THROW BACK THURSDAY - Ethiopia/Rwanda January 2011 Team

Throw Back Thursday to the first team that VO staffer Frank Pass ever led to Ethiopia and Rwanda way back in January of 2011. This zany bunch personified what it means to be world changers. Of the 13 team members, 12 have traveled back to Africa since. Billy, Jason, Glenn and Daria are now VO team leaders. Jason and Glenn are also recent VO board member additions. Amy, Chelsea, and Sara have gone back to Rwanda with their own ministries His Chase and Presence to provide sponsorship, education, medical care and hope to hundreds of children. Tara started No.41 a ministry that is literally changing lives one at a time. This team changed Africa and Africa changed them. What a great example of how short-term missions can have long-term impact on those who go and to the places they are sent. Check out our 127campaign to see how you can supportVisiting Orphans and be a world changer too. Go Be Love!

Jan 2011 Ethiopia & Rwanda Team of World Changers!

Why Go? Wednesday Spotlight: Teresa Best

Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my words.

- Isaiah 28:23


Each year, Visiting Orphans assists hundreds of individuals seeking the opportunity to sow into the lives of orphans, children and communities and those who routinely care for them. However, as each participant returns - something special happens. Not only do they sense the power of God’s love for his people, they also have an overwhelming sense of change and transformation in their own life.

Often times, great change seems overwhelming or impossible especially when one only considers their might and strength. However, as Teresa Best experienced, God can do so much more when one’s faith is applied.

Teresa had just returned from Guatemala when she heard God call her to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The closeness of the two trips placed fear in her heart. The challenge for Teresa was not the mission itself, but her capacity to pour into additional lives after the previous mission trip.

“How was I ever going to be able to go to another country and share as much of myself somewhere else when I was already so connected to this small space in Central America”, said Teresa.

However, she continued to hear God’s voice, so she decided to go.

Upon arriving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, her heart was filled with compassion and love. She was all the more grateful she listened to the voice of God.

The Lord showed her there was no need to be afraid. “He showed me that love multiplies and spills over! Yes, your heart can have room. And yes, you can find small ways to invest. Even when you are a world apart”, she rejoiced.

Now that she has returned, Teresa is looking forward to the many ways God can use her in the future.

Teresa traveled with Visiting Orphans to Ethiopia in Jan 2014

127 Campaign

Today is the official launch of our Visiting Orphans 127 Campaign.

The 1 in the 127 Campaign represents 1 person - YOU! You can be a world changer. How? By being part of our 127 Campaign and financially supporting the ministry Visiting Orphans is doing around the world and by challenging others to do the same.

The 127 Campaign is our first ever big fundraiser for Visiting Orphans. Visiting Orphans (VO) was established in 2005 and has been supported by an admin fee that is built into the trip cost of our trips ever since. That's how we are able to partner with 43 ministries in 12 countries and send out over 40 teams throughout the year to come alongside and support these ministries. We've not received grants nor have we had major donors up to this point. We do raise some funds to operate the ministry through merchandise sales, and we have some wonderful monthly donors and get some general donations to VO as a ministry from time to time - all of which are a huge blessing. But most of our budget is funded by that trip admin fee. We will continue to be primarily funded in this way but the thing about relying solely on this is that it limits us from growing and expanding into the areas we feel like God is calling us to. This campaign is all about raising funds for Visiting Orphans as a ministry so that we can bring those things to life. And ultimately make a bigger, more positive impact on the 2 in the 127 Campaign: those we partner with around the world and those we send! 

We've chosen 7 areas of impact for this campaign - these are the things that we feel like God is calling us to for this next season. This campaign will support these 7 areas. 10% of all funds raised during this campaign will go to specific ministry needs for 7 of our partner ministries around the world.

You can get involved at: 127campaign.org

Here are the 7 Impact Areas for the 127 Campaign

Country Programs

Visiting Orphans currently partners with ministries in 12 countries around the world. We want to continue to invest in our current partnerships while also creating new opportunities with other trustworthy organizations in these countries.

Discipleship Materials

So we can better prepare our teams spiritually, we want to create brand new team member discipleship training curriculum and videos that are tailored to the mission experience such as pre-trip preparation, in-country devotionals, and post-trip processing.

Web Portal

Visiting Orphans would like to create our own interactive web portal designed exclusively for team members and leaders. This new portal will help assist and organize our short-term trips for a more streamlined process all within the current visitingorphans.org website.

Adoptive Family Resources

We love to see families grow through the miracle of adoption. We also recognize that the process can be very difficult. We want to develop supportive resources and create grant organization partnerships to offer financial help to past team members who are adopting.

Healing Conferences

Through partnerships with counseling ministries, advocates, and teachers, we want to come alongside foster and adoptive parents in their emotional and spiritual struggles while offering tangible support via conferences focused on healing and transformation.

