experience. Thank you for praying for us, and see you soon!

————————————————————————————————————————————-Art lessons & a note from Livi – August 1, 2019

A note from Livi:
Wow! Our first full two weeks of being here is complete, as well as my first time being an “art teacher.” I love being able to not only be their teacher, but also a friend. I am quite taken with the way they call me “Livi Didi,” which translates to “Big Sister Livi”.
Inside the classroom and out in the schoolyard, I have been able to bond with several kids in ways I didn’t think I’d be able to. I love playing soccer and running around with them, despite however hot it might be. I have learned that it is so much more rewarding to jump in, heart first, into loving people rather than to sit back, smile, and just watch people. Watching a record-breaking moment happen on television is nothing like being able to see it in person.
I am extremely grateful to have been able to bless so many already, and I can’t wait to see what God has planned for us in the weeks ahead. Thank you for your prayers, and God bless!

———————————————————————————————————————————————A quick update from the field…?✈ – July 27, 2019

We made it! Over 36 hours, 7,727 miles (give or take a few), and we made it to our home in Ranchi! Thank you for carrying us in prayer. Our travel was mostly uneventful – which is a good thing – except for being long. We haven’t done a Rochester straight to our home in Ranchi trip…ever…we usually stay a few days in Delhi. The jury is still out on if that was the best decision but as one friend pointed out mid- journey – “There’s nothing you can do about it now!” 🙂

Yes. I should have sent this email two weeks ago – but we hit the ground running! Well actually we got home and immediately took naps…jetlag proved to the same nasty beast we always fight but we have finally come out on the other side!

Wow have we been busy! We visited family, brothers & sisters in two different places on our Sundays, taught Sunday school, Livi has taught more than a dozen art classes, Jasmine has been a subtitute preschool teacher, Bekah has assisted Livi in art class, Josh and Isaac helped Pushpyar with soccer lessons for our youngest students! Life has been very, very full!

Thank you for partnering with us! We are two weeks into our trip and time is flying. Tomorrow we have a big family reunion – where we will continue to bring Hope and be a Light. 😉 Sunday we will visit more brothers & sisters we haven’t seen yet this trip and Monday we embark on 3 day trip (more on that later).

To follow along on our journey more closely – please join our facebook group.

We so appreciate your prayers and support! Neither of which could we do without…please don’t stop! More about our exciting adventures coming soon. 😉

Thank you!
Pushpyar, Kimberly, Olivia, Jasmine, Joshua, Rebekah and Isaac Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————I wish… – July 26, 2019

I wish you could be here.
I wish you could feel the oppressive heat.
I wish you could see the crumbling, mud walls of the classrooms.
I wish you could see the worn out, too small uniforms.
I wish you could see their desperation for better.

But moreso I pray you can see their preservence.
I pray you can see their joy.
I pray you can see their determination.
I pray that you can see hope amidst desperate times and circumstances.
I pray you can see that we are more alike than you would think.

How do we change the world? Every minute of every day, we choose hope.?

———————————————————————————————————————————————-A quick and easy way to stay in touch with the Lakras ? – July 5, 2019

Look – a brand new way to stay in touch!

We created a Facebook group just for this summer trip. We are hoping we have an internet connection and that we will be able to post things every day or so. We will not be posting the same things in our Hope Beyond Today page so if you want to keep up with what’s going on, you’ve got to join this new group! Click the picture above to join us on Facebook. {and also please be patient with us as we are still figuring out how this all works!}

There’s still time to jump on board and join us. Grab a T-shirt (or two!) – commit to pray for us while we are gone – donate online towards our mission.

We see God showing up in really big ways and we are so excited to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us.

———————————————————————————————————————————–Happy 4th of July!❤?❤? – July 4, 2019

Six more days!
Less than a week and we will be headed off to 5 weeks full of ministry, fun and most importantly bringing hope and love! As a family and team, the excitement is growing as we prepare and pack. Amazon boxes of all shapes and sizes arrived on our doorstep last night – full of supplies for our students. THANK YOU!!

There’s still time to jump on board and join us. Grab a tshirt (or two!) – commit to pray for us while we are gone – donate online towards our mission.

We see God showing up in really big ways and we are so excited to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————A note from Livi ? – July 3, 2019

A note from one of our team members – Livi Lakra
Wow! Only a week left until our family leaves the States and starts this life-changing mission: to love.

Our opportunity to show the love of God, the crazy, unbelievable, relentless, eternal, reckless love of God to family, friends, students, teachers and all who He puts in our path.

Here’s what I’ve been realizing: love doesn’t always look like the typical Valentine’s Day card, chocolates, and roses. Love takes on lots of different forms; it can be a pat on the back, a simple conversation to just catch up with someone, a simple note of gratitude, and one of the most powerful ways, through prayer. This past year, I’ve had the great privilege to be able to show love to friends like this.

Most days, I find this to be in my comfort zone, and now I am getting ready to move beyond that stage to a place where I can grow. As we pass through customs, we are breaking past what we think are our boundaries, our limitations, and reaching up to love. Maybe love will be playing soccer with kids, or sharing testimonies with churches, or teaching students how to paint. But I think that most of all, love will come through as prayer. Prayers for peace, wisdom, healing, can change the world of at least one person, and that is what we aim to do. I can’t wait to see how the love of God, through whatever form it takes, transform lives. Partner with us in prayer as we go forth this summer! Thank you all for your love and support! ~Livi Lakra

We see God showing up in really big ways and we are so excited to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————The number of the day is 9!? – July 2, 2019

Nine more days!
Good day friends!

We are so blessed that yesterday all of the art supplies as well as soccer equipment on our wishlist was purchased! Thank you! We are so grateful.

Our daughter Olivia will be teaching art classes to our students, which is an amazing opportunity for both Olivia and the students. We currently have little to no art program at our schools. Livi will be able to give some basic water color painting lessons and then leave all the supplies with the schools so that they can continue to learn and grow. Thank you for helping supply our students with what they need for art class.

You might remember last year when Pushpyar was in India we held our first soccer tournament. This was a stupendous event that drew in the community as well as some local dignitaries. We plan to host another soccer tournament and are thrilled to have the equipment we need! Thank you friends!

We see God showing up in really big ways and we are so excited to be a part of it! Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————-Just 10 more days! ???? – July 1, 2019

Just 10 more days until we board a plane!

Things are really getting real around here! Suitcases cover our living room – along with piles of supplies that need to be packed. The excitement is building as we prepare to go! (and yes my kids are totally in their PJs in that picture).

Yesterday our family was so blessed by Believers’ Chapel North as they hosted us, prayed for us and sent us out to complete our mission full of love and hope. Thank you BCN for allowing us to come and share – we left feeling so blessed and filled up!

Our T-shirt fundraiser ended on Friday and we raised $622 for our trip! Thank you!!!!

Today is the last day to order items off our Amazon wishlist in order for us to get the items and get them subsequently packed for India! Check our wishlist here—> https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1FJI2KI3TZLTU?ref_=wl_share

Good news if you forgot to order a T-shirt and still want one! You can still grab one here —> https://www.bonfire.com/lakra-family-mission-to-india/ {more colors available} This is a great way to support the mission, a reminder to pray for us and a great way to to remember Hope Changes Everything!

We set high expectations and we know God is going to show up in really big ways. Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————-Grab one of our *brand new* T-shirts and help send us to bring HOPE! – June 26, 2019

*Last 24 hours!!*

Friends – this is the last 24 hours to grab one of these shirts! We’re so excited – we have *brand new* Tshirts! Grab one and help support the Lakra Mission this summer.

This is a great way to support the mission, a reminder to pray for us and a great way to to remember Hope Changes Everything!

Grab Tshirts here —> https://www.bonfire.com/lakra-family-mission-to-india/ {more colors available}

There’s also still time to grab something off our Amazon wishlist that we will use this summer. Check our wishlist here—> https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1FJI2KI3TZLTU?ref_=wl_share

On July 10th our family of seven will board a plane (actually three or four planes in the end!) to head to our home in India for five weeks. We are excited, curious, nervous, grateful, eager, but most of all we are hopeful. It has been 3 and a half years since we were able to go to India as a family to serve together.

