Transition

Today is my last day as part of the World Orphans team. My exit interview was yesterday and my projects have been placed in capable hands. It's always refreshing to leave an organization and still feel passionate about what they do. I signed on with World Orphans because of their effective strategies and experience in rescuing vulnerable children around the globe through the local church. In two years, I've seen the evidence to the fact that what they do works. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have worked for World Orphans and to have traveled to different countries to witness the awesome work being done there. I especially loved my time in Iraq. I never would have dreamed I would have an Iraq stamp in my passport but I'm so glad I do. I count myself blessed to know Billy Ray and his family who are some of my biggest heroes. [Read about my travels to Iraq here.]

Yes, there are a lot of changes going on in my family's life (I really look forward to sharing what is coming NEXT). However, one thing that is not changing is our passion for "pure religion" (James 1:27). The Bible teaches that God, the Father to the fatherless, prioritizes those who are most neglected in our world and through our adoption journey God broke our hearts for the things that break His heart. I can't thank World Orphans enough for growing my heart and vision for the children of the world. Our passion for adoption, foster care and orphan rescue will never change.  

If you would like to learn how you can partner with World Orphans click here.

A Great Orphan Sunday Video

Is your church one of the thousands recognizing Orphan Sunday, November 4, 2012? If so, there is a person or team of people in your church (who ever puts together the weekend service) searching high and low for a short, well done, and informative video detailing the global orphan crisis.

Be a friend. Save them the time right now and send them the link to our "Why Orphans" which, in my opinion, is the best video out there and IT IS FREE TO USE. We have some amazingly talented people throughout the lineup at World Orphans and the people who do are graphics, videos, and branding never cease to amaze me. Watch it here, send a link to your church, and they can download it to use during their Orphan Sunday service. 

Why Orphans? from World Orphans on Vimeo.

This video shows how the orphan is really the root of many of the atrocities in the world today such as sex-trafficking, hunger, poverty, slavery, child soldiers, etc. When one orphan is rescued and placed in a family (which is what God created us for - not an orphanage) we break the cycle and change the world. 

World Orphans has a number of other resources we have available to help you and your church get in the game with God's commandment to us in James 1:27. Don't hesitate to contact me if you need help! This is what we do best!

Together For Adoption Pastors Conference 2012

This week I've traveled out of the Sunshine State and into the lands of gray clouds and cooler weather (Indiana and Kentucky) so I can talk with pastors about how they can cultivate a culture of adoption and orphan care in their churches. It is a great opportunity and I'm looking forward to leading these workshops at the Together for Adoption Pastor's Conference. 

When I started working with World Orphans last year I envisioned opportunities like this where I could use my almost 20 years of experience as a pastor and an adoptive dad of two awesome young men to help other church leaders get involved in the global orphan crisis. It is widely accepted that as the Lead Pastor goes, so goes the church. In other words, the things church leadership are passionate about will shape the identity of their church. I am pumped that there are a number of pastors have signed up for this conference cause it means God is stirring their hearts towards the fatherless. 

Stories Move Us to Action

There are books you want to read and there are books you need to read.

Working with an organization like World Orphans, who has roots in dozens of countries around the globe rescuing orphans from deplorable situations, I now have easy access to real life stories of children who have been immersed in all kinds of evil. Before working with World Orphans I knew sex-trafficking, child soldiers, slaves and syndicates existed but because I had never met someone (as far as I knew) who had been effected I never moved from the awareness stage. How incredibly cowardice and selfish, am I right? 

Awareness is great but it should always move towards action. Stories have a way of shaking us to the core, inspiring us to take action. 

Here are two books you need to add to your Kindle app (obviously, you can also buy the hard copies). These stories will take you deeper into the rabbit hole and show you an underworld that exists within an arms length of us. You will realize as you read their stories these children are not beyond our reach if we will only take action. 

1. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ismael Beah. Only a $5.99 download. 

2. A Walk Across the Sun by Corban Addison. A fictional story about the sex trade but written from first-hand insight.

How to Get Your Church Involved in Orphan Rescue.

"We want to do more to help orphans. How can we convince our church to get on board?"

This is the most common thing people ask me when it comes to my role with World Orphans. I have been asked this by friends, strangers and even church staff! Most of the time these people are adoptive parents who are passionate about rescuing vulnerable children. All of a sudden, they are reading the Bible with fresh eyes and God's heart for the orphan leaps off the page. They wonder, "How is it I have never noticed this before?"

To answer their loaded question I always put my pastor hat back on; which has only collected a tiny amount of dust. I then remember all the times people came to me wanting the church to do something else. Most of the time what they were really saying was, "Pastor, this is important to me...but I want you to lead this."

I empathize with church leaders, i really do. At the same time, pastors (and I include myself) need to hear the voices of the flock they tend. Some of those sheep might actually point out where the church is failing to reflect God's heart. 

Here is what I do when I am approached with this question. I tell them, "Before you approach your pastor, I want you to gather your friends and family; especially those who share your heart for the orphan (this could be your adoption Facebook group, co-workers, other students on campus, etc.) Together you start an Orphan Advocacy Team (or an OAT)." 

Because World Orphans loves the Church and loves the orphan, we created an eight-week Bible Study your OAT can download for FREE. You can print them out or you can download them straight to your smart phones and tablets. The first few weeks, you will learn about the global orphan crisis and what our responsibilities are as individuals and as the Church. But the study doesn't stop there. We have designed this study to move your OAT from AWARENESS to ACTION. Every OAT is expected to take the next step and get in the game.

