URGENT NOTICE - October 7

Major Hurricane Relief Underway

     Orphan Grain Train—Michigan (126 E. Main St., Sebewaing) is currently mounting a major hurricane relief effort in response to the widespread catastrophe of Hurricane Helene.

     Our American neighbors are hurting badly and so many of their vital properties, homes, businesses, and livelihoods have been destroyed.

     There is no time to spare
for carrying out relief efforts.

    Orphan Grain Train--Michigan is presently gathering the widest possible assortment of desperately needed material goods.  These include non-perishable foodstuffs, cleaning supplies and associated tools, hygiene provisions, blankets, and articles such as rubber boots, generators, portable lighting, or whatever one might conceive as immediately needed following such an extensive disaster. 

     For this pressing effort we are not shipping clothing, quilts, or furniture.  Please just use common sense in determining what might be most needed.  Non-perishable food is the easiest as are diapers and child care supplies.

     Churches and organization are invited to consider assembling hygiene kits (components of which can be found listed at https://www.ogt.org/), or flood buckets with liquid laundry detergent, dish soap, scrub brushes, cleaning wipes, scouring pads, clothespins and clothesline, trash bags, dust masks, and work gloves.  Any supplies of this nature are needed.

    Orphan Grain Train--Michigan has a five year history of sending humanitarian relief around the world to locations where people are in desperate need.  Orphan Grain Train—Michigan has shipped multiple tons of mercy care to Kyrgyzstan, Panama, Moldova, the Republic of Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Malawi, South Sudan, and Peru.  Previous domestic distributions have also gone to Ohio and Kentucky, and medical equipment is routinely given away locally.

This crisis following Hurricane Helene
calls for an immediate response.

    Orphan Grain Train—Michigan will remain open daily for the next two weeks (Monday--Saturday)  9am--5pm. until October 19 to receive any material or financial support from those wishing to contribute. 
 

     Updates and information will be posted on this branch blog (https://ogt-mi.blogspot.com).

     The Orphan Grain Train—Michigan work and warehouse Center is located at 126 E. Main St., in Sebewaing.  Call for information: 989-600-2264 or email pastordavereed@gmail.com.
A secondary drop-off location for those in the greater Flint region is St. Mark Lutheran Church, 5073 Daly Blvd., Flint.

More Important Than We May Know

 How simple and yet how important a small comfort can be to a child.  An array of small clutch teddy bears were sewn by Nancy Pinnow and given to Orphan Grain Train.

     Only God knows which little one of His lambs may come to love and rest with a small companion like one of these.

To Give Wherever Needed

         Our thanks to the Honor Corp  -- of Saginaw Valley State University who prepared a substantial quantity of hygiene kits which will now likely be included with our Hurricane Henene Disaster response.

       The university students who completed this project didn't know who would need these kits.  Would it be a destitute mother on the other side of the world or an American neighbor.  Whoever it might be, they wanted to help.

Hands of Mercy -- Yambio, South Sudan

     With its shipment to South Sudan, Orphan Grain Train--Michigan included a portion of goods earmarked especially for Hands of Mercy, a care ministry bringing the tangible love of Jesus Christ to those in need in South Sudan especially those with disabilities and to help those who have been marginalized in their community.

     Supported by the body of Christ, the Church, Hands of Mercy works to give those with disability marketable skills to sustain and improve their lives.

Even the empty Orphan Grain Train boxes are precious.

     Since 2006 Hands of Mercy has been guided by Deaconess Pat Nuffer as a partnership with the ELCSS/S (Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Sudan).

     Deaconess Nuffer wrote to us, “We unloaded several boxes of scrap fabric and I would have collapsed the boxes and put them in our dug out trash pit.  But oh, no!  The people of Hands of Mercy each wanted an empty well-worn box.  So we loaded each person up on their own three wheel bicycle with a box and they were THRILLED.”

OGT Michigan Loads Ukraine Shipment

Video of Orphan Grain Train--Michigan on August 23
loading a container marked for Ukraine relief.

 A 40-ft high cube container was loaded at Orphan Grain Train--Michigan in Sebewaing Friday morning, August 23.  Filling the container was completed in under two hours.

     Destination for this shipment is the Open Door Foundation,  at Odessa, Ukraine.  The container will travel by rail from Detroit to New York and then by container ship through the Mediterranean and Black Seas to eventually unload at the port of Chornomorsk, Ukraine.
     Godspeed these goods into the hands of those Christ loves.  May the current distress in war-torn Ukraine soon be relieved and the peace of God in Christ be theirs.

Alley side Facelift

 Our thanks to Dave Wiltse, one of our dedicated volunteers who is given a much-needed freshening to the back exterior wall of our Orphan Grain Train--Michigan Center.  

Ukraine Refugee Shipment Loading Friday - August 23

 Volunteers welcome to help -- 10 a.m.

     Anticipated shipments by Orphan Grain Train can be delayed for various reasons.  Finding best freight pricing; coordination with container ships having available deck space; and orchestrating arrival times to match distribution needs, scheduling, and warehousing space of receiving charities, etc.
     Just this week our window of opportunity opened and we have just four days to prepare.
    A container will arrive at Orphan Grain Train--Michigan in Sebewaing this Friday morning, August 23 at 10:00 a.m.  We then have just two hours to load.  Volunteer are always welcome.
     Destination of this shipment is the Open Door Foundation, Ukraine.  The foundation's international director, Vitaliy Smolin, will be a speaker at the Orphan Grain Train Convention this September.