Thank you for faithfully working with us to change the lives of children in India. We pray, love, plan, support and serve from afar but our hearts are 7,727 miles away! With your help we can cross those miles! You can help send us to teach, to encourage, to listen, to work side-by-side and most of all to share HOPE in person. Thank you for investing with us!

We set high expectations and we know God is going to show up in really big ways. Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————–Want to hear more about Hope Beyond Today? – June 20, 2019

Pushpyar will be speaking at Joy Community Church on June 23rd!
Come hear all about Pushpyar’s most recent trip to India!

Pictures, videos & firsthand stories!

Enjoy a time of learning more about Hope Beyond Today and all that God is doing in India.

Sunday, June 23rd at 9am and again at 11am…we’d love to have you join us! JCC is located at 890 North Goodman St., Rochester, NY.

Hope to see you there!
Pushpyar and Kimberly

P.S. Want to book us for a visit? Send us an email and we will make it happen. We LOVE sharing what God is doing!

————————————————————————————————————————————Investment that lasts… – June 17, 2019

We are all about making an investment that lasts. Our vision, mission and hope is that the work we do today will continue to bear fruit for generations to come.

Twenty years ago this summer, I (KimB) first stepped foot in India. The work and vision has expanded and grown and we pray that it continues to!

While Pushpyar was born and raised in a very small, rural village his encounters with the Lord at a young age marked him for life. The sacrifices that his parents made so that he could attend a Christian school to receive a great education were phenomenal.

One of the main reasons we do what we do is because Pushpyar’s school experience had an incredible impact on him and it literally changed the course of his life.

While we are excited for the impact we will have on India this summer, we are even more excited for the impact India will have on us and our family.
We are raising the next generation of carriers of His presence.
God has given our family the unique challenge of living on two sides of the globe, with literally half our family in the States and half in India. Our desire is to cultivate relationships, on both sides of the world, that will have impact and meaning for the Kingdom.

Thank you for faithfully working with us to change the lives of children in India. We pray, love, plan, support and serve from afar but our hearts are 7,727 miles away! With your help we can cross those miles! You can help send us to teach, to encourage, to listen, to work side-by-side and most of all to share HOPE in person. Thank you for investing with us!

We set high expectations and we know God is going to show up in really big ways. Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————When a word changes everything… – June 12, 2019

Ever had a word change your world? There are lots of words that change our lives…

come or stay,

accepted or rejected,

yes or no,

GO (that’s been a big one around here.)

Words impact us every day, right? The Bible says there is the power of life and death in the tongue! {Proverbs 18:21}

What about Hope versus Despair?

Hope…well, Hope can change everything.

Hope can make you work harder. Hope can make you wait patiently. Hope can help you focus. Hope can bring clarity. Hope can help you do hard things. Hope can help you be brave. Hope brings healing. Hope brings power. Hope can bring a way out. Hope brings life.

Hope changes everything. Truly.

I’ve been told (thank you Stephanie!) that everyone who knows us realizes how important this trip is to the people who we minister to, to Pushpyar to be able to have his family serve with him and to me (KimB) and the kids to be going back to our mission field to be able to serve as a family.

We set high expectations and we know God is going to show up in really big ways. Thank you for joining us.

God bless you,
Kimberly Lakra

P.S. As always you can mail your tax deductible donation to Hope Beyond Today, PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485 with checks made payable to Hope Beyond Today.

——————————————————————————————————————————-When God moves across the table… – June 4, 2019

What happens when God moves across the table?

If you know us in real life (which I’m thankful most of you do!) then you know that we have five children. Ranging in ages from 15 years old (almost 16 – how does that even happen?!) down to 5 years old.

Now our sweet 5 year old is a typical “baby” of the family. The poor kid – I will probably still be insisting on carrying him when he’s 10 – simply because he is my baby. Anyways – up until a few months ago (I’m ashamed to admit this) I was still spoon feeding him his dinner…eating has never been a favorite for him and it was just easier to feed him myself rather than fight with him about picking up his spoon. So I’d sit right next to him and in between taking bites of my meal – I would feed him bites of his.

Well I finally realized that he really needed to learn to feed himself…and I wasn’t helping by just giving up and feeding him every night. So what did I do? I moved my seat at dinner across the table. Simple right? Anything but!

Wow were those first few dinnertimes a struggle! He thought I’d left him and begged me to come sit back by him, he promised he would feed himself, etc. But I stayed across the table and encouraged him to eat his dinner…and you know what? He eats by himself just fine now!

I love when God speaks to me through my children…and you know what He spoke to me in the midst of this? That sometimes it seems like, it feels like He’s left us, that He has all but abandoned us. But in reality all He’s done is given us more freedom and independence – cause He knows we can do it. And He’s still there, sitting right across the table, encouraging us to do what He knows we can do.

I’d love to hear from you. Send us quick email about how I can pray for you this week.

Blessings
Pushpyar & Kimberly

—————————————————————————————————————————————-What’s in your toolbox??? – June 3, 2019

What’s in your toolbox?

You probably remember that about a month ago, the well at our J school broke, making it unusable. You all rallied together and we funded a brand new well for our students in less than 24 hours. Absolutely incredible!

Now as much as our students needed water…if instead of waiting for the truck & drill, the workers who had the knowlegde and the skill to dig a well…what if I just went out there with a shovel? That wouldn’t work very well, would it? I certainly wouldn’t get very far. I wouldn’t even know where to start to dig!! Yet when we had the proper tools the 500 foot well was dug in a matter of hours!

{Funny side story – when Pushpyar and I were first married, I mean the first 6 months of marriage, his parents were digging a well on their small piece of land. By hand. So being a good son and daughter in law, we went to help. Did I mention it was by hand? There was a lot of pulleys involved (ok maybe not a lot of pulleys beut certainly A pulley) but also A TON of manual labor. We did it – it took weeks of all day HARD work but we did do it. Their well is “only” 35 feet, not even close to 500 feet like the J school. I should pull out those pictures…ancient days before everything was digital. Lol that was a little bonus story for you, hee, hee.}

Anyways, we need some new tools in our toolbox here at Hope Beyond Today. Our laptop is 8 years old (which I am told is absolutely ancient) and our camera is also about that old. We have gotten many, many miles, smiles and work out of both but they are both dying a slow death. Ha, ha. We need to replace both as soon as possible. We have been on the hunt for good bargains, but estimate to need about $1,000 to replace both. If you feel led to help us get some new tools so we can “go deeper faster”, we would so appreciate your help!

Happy “digging”!
Pushpyar & Kimberly

——————————————————————————————————————————————Can you chip in? – May 30, 2019

Friends – we need your help:
Our feeding program is one of the most vital parts of our ministry. We provide lunch for 300 plus students that would not otherwise eat lunch. Feeding our children a nutritious lunch helps them overall but especially helps them to think clearer, learn more, behave better for the rest of the day, and have the energy to walk home safely!

If everyone on our mailing list gave just $10 we would be fully funded! The freedom & relief that comes with knowing our students lunches are covered for the rest of the year is immense. Can you chip in $10?

Thank you thank you thank you for joining with us in supporting our feeding program. We couldn’t do this without you!

We’ve got more exciting programs and announcements coming soon! Stay tuned!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

You can give online below or you can send your donations to Hope Beyond Today; PO Box 233; Lima, NY 14485 with “Food Program” written on the memo line.

———————————————————————————————————————————–Last 24 hours to give – we could really use your help! ????? – May 24, 2019

We have about 24 hours left before it is almost time to wrap up our feeding program campaign, but we still need your help! To those of you who have stepped up and covered a week or two (or a day or two or three!) – Thank you!

If you haven’t gotten involved yet – here’s a couple of different ways you can!
Become a monthly donor to the feeding program – its super easy to sign up {click the link below}
Become a child sponsor – Hope Starts Here helps fund our feeding program. We currently have 38 children sponsored BUT we are feeding 300+ daily. When you sponsor a child, you can see how your monthly donation directly impacts a child and their family. {click the Hope Starts Here button to sign up!}
Buy a T-shirt! We have just a few left but all proceeds go directly towards the feeding program. {hit reply to this message to buy a T-shirt!}
Make a quick and easy one time donation – it costs about $23 to feed our 300+ children for one day.

