MINISTRY MONDAY spotlight: Imana Kids Sponsorship Program in Rwanda

This week we want to feature a ministry that was started by a couple that went on a trip with us to Rwanda. Imana Kids was founded by Kara & Ryan Higgins who still lead teams to Rwanda through us and are changing the lives of the children at Kimisagara. To sign up for their next trip, go to their trip page. Watch their latest video below to learn more about Imana Kids and the precious children they serve.


Kimisagara Orphanage is nestled in the hills of Kigali, Rwanda. Imana Kids is a 501(c)(3) created to place the orphans of Kimisagara into boarding schools. Education is one viable solution toward ending the orphan crisis. Visit Imana Kids website at www.imanakids.org, like them on Facebook at Imana Kids: an Orphan-Care Ministry or follow them on Twitter @imanakids


If you can't see the video below, you can watch it here: http://youtu.be/8GL946v9W2c

IMANA KIDS SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM

Sponsorship is one way to make a difference in the world.   One child matters.  Sponsorship provides a vulnerable child with the necessary tools to achieve.  Sponsorships are available at four different levels - preschool/daycare, primary, secondary, and university.   Additionally, opportunities to travel to Rwanda each year are available for sponsors to meet their children.

Preschool/Daycare 

Sponsoring a child age birth to 5 years for daycare/preschool is a $40/month commitment.   Sponsorship will provide three nutritious meals a day, trained nannies/caregivers, and additional supplies for daily living.  It also includes safety improvements to the structure of Kimisagara.

While in Rwanda in September, we attended church of our friend, Pastor Peter and James, our in country staff. During worship, we interacted with three lovely women.  They sat with us, visited and generally made us feel at home.  Later, when we inquired about who they were, James told us that all three women had been baptized the previous week, given their hearts to Christ and turned away from their jobs as prostitutes.  The church members were praying diligently for employment for these ladies so that they could support their children.  We knew that God had already done so; they are now Imana Kids "Aunties," daily feeding, bathing and caring for our little ones. The orphanage is on the bus route from their neighborhood and they can bring their children to work with them.  

Primary and Secondary Students

Sponsoring a child at the primary level (grades 1 to 6) will allow your sponsored child to attend GOOD HARVEST BOARDING SCHOOL.    Good Harvest received national recognition for their academic achievements in the 2012-2013 school year.  The staff at GOOD HARVEST stood out to us; as we visited their classrooms, many of the teachers had children sitting close to them or even on them.  There was a lot of affection demonstrated in the classrooms.

Secondary students will (grades 7 to 12) attend HIGH HILL BOARDING SCHOOL.  In both schools, students will receive 3 nutritious meals a day, a warm and safe place to live, school uniforms and supplies, and an education.    

Both primary and secondary level sponsorship will entail an $85 dollar a month commitment.   Sponsoring an older student involves regular communication through letters and emails.  Sponsors will receive their child's report cards as well.

University Students

We are currently in the process of coordinating the sponsorship program for university students.  If you are interested in knowing more about sponsorship at this level, please let us know.

Prayerfully consider if sponsorship is a commitment you would like to make for 2014.  If so, please complete the information below.    Please indicate what level you are interested in for sponsorship and if you have a preferred gender.  Or, if you do not have a preference, please indicate that at well.

Team Leader Tuesday spotlight: Gael Nichols

Gael Nichols leads China trips for Visiting Orphans. She wrote this last year when she was delayed on the way to our team leader training. We love sharing the stories of our leaders and giving you a glimpse into their hearts. We are honored to have Gael as one of our amazing team leaders who step out in faith to GO BE LOVE! To read her and other Visiting Orphans team leader bios, go to our Team Leader page here.

DELAYED...

I'll share something some of you may find odd. I'm not really an adventurous person. Seriously, I like my adventures best read in books in the comfort of my own home. The only reason I would say, "yes" to following Jesus into orphanages in China is sheer obedience to my king, and a deep thankfulness. Thankfulness for the child that is now mine that was once dependent on the kindness of those who were strangers to me.

So this non adventurous person set off this weekend by myself heading towards a visiting orphans conference in Nashville, TN. My prayer, "don't send me from here (home) unless you go with me and bless me to be a blessing".

Travel didn't exactly go as planned. (Rule number 1. Be flexible). My first flight was delayed. It was so delayed that I was going to miss my connecting flight, so I rescheduled my whole itinerary.

