USA (MNN) — If you’re anything like me, you like to travel. Seeing the world is exciting. What if you could not only see the world, but make an impact on someone’s life for eternity — maybe even your own?
Orphan’s Heart, a ministry of Florida Baptist Chrildren’s Home, wants to provide a trip for you that will do just that.
President of Orphan’s Heart Jerry Haag says the ministry is designed “to be able to mobilize the body of Christ to help children in developing countries.”
Haag says Orphan’s Heart is providing trips to many parts of the world. “We’re working in 12 different countries right now, and we’ll be expanding that to 15 different countries this year.”
The opportunities for ministry are great. You can go help build a house for a needy family, tell the story of Jesus to kids, feed families in need, or just love kids who have no family.
Haag says, “Don’t sign up to go with us unless you want to be a different person when you come back. As you’re working with these children, as you’re feeding children, as you’re changing diapers, as you’re building orphanages, as we’re doing feeding programs, you can’t help but come back and have your life forever changed.”
According to Haag, this kind of ministry changes what his wife calls your fuss factor. “All of those things you used to fuss about before: they just don’t seem as nearly as important when you’ve been the difference between the life and death of a child, when you’ve been able to make sure a family has a home to be able to live in, and children are able to come to know Christ as their Savior.”
Ophan’s Heart has 120 trips available right now on their Web site. Haag is encouraging you to take your kids. “It changes their whole Christian framework of what’s important in life, what’s important in ministry, and their whole outlook on how they live the rest of their lives.”
Currently, you can go to Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Latvia, Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The Dominican Republic is a key field today. Haag says, “Danilo Medina, the president of the country, has donated all the land and infrastructure and we’re building homes for the poorest families and giving preferences to single moms with kids.”
Last year, more than 900 people were mobilized to reach out to 44,000 children and families. We’re praying you’ll be one of them in the months ahead.
Haag says they have a need. “We need 20 listeners to say, ‘I’m gonna go, but not only that, I’m going to commit to recruiting a team of people to go. I’m going to get people from my small group, my church, from my neighborhood, and my family.”
The outreach is not just about providing for children’s physical needs. Haag says, “If we’ve done all of these great things for kids and neglected their eternity, what a tragedy. We want these children, adults, and every person we come in contact with to know that they have a heavenly Father who loves them.”
If you’d like to search for a life-changing mission trip with Orphan’s Heart, click here.