As always – thank you so much for joining with us! What a difference we are making because we are working together. We are so grateful that we don’t carry this alone.

Blessings & love,
Pushpyar and Kimberly

——————————————————————————————————————————————–Let’s get creative! ????? – May 23, 2019

It is almost time to wrap up our feeding program campaign, but we still need your help! To those of you who have stepped up and covered a week or two (or a day or two or three!) – Thank you!

As always – thank you so much for joining with us! What a difference we are making because we are working together. We are so grateful that we don’t carry this alone.

Blessings & love,
Pushpyar and Kimberly

—————————————————————————————————————————————-A little girl, Christmas money and lunch ??? – May 21, 2019

Want to get your kids involved in making a difference? In being a world changer? It might start small but the impact is pretty much guaranteed to grow.

Christmas seems like ages ago – and I guess nearly 6 months will do that to you. But when this little sweetheart heard that there were kids in India who didn’t have lunch…she decided to do something about it! According to her mom she ran upstairs and got her Christmas money and pulled out $10 to give to help feed the kids. Her $10 helped feed 30 kids for a week! What generosity from a five year old!

Last year another family told their three ambitious kids that they would match whatever amount the kids raised for the feeding program. Guess what – they went door to door and raised over $150 – much to mom and dad’s surprise! Another dad had the same challenge for his daughter – and she generously gave from her allowance.

Every bit helps AND we are changing the world not only for the kids in India but for our own kids as well.

Wanna join us in making a difference?

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————Could you take a week? – May 19, 2019

Friends – we need your help:

It’s usually fairly easy to fund our feeding program because really who doesn’t love feeding hungry kids? But for whatever reason this year we are struggling to get our feeding program fully funded. Can you help us?

It costs us a little over a $100 to feed all 300+ of our kids for a week – can you cover a week?

Summer is approaching and our minds look to vacation and the freedom that nicer weather brings – woohoo! We are so grateful for those of you who choose to give sacrificially – thank you!

We need just 55 people to step up and take a week – then we will be fully funded!

Thank you thank you thank you for joining with us in supporting our feeding program. We couldn’t do this without you!

We’ve got more exciting programs and announcements coming soon! Stay tuned!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————-Why is our feeding program so important?? – May 14, 2019

Our feeding program is vital to all that we do because when you have a hungry belly how can you concentrate on much of anything else??

Our current feeding program feeds 300 children daily at two of our schools. Could you help us? Every single dollar makes a difference – ONE dollar will feed THREE children for a week!

We are so amazed at how much the feeding program has grown and continues to grow. This is a huge blessing. It draws more families to the schools for enrollment because we are able to feed their children during the school day. This is so important to the life of the school.

Many of our students (over 80%) do NOT bring a lunch to school because their family cannot afford to feed them. We strive to make our lunches nutrition-packed. We have seen our students’ overall health improve as well as their test scores.

We also have the added benefit of employing two women to serve the children as well and do all the cooking and cleaning. We are able to empower both these women to help care for their families.

Thank you thank you thank you for joining with us in supporting our feeding program. We couldn’t do this without you!

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————-? The well is in!!! The kids have water again!?? – May 9, 2019

You guys! The well is in!! Thank you so much! Look what we did together…our kids have water again. And this time the well is deeper and so much closer to our kitchen. This is a major blessing in many ways.

You all have been outstanding! Together, in less than 24 hours, we raised $2450 for a new well for our children! That’s amazing.

Thank you doesn’t seem very sufficient.

God bless you each,
Kimberly & Pushpyar

————————————————————————————————————————————–Want to stay involved in our students’ lives? – May 9, 2019

Be a part of our feeding program! Right now we have 6 weeks covered but we need your help!

Lunch at school does more than fill an empty belly – it helps fuel brains to learn!
Why is our feeding program so important?
Most of our students are from low-income families, some from single parent families and many walk long distances to school. Over 80% of our students do NOT bring a lunch to school because their family can only afford two (or fewer) meals a day for their families.
We strive to provide nutrition-packed lunches for our students DAILY. The feeding program has improved our students’ overall health, as well as their school performance and test scores.
Our goal is to fund our expanded feeding program for 2019.
Every dollar makes a difference – $1 will feed 3 children for a week!
*We have the added benefit of employing to mothers to cook & serve our lunches. Therefore empowering two women to help care for their families.
Thank you for joining with us.

—————————————————————————————————————————–Mother’s Day is right around the corner! Shop & help feed hungry kids! – May 5, 2019

Still looking for a Mother’s Day gift?
We just got our brand *new* Hope Beyond Today shirts?
{Eek! I love them!}
All proceeds directly benefit our feeding program
This weekend only – $22 shipped
Order by Sunday at 6pm and I will get yours in the mail on Monday morning.?

Message or email – HopeBeyondToday@yahoo.com
Colors include:
Berry (pink)
Heather Blue
Heather Stone
Heather Navy
*limited sizes available*
Let mom know you love her and help us feed some kids! Get one for your Momma or a Momma you love.

Choose Hope and help us feed our kids,
Kimberly

————————————————————————————————————————————————Hope starts with….a banana?!?! – May 2, 2019

As I’m sitting here, at my desk, eating pretzels – hungry kids seem pretty far away and quite honestly a little hard to reach. Even though I’ve seen the pictures, watched the videos and even walked among those who are suffering…today it just all seems very far away.

On days like to today I have to go back to Jesus’ words in Matthew: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”…and then here’s the kicker – the disciples are like – “Wait Jesus when did we see you hungry, thirsty, or any of those things??”.

They seem genuinely confused (*sidenote- I love the disciples in moments like this because it reminds me that we don’t all have to have it all together all the time, which is really good news to me – because I feel like I often don’t have any of it together!). Back to the disciples, they ask “Jesus when did we see you like that?” and Jesus replies ” ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

How awesome is that?! Its so revolutionary…by serving others we are actually serving and loving Jesus?! We get to serve Jesus by serving these little ones who need a lunch! That’s unbelievable!

It is so simple and yet so incredible. Much like the Gospel itself.

Wanna join me in bringing the notion of hungry kids a little bit closer to home? It sounds uncomfortable but trust me – it’s gonna get better. We can do it. We can do it together when we focus on the pure and simple gospel. And when we work together – something incredible happens – the world gets smaller when we get laser focused on what Jesus asked us to do.

You might be asking at this point…”Wait so you’re saying Hope starts with a banana?”

Yup – I am!! Because I believe it does! A banana, a glass of milk, a piece of bread, some chickpeas…

Hope starts with these things because Hope is birthed out of caring.

And when we care for the least of these something beautiful happens…and its called Hope.

It starts with a banana – for a girl to see that she is loved and well cared for.
It starts with a cup of milk – for a boy to realize that he matters.
Its starts with some chickpeas – for a little one to notice that their hungry belly is being filled because we love.

Will you join me? Hungry kids and helplessness don’t have to go hand in hand. Sometimes we push things far away because we feel helpless…but we can change that…together.

Make a difference for one – I promise it will wreck you…in the most wonderful way.

Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————-Wow wow wow – Thank you!! – April 11, 2019

Wow you all are amazing! In 13 hours the new well was FULLY FUNDED! Thank you for giving so generously so that we can have a new well dug on the school property at the J school. We are overwhelmed with gratefulness to each of you who gave.

Pictured above is Pushpyar and his team at the school picking out the location for the new well. Work begins next week!

Thank you!!

Happy weekend!
Kimberly & Pushpyar Lakra

P.S. Pushpyar begins his journey back towards home today – prayers for smooth & easy travel would be appreciated!

Thanks for helping us keep our feeding program on track 🙂

———————————————————————————————————————————————UPDATE – *BIG* emergency need = *BIG* impact – can you help us? – April 9, 2019

WOW – thank you! What a way to show up for these kids! Thank you friends!!! Just under $400 left to reach our goal of $1,800 for a new well! Thank you for joining with us! We are blown away by your generosity and quick action. We had planned to replace the well later this year with a bit more planning and you guys have turned an emergency into a provision so fast! Thank you!!!

Hope Beyond Today team – we need your help!

