My Journey to Uganda

Blog post by Kimberly, Team Uganda 2012

My life has been absolutely crazy. Getting to this place in life after only twenty years of living is mind-boggling to me. Growing up in a wealthier area of Atlanta suburbia has creates a specific mindset for those growing up in it. Honestly, I was a spoiled brat for most of my life. It’s disgusting to think about. I was given everything and anything a girl could possibly want, until my sweet parents made me go on my first mission trip to New Orleans for my spring break instead of getting to go to the beach with all of my friends. This was sophomore year of high school and the year that my eyes would be opened to the needs of others outside of my bubble. The next year I went back to New Orleans where God furthered a heart and passion for missions. It wasn’t until senior year that the Lord had manifested a heart for Africa, specifically Uganda, in addition to orphans.

The beginning of senior year I began babysitting for a family in the church. They had two beautiful daughters and for the year I watched them make preparations for their newest addition, a baby boy named Samuel from Ethiopia. When the baby had gotten there, my heart leaped at the sight of a once-orphan now being loved and taken care of by probably the most amazing people I know. They are in the process of adopting HIV-positive siblings. This was the first point in my life that God stirred my heart for the orphan. I then got involved with Invisible Children at my school which further cultivated my heart for the children of Africa. After graduation I went for my final summer to church camp. As I was praying for some younger student, a woman of the church came to me bawling. I had asked her what was wrong and she told me that the Lord had given her a word for me three weeks prior. I asked what the word was and she choked out Uganda. Well that was the final straw. Since then, it has been a journey in itself of the Lord getting me to this point of my heart being ready to go. He’s told me to go and led me straight to World Orphans and that’s why I’m going on this team. If nothing else, I know that this is the next step the Lord has for my life so it’s the next step I’m taking – totally walking in faith while abiding in Him.

Kimberly resides in Georgia and will be serving with Journey 117 in June on the Uganda team.

Tags: Organizations, Uganda, Africa, "Invisible Children", Team Uganda 2012

Transformed by the Love of Christ

Blog post by Amber, Team Iraq 2012

At an early age, my eyes were opened to a world of pain, fear, and helplessness. The event that revealed this world to me marks the beginning of years of hatred and depression. The one who claimed the paternal role (often thought of as the defender or protector) in my life was my offender. The one with the maternal role consciously allowed me to be in a position where I was waiting to be the victim of something worse.

I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone what happened, and this left me completely alone. I hated myself for being unable to change things or protect others, for being the outsider in my “family,” and because I believed the endless stream of insults and curses that were thrown at me. I finally turned to self-harm at age 15, and this quickly became an addiction.

I was the one with the knife in pocket and candy cane sleeves. I was the one who was always happy, smiling, and laughing; nobody saw through that. I was the one who wished I had never been born. The one who deemed myself hated and unlovable. I moved out when I turned 16 and spent the next two years at different friends’ homes and in my car.

One day when I was 16, God spoke to me through a stranger. This man proclaimed the truth of God’s unconditional love for me. It was this love that transformed my heart and my life. Without Jesus Christ, life is no better than death, and I’m so thankful that He has blessed me with life and a desire to serve Him with every second of my life.

My journey is one of blessing. Being blessed is consciously living in God’s will, seeing how the Lord is working, and making His desires my own. Despite my circumstances, the blessed life is that with Christ.

This is the life that I desire to share with orphans and widows. Those who have lost much, understand what it means to truly be alone, or believe that nobody loves them. Because I understand being helpless against those who hurt me, I am determined to be the help for victims of abuse. Because I know what it’s like to have nobody to turn to when I can’t do it alone anymore, I am determined to be that support for others who have nobody to turn to. I pray that God will allow me to be this person in the lives of many and that in doing so, His glory would be revealed and proclaimed in the hearts of these people.

This opportunity to serve God in Iraq was a direct answer to prayer. The Lord has already been filling me with an overwhelming love for these orphans, Iraqis, and Kurds that I have yet to meet, and I can’t wait to see how God works this summer!

Amber resides in Minnesota and will be serving with Journey 117 in June on the Iraq team.

Tags: Team Iraq 2012, Abuse

Eyes Wide Open

Heather on her first mission trip at Lebanese Evangelical School in Ain Zhalta, Lebanon. (April 2011)

Blog post by Heather, Team Iraq 2012

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of knowing and working with many children. God gave me a love for them from an early age and has opened many doors of opportunity for serving with children in different capacities. It gives me great joy to work with children and each one I’ve met has been a blessing to me. Over the past couple of years, the Lord has opened my eyes to the abuse and neglect of children around the world and also the teachings of His word in regards to the orphan. I was able to read stories of children in bonded slavery and those trapped within child brothels. I had opportunities to hear missionaries speak in our church about how they uprooted their lives and families to follow the commands of Isaiah 1:17 and defend the cause of the fatherless and plead the case of the widow. I served alongside my parents who are missionaries in Lebanon, where we visited a girl’s home and I was able to befriend a young girl who experienced the neglect and abandonment of her family. All of this has placed a burden on my heart for the children of this world. I look forward to the Lord working in me and through me on this trip to accomplish His purposes in fulfilling His word – to look after orphans and widows in their distress.

