For any participants who did not get their race shirts, they can be picked up at the GO Project office in Parkville Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Meet Suzie. Suzie is a beautiful Haitian girl who was born with two clubbed feet and all the challenges that go with that. One small section of last month’s wire said, “Surgery.” What does that mean? Our hope is it means Suzie’s life will change for the better; that walking will bring joy, rather than stigma to dread.

That day isn’t here yet, but we’re happy to see Suzie getting a little post-op TLC. She has a long road to recovery ahead, but she is a brave young lady, and being a small part of her life is indeed one of our favorite things!

Our hope is other cities will have their own “great days” for children who need family. It’s happening…in Austin, Nashville, Colorado, South Florida, and beyond. Simply because Our Heavenly Father is on the move to care for His kids, and we are grateful!

For those who ran in the 5K, race results can be found at www.kctrack.org.

Run for orphans in GO Project’s Family 5K next Saturday, May 5th and join in the traditional “Fox Hunt.” Mike Fox will be released two minutes prior to the race’s start and each runner who catches “the Fox” will be entered in to a drawing for a dinner for two! But, be warned. Catching the old Fox isn’t as easy as it may seem. As this video shows, he motivated. He’s training. It’s personal.

Catch him or not, stay for a pancake breakfast and fun activities for kids of all ages. .

Saturday, May 5th • 9 AM Start
English Landing Park • Parkville, Missouri (click here for directions)
5K Registration $25 ($30 after May 2nd)
2 Mile Walk Registration $20 ($25 after May 2nd)
Kids’ Fun Run FREE for children 12 and under
For more information visit www.theglobalorphanproject.org/5K

At GO, we aren’t numbers junkies, but I loved working on the monthly wire this week for our partner villages in Haiti. Each cell represented real help for children in real need.

• $800 for surgery to remove a cyst from a little girl’s nasal passage to improve her breathing
• $4,800 for beds and mattresses for children sleeping on floors or bare bed frames
• $12,000 for a chicken farm to provide jobs, protein and profits used for orphan care
• Multiples more so kids learn their 3Rs, eat regularly, see the doctor, have a full-time house momma, hear the Gospel, etc.

And I felt joy; joy knowing you are helping lift the lives of children each day, all over the world.

Hitting send on the wire request, I was filled with gratitude for you.  My heart did dance; not from naïve emotionalism, but from the realization that you are giving children hope and a future…and, indeed, that is one of our favorite things!
 
Thank you for investing in the lives of some great kids!  Thank you for caring about them! What a privilege to serve with you!

Grateful, Trace

My trip to Sudan this particular time has been a special one and one of my best moments as a member of the GO Family. I’ve had good moments and more are to come; I’ve seen HIV kids being transferred from The Father’s House to AID Child for better care; I’ve seen kids holding hands, caring for each other, laughing together and lovingly calling out for their house Mama ‘Mum’; I’ve seen a child admiring her new uniform; I’ve witnessed  children feeling important and full of life because a bishop and a packed hall of people have come to watch them play or dance. All this blesses all of us to see what God is doing in these kids lives.

On my way to the airport Daniel (he was helping me navigate my way) told me how he really appreciated the vision of GO Project. (He heard about GO Project from our new partner in Torit.) I replied, “We are just trying.” He responded, “Oh, Rose, you people are not just trying, you are instead doing a very very big thing for the world; I see your organisation – even if I have not known much about it – like the hands and feet of Jesus to bring love to the orphans and vulnerable children.”

I did not comment on what he said because I had been 20 minutes late and the plane had waited for me, but it kept me very contemplative throughout my flight, and I am still pondering and praying about it…and God will, I will like to meet Daniel again!

We are so thankful that Daniel saw God moving through the lives of orphans in Torit. We are also grateful for you. Without you praying, sharing, going, loving, giving, doing, there would be no GO. Thank you for being the hands and feet of Jesus and helping care for orphaned and abandoned children around the world.

Recently I found myself on a drive to the mountainous area of Marmelade, Haiti to visit a village under construction. I’d heard the travel was rough but chalked it up to the phrase, “That’s Haiti.” Travel is always a little rough when most roads are gravel or crumbling asphalt. By no means did I expect the adventure that waited for me. I was lucky enough NOT to get a window seat and look down the mountain sideways, but I could hear and see the expressions of my travel mates and could only guess at how close we came to the edge. The good news was that once we hit a certain altitude the air changed to something cool and refreshing; the bad news was that it seemed an eternal climb to our destination, one filled with prayers that we wouldn’t fall out of the car or off the road.

As we bumped along, I found myself wondering what we were doing at such a remote location. There had to be a more convenient way to serve God than this. Between the gas and hotel expenses, this trip was neither cheap nor easy. Why would we seek out such a difficult task? It would have been so much easier to just stay in the Port-au-Prince area near a major airport and plenty of hotel choices, especially with our own Jumecourt Inn close by.

That’s when I realized, it isn’t about what’s easy. The obviously safer, less expensive paths are not always what God chooses for us. How many times do we see in Scripture that the Lord calls on His people to do the heavy lifting? That drive to the top of a mountain taught me that He doesn’t. He calls us to step in with faith and He is the one to finish the task we never could have done for Him on our own. It reminded me that He is the one laying tasks at our feet, showing us where He wants our service and asking, Are you in?

The school at Marmelade

- The current economic recession began in December 2007, and has hammered this 5 year block.

- Assuming a significant uptick in US giving for 2011, total US giving will experience somewhere between a 0% – 2% increase in this 5 year block.

- Given the trickle down nature of poverty, global orphan care has been one of the most difficult zones in which to serve during this 5 year block.

Yet, during the same 5 year block, The Global Orphan Project has experienced 1,323% growth!!!

Why?

Lots of reasons. But I believe there is one central reason.

Heading into 2007, a grand total of 12 of you had gone on trips to serve in the dead zone of the Orphan Window. During the 5 year block, more than 2,000 of you did so. And you all found abundant life.

You went to serve. You got changed: the Lord used these children to change your own lives in the process. Then you came home and changed the lives of others.

Supernaturally changed lives bear supernatural fruit. In ourselves. There among the children. And here among our families and friends.

The 1,323% growth is actually nothing compared to the immeasurable life change from the Orphan Paradox. If you’ve gone, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

As we celebrate death and true life this Easter, let me encourage you:

If you’ve never entered the Orphan Window, go!

If you’ve gone before, go again!

If you want to give a life changing gift, send someone!

Happy Easter.