The well at the J school broke – again!

Friends this is an urgent – high priority need because without a working well on our property that means the children at the J school are without water – in the 100+ degree weather!

As you can imagine – 150+ students without access to water on school grounds is a big concern. Right now the children are walking to the neighbors’ well (over 150 feet away to carry buckets of water back to the school). The children need drinking water and this also greatly impacts our feeding program. Easy access to clean water is a must!

Can you help us get them a new well ASAP?
Thank you!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

Thank you so much for donating so that our school children can have a new well!

Matthew 10:42 “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

Thank you for joining us in making a difference for good – together.

————————————————————————————————————————————————*BIG* emergency need = *BIG* impact – can you help us? – April 9, 2019

Hope Beyond Today team – we need your help!

The well at the J school broke – again!

Friends this is an urgent – high priority need because without a working well on our property that means the children at the J school are without water – in the 100+ degree weather!

Can you help us get them a new well ASAP?
Thank you!
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————-Look at what we are doing together…thank you!❤ – April 2, 2019

Just a quick note to say look what is happening today – the Western Gate is being installed!!! Thank you friends for your help in providing security for our students and staff. This is a major milestone and we invite you to rejoice with us!

Its been over 2 weeks since Pushpyar arrived in India. His days have been full to the brim and then some! Thank you for your continued prayers for him!

Our food program is going very well – kids are growing and are no longer hungry during the school day! Yay! Thank you! More details coming soon on how you can support this vital project!

Blessings
Kimberly

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–Look who is smiling today! ? – March 28, 2019

Thanks to so many of you for donating towards our school supplies project! Pushpyar started distributing the supplies this week and as you can see it was quite a success!

This week he was in the remote village B school working with the students, staff and parents to improve the school. Here’s a few quick snapshots of some of our hard working students. 🙂

More pictures of our J school distribution to come! Thank you all for helping our students succeed! What a gift we have been able to give them – an education and Hope!

If you’d like to get involved we have a few urgent needs we are wanting to take care of this week. Here’s what we need: First priority is for our preschoolers (pictured below) at the J school – their desks and chairs need repairs. They are currently sitting on mats on the mud floor of their classroom because their desks & chairs are broken. Repairs will cost around $200.
The second urgent need is repairing the front gate of the school & installing the western gate, which will cost about $300.

Thank you each for all you’ve done for our students!
Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-Pushpyar’s trip update and an easy way you can get involved ❤ – March 26, 2019

Pushpyar has been on site for a week and a half – so much is going on! He has traveled to our remote village school once already and is currently on his way there again right now. Many new & exciting things are happening.

Our food program is going very well – kids are growing and are no longer hungry during the school day! Yay! Thank you! Look for more details on how you can support this vital project in the coming weeks.

I’m including a couple pictures that Pushpyar has sent of our amazing students receiving their lunches as well as another picture of the men at the Cheshire home working on our notebooks. I love all of their smiles! They are so precious.

As Pushpyar has had time to invest in observing the schools we have had several urgent needs made apparent. Would you be able to help?

Here’s what we need: First priority is for our preschoolers (pictured below) at the J school – their desks and chairs need repairs. They are currently sitting on mats on the mud floor of their classroom because their desks & chairs are broken. Repairs will cost around $200.
The second urgent need is repairing the front gate of the school & installing the western gate, which will cost about $300.

Thank you for helping us take care of these needs quickly. You all are awesome!

Blessings
Kimberly

P.S. Pushpyar’s phone hasn’t been working since his first full day in India. As you can imagine that limits our communication quite a bit. We also rely on his phone for texts & pictures so that I can have more up to the minute info to convey to all of you…would you pray that the issues will be quickly & easily resolved? On a personal note – we haven’t been able to Facetime with him either which is difficult for us all.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————*Last day to give towards our school supplies & classroom enrichment?? Thank you! You guys are awesome!? ? – March 18, 2019

Pushpyar arrived safely to our home in Ranchi yesterday – whew! – It was a LONG trip this time! Awesome, exciting news – last Thursday we reached our goal for our school supplies outreach plan! Thank you friends! You all are awesome!

Thank you for helping by giving! I’ve included a picture of Pushpyar at the Cheshire Home watching some of the men work on assembling the notebooks for our students! How cool is that?!?

I’ll be sending more pictures and updates as soon as we can. Such an exciting time of year!

Today is the last day ——> If you still have it in your heart to give towards the school supplies campaign we will be using an extra funds to bless our teachers with new teaching supplies for their classrooms. Our current classrooms are very simple rooms with mud walls and chalkboards. We would love to be able to purchase posters, charts and other visual aids for our teachers to use.

Happy Monday! I hope your week is off to a great start!
Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————?? Thank you! You guys are awesome!? ? – March 16, 2019

Pushpyar hopped on a plane yesterday to begin his month long trip working with our students, teachers and staff on site. Thanks for praying for a successful trip for him. I haven’t heard from him yet but he should arrive in Delhi soon.

Awesome, exciting news – on Thursday we reached our goal for our school supplies outreach plan! Thank you friends! You all are awesome!

Thank you for helping by giving! We will be sending out pictures and updates as soon as we can. Such an exciting time of year!

If you still have it in your heart to give towards the school supplies campaign we will be using an extra funds to bless our teachers with new teaching supplies for their classrooms. Our current classrooms are very simple rooms with mud walls and chalkboards. We would love to be able to purchase posters, charts and other visual aids for our teachers to use.

Happy weekend!
Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————–?? Just 3 more days left before Pushpyar leaves! ?✈ – March 13, 2019

Pushpyar leaves this Friday and we would love to have our spring outreach project fully funded by then! Can you help? Right now we have just $545 left to reach our goal of helping 300 kids have the supplies they need as they start their new school term.

School supplies make such an impact on the student as well as the family of students. $5 provides the students with a complete pack of all the supplies they need to begin their school year successfully.

Thank you for helping by giving! We will be sending out pictures and updates as soon as we can. Such an exciting time of year!
Join us & give here to supply our kids with what they need to succeed!

Just $5 will give a student in one of our rural schools the necessary notebooks, pencils, book covers & other supplies for a successful school year!

While Pushpyar is in India, we will be working with our students to aid them in starting their new school year off right. In our area of India, the new school term starts in April. This is a great opportunity to jump on board and help a student succeed!

We would like to supply our students with notebooks, pens, pencils, paper and other essentials to get off to a good start for the new school year. $5 will help one child have all the supplies they need to succeed. Our goal is to supply 300 children with these needed supplies!
**New this year – we are partnering with the Cheshire Homes of Ranchi (CHR)! We will be purchasing our supplies from CHR which provides meaningful jobs to teenagers and adults who have mental disabilities. Many, many times children with disabilities are kept away from society as outcasts, so we are so thrilled to support the awesome & needed work of the Cheshire Home!**

The new term begins the first week of April. Can you help us supply all 300 of our students with what they need to succeed?

Blessings,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–You guys are amazing…School Supplies?? ? – March 9, 2019

**Crazy awesome update ~ we have almost reached the halfway mark! Thank you friends! We have about 6 days to get this outreach project fully funded. Can you help? Read more below!

Less than a week and Pushpyar is headed back to India! Here is a quick and practical way YOU can help us change our students’ lives for the better.

It’s time for our Spring Outreach Project! Just $5 will give a student in one of our rural schools the necessary notebooks, pencils, book covers & other supplies for a successful school year!

While Pushpyar is in India, we will be working with our students to aid them in starting their new school year off right. In India, the new school year starts in April. This is a great opportunity to jump on board and help a student succeed!

Blessings,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

————————————————————————————————————————————————————-School Supplies??? In March?? Yup you read that right! ? – March 6, 2019

In 10 days, Pushpyar is headed back to India! Here is a quick and practical way YOU can help us change our students’ lives for the better.

It’s time for our Spring Outreach Project! Just $5 will give a student in one of our rural schools the necessary notebooks, pencils, book covers & other supplies for a successful school year!

The new term begins the first week of April. Can you help us supply all 300 of our students with what they need to succeed?

