Christian Alliance For Orphans Summit

“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.” -James 1:27

The Christian Alliance for Orphans is an amazing alliance of many amazing organizations, all with the common goal of serving orphans. Every member has its own specialization or focus of ministry, but ultimately desires to bring love and hope to the orphan. The organizations are broken down into 3 main areas of focus: international orphan care, adoption, and domestic foster care.

We had the privilege of attending the fourth Summit this week in Florida. It was actually only about 2 days long, but crammed full of information and networking times. Keith and I went because the Lord has given us such a passion for orphans, and because we desire to make a switch in ministry to something orphan related. We went to see what is out there and try to find a place we fit. I think we have found a couple places we fit, but have a lot of learning, talking and praying to do before we make a decision. We also have to determine what we are willing to give up in this process – are we willing to move far away from home, etc.

A highlight was meeting a blogger I’ve been following, Angela. She is also on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ and going through an adoption right now. We had mutual friends that introduced us and it took a while before we realized we knew each other. She is adopting two young children from Ethiopia, so we picked her brain on her process and Ethiopia. What a very neat family!

We picked up a ton of reading material, including several books that we hope to make our way through as we contemplate our future. I have started Children of Hope by Vernon Brewer and Noel Brewer Yeatts, founders of World Hope, one of the organizations present at the conference. I am not a big reader, but I have read about most areas of the world, with the exception of an area with a huge amount orphans: Africa. And the AIDS epidemic is huge there right now. I am hoping to become more informed. Here’s a quotation from the cover of the book:

“The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the greatest opportunity for the Church to be the Church. It is time for us to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those who need compassion.” – Rick Warren

The theme of the conference was “Be dooers of the Word.” “Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” – James 1:22 The orphan crisis is huge. Is there any institution that can help? Yes – the Church! Our mighty God loves the orphan and is the only One who is able to save the 143 million plus orphans on earth today. The church has to be the solution and has to go and do their part. God has asked us to take care of orphans, and we must obey. What an awesome job He’s given us!

We heard from several great speakers, representing Family Life, Focus on the Family, Crown Financial Ministries, Calvary Church of Ft. Lauderdale….and got to attend seminars on our specific interest.

In pursuing our future plans, we also met with Campus Crusade’s Hope for Orphans staff and Global Aid Network (GAIN). Two very neat ministries! Hope for Orphans is currently a team of 3 core people, with a few other part-timers. They are out of Little Rock, AK and focus on helping orphan ministries connect and serve one another, as well as equipping the church to have orphan ministries. They are a resourcing and networking ministry that helped form the Christian Alliance for Orphans. They actually have a need for someone like Keith who can care for their web and video needs.

GAIN is primarily out of Dallas and Lancaster, PN and is the humanitarian aid arm of Campus Crusade. They send aid all over the world, to orphans and the poor, and share the Good News of Christ with them. They also need more people to help with their web and communications.

These two ministries are what we learned the most about at the conference, but before we move forward, we ant to research all our options, and then would probably like to go and visit each ministry before signing on.

It is a little overwhelming with all the choices and so much up in the air in our lives right now, but PRAISE the LORD, I am excited and trusting God right now!

Sorry for my disjointed post. We are a little sleep deprived and missing Koen right now. Can’t wait to see him in a few hours!