International Ministries
Mission Trips
Several Orphan Care organizations help churches get involved in international orphan care through trips. For more information on Bethany's Mission Trips, contact Peg Pyper at 888.242.8332. Bethany offers "Vision Trips" and "Service Trips". Vision trips are for those who are wanting to start a relationship with an orphanage. Usually a church will send one or two people who join others from churches all of the country to see what work is needed and to get a vision for a partnership. Service Trips are trips with a specific agenda of projects to be completed. This includes educational opportunities, caring for children, construction, farming, or a combination of projects.
International Sponsorships
A quick and easy way to begin helping orphans internationally is to promote Child Sponsorships. Here are a few ways to recruit sponsors:
- Ask the pastor to share from the pulpit what sponsorship is and how the congregation can get involved. Distribute sponsorship forms to the congregation before the sermon or have them inserted into the bulletin.
- Have an information area setup for your Orphan/Adoption Ministry. Sponsorship forms can be available at this area at any time.
- Go to the small groups of the church and talk with them individually.
Mission Trips and Sponsorships Together
When you promote sponsorships in your church, ask that the children come from the same orphanage. Talk to the International Department at Bethany about the possibility of building a relationship between the orphanage and your church. You could then do mission trips to this orphanage each year.
The Talent Adventure
This idea is really an exciting adventure.
The story of this church was picked up by a newspaper in Wilton, Connecticut. An excerpt from the article explains it best:
Each parishioner took an envelope — filled with $10, $20 or $50 — and the church gave out $6,500 in all. But it isn’t an advance on the federal stimulus package, or a bailout for people facing tough times. Instead, church members are being asked to grow that money as best they can, returning the seed and the harvest to the church on “Harvest Sunday,” May 4.
Called The Talent Adventure by the church, the experiment comes from the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14-30.
All of the proceeds goes towards an orphanage project.
Care Packages to Orphanages
Find out the greatest needs of a specific orphanage. Ask your church to help collect the items that are needed. You can also take up an offering to help pay for delivery.
If someone from your church is going to be visiting the orphanage, it might be cheaper to pay for the gifts as extra luggage. The person taking the items would then be able to take pictures and witness the children receiving the items.
Fund Raise for a Specific Project
Are there specific items needed by a particular orphanage? If so, you can do a fund raiser and have the items purchased and delivered to the orphanage. Items could include playgrounds, air conditioners, baby beds, bunk beds, or equipment for therapy. You can see a list of items that are needed on the this website under "Current Needs".
Make your shopping dollars count!
When a choice is available, choose to shop through vendors that donate a portion of net profits to care for orphans and orphan caregivers.
The Body of Christ has the ability to positively impact the lives of thousands of orphans simply by changing how we shop! Case in point, in the 8 months
Saints Coffee has been selling coffee, over 90,000 meals have been provided to over 3000 orphans in Swaziland. That happened simply because people chose to buy their coffee from Saints instead of another vendor.
Thank you for giving orphan care advocates the opportunity to share ideas. Together, we can care for so many children!
(Submitted by Deb Gangemi)