Blessings,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————It’s that time of year again! ? – March 4, 2019

It’s that time of year again! Pushpyar leaves for India in just two short weeks. It is so exciting for him to be able to go because when he is on site the work flourishes and just explodes with production! Pushpyar leaves on March 14th and will be on site for a total of 4 weeks.

While in India, Pushpyar will be meeting with all the sponsored children, working with our teachers to continue to upgrade our feeding program, working on additional parts of the J school boundary wall as well as delivering school supplies to all our students!

In India, the new school year starts in April, so he will be able to assist all our schools with the end of the school year testing as well as beginning of the year details, registering new students, adjusting the feeding program necessities and SO MUCH MORE! It is a fast paced, exciting time for him to be there.

I’ll be sending out more information very soon about how you can get involved in making a HUGE impact with our students and extend our reach into a very special community! We are so excited because your school supply donation is going to make double the impact this year!!! Stay tuned for more info!!!

Right now though – we need your help with covering the cost of Pushpyar’s trip. This trip costs around $1,900 including air fare both internationally as well as domestically, luggage, food and other travel expenses while he is in India. If you would like to help with the expenses of this trip you can do so by clicking the link below or by mailing donations to Hope Beyond Today, PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485.

It is always bittersweet when he travels. Truly so sweet and an amazing pleasure & privilege to be able to minister first hand to the children and people we love so much, but it is a challenge for our family to be a part for that length of time. God gives us the grace we need to do what He has called us to do but we so covet your prayers, support and care while he travels.

Thank YOU for investing in the Kingdom and standing along side us as we minister and bring Hope.

God bless you,
Pushpyar and Kimberly

P.S. Here’s a few pictures from Pushpyar’s trip in the fall. Thank you for joining us in making a difference!

———————————————————————————————————————————————————Hope Starts Here…with us! { & we need you! } – February 25, 2019

Friends! We have the unique opportunity to make a difference in the life of a child in India who is living in poverty.
Every single day, for less than $1 a day, you can help change the course of a child’s life.
Hope Starts Here emphasizes education, nutrition and safety – the top three ways we are impacting our children’s lives.
Hope Starts Here is our child sponsorship program where your $25 monthly commitment brings hope in a variety of ways.

Sponsorship provides school fees and uniforms so your child can attend school.
Sponsorship provides lunch for your child so they don’t have to skip a meal.
Sponsorship provides a safe environment for the children to learn, grow and play on our school campus.

We have 24 children sponsored and we are looking for 6 more sponsors before the end of this week.

Thank you for joining us in providing Hope for one,
impacting a family, educating a generation.

Together we are changing a nation, because Hope Starts Here…with us!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————Are you ready? – February 19, 2019

Here’s our brand new video about Hope Starts Here
– our child sponsorship program that provides lasting change.

Click on the picture to play the video!
Hope Starts Here ~ Are you ready to make a difference for good??

https://hopebeyondtoday.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=22342385275594be754aeffc3&id=0e7e596ab2&e=8926b60dd7

———————————————————————————————————————————————————❤Sharing the love we have❤ ~ Sponsor a child today and receive a free gift from us ? – February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!

Today is the day that most of the world celebrates love…and we can choose how to celebrate, just as much as we choose to celebrate.

We love because HE first loved us. We give because He has given so much to us.

Child sponsorship changes lives! {and you might just be surprised whose life is changes more!}

We’d love for you to jump on board with us by sponsoring a child {or two!} today. Sponsorship changes lives, impacts a family and is literally imparting HOPE to a generation.

We are so excited about our sponsorship program that for today *only* when you sign up to sponsor a child, we’ll send you a free gift. Sign up today by clicking the link provided. Its quick and easy and best of all will start changing a child’s life right away!

Here’s what your $25 a month sponsorship commitment provides for your child.
School fees:
Providing school fees enables parents to send their children to school when otherwise the yearly, monthly and additional fees would be too big of a burden for the family.

Two sets of uniforms:
Uniforms are required for school attendance. Often students use hand me down uniforms that don’t fit well or have holes in them or are missing buttons or belt loops. By providing new uniforms we will not only boost the confidence of the students themselves, but have the added benefit of raising the overall atmosphere of the school.

Lunches for the students:
Most children in our schools come to school without a lunch. Our feeding program feeds all of our students every day they come to school. Empty bellies make it hard to concentrate, but full bellies fuel their minds to learn and grow!

Remaining funds go toward teacher salaries, ongoing improvements to our schools, and outreach projects to both students and staff.

We will send you yearly updates about your child including their grade, family information as well as some of your child’s likes/dislikes and what they dream of being when they grow up.

Don’t forget when you sign up today ~ February 14th ~ we’ll send you a free gift, along with your child’s portfolio and picture.

Thank you for joining us in making a difference for good.
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————*Eek!* Did you see what happened over the weekend?! – February 4, 2019

Did you see what happened over the weekend? We launched our very own child sponsorship program! We are so excited to better serve these precious children. Showing them a path of Hope, a way to break the vicious cycle of poverty and succeed in their lives.

{{ If you already signed up to sponsor a child: THANK YOU! You will be hearing from us soon with your child’s personal portfolio. Help us spread the word by sharing this email with your friends, family and co-workers. }}

Won’t you join us in making an impact for good? Click below to sign up to make last change.

Awesome, amazing news!

Here’s the short version: Hope Beyond Today is offically launching our own child sponsorship program!

We are so grateful to Pastor Bob for creating, launching and running One by One. We were incredibly blessed to serve the children of India with One by One for over 10 years. The One by One leadership has turned over the India sponsorship program to Hope Beyond Today.

Special note: If you currently sponsor a child in India through One by One, ACTION is needed by you so that your child continues to receive your support. You need to click on the button below to update your payment information (which will now be processed through Hope Beyond Today). You should have an email from One by One regarding this information as well.

Thank you for partnering with us as we change kids lives for the better, break free from the cycle of poverty and share hope for the future.

Hope Starts Here…with you.

Long(er) version: The best way to break the cycle of poverty is through education, health and hope. We are working towards the goal of having each child individually sponsored. Support from a sponsor provides children with education, food, mosquito nets & blankets and so much more that they need to stay healthy and be successful. This is our plan to bring HOPE and break the cycle of poverty.

Please consider being the start of HOPE for a child in need.
When you choose to sponsor a child, your $25 a month commitment helps our students in the following ways:

School fees:
Providing school fees enables parents to send their children to school when otherwise the yearly, monthly and additional fees would be too big of a burden for the family.

Remaining funds go toward teacher salaries, ongoing improvements to our schools, and outreach projects to both students and staff.

We will send you yearly updates about your child including their grade, family information as well as some of your child’s likes/dislikes and what they dream of being when they grow up.

Your personal encouragement to your child makes a big difference! That’s what we recommend:

· Hand-write a letter to your sponsored child a few times a year

· Send a family photo or a pictures of your daily life

· Mail a package – your sponsored child will love small toys, candies (none that melt), school supplies, hygiene items or other gifts from you

· Write an email – we’ll make sure your message is delivered!

Until we have enough children sponsored, we will still be running independent campaigns to raise funds to meet the needs of students in all of our schools. Please join us in providing a solution to the problems so many children face!
You can make a difference.

Thank you for partnering with us ~ for good,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————Introducing “Hope Starts Here” – February 1, 2019

Hope Beyond Today is officially launching our own child sponsorship program!

Thank you for partnering with us as we change kids lives for the better, break free from the cycle of poverty and share hope for the future.

Hope Starts Here…with you.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–2019 is off to a great start…right?!? – January 8, 2019

Happy New Year 2019!

How’s your new year going so far? Did you make any resolutions? I did!

Only I called them goals…and then I had to give myself permission to restart on Monday…lol…and again Tuesday.

And this morning I realized that really I need to give myself permission to restart every day…with grace. Because really that’s what “goals” are, anyways, right? Its something we are working towards…not much good happens instantly. Good habits are grown, worked at and then achieved.

We’ve got a great way you can help us change the world every single month! Would you consider becoming a monthly partner with Hope Beyond Today? When you partner with us monthly, YOU get to be a part of changing lives every single day.

Monthly donors enable us be more focused on our children, our schools and our outreach programs instead of on fundraising. Right now our focus is split because we are always looking for ways to find more funding for what we do. With monthly donors, we can give more time & attention to the students and staff at our schools.

