A Radical Faith

The Global Orphan Project…Haiti

Overview

The Global Orphan Project, Inc. (“GO Project” or “GO”) is a global orphan care ministry headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. GO Project mobilizes local churches in some of the poorest areas on earth to care for the neediest orphaned and vulnerable children in their communities; children of last resort with no viable means of care. A vibrant, viral network of global givers fuels the growth of this grassroots movement for orphans.

GO Project was founded in 2003 as C3 Missions International, Inc. (“C3”) by Mike and Beth Fox in Kansas City. In 2010, C3 formally changed its name to The Global Orphan Project. To read more about Mike and Beth’s story, and the inspiring beginnings of GO Project, click here for our Founders’ Story (PDF).

The Global Orphan Project Model

The global orphan pandemic is a horrible blight on our world today, but also presents opportunities for radical life transformation. You won’t see it on the news tonight or read it in the headlines, but consider this:

• If every living human in the world joined hands in a global “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” chain, 1 out of every 2 in the chain would be a child.

• Among these children, approximately 145 million are orphans.

• UNICEF defines “orphan” as a child who’s lost one or both parents. Why? Because in most places in the world, the social impact of losing one parent is the same as both parents dying.

• Of the 145 million orphans, 130 million are in “developing nations.” The most vulnerable orphans on the planet live in the poorest economies, where extreme poverty chokes the life out of them.

• The statistics do not account for the millions of abandoned children or children sold or forced into bondage who are not orphans.

• Approximately 26,000 to 30,000 children under the age of 5 living in extreme poverty die each day. That’s a 9/11 catastrophe with children every 2 ½ hours each day, each month, each year.

GO Project is a viral, grassroots movement of so many of you taking action to address this mess. You’re giving your resources and hearts. And we’re all learning something deeply mysterious along the way: the little ones behind these cold statistics can teach us how to love more radically, vulnerably, and deeply than we ever imagined. GO Project is not a ministry of misery, guilt, or statistics; but of transformation.

Empowering Communities

God’s first line of care for children is the family, including adoptive families. For our target children, family is not an option. Perhaps their parents have died. Or, their parents’ and extended relatives’ lives are crushed beneath the weight of poverty, and little ones suffer without any viable means of care. These children – the kids of last resort – are the apples of our eyes.

For these children, we focus on the local church as the next line of care. Think of it as community based care with the local church as the centering point, where the kids become part of the local church family and community fabric.

There are many people here in the United States – families, churches, businesses, schools, small groups – who want to help these children. And there are established local churches there, where the children live, who are willing to care for these children within the local church family. They just need a little help. So there is a Here side, and a There side in this life giving circuit. The two sides need a connector. That’s us.

“Village” System

We expand local church capacity to care for orphaned and abandoned children in their communities. We do so through a “village” system. Typically, a village includes the following around the local church heart:

• Children’s homes with dedicated mommas;
• School;
• Clinic;
• Support infrastructure (e.g., latrines, kitchen, dining area, well).

If we can rely upon existing support networks nearby (such as medical care or school) rather than building new, we will.

Signature Components of GO Project Model

There are three (3) signature components to our model in the field. We emphasize orphan care that is:

(1) Local Church Owned;

(2) Base Level (culturally relevant); and

(3) Sustainable.

>> Local Church Owned

GO Project does not own the day-to-day care of the children. The local church does. The local church leadership hires and supports the mommas, the cooks, and other local staff to care for the children. GO Project provides assistance with planning, funding, assessment, and communication to help the local church meet base standards. The core of the children’s lives will include a steady assurance through the Gospel of grace in Jesus Christ. Our prayer for these children is that they will be free, utterly transformed from the inside out.

>> Base Level Care

We help the local church give the children a “bump up” into a humble, base level of care within the church family. We want the homes and standards of care to blend into the community, not jump over the top of it. Americanized models of orphan care rich in material trappings often cause area families to abandon their children, in hopes that the “orphanage” will take them to a better life. That is wrong. There is nothing fancy or particularly attractive about our model of orphan care. And that is by design.

>> Sustainable

In the GO Project vocabulary, “sustainable” means that the target country’s own people and economy will support the care of their own children. We believe this is a vital goal to hit over time, village by village. Complete dependency upon foreign aid and leadership in perpetuity has created a systemic current driving against intra-community, intra-country orphan care. Fighting this trend through empowerment of locals, as well as economic and agricultural development, is core to our model.

 

Compassion International ~ Haiti

November 4th, 2010

Today we spent with Compassion International here in Haiti. It was an incredibly encouraging day as we saw the work they are doing…but as we visited one of the Compassion Projects we also found it to be one of the hardest days we have encountered yet. Once again we were up front and with the people of the project. The faces of the children and families who have hope is in stark contrast to the families and faces which keep distance from the people of the project. No matter where we go we are quick to draw attention because not many white Americans venture into these communities. The great thing with a few of the organizations we have been with is they empower the local people and local church to do the ministry in their own community. This allows for the most effective and sustainable ministry. The volunteers and aid organizations come along side and support the project work.

One of the places we went today was to visit a school which has over 200 sponsored children in it. We were greeted by over half of these students who came in on their day off to meet us. School has been cancelled both today and tomorrow for Hurricane Tomas which is to make landfall early tomorrow morning (Friday). While visiting this community project we also visited two micro-financed businesses which are foundational in the community. One is a fresh-purified water store and the other is a small retail street vendor. This family has seven children, 3 of which are in the program.