Heather resides in Ontario, Canada and will be serving with Journey 117 in June on the Iraq team.

 

Tags: Child Labor, Child Trafficking, Team Iraq 2012

Preying on the Fatherless

Blog post by Tyler M., Team Iraq 2012

In today’s world, human trafficking is a huge problem in not only third world countries, but all over the globe.  Unfortunately, orphans are prime targets for human traffickers for many reasons.  By definition, orphans lack the protection and supervision of parents and much of the time have no close family that will or can take them in.  Because of this, it is much easier for traffickers to come in and take them away without anyone even blinking twice.  There are over 145 million orphans worldwide, and that’s not even including children who are victims of abandonment or children who are sold/trafficked. Every year about 1.2 million children are trafficked and 2 million children are sexually exploited in the commercial sex industry.  Without the exceedingly high number of orphans in the world today, child slavery and trafficking would decline massively because traffickers would have a much more difficult time finding easy prey.  In essence, solving the orphan problem basically eradicates the problem of child trafficking.  We just need to act.

Rescue an orphan. Change the world.

Tyler resides in New Jersey and will be serving with Journey 117 in June on the Iraq team.

Tags: Child Trafficking, Team Iraq 2012

What do Jerry Maguire and James 1:27 have in common?

Blog post authored by Matt, Director of Advocacy, World Orphans

Typing this blog post I feel a bit like Jerry Maguire writing the mission statement, “The Things We Think and Do Not Say: The Future of Our Business.” Here’s hoping I don’t end up all alone holding a goldfish.

Question … How do you define your faith? No, I don’t want the “being sure of what you cannot see” line we are quick to throw around. I want tangibles. I want your answer to be able to go to class with you for show-n-tell.

Let me put it a different way. If faith without works is dead, and you and I believe our faith in Jesus is alive and well; then what do we point to for evidence?

Unfortunately, the tendency for most Christians is to first look at the following categories:

Church attendance.
What you drop in the offering plate.
Our frequency in studying the Bible.
Certain things you might abstain from (alcohol, certain types of entertainment, etc.)
Milestones in our spiritual journey (baptism, confirmation, etc.)

I admit it, I have been guilty of measuring myself by these standards for the majority of my life. As a result, I developed an unsatisfyingly-hollow “checklist” type of relationship with God. Did I read my Bible today? Check. Did I tithe this past Sunday? Check.

Sound familiar?

Tags: Adoption, Advocacy, Child Trafficking, Fostering, Team Iraq 2012, World Orphans Staff

To Truly Love

Blog post by Ryan W., Team Haiti 2012

I can give a ride to a friend, and they can give me one back. I can shovel the snow off my neighbor’s driveway and they can pay me. I can volunteer with some big fund raiser and someone well-known can thank me in front of a large crowd. I can do all these things purely out of love, but it would also be easy to do them for an earthly reward.

They can’t give anything back. They can’t repay you. Their voices aren’t loud enough for the multitudes to hear. They mean very little to most. They are the least in the eyes of the world. It would be hard to help the orphan if you didn’t love them. And THAT is what we as Christians are called to do.

Both the Old and New Testaments are full of commands (yes, commands) to look after those who have a hard time looking after themselves. By helping those that have nothing to offer in return we can truly learn to love others. You go into the situation not expecting to be paid or praised or have the favor returned. It slowly becomes a habit. Then you start helping those that can pay you or praise you or repay the favor, but you still do it without expecting it or even wanting it. And that is when you truly start to love them. When you expect a reward, you aren’t really helping them to help them, but to actually help yourself.

When Jesus spoke with a teacher of the law in Luke 10, he replied to the question of who one’s neighbor is with the parable of the Good Samaritan. Not only was this Samaritan despised by the Jews, but he lay on the side of the road completely helpless. The Samaritan did what his own people did not want to do and give selflessly. Jesus painted the picture of how we should treat each other—love unconditionally. After all, God loves us that way when we have no way of repaying Him.

Ryan resides in Missouri and will be serving with Journey 117 in October on the Haiti team as a co-leader.

Tags: Team Haiti 2012 (Oct)

Taking a Stand Against Child Soldiering

Blog post by Katrina F., Team Iraq 2012

I chose to research the topic of child soldiers.  I honestly did not know a thing about what was going on until I started researching… and I am sick to my stomach as I sit here reading quotes from actual child soldiers and the things they are made to do.  They are made to do some sick things, so sick.  They have to kill their best friends to prove their loyalty, they are beaten to death sometimes for no reason at all, the girl soldiers are raped repeatedly at night by the other youth soldiers and adult men… at ages of 11 years old… and if they cry, they will beat them.  It is seriously one of the worst things I have ever heard.

As I research, most of my quotes from the children came from this website.  You too will be sick after reading a lot of these “voices” of these child soldiers. 

Tags: Africa, Child Soldiers, Organizations, Team Iraq 2012