Its super easy and quick to sign up to be a monthly donor. To give online* use the link below, choose an amount you’d like to give every month, check the box that says “Create Recurring Transaction”, finish filling out the donor information and you’re done! You can even choose what day of the month you’d like to be billed.

If everyone on our mailing list gave just $20 a month we would be fully funded! Can you imagine? That would be just awesome!

Will you join us this year in making a difference together?

Thank you,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————Thank you for an amazing 2018! ? – January 4, 2019

Thank you so much for partnering with us in 2018!

We had such a successful year and we are so blessed, honored and humbled in all the ways YOU have helped us!

We look forward to 2019 with even greater expectation of what we will be able to accomplish together!

Making a difference, for good – together!
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————Thank you for an amazing 2018! ? – January 4, 2019

Thank you so much for partnering with us in 2018!

We had such a successful year and we are so blessed, honored and humbled in all the ways YOU’ve helped us!

We look forward to 2019 with even greater expectation of what we will be able to accomplish together!

Making a difference, for good – together!
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————Because of people like YOU… – December 27, 2018

Dear Friends and Family,

I’m writing this from the comfort of our apartment in upstate NY but my heart is thinking of India and those we serve. I see pictures and hear stories of the beautiful country we get to serve in and my heart longs to be with the people again. Such passion, joy, perseverance and most of all His presence mark our time in India. Wow – as always the year just flew by! So much has happened for Hope Beyond Today in 2018! We had an amazing year of breakthrough, as well as a year filled with LOTS of learning. Learning new systems, working with a board of directors and an advisory board, continually learning about the people we care for and how God wants to speak to them and so much more!

You helped change the world this year!

Thank you for making this past year a great one. Trust me when we say this: we truly could not have accomplished what we did over the past twelve months without you.
Some highlights include:
· Expanding our feeding program to 6 days a week! The expansion of our feeding program has been on our hearts since its inception and finally this year we were able to see it to fruition. That means that 300+ students now have a nutritious lunch every single day they come to school.
· Over 250 students received school supplies as they started the school year. Many times because of extreme hardship parents cannot afford school supplies, leaving them to make the difficult choice of not sending their children to school. With your help, we were able to bless over 250 students with the needed supplies.
· Over 400 students received sweaters this winter! Sweaters help keep our students healthy by keeping them warm. Along the same lines, just in time for Christmas you all helped make it possible to to distribute 200 blankets to the families of the J school. By keeping our students warm & healthy this winter, they will be able to attend school more! Thus making this an all around win-win situation.

In a small way we feel like we understand what John said in John 21:25 “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” We could go on and on – the stories, testimonies and miracles are out of this world! We will have the luxury and honor of recounting all that the Lord has done one day in heaven but for now we must tell you:

You are an answer to prayer. Thank you.

Pushpyar and I realize that your financial gift comes at a price – not just monetarily, but in what it represents: skill, talent, time, energy, and that much less that you could be spending on your own pursuits and loved ones. For that, we thank you.

We also realize that your prayers come at a price, we want to let you know that your prayers – however long, short, loud or soft – are powerful and effective and for that, we thank you.

How can we help you?

You’ve each blessed us so incredibly with your sacrifice and thoughtfulness that Pushpyar and I wanted to set up a way to “give back” to you, small as it may be. Our website (www.hopebeyondtoday.org) is quite simple but we’d love for you to use it to keep in touch with us, or better yet you can email us directly at hopebeyondtoday@yahoo.com – and please let us know how things are going at work, with your family, and if there is anything we can pray for you about. (We really mean it!)

As we gratefully look at what God has done in 2018, in order to meet our annual budget we need $5,364 before the end of the year. These are costs that aren’t associated with a specific project, but enable us to run Hope Beyond Today day to day. Could you help us end 2018 strong, so that we can launch into 2019 well?

Here’s a quick peek at what’s next in 2019:

You can imagine how encouraged Pushpyar and I were as we recounted the victories, miracles and breakthroughs we saw as a result of your generosity this year. We know the road ahead won’t be easy, but we’ve got some God-sized plans:

· Our family will be traveling to India for the summer! We are super excited about being on the field & serving together. We will be in India from the end of June until mid-August. This will enable both Pushpyar and I to get some intense, one on one time with our national workers, launch some exciting new programs, improve the schools, encourage the teachers, and so much more. Our five children are eager for the chance to reach out the students and serve them once again.
· We plan to host at least three outreach projects at each of our three schools. These projects are a practical way to show our students and their families that we love them and care about their lives outside of school. Each outreach project cost between $2,500 and $3,500 and impacts over 300 families (that’s a lot of individuals!). We are also excited to support local Indian businessmen when we conduct these outreaches, building relationship within our community is very important to us.
· We will be launching several new endeavors that we are so excited about! These will be ways you can partner with us to support children and their families, working moms, and a variety of other exciting new ventures we can’t wait to share with you! {more coming soon}
· We plan to finish our boundary wall at the J school. This will cost about $7,875 to complete and then we can move on to equally important things – like bathrooms, a new well and {prayerfully} running water!

What we learned from Auntie Anne’s pretzels (huh?)

It’s often said that God can use anybody (I’m sure we have both even preached that very thing!). Recently I was struck by a quote from the founder of Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Anne Beiler because she said something that poignantly summed things up for us:

“Life is hard. God is good. Try not to confuse the two.”

I hope that quote encourages you as much as it did us! While Christ’s yoke is easy and His burden is light, there also remains work to be done – both in our part of the world and yours.

Please know what Pushpyar and I are praying for you. As we mentioned earlier, please keep us posted with prayer requests or anything else we may be able to help with. Just email us, find us on Facebook or we’ll be online at www.hopebeyondtoday.org. We really mean it. We’ve been impacted lately by the reality that we are on the same team with many, many other people working towards one goal – honoring & glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a blessing to support & encourage our “team mates”.

We can’t wait to see what the Lord does this next year in your life, and hope this report serves as a small reminder of how much of a big impact your life has on others. You rocked the world in 2018. Great blessings on you!

We’d love to finish 2018 strong by meeting our annual budget, could you help? You are giving to a lasting work. Our goal is not just a one-time event or blip on the screen. We have diligently prepared for the long-haul.

If you prefer to give online, visit: www.hopebeyondtoday.kindful.com. Or you can send your donations to Hope Beyond Today, PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485. Please make sure that your donations are postmarked by December 31st for your end of the year contribution.

Thank you for partnering with us!

Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–Bundles of Blankets is coming to a close and we need your help – December 10, 2018

Hi friends,

Today is the deadline for our Bundles of Blankets outreach project. It costs just $7 to give a child in need a large, warm, wool blanket for them to take home to their families. Could you help us reach our goal of 400 blankets?

Thank you so much for helping us make a world of difference.

Blessings
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————————–Yay it’s Friday! Don’t miss out on a great way to start your weekend! – December 7, 2018

Wanna know an awesome way to start your weekend? Give some of it away! While the world demands busyness, especially in this season, life can be pretty exhausting lived that way. A great way to stop the crazy cycle of “keeping up” is to pause, reflect, give thanks and give back!

Giving towards our blanket project will do just that! Today we crossed the $1,000 mark for our outreach project. That means 143 kids will be receiving blankets.

Our goal is 400 blankets so that each of our students can bring one home. Blankets cost $7 each and we would be honored if you would choose to help us reach our goal.

The deadline for this project is Monday, December 10th, can you help us?

Many thanks,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————-Only 5 more days! Can you help us with our Bundles of Blankets outreach? – December 5, 2018

We have 5 more days to fund our Bundles of Blankets outreach project!!

As Americans we typically think of India as very hot (which it certainly can be!) but winter gets very cold in the jungle! Temperatures dip into the 40s at night and there are NO indoor heating systems. I remember that my (Kimberly’s) first experience with an Indian winter was quite shocking!

Currently we are about one fourth of the way funded. There’s still time to give and help us reach our goal of 400 blankets. We want each of our students to bring home a blanket to share with their family. Each blanket costs $7 and will keep a student and a family member (or two!) warm this winter season! Additionally you’ll be helping support a local business owner in India! How cool is that?1?