Today we saw more of the evidence of the utter devastation which occurred January 12th, 2010. But today in seeing these things it became evident that there are many many places which still have not been searched for bodies. The pancaking which happened to so many buildings during those minutes the earth shook here…a picture just can’t manifest itself in enough words to describe the site. Looking at a few of these buildings there is no way anyone could search the rubble for bodies, without heavy equipment and there is no evidence that the site has been disturbed since the day it happened. This home/business actually looks as if there may have been an initial search done.

From the children of this project….they say Thank You for your sponsorship of so many of them.

The Epicenter and Starting Over

Wednesday November 3rd, 2010

Today we spent with Baptist Global Response which is part of International Mission Board. They have a small compound very near where the epicenter of the quake was. They are focusing on building homes in the surrounding communities and have built a few hundred since April. After spending some time getting to know the team onsite we ventured out to visit one of the communities in which they are working. The homes for the most part are 12’x16’, with cinder block walls and a tin roof. They do have a concrete floor as well. No indoor plumbing and no indoor kitchen, simply a safe room in which to sleep and gather together. Here is a picture of the tent community which is left in the area..

Here is a picture of what the new homes being built look like….

While wandering through the “streets” and “alleys” we came to a small yellow home where Jimmy and his wife live. They have converted their little home into one of the cleanest orphanages we have seen this trip. Inside this home are 16 orphan children from about age 2-3 up to a set of 14 year old twins. The smiles were genuine and each child was clean and polite. It is clear that Jimmy and his wife poor everything they have into caring for the children..yet they have only one church who helps them…sometimes. What they have been able to accomplish so far is incredible yet what they could accomplish with support is amazing to think of.   

James 1:27 (New International Version)

²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Mission of Hope - Haiti

Tuesday November 2, 2010

Today we spent the day with Mission of Hope here in Haiti.They have a pretty incredible work going which was started 11 years ago. They have a big vision for today and for the future. The facilities they are building are well made and have a purpose. At they core of what they do is to provide the best education in the country of Haiti…and they are achieving that. Through a great set of teachers and a solid curriculum they have just achieved a 100% pass rate for their students. They are giving hope to not just the orphans on their campus but also to the children in the community.

While driving to and from the mission, we passed hundreds or thousands of tent homes which still house hundreds of thousands of people from the earthquake. Some of the tent villages were sponsored by Samaritans Purse and yet others were just tarps.

Yet one of the most striking things we saw today is the smiles of the children in the missions. They have love and they have hope. They are safe and get to eat. When we as strangers entered the area we were quickly welcomed and word spread quickly among the children that there were visitors.

What are you doing to make a difference in the life of others? There are millions of opportunities to make a difference…and they are waiting for you.

We don’t have consistent power or water so my posts will be short when I can get a connection.

WinShape International

In 1984, Truett and Jeannette Cathy, founders of Chick-fil-A® established the WinShape Foundation. They had a vision to create an organization that would cultivate relationships and transform lives. That vision exists and thrives as the WinShape Foundation.

WinShape International

WinShape International, started in 2005, equips motivated young adults to become Christian leaders within their own culture.

WinShape International provides opportunities for Chick-fil-A Operators and corporate staff to have meaningful overseas experiences. WinShape International pursues projects that are sustainable, reproducible, measurable and beneficial over a long period of time. WSI staff works alongside the project leaders and assists each participant during the application process.

Our commitment is to identify young adults who will be the leaders of tomorrow, and give them the training that will equip them to reach their long term potential..

At WinShape International our mission is to mobilize leaders to transform young adults and communities around the world. We do this by connecting Chick-fil-A Operators and corporate personnel with opportunities to serve. We work diligently to involve anyone in the Chick-fil-A family who feels God's calling, and it has been a blessing to see how God has used these incredible people to impact the nations.

Our projects include:

* SERVE Leadership Model
Based on the book, "The Secret," written by Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller, the model bases great leadership in service. To be more successful SERVE teaches a leader to:

-See and shape the future
-Engage and develop others
-Reinvent continuously
-Value results and relationships
-Embody the values

Connecting the Dots

I have a friend who has an incredible network of contacts. He thrives on the privilege of introducing people. As he calls it…it’s just “connecting the dots”.

A few months ago, this friend introduced me to another of his friends who is from WinShape International. After our introduction I was invited to go to WinShape and spend the afternoon with him. It was through this meeting that I had the opportunity to share our family’s journey of adoption. Throughout this journey God has moved in pretty incredible ways and has been working to mold the hearts of each one of us for both missions and orphans. How this all fits together is a pretty big vision. After a few hours together of sharing, My new friend looked at me and asked if I would like to go to Haiti with him….”sure, if God will open the doors.” A pretty non committal answer. Haiti? Haiti is one of three places that I have NEVER wanted to visit. The black magic, voodoo and dark spirits which are common place in that country is simply something that I really want no part of…yet there was something deep inside of me that said I need to go. As the days past after that meeting my heart was being pulled to make this trip. I feel like it’s the next step in “connecting the dots” of where God is leading me and our family.

Our original travel dates were postponed which opened up the door for me to actually make the trip…again…”circumstances” were aligning and opening the opportunity.

Tomorrow morning at 10:10am we board the plane to start our journey to Haiti. I will be accompanying a leadership team from WinShape International as they assess projects in Haiti to determine who they will be partnering with in the future to make a difference in the lives of other people. If everything goes well I will be blogging each day while there and sharing the journey.

We appreciate your prayers…