Helping the Poorest of the Poor

"And may the LORD, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised!" (Deuteronomy 1:11) Who We Are: We are Dan and Lee Anne Devine, Catholic lay missionaries to the poorest of the poor. Our mandate is to help the most hopeless of cases. Together, we run Heart Two Heart Ministries, Inc., which Lee Anne founded in 2012. It is a nonprofit registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency. We can give out tax receipts for donations of over $20.00. Why We Need Funds: Currently, we are working with the poorest of the poor in India. They have no running water, electricity- no showers...most have no toilets and many live in delapidated houses or tents, some in huts made out of straw, mud and banana leaves with no doors or windows. Many live on one meal a day or less. Story: During pastoral visitations with the pastor here, the first house we visited was inhabited by one woman and her young son (maybe 5 years old). Father told us that when this boy goes to church, he looks up to God and then at his hands and cries throughout the whole Mass. The middle two fingers on both hands were fused together at birth. He doesn't smile like the other children. Not only this, but when we visited the two-room makeshift hut they call home, the woman informed Father in Telugu that the two of them have been sleeping outside (in sometimes 118° heat!) due to a cobra snake infestation! We were glad he didn't translate for us while we were there! Our desire is to help the people here by contributing to the building of a new church (the old one is falling apart as the roof could cave in at any time), rural outreach through clean water deposits, teaching English at the school so the children will be able to rise up out of poverty. We want to provide Bibles for all, and seek to provide clothing and food. We need musical instruments for the priests and the children to learn praise and worship. Since we are full time missionaries, we also rely on donations for ourselves- travel, food needs, and accommodations. Donations also help us to bring necessary supplies and teaching tools, as we travel to the different villages in the region. In the state we are ministering in, there are only 1% Catholics. Most of these people are among the lowest of the 4 castes, the "untouchables," who are not allowed to vote and upon whom are heavy restrictions. They are not able to live in the cities and are forced to live in total depravity on the outskirts of town. All of them are farmers, working every day of the year, in oppressive heat conditions....two days ago it was 118°.