A wool blanket shared with a family member truly makes such a difference for a little one. Thank you for joining us in making a difference together ~ for good.

Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra
www.hopebeyondtoday.org

P.S. Items from our Christmas Amazon wishlist have already started arriving on our doorstep! Wow – thank you! The students and teachers are going to be so excited!! You can shop for us using the link below and don’t forget to sign up for Amazon Smile so your Amazon purchases make a difference all year long!

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–Thanks for giving! #GivingTuesday and Wishlist sneak peek – November 28, 2018

Thank you friends for giving towards our Bundles of Blankets outreach project! Yesterday was the first time we have participated in #GivingTuesday with Facebook. While I won’t hear until tomorrow if we were able to snag any of the matching funds, regardless we received $520 in donations! Thank you!

There’s still time to give to help us reach our goal of 400 blankets, so that each of our students can bring home a blanket to their family. Each blanket costs $7 and will keep a student and a family member (or two!) warm this winter season! Additionally you’ll be helping support a local business owner in India! Thank you!

Making a difference together ~ for good,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra
www.hopebeyondtoday.org

P.S. Items from our Amazon wishlist have already started arriving on our doorstep! Wow – thank you! You can shop for us using the link below and don’t forget to sign up for Amazon Smile so your Amazon purchases make a difference all year long!

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————–#GivingTuesday is here! – November 27, 2018

We have some exciting news! In honor of #GivingTuesday, Facebook is partnering with PayPal to match donations a total of up to $7 million to U.S. nonprofits on Facebook. And we get to participate! Your donations to Hope Beyond Today could be matched! Help us reach our goal of $2,800 to completely fund our Bundles of Blankets outreach.

Bundles of Blankets’ goal is to provide a warm, wool blanket to each of our students. It gets cold in the jungles of India and our children will be able to share their blanket with family members. Keeping our kids warm will help them stay healthy this winter.
Blankets will be distributed the week of Christmas break.

Each blanket costs just $7. You can give through Facebook here or through our link, either way we receive 100% of your donation!

Thank you for helping us keep our kids warm this winter!
Making a difference together ~ for good,
Pushpyar and Kimberly Lakra

Check out these adorable smiles from when we did our Bundles of Blankets outreach in 2008.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————Cyber Monday and a great way YOU can support HBT this Christmas and all year long ?❤ – November 26, 2018

It’s Cyber Monday! Hopefully you are snagging some of the great deals that are out there today!

Would you consider adding an item from our wishlist to your shopping cart? Take a peek by clicking here, using the button below or searching for our wish list on Amazon using “Hope Beyond Today Cmas wish list”.

A great way to make an impact all year long is by using Amazon Smile. Make your giving go even further by signing up to use Amazon Smile before you make your purchases off our wishlist! By using Amazon Smile a portion of your purchase goes right back to Hope Beyond Today!

You can use the link provided here—–> Amazon Smile donates to Hope Beyond Today Inc when you do your holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/82-2047921.

Thank you for making a difference ~ for good with us!
Pushpyar and Kimberly
www.hopebeyondtoday.org

This Cyber Monday, score deals at smile.amazon.com/ch/82-2047921 and Amazon Smile donates to Hope Beyond Today Inc.

Tomorrow is #GivingTuesday – be on the look out for a great new way to give and help us with our blanket outreach!

———————————————————————————————————————————————It’s that time of year again! Our Cmas wishlist is here! – November 23, 2018

Last year for the first time, at the suggestion of a friend, we “tried” a Cmas wishlist for our students in India. It was wildly successful and we were blown away by your generosity!

It has been such a blessing to bring items during both of Pushpyar’s trips this past year…sports equipment, learning tools for our classrooms, educational games that our students have not see before (in fact most of our teachers haven’t seen or been able to use these items either). We’ve given new growing experiences all around! Thank you!

We are doing it again! Here’s our Cmas wishlist for 2018! Take a peek by clicking here, using the button below or searching for our wish list on Amazon using “Hope Beyond Today Cmas wish list”.

I’ve included the video from last year ~ thanks for helping bring JOY to our kids.

https://hopebeyondtoday.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=22342385275594be754aeffc3&id=8615f5ec3c&e=8926b60dd7

*A great way to make an impact all year long*
Make your giving go even further by signing up to use Amazon Smile before you make your purchases off our wishlist! By using Amazon Smile a portion of your purchase goes right back to Hope Beyond Today!

You can use the link provided here—–> Did you know your purchases can make a difference? Amazon Smile donates to Hope Beyond Today Inc when you do your holiday shopping at smile.amazon.com/ch/82-2047921.

Thank you for making a difference ~ for good with us!
Pushpyar and Kimberly

———————————————————————————————————————————————————Happy Thanksgiving!? – November 21, 2018

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

During this celebration of all we have to be thankful for, we wanted to be sure to say “thank you!” to you, our faithful supporters! We are so grateful for each of you. We are thankful for each of you who have chosen to invest in us and in Hope Beyond Today.

Together we are making a difference ~ for good!

Sincerely with grateful hearts,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

——————————————————————————————————————————————————-Why’s a soccer tournament so important?? ⚽ – November 8, 2018

When is a soccer tournament about more than just soccer?

Deep in the jungle of tribal India, where opportunities for girls are often severely limited, and something as simple as a soccer team of girls is unheard of.

We set up a soccer tournament last month at our J school knowing the students would enjoy it but we had NO idea just how much they would love it. Or who would end up attending.

The girls were so eager to take part in the tournament that it honestly shocked and then excited us. Quickly we discovered they were good at playing! Right from the start they surprised us with their enthusiasm over having uniforms – something they have NEVER had the privilege of wearing. Our girls played their hearts out, many without shoes or much experience, but they put in 100%.

Don’t worry our boys had plenty of fun too. They often have opportunity to play, whether in school or outside of school, whereas the girls are often expected to care for the home.

The students went home excitedly ready for their first ever school wide soccer tournament {with uniforms!}, they invited family, friends and neighbors. Somehow even a state government official was invited!

The day of the tournament was rainy but boy did our kids have fun! They didn’t let a little {or a lot!} of rain slow them down! They played and played, prizes were awarded and just as things were winding down…the government official showed up! The children and staff quickly gathered back together for an assembly with their special guest.

A few of the girls gave a speech {that was hastily written by Pushpyar} thanking the government official for coming to visit this village school deep in the heart of the jungle. They also mentioned how much they looked up to her – yup you read that right – the government official was a woman. She was so moved by their speech that she asked for a copy so that she could take it with her.

So when is a soccer tournament about more than just soccer? I’d say last month in a small village school in jungles of India it was about way more soccer. It was about opportunity & fun, turned into a heart lesson about empowering our girls that they can accomplish great things.

Thank you to those of you who invested into our soccer tournament! We hope that this will now be a yearly event – and we definitely plan to invite our special guest back again!

Its events and programs like these that are helping change the lives of children in our schools. Thank you for investing with us into these precious children’s lives…we are certainly impacting their lives now, but also for generations to come.

Would you consider partnering with us by praying, donating or sharing with a friend about our organization?

Thank you.
Together we are making a difference – for good,
Pushpyar & Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————————–You’ve never seen kids so excited for a cup of milk!????? – October 29, 2018

Check out these smiles! Have you ever seen kids so happy to receive a cup of milk? These kids sure are!! When Pushpyar told me how happy the children were to get a cup of milk…and how much they enjoyed it, it made my heart rejoice. All the children were SO happy that we’ve begun giving milk in our feeding program.

I think their smiles say it best!

Thank you for helping make this possible! From supporting our feeding program to helping us raise the additional funds for cups – THANK YOU!

Our feeding program has grown from staples like chickpeas or suji (a cream of wheat type porridge) to bread, milk, bananas, eggs and apples in addition to the staples. We are so grateful to be able to continue feeding our children and helping them get the nutrients their growing brains and bodies so desperately need!

Because of people like you giving to support our mission we can feed our students. More than 80% of our students do not have the means to bring a lunch to school, which means if we don’t feed them lunch – they don’t eat lunch. We are so blessed to be able to make such a tangible difference in these children’s lives.

