Let it be said...

Yesterday marked a year that a man from our church died suddenly...he left behind a wife and 4 children (high school through young adults...) It was devastating, but it's been remarkable to watch the church grieve with them and care for them. And remarkable to see the affect that one man had on so many people, the affect he had of the Kingdom of God.

The worship team played this song and I couldn't help thinking about in the very brief time I knew him, how I could see how he blessed and serve others in the name of Christ...it was amazing.

And I found myself being reminded as we work to care for children around the world, how important it is that we be intentional about reflecting the Gospel and the love of Christ in everything. Whether we're doing something that seems exciting like taking a trip to another country...or we're just doing the routine things of life... In the grand scheme of things I believe it's not that some things matter more than others, it's that we depend on Christ to honor Him and reflect Him in whatever we are doing...and I'm thankful to know people who live like that.

The Blessing

By John Waller, Troy Denning

Let it be said of us while we walked among the living
Let it be said of us by the ones we leave behind
Let it be said of us that we lived to be a blessing for life

And let it be said of us that we gave to reach the dying
Let it be said of us by the fruit we leave behind
Let it be said of us that our legacy is blessing for life

Let it be said of us that our hearts belong to Jesus
Let it be said of us that we spoke the words of life
Let is be said of us that our heritage is blessing for life

This day, You set life, You set death right before us

This day, every blessing and curse is a choice now

And we will choose to be a blessing for life

'Cause blessings and curses are choices
Will we build up, tear down? The moment of truth is now

For your kingdom, for our children
For the sake of every nation
For your kingdom, for our children
For the sake of every nation
We will choose to be a blessing for life

Haiti - One Year Later...

Haitian churches continue to care for orphans

Today marks the anniversary of the devastating Haiti earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and left 1 million people homeless. Left behind were thousands of orphans, adding to the estimated 380,000 children previously without parents or someone to care for them.

Following a February 2010 trip to Haiti, World Orphans established the Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) program at ten Haitian churches. These churches had already taken in orphans in their community and placed them within church families. With the OVC program these families receive the support they need to continue caring for the children.

By partnering these churches with a U.S. church that provides financial support, the 200 children in the OVC program are receiving food, education, medical care and trauma counseling.

We praise God that all 10 Haitian churches identified last February have been partnered. But, of course, the need continues.

World Orphans would love to expand the OVC program in Haiti as we can raise fund and identify U.S. churches or groups of individuals who have a desire to get involved in helping the orphans of Haiti. For more information, e-mail Alan Hunt.

$8 for Clean Water

What if you could make a huge impact with just $8?

World Orphans was given 300 water filters to distribute to our OVC families and others in need. To use the water filters those families need two buckets which cost $4 each.

Your $8 donation will provide clean water, critical in preventing disease and malnutrition, to a family. We still need buckets for 266 filters.

GIVE NOW

New Year Update

Hello Friends and Family,

Happy New Year! It has been an eventful few months both personally and in my ministry as we wrapped up 2010 and started 2011. Let’s see, where to start…

The holistic care trip I was preparing for in the fall went really well. We worked hard getting ready and it was so encouraging to see our partners soak up and process the information we shared. We believe those who attended will really be able to apply the information we discussed regarding emotional care of children who have been through trauma. We are already planning another holistic care training for this April; this one will be in Haiti and focus on education, among other aspects of holistic care. Provided we are able to raise the necessary funds, we hope to do additional holistic care training trips this year, as well as continue to network with other organizations to provide the best possible support and encouragement to our partners while making the most of the resources God has given us.

Me and my co-worker, Kathy Davis, in Kenya

The group that participated in the Holistic Care Training

The training site

As for my mobilization role, we now have over 20 trips on the calendar for 2011! Thankfully we’re using new software that is very helpful as I oversee the details of all those trips. I’ll be attending a conference in April to continue learning about how to make our mobilization and trip-sending process more effective. It is going to be a busy year, but I’m very excited about the work ahead of me.

On a bit of a logistical note, this year finds me continuing to build my financial support team. One of my significant supports is no longer able to give to World Orphans to support my work so I’m looking for others who are able. In order for my salary to remain where it’s been over the last two years, I need to raise an additional $1500 per month. I would ask you to pray that God would raise up people to partner with me in this work. If you have questions or would like to learn more, please contact me. If you’re interested in joining my support team you can let me know or follow the links to the right. And for those of you already part of my support team – thank you!

On a personal note, this fall was particularly eventful for us because Chris and I found out that we are going to be parents! We are expecting baby Borders in mid-July and are very excited! We definitely have moments of feeling nervous as Chris will have one more year of school and I’ll continue my full-time work with World Orphans. But we are thrilled to be having a baby while we’re near family and completely confident that this is God’s timing and excited about what we know will prove to be a wonderful and crazy new adventure.

In related news, Chris survived his surgery rotation and did very well. It was really challenging, but he learned a lot and definitely grew from the experience. This spring he’ll do rotations in internal medicine, long-term care, psychiatry, and obstetrics. While he’s keeping an open mind, he’s leaning towards practicing emergency medicine when he’s finished with school… I’ll keep you posted. Speaking of finished, we officially past the halfway mark and are in the second half of his program. We anticipate Chris graduating and taking the boards in the spring of 2012 – keep praying for us!

I hope this finds you well. I would love to hear how you’re doing and what 2011 has in store for you.

Blessings,

Kate