Maybe your group will:

• Sign-up for a World Orphans short-term trip (Journey 117) to one of our projects around the world.
• Raise money for a World Orphans project by running a Rescue Run, a neighborhood garage sale, a social network campaign, etc. Our OATs who have done this so far have all raised between $5,000 - $15,000! 
• Come up with your very own idea that will benefit orphans and vulnerable children!

Here are a couple sample pages from the OAT Study you can download (click the images to enlarge them).

After your OAT completes the study and decides on an action step, THEN you take your pastor out for coffee (you pick up the tab, we pastors like that) and share what your group is doing. Your pastor will be encouraged to hear about people in the church who are proactively putting legs to their faith and will want to encourage you and your OAT too. Be prepared to offer suggestions how the church can take next steps in the orphan crisis such as taking part in Orphan Sunday, invite a World Orphans staff member to speak to the church and church leaders, send your pastor to the Together for Adoption Pastor's Conference, etc. 

Here's the thing. We pastors love to get behind people in the church who take action. 

Myself and others at World Orphans wants your Orphan Advocacy Team to succeed and we stand ready to help you in any way we can. But first you have to make the first step and get sign up!

June, I Hardly Knew Ye.

Last month flew by.

15,000 miles traveled (Indiana, D.C., Germany, Iraq to home in Orlando).

2,000+ photos taken. Here are some of my favs from June 2012.

Tyler scoping out his next climb near Rawanduz, Iraq (Kurdistan).

My buddy Jackson just before I left for my two week trip to Iraq with World Orphans. This became my wallpaper on my iPad for my journey. 

Dusk in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Sweet kids living in an orphanage in Irbil. 

The ancient citadel of Irbil framed by a nearby wall in the city's bazaar. 

Truck full of traditional Kurdish clothing driving door to door. 

Sunflower growing in Soran, Iraq. 

Home eating watermelon cause that is how we roll in the summer.

My Journey to Iraq - Final Thoughts

"You're going where!?!"  

I heard those three words a lot as I prepared to lead the first World Orphans/Journey 117 team trip to Iraq. To be perfectly honest, my own brain asked the "You're going where!?!" question more than once. Understandably, all I knew about Iraq was what I had seen through the lens of Western media.

Once the team arrived in Northern Iraq, our minds began expelling our preconceived notions as we witnessed with our own eyes the ways God is using World Orphans in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

Since the initial provision of land back in 2007, God has continued to open doors in the ancient lands of the Middle East. Billy and Dawn Ray have been serving since then, and despite being among only a handful of followers of Jesus who live in the area, they have become well connected to major decision makers in the nation (most of whom are Muslim).

It was through these connections our team was invited by the Iraqi Director of Education to teach English to over 100 students in Soran. With the help of Kurdish translators, we used games, music, art, and storytelling to teach the students. One of my favorite memories of this trip will always be the way our translators, who are also teachers at the school, became fast friends of ours. The students at the school enjoyed our classes, and every day more kids were showing up. We were so impressed with the enthusiasm and respect the students showed us. We looked forward each day to teaching, and we left the school on our last day with heavy hearts.

Learning English is a huge deal in Iraq right now. After Arabic and Kurdish, English is the third language and essential for career advancement. One way the Rays are serving the widows and orphans in Soran is by teaching English to the widows who surround the World Orphans community center (appropriately called “The Refuge”). During our trip, the first class of twenty graduated, and the ladies from our team attended. Both the Iraqi and American women were elated by the opportunity. The ladies on our trip especially enjoyed attending in their authentic Kurdish clothing!

I can't say enough about the impact The Refuge is having in Soran. Orphans and vulnerable children from the surrounding homes are drawn to it for its soccer fields and fun activities. Every morning our group went to The Refuge to play soccer, lead crafts, or help with construction on the building. Even with only about 20% complete, the World Orphans community center has already become a major part of the lives of many children and widows in the community.

Of the ten people on my team, I wouldn't be surprised to see half return to Iraqi Kurdistan, and even some returning for good.

(If you would like to see more from my experience in Iraqi Kurdistan you can see all the blog posts here.)

Last Full Day in Iraq

Today was our last full day in Iraqi Kurdistan. We drove the beautiful scenic path from Soran to the city of Erbil/Hawler which is where our flight leaves from on Sunday.

We grabbed lunch and then some of us spotted a sort of familiar looking sign. See pics below. We checked out Wallstreet Coffee and ordered ice mochas (since it was near 120 degrees outside) which turned out to be more like milkshakes than anything else.

We also toured the old citadel and shopped at the bazaar. Unfortunately, I found nothing to buy that screams, “I was in Iraq.” I guess Tyler and I should have grabbed a couple land mine warning signs after all. Note to mom: no, of course we didn’t see any land mine warning signs. Note to everyone else: we saw about 100.

Images from Iraq: Last Day of School

Iraq Day 7 - Guest blogger: Cathleen Brown

After being out visiting with friends late last night, I came home to an invitation to go hiking with the team members the following morning at 5:30 am. I was delighted and since I have not been able to shake the jet lag and still wake up a 4:30, I knew it would not be hard to get up for an adventure.

So this morning four of us went out to the mountains and climbed on the rocks in the cool air and looked over the Rawan Dus Gorge, 300 ft. Up. We talked about the flood and the fossils so high on the mountains as we hiked. Then as the sun creeped through the mountains, I saw the shadows of the darkness creep away from the canyon and the bright sun appear. It was frustrating to take pictures, but I was reminded of recent conversations about the presence of darkness here in Iraq. And as overwhelming as it may seem at times, John 1:5 is an encouragment. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it. The light coming through the canyon pushes away the darkness.

Please pray that as we finish strong here that we will be a steady light in the darkness.