We look forward to what’s ahead and continuing the new programs we’ve implemented this year. Thank you for joining with us. We’d love your support of our ongoing mission by praying, donating or sharing about our organization with your family and friends. You can donate online using the link provided or send donations to Hope Beyond Today, PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485. All gifts are tax deductible.

With a full and thankful heart,
Kimberly Lakra

PS. We’d love it if you would consider being a monthly donor – it’s super easy! Thank you!

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–He’s home! ? – October 22, 2018

Happy Monday folks!

Pushpyar made it home safe and sound on Saturday! Glory to God for all the He has done during this trip. Currently we are wading through lots of pictures and stories and will be sending out a more specific update email soon.

Thank you each for your prayers, giving and support! Wow – it was such a blessing to be able to tell him that all our urgent needs were funded when we were driving home from the airport on Saturday.

Blessings and love,
Kimberly

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————We did it!!! ☺ – October 19, 2018

Thank you friends!
Our urgent needs have been fully funded!
We have cups for milk for our feeding program, our soccer tournament was a great success and our van is headed to the shop to get much needed repairs!

You all are so wonderful! Thank you so much. We could not do what we do without you. Pushpyar is headed home and I’m so excited to tell him that all our needs have been met.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

With heartfelt sincerity,
Kimberly

————————————————————————————————————————————————————Last 24 hours to give…Cups, goats and a mechanic…wait what?! ????⚠? – October 18, 2018

Last 24 hours to help us meet these urgent needs!!! Can you help?

Cups, goats and a mechanic?! What in the world do all three of these have in common? They are urgent needs we face right now! Can you help us with one, two or even three of these immediate needs? Read more and see how you can help!

We have milk but we need cups!
We are so excited to be able to add milk to our feeding program once a week! The addition of milk was made possible because our feeding program for 2018 was fully funded! {thank you!} But with the cost of adding milk comes serving the milk..and we need cups! They are stainless steel, well made and will last for years to come. We need a total of 200 cups in order to serve our students. Thank you for helping us keep our children healthy!
Total amount needed: $195

A soccer tournament and a GOAT?!

Help us give our kids the chance to learn to practice, work as a team and be excited to do their best! Pushpyar has arranged for a our J school to have a soccer tournament and WOW the kids are so excited! This soccer tournament will consist of 7+ days of games, and on the final day, prizes will be awarded!

The kids are thrilled about the grand prize – A GOAT! (YES, these kids are ECSTATIC that this is the grand prize!!)

Can you help us buy soccer uniforms for the students, a few more soccer balls, and of course the grand prize goat?!

The uniforms and soccer equipment will be kept by the school, with the hope that this becomes an annual event that will help pull in more students from the area. We are looking forward to this being a fun-filled event with good-natured competition for the kids and community to enjoy!

Total amount needed: $363

Our 20+ year old van needs some work! This vehicle not only helps Pushpyar and our national director get where they need to be but is also our means to deliver things such as sweaters, school supplies and of course FOOD to our children! The van needs about $250 worth of repairs, that we had not planned for. Having a reliable vehicle is critical to the work that Pushpyar does when he is on site. It also saves us hundreds of dollars in rental costs.
Total amount needed: $250

Thank you for helping us to keep moving forward!

{picture from 2016, on our way to a relative’s wedding…for those of you wondering…yup no seatbelts or car seats, and FIVE of us crammed into the back seat 😉 }

Thank you, friends for joining us in supporting our children and our mission.

You can give online by using the buttons provided or mail your donation to: Hope Beyond Today, PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485.

Thank you!

————————————————————————————————————————————————————Quick update from Pushpyar’s trip ?☀?☀ – October 17, 2018

Great news!

This past Monday and Tuesday, Pushpyar and teams from a few of our local churches joined together for two full work days. They helped build more of our boundary wall…we are so excited!

While these days are so great for our Foundations for the Future project, they are even better for our friends and believers as they are able to join together for a common purpose. The days are full of encouragement, purpose and fun!

Thank you for joining with us in making a difference ~ for good!

Kimberly Lakra

———————————————————————————————————————————————–Our Spring trip to India was incredible!

G*d was so gracious to us at every turn. He walked with us through every single up and down. Our flights were all on time and uneventful {for the most part} – and for the 7 of us that was amazing! We ministered at five different villages encouraging other bel*evers, friends and family members. Kimberly’s mom joined us for the last 3 weeks of the trip, and it was an honor to serve alongside her again. Pushpyar and I feel very strongly about involving our children in the ministry as active partners not just observers. So at every meeting we had them share a t*stimony of something that G*d had done in their lives. We were equally blown away and blessed by what they each shared and how timely it was for individuals in each setting. Many times speaking into situations that they had no idea about but G*d certainly did. We had many rich experiences with our family in Ranchi and the Lord knit our hearts together even more so than before. It had been over 3 years since we had been with any of Pushpyar’s family so it was a delightful & special blessing to be able to spend time with them.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————J School Progress

We are SO happy to announce that we have blueprints from an architect willing to work with us on the plans for the J school! We have begun work already on the student bathrooms. This is a GREAT first step to making our campus more “permanent” (even though we have been there for 20+ years!). Our students have not had any bathrooms (besides the jungle) so we are thrilled to give them restrooms! Bathrooms will help provide a clean, safe environment for the entire school. We have also begun building a kitchen, guard house & supply rooms. We need about $6,000 to cover the costs of these rooms. Please join us by donating or join a work crew team!

————————————————————————————————————————————————–Kids’ Club Fun Day – June 2012

Approximately 100 children from area Kids’ club programs gathered for a day of fun, food and learning about G*d. Students from the youth group helped to plan and run everything from the w*rship time to the games and the Book memory competition. Younger children memorized Psalm 23 while the older students tackled the entire fourth chapter of Matthew! Meagan gave a short teaching about the Good Shepherd and led the children to ask Him to guide their lives. After prizes were awarded, everyone sat together to enjoy a wonderful meal. Please pray that G*d’s spirit would continue to work in these young lives!

FUN PACK PROJECT – EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH A CHILD!

Pushpyar Lakra is traveling to India in July and will be able to personally deliver gifts to each individual child. This is a great way to connect with your sponsored child or (for those who are not sponsors) to bless a child who has not been sponsored yet! Simply choose from our two easy options below : “You-Pack” or “We-Pack”

PLEASE NOTE: All packages or donations must be received no later than June 23rd, due to packing restrictions. (Give your package to the Lakras on Sundays or mail to them at PO Box 233, Lima, NY 14485.)

The “We-Pack” option: Mail us a check for $10 & we put together a fun pack for your child! Please include a letter to your child.

This year’s “We-Pack” Fun Packs will include: A colorful drawstring bag, beach ball, airplane glider (for boys) OR coin purse (for girls), 1 sheet of stickers, 2 friendship bracelets (so they can share with a friend!), bouncy ball, a bag of candy, pencil & a small stuffed sea turtle or dolphin. Your $10 will cover the cost of gift items as well as shipping fees.

The “You-Pack” option: Purchase small gifts (from the list below) & pack in a clear, quart size, zip top bag. Also include $5 to help with luggage fees and a letterto your child. Gift must weigh no more than 2 pounds. Please DO NOT send used items and DO NOT gift wrap any items. Thank you!

Acceptable gift items:

Toothbrush & toothpaste, Washcloth & soap, Toy cars, Finger puppets, Bouncy balls, Small stuffed animal, Key chain, Yo-yo, Plastic jewelry (for girls), Stickers, Hard candy (no chocolate or liquids), Socks, small notepad or notebook, pens, pencils, pencil toppers, pencil sharpeners and washable markers/crayons or colored pencils (ONE package of these may be accepted outside the quart size bag)

PLEASE DO NOT include sharpie/permanent markers, toy guns/weapons, temporary tatoos or war related items.

For all Fun Packs: We HIGHLY recommend that you send to your child a LETTER and a PICTURE of yourself, of your
family. A letter and a picture will probably be the most encouraging item in your gift package!
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us via email (HopeBeyondToday@yahoo.com).
Thank you! God bless you.

Hope Beyond Today

~ Serving in India

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