Two decades – that’s how long World Orphans has been helping local churches rescue and care for orphans and vulnerable children. We have seen much growth and change over the years, and yet, the vision of our founders remains today.
In 1993, Bob Roosen, Troy & Tina Wiseman, and Ray & Marion Winslow answered God’s call to rescue orphans around the world by forming the Roosen, Wiseman, Winslow Foundation that would later become World Orphans. With their initial grant of $74,000, they would fund their first church-based orphan home and begin a journey of seeking how best to come alongside the local church, to equip, inspire, and mobilize.
Over the next 19 years, World Orphans would partner with 588 churches in 47 countries. All along, we have sought to empower local congregations to be the hands and feet of Christ and to enable them to care for orphans in a way that is engaging and inviting to their communities.
As we enter 2013, we remain committed to the local church. We have become much more relational in practice, seeking long-term partnerships rather than one-time grants. We have developed a passion for holistic care of children, seeking to see them grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. And, we have engaged the church in the US by providing church-to-church partnership as a platform for orphan ministry.
World Orphans has grown, changed, and adapted over the years, and we pray we will remain open to the leading of the Spirit and continue to increase our knowledge and experience. While once focused exclusively on building children’s homes, we now prefer to see children cared for in families. We embrace the picture we see in Scripture of family–of a Father in heaven who loves us, and who, through the death and resurrection of Christ, has adopted us into his family. We love how God creates families and feel called to see children know the love of family in their community, with the love, encouragement, and support of the local church.
It is with much enthusiasm and hope that we enter 2013. God has been ever so gracious to World Orphans, and we are excited to see what He has in store for us next. We pray that we continue to be a ministry marked by humility and grace, seeking to further the legacy started by our founders – equipping, inspiring, and mobilizing the church to care for orphans and vulnerable children.