“Sir, the nature and all the circumstances of this trade are now laid open to us; we can no longer plead ignorance, we can not evade it; it is now an object placed before us, we can not pass it; we may spurn it, we may kick it out of our way, but we can not turn aside so as to avoid seeing it; for it is brought now so directly before our eyes that this House must decide, and must justify to all the world, and to their own consciences, the rectitude of the grounds and principles of their decision.”
William Wilberforce
In December of 2011 everything changed. Statistics transformed from mere numbers to real people with real names. Extreme poverty, preventable disease and the orphan crisis went from abstract concepts to a reality that I could never forget. I signed up for a trip to check a box and with no expectation of what would happen next. I got on a plane to Ethiopia with World Orphans and had my world view shattered. Everything was different. I was different. When the way you see the world changes, nothing will ever be the same.
There is one moment on the trip burned into my memory. I was supposed to be enjoying a nice dinner in a nice restaurant, but I was looking out the window on the 9th floor of the Zebra grill in downtown Addis Ababa trying to process what I had seen and heard. Children just like mine were living alone on the streets. Children just like mine were living in cramped orphanages waiting for a family. Children just like mine were dying of malnutrition and preventable diseases every day. 153 million orphans. Billions living on less than $1.25 a day. My two week trip became a calling when I realized that what was overwhelming my mind and breaking my heart on a small scale was happening over and over all over the world and I could no longer get on a plane, forget what I seen and go back to chasing my version of the American Dream with a little Jesus sprinkled on it.
Another moment that stood out to me was when we were able to help a church we visited help an elderly family in their congregation. We skipped lunch each day so we were under budget and we left $50 dollars with the church to use to help pay the rent of this couple who was facing eviction because the husband had gone blind and lost his job. I didn’t realize at the time that $50 would pay the rent for two years – it literally changed their lives. On the trip home I sat an thought of all the ways I could blow $50 and yet in this context $50 made an incredible impact. It was easy to be overwhelmed to think that the problems were too big for me to do anything about, but I saw how little it took to make a difference in 1 life. Maybe I can’t change the world, but I do have one life and I can do for one what I wish I could do for all. I sat on the plane thinking that if $50 dollars could make this much difference – I had no excuse to go home and not find ways to make a difference.
A lot has happened in the nearly five years since then, but If you have been following this blog or my social media pages you know I recently rejoined the staff at World Orphans as the director of economic empowerment. World Orphans believes that all children deserve to be in a loving home with a family capable of caring for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. There are over 153 million orphaned and vulnerable children worldwide and poverty is one of the leading causes of family disruption; so we are creating new initiatives aimed at combating poverty in the communities we serve.
My role will be to lead our efforts to break the orphan cycle by determining best practices in serving and empowering impoverished families. We will be battling generational poverty and systematic injustice but we are determined to help our families move from surviving to thriving. I’ll begin by working with our partners on the ground in Ethiopia, Guatemala and Haiti to figure out how we can use tools like education, job training, savings groups, microloans and other microfinance tools to equip our families. We will use what we learn there to help our other families use their available resources and talents in the most effective way in their unique context. Our long term goal is equip them for independence and self-sustainability instead of needing to rely on our local partners.
I’ll also be communicating with churches, businesses and other organizations here in the United States to raise the funds we need to develop and implement these job training and development programs. I am actively seeking ministry partners to engage with us in these efforts. I’m looking for those who want to partner with us as we move forward on our economic empowerment initiatives. I am looking for people who believe that all children belong in families and that all families deserve an opportunity to thrive regardless of where they are born or the circumstances they find themselves in.
Giving $5 or $500 is always a sacrifice – there is always something tangible you can buy with those funds, but a donation to World Orphans is an investment in Kingdom building. I’ve had a number of people lately tell me they are not big on giving handouts. I always respond by telling them that a gift to World Orphans is an investment, not a handout.
Your donation allows World Orphans to work with and empower local Churches in the developing world to bring hope and opportunity to children suffering from death, disease, abandonment and a lack of education and opportunity. The lives of the children and families in our programs are changed.
Your investment allows Churches to minister to more people by meeting their urgent physical needs along with addressing their urgent spiritual needs by sharing the Gospel of Jesus with them. The churches we work with are growing and are making a bigger and bigger impact in their communities.
Your gift to World Orphans allows us to engage churches here in the US so that they can turn some of their time, talents and resources towards the urgent needs of the developing world. Lives are changed both in the developing world and here in the United States because of what happens on our partnership trips.
So there is return on your investment – you may not see it on this side of Heaven (unless you come on a trip with us), but the investments of people like you are the reason that World Orphans was able to empower local churches to meet the urgent spiritual and physical needs of over 10,000 people last year.
I’d like to tell you about my $5 friends initiative. I understand that times are tight. You have your monthly expenses, plus the causes you already support, plus vacation expenses, plus back to school expenses and we are always hit with those unexpected expenses that seem to be popping up. The idea behind $5 friends is simple. We all have $5 of disposable income – we can spend it at McDonalds or Starbucks or we can invest it. That’s what I am asking of you – make a small investment in the life of a child by committing to invest $5 a month or more and tell 5 of your friends about the opportunity to partner with us as well.
There are 3 levels you can join at:
Level 1: $5 a month – This donation is .16 cents a day or $60 annually.
Level 2: $5 a week – This donation is .71 cents a day or $20 monthly or $240 annually.
Level 3: $5 a day – This donation is $150 monthly or $1,800 annually.
If you join at any level and tell 5 friends about this opportunity- I’d love to send you a World Orphans t-shirt as well. Just let me know your t-shirt size and I’ll a shirt to you ASAP.
Ready to join? – go to www.worldorphans.org/livesay
Have questions? Give me a call or shoot me a message below and I’d love to tell you more.
A Dangerous Question 