Expanding Into a New Country: Our Own

Hello, GO Family!

Though you may have heard murmurings to this effect, we want to make it official. The Global Orphan Project is expanding into a new country: our own!

At the BIG Event on August 10th, we’ll celebrate all that God’s doing through so many of you and the children we serve around the world. And we will formally launch our pilot work in the United States, beginning in Kansas City. It’s called Adopt | KC.  Adoptive daddy and Grammy award winner, TobyMac, is coming to provide special music. We hope you’ll join us and bring your friends!

Here’s the background about how all of this got started.

Our ministry facilitates local church based care for orphaned and abandoned children. We concentrate on children at the very end of the line; the children whose family structures have catastrophically failed. We help local churches provide family to these end-of-the-line Orphans. In the process, these children change us and others.

To date, our call has focused on international service in economically poor countries. Thanks to so many of you, our work continues to thrive and grow, particularly in Haiti, in East Africa, and on the horizon, India. We’re as committed as ever to all of these fronts.

In October of 2010, another wind began to blow in our ministry. We began digging deeper into the plight of the Orphan in the United States.

We learned some bad news. Just like the children we serve around the world, the end-of-the-line kids here in the United States get treated like untouchables. In our country, these children languish as wards of the State in the foster care system, or they never even make it into the system.

We learned some great news about the Church. Local churches all around our country, and so many families within them, are turning their hearts to these children in a powerful way. All kinds of different churches – big and little, different denominations, urban and suburban – have developed strong adopting hearts. An awakening is occurring.

We learned some great news about the State. Government leaders see what’s happening in this network of local churches. They know that government doesn’t make good family. They desperately want to help transplant these children out of the State system and into families through the Church.

We learned some sobering news. Even with this ripe alignment of Church and State for kids, the most vulnerable Orphans stay locked in the State system. Why? Because the Church doesn’t know how to deal with the State. And the State doesn’t know how to deal with the Church. So the children remain locked out of long term family care.

And we then learned some very personal news. A key piece is missing. Adopting churches need connectors to bridge the gap between the Church and the Children. That missing piece is shaped a lot like us.

This connector role is one that our ministry is uniquely equipped to fill. Through our work around the world, the Lord has prepared us to play our part here in the United States. We are willing. And we have said, “yes.”

The last year has been a time of preparation. On the Church side, we’ve been in extensive dialogue with a growing network of Kansas City churches that the Lord is calling to be “adopting churches.” On the State side, we’ve been working closely with government leaders in Missouri and Kansas to lay the groundwork for Adopt | KC. This is a system that can be replicated throughout our country. We’re all ready to hit the “on” switch, as this budding movement of the Church becomes reality. You can learn more about Adopt | KC HERE>>

What does this mean for many of you? Just like we have sponsorship and engagement opportunities internationally, we will have similar opportunities for you domestically.

What does this mean for The Global Orphan Project? Just that we’re expanding local church based care for the same target children to a new country and context. Our international work will continue full speed ahead.

Most importantly, what does this mean for the children at the end of the line? The same great news domestically as internationally: FAMILY.

We thank you for your tireless commitment to these children. I hope you’re excited about this new development. Please help us formally launch our expansion into the United States at this year’s BIG Event, Friday, August 10th, 2012, at the Midland Theater. You can buy tables or individual tickets online HERE>>

See you there!

Faithfully yours,

Joe Knittig