New Country Programs

We are committed to reaching even more of God’s precious children and communities in more places around the world. That’s why we are currently developing two new country programs for 2015 and desire to explore more programs for 2016 and beyond.

A recommendation from someone with firsthand experience who is passionate and committed to the mission is an invaluable tool for any ministry. And that’s exactly what we’re looking for in our brand new adVOcate Program. We want you to use your avenue for advocacy to spread the news about VO. That could be through concerts, social media, blogging, church groups, or whatever else you may have up your sleeve. We would love to have you join our adVOcate team!

Each week, we will highlight one of these 7 areas in a video to explain even further what we mean. Here's Impact Area #1:

Visiting Orphans is a 501(c)3 public charity which seeks to operate under the highest standards of financial accountability and excellence. We are audited by an independent accounting firm each year, ECFA accredited and governed by a Board of Directors. All charitable donations to Visiting Orphans are tax-deductible within the United States. 

Huge BLOWOUT Sale

The Visiting Orphans staff are moving out of our current offices and will all be working from home starting July 25th. We are selling almost all our office furniture and we're trying to move as much merchandise as possible. SO... we are having a huge blowout sale. Everything is marked down already and between now and July 15th, you'll get an additional 50% OFF everything with promo code: BLOWOUT. Shop now on our online store and save big!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of "Love" month - we're running a special promotion for mission trips. We've never done this before but we want to love on all of those who sign up to GO BE LOVE so....
Every new sign up for a 2014 VO Mission Trip between now and February 28th automatically gets $100 off their total trip cost. Refer a friend to sign up by Feb 28, they get $100 off plus you get ANOTHER $100 off for referring them. It's a win - win!

We have over 35 trips already on the calendar for this year and we would love for YOU to join us on a life-changing adventure to one (or two - we have some combo trips) of the 12 countries we visit.

For a complete list of all the upcoming trips and the details about each, click here.

EXCITING NEWS TODAY!

Announcing the 4th Annual Visiting Orphans 
MISSION TRIP GIVEAWAY
sponsored by MKI Group Travel

Our Mission Trip Giveaway is your chance to win a free mission trip while supporting the mission of Visiting Orphans to reach children and communities in 12 countries by sending Christ-followers to GO BE LOVE! Your gifts make a huge difference in the lives of those we visit and those we send. We couldn't do what we do without this support. By financially supporting our ministry through one-time and recurring monthly gifts, as well as through purchases of VO merchandise from our online store or tickets to our fundraising event - you are making a huge impact in the lives of orphans, widows and communities around the world. Plus when you GIVE. LOVE. between now and Dec 1 - you'll be entered into a drawing to win a FREE mission trip to any of the 12 countries we visit in 2014!  

HERE ARE 4 WAYS TO SUPPORT VISITING ORPHANS AND GET YOUR NAME IN THE DRAWING TO WIN A FREE MISSION TRIP:
1. Receive 5 entries when you set up a recurring monthly donation to Visiting Orphans*. Recurring donations are made online (choose GIVE.LOVE. Campaign and click yes to set up a recurring donation).
2. Receive 1 entry for every $25 donation to Visiting Orphans*. Donations can be made online (choose GIVE.LOVE. Campaign) OR by mail to: 449 Metroplex Drive • Nashville, TN 37211
3. Recieve 1 entry for every $50 you spend on Visiting Orphans merchandise on our e-store** (great for Christmas gifts - lots of sale prices right now!): visitingorphans.org/store
4. Recieve 1 entry with every ticket purchased to our December 7th Feeding the Fatherless Event in Nashville, TN†. Click here to check out the event page and purchase your tickets today!


FOR FULL DETAILS AND A LINK TO OUR EVENT PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE - CLICK HERE. 

Lives Changed - Testimony from a team leader

We are featuring stories from team members and leaders, as well as ministry and missionary partners and sharing some of their testimonies of how short-term trips have made an impact on them. Here's one of those testimonies:

"Becoming part of the Visiting Orphans family has been an amazing experience I never could have imagined. God had given me a dream of serving and ministering in Africa, but I had no idea where to even begin. A trip with VO in 2011 gave me that jumping-off point. Through opportunities and guidance provided by VO, I’ve become connected and engaged with ministries that are passionate about seeing the world changed – about BEing the change - through bringing the love of Jesus to the nations. Their amazing staff is committed to supporting short-term missionaries, as well as leaders, every step of the way – from the time you first fill out that application form, through every part of your planning and travel, and even after you return home, offering assistance and encouragement as you seek out the next steps God has for you. God is doing amazing things through Visiting Orphans! GO. BE. LOVE. is about so much more than just a cool trip to tell your friends about. It's about being the very hands and feet of Jesus." 
- Valerie Post - VO volunteer team leader