God’s Plan for Orphans Here and There

Blog post by Melissa L., Team Haiti 2012

My vision for orphans started in March 2009.  I must say, I wish it would have started sooner. My husband and I had a very small bible study at our house on Sunday nights.  Jason (my husband) and our friend Janet were talking about the reality and horror of sex trafficking.  The Holy Spirit had big plans that night.  Long story short, Jason and Janet said, “We are done just sending money or praying…lets do something else.”  God called us that night to adoption, and Janet supported us financially. We now have a daughter from Ethiopia, Mary, who is now 21 months old.  Then in December, we took in our first foster child, Dereon; he is 7 months old.  My vision right now is to be open to God’s plan for orphans everywhere.  I want my heart to be sensitive and in tune with the Holy Spirit.  I don’t want to view caring for orphans as something I can “check off my list.”  I have no idea what this will mean!

Melissa L. will be serving on the Haiti Journey 117 Team leaving in March 2012 along with others from her church in Evanston, IL.

Ethiopia Journey Inspires Teacher to Do More

Nathan Livesay, a teacher at Sumter High School and former basketball coach, spent nearly two weeks of his Winter Break in Ethiopia with Journey 117, a ministry of World Orphans.

BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com  The Item

A trip out of the country can change a person.
“I wouldn’t trade those two weeks for a state championship,” said Nathan Livesay, a former Sumter High School basketball coach.
Last month, the English and credit recovery teacher traveled to Ethiopia with World Orphans, an organization that brings churches in Third World countries together with American churches to help supply basic needs of the children being cared for by the indigenous churches. He learned about the organization through the Willow Creek Global Leadership Development Summit simulcast held at Alice Drive Baptist Church in the fall.
“I was reading the statistics about HIV and AIDS, about people dying in extreme poverty, and the numbers really bothered me,” Livesay said. “I was compelled to go on this trip to put a name and face with the statistics. … Even with basketball, I’ve always had a heart for kids that don’t always have everything they need.”