I made it to the airport extra early and found a comfy spot by a window. Within a few minutes I was joined by an older man who sighed as he sat down and made a joke about sharing my chips. I laughed and offered him some but of course he wouldn't take any. With plenty of time to visit, we started to chat. I found out he was a radiochemist and although he had been in the US for almost 30 years, he was originally from Ghana and he was on his way back to Ghana to see family. He had gotten a phone call that left him unclear to whether his 96 year old mother was dead or seriously ill. He didn't know what was waiting for him. I asked him if he was a believer, if he knew Jesus, and he immediately said "Yes! Hallelujah!". We shared that moment of recognition. A moment of mini worship staring out the airport window, and the shared understanding that

ALL things, all THINGS are under His Feet.

He asked me where I was going and why, and so I told him about VO and about going to my daughter's orphanage last summer and my commitment to go and lead teams into other orphanages if God willed. He asked me, "do you like it"? (Not a simple answer to that). I said, "I love China. I love the people. I'm thankful for the opportunity, but....it's hard.". He asked me what was hard, and I struggled to put it into words. I said, " well....kids just belong in families that love them. They just do better there. I'm sure there are things about Ghana that are hard?". He took his glasses off and looked me in the eyes. "I want to tell you a story". He proceeded to tell me a story of being born with a white spot on his cornea and of younger years being held down by his uncles while they tried to treat his eye to get rid of the spot. He told me how scary it was, how painful it was. With tears in his eyes he told me, "I was lucky. Do you know what they do with babies in Ghana that are born with physical imperfections? They kill them. They don't kill them themselves. They get someone else to come and kill them. Even if they are just missing a finger. They KILL them. You don't even KNOW what that child had the potential to be". He got quiet and he told me, "you need to keep going to China".

All things are under his feet. All things.

As my plane finally started to board, he said, "we may not cross paths again in this life, but I think we will meet again in heaven". I grasped both his hands and said, "I think we will."

All things are under his feet. All things.

I won't talk about the second DELAY and the cocky flyboy I had to crawl over because he had stolen my aisle seat. (He ended up being a nice guy). I also got my sweet revenge by parting ways with him thinking about adoption. I imagine his wife and mother of their four beautiful kids might not thank me. (Rule number 2: maintain your sense of humor). Evidently the Lord had a use for the extra hour we spent on that plane before it ever left the ground.

I was originally scheduled to get to Nashville around 5pm. I arrived at 11pm.

All things are under his feet. All things
Ephesians 1:22

Ministry Monday spotlight: Healing Faith Uganda

It's the last week of our 7 Impact Area 127 Campaign videos but it's not the last week of our fundraising for this campaign. We have a long way to go. If you go to our 127 Campaign website, you can watch all 7 videos for a very detailed explanation of what the 7 Impact Areas are for this campaign and ultimate what the funds we are raising will help us be able to bring to life.

This week, our feature ministry is Healing Faith in Uganda - we're helping raise funds for mosquito nets, malaria testing equipment and treatment for those with malaria in Uganda. This is an amazing ministry that we are blessed to partner with. Our teams have been able to help them hang mosquito nets, help them with their medical clinics and malaria education days and have completely fallen in love with the work they do in Uganda. And best of all, they share Jesus when they do it.

Watch their video below. And then go to 127Campaign.org to partner with Visiting Orphans financially to help this and 44 other ministries in 14 countries with the amazing work they are doing.

If you can't view the video below, you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghvb6lgyqV0

Help us reach our goal over the next week!

$5789 has come in so far for general donations to Visiting Orphans during our‪#‎127Campaign‬. We are incredibly grateful for all those who believe in the mission and vision of VO and want to partner with us. Many of those donors are now monthly supporters. They are truly helping us continue to send teams out to go be love to vulnerable children and communities all over the world. 

HERE'S A CHALLENGE - CAN WE DOUBLE THIS AMOUNT IN THE NEXT WEEK? 

Can you give $25 or $50 or more a month to partner with us in helping 45 ministries in 14 countries? We have far more to raise in order to bring our 7 Impact Areas to life and help with the 7 Ministry needs we're focusing on during the campaign. YOU can be a a part of something bigger! 

Read about all the 7 Impact Areas and BECOME A WORLD CHANGER at:http://127campaign.org/

Why Go? Wednesday spotlight: Andrew Vose

This weeks feature blog post was written by Costa Rica team member Andrew Vose and was originally featured here. Reposted below with permission. 

REFLECTIONS ON COSTA RICA 2014

Most people go on missions trips, get a spiritual high and then come back and have it slowly fade away. For me, the Edge’s trip to Costa Rica was a foundation and a launching pad to do missions trips from now on—and hopefully to be in full-time ministry.

It was so nice to have my oldest daughter with me, to experience the trip with her and with other sisters in Christ. This trip wasn’t about going to Costa Rica and building shelving units for an orphanage, this whole thing was about relationships. About our relationship with God, our relationships with one another and about building relationship with these children.

One young girl at the orphanage named Claudia confirmed this for me. She was mute and deaf, but before we even left for Costa Rica, God gave me a vision of a girl who needed a special dose of love and prayer to help get her through this season of her life and into the future God holds for her. Claudia was that girl!

The trip was about more than a “first missions trip” or white water rafting or seeing the ocean for the first time—it was about loving people and touching their lives with God’s love.

Two of the teenagers that were with us were at a spiritual crossroads in their life, so this trip was critical for them. For me, it was “steady as she goes” with the Lord. Every morning I got up early to walk on the beach and spend time with God. Physically I was always on guard to protect the team, but mostly I did what God called me to do.

On our way back home, our flight was delayed. This might sound strange, but that 26-hour delay was probably the best thing that happened for me because I got to spend time with my daughter. As soon as we found out we were delayed, I prayed and asked God “What’s next? I’m open to whatever you have for us to do.”

My daughter and I ended up visiting a church in the neighborhood. We didn’t understand a word that they said, but we were one in spirit. The time of worship touched my daughter so much that it was the highlight of the whole week. Because of that time, she has new goals and a new purpose for her life. God showed her what He is calling her to do.

In the end, I will never forget the people that I met and the team I shared this trip with. I think about them and pray for them everyday. I think most of us had our own agenda in going, but God had His. If you are thinking about going on a trip and the Lord releases you to go …. do it! Use your vacation time if you have to, it’s worth it! Perhaps someday we may get to see some of these kids in heaven and they will come up to us and thank us for touching and changing their lives.

Andrew

Team Leader Tuesday spotlight: Jennifer Wynn

In July 2012 I went on my first mission trip ever to a place I barely even knew anything about, Ecuador. I had no idea how that trip was going to radically change my life. From the moment I stepped off the plane in country I knew God was up to something. I tried to soak in every moment of that trip. The sounds, the smells, the people, and the interactions with the precious children. My heart was completely broken knowing that each child I came into contact with had no Mommy or Daddy to kiss their boo-boos, hug them and tell them everything would be ok or tuck them in each night. I fell in love with one particular boy on that trip and it's been neat to see him grow each time I have been back. About going back, I will never forget the missionary woman, Denise whispering in my ear the last night we were there on that first trip "Follow your heart, God's got something big in store for you, listen and follow him".

After coming home and not being able to get Ecuador or those children out of my everyday thoughts I decided to see what it took to be a leader. In February of that year I went to leader training and lead my first team in October 2013. I've also lead a team in June 2014 and am leading a team this November and May. My prayer is to continue to go until God tells me otherwise. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about and pray for every single orphan that I have come in contact with there. Once you go you don't forget their faces, they become a part of you. I've always had a passion for the orphan but through Visiting Orphans that passion has become a burning desire to do something and to bring awareness to the orphan crisis around the world.

  I can't go without mentioning something that happened on my June 2014 trip. I was in country for less than 24 hours when I received a phone call that my 7 year old son was having emergency surgery (an appendectomy). That moment was truly the hardest moment of my life. I had to surrender everything back home to God and knew that I had to put complete faith and trust in him because I had absolutely no control. We were in the van on the way to Covi, a street kids ministry in Quito when I got the call that he was going into surgery. I was offered to go home immediately (well, as soon as we could get a flight out) but I felt like God was telling me to stay for that moment. So, I went on with the trip as planned. God has our life's planned out and while this surgery was a complete surprise and shock to us it wasn't to him. He chose to send me to a foreign country during that time for a reason. Looking back, maybe it was to learn once again to trust him. Two days later I received a call telling me that my son's body was not responding well after surgery and there were complications. I knew then it was time to come home. Within hours by the grace of God I was on an airplane on my way home. I can't even begin to tell you what a roller coaster ride all of that was but my point in sharing is this, God IS in control of every situation in your life. We go on mission trips to share the gospel and love on others and to be a light for Jesus but in the end he uses them to change us and draw us closer to him in the process.

Ministry Monday: Exciting news - VO will partner with Orphan World Relief to send a team to BOLIVIA in 2015!

It's week #6 for our 127 Campaign and we are excited to announce that we'll be adding a partnership with Orphan World Relief to GO BE LOVE in Bolivia for 2015. You can find out more and sign up for this trip here.

Watch our Week 6 Campaign Video below and go to 127Campaign.org to become a Visiting Orphans partner!