Dear Friends,
As the new year approaches, it seems like a good time to share some of the ways we are working to bring more hope to more families.
Today, there are a lot of really good things happening. I am so hopeful for the future as I look back and see God’s faithfulness, and look around and see what he is currently doing for his glory through World Orphans. We have a great organizational culture, and a staff that loves the Lord and is fully committed around shared values and vision. Collectively, we believe in the local church and are determined to see it empowered to care for the vulnerable. We also know that we have areas where we can grow and improvements we can make, and we enter those challenges joyfully, striving to serve well in an ever-changing, complex global environment.
In March, our leadership team met for the first of two sessions of spiritual discernment and strategic planning. In this time together, we focused on prayer, discussion, reviewing feedback, and identifying our priorities for the near future.
The leadership team met again in early summer to sharpen our vision and put together some long-term goals. We started by trying to paint an honest and accurate picture of the present “state” of World Orphans, supported by facts, data, and observable measures. Next, we developed a “North Star” vision, establishing a picture of where we believe God is leading the organization over the next five years. Lastly, with a desire for accountability, we identified measurable metrics to help us see these goals come to fruition.
Through this time, we identified three key priorities for the next five years:
Leadership Development: We recognize the need to clarify and strengthen how leadership is formed across the organization. We want to develop the next generation of leaders, and increase the program ownership of our international staff. This will ensure the longevity of the organization—transition is inevitable for us all, and we want to do our part in preparing for tomorrow.
In the next few years, our plan is to develop and implement a comprehensive leadership development and training process that embodies our core values, competencies, knowledge, and practices.
Collaboration: Our team wants to be more collaborative by fostering bottom-up and cross-regional partnerships throughout departments and country teams. Our goal is to encourage innovation in both existing programs and new initiatives by creating an organizational culture that leverages shared leadership and discernment as we aim to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit for World Orphans.
Funding Strategies: We realize our need to continue to pursue a variety of funding strategies. Our Strategic Partnership department is working to identify new funding sources, allowing us to keep pace with our projected growth and expansion.
World Orphans strives to do ministry with excellence. We believe our focus on these key changes will not only make us stronger and better as an organization, but will ultimately position us to reach our fundamental goal: to empower churches to preserve families.
Our team is excited for the future, and we thank God for your partnership!
With hope,
Scott Vair
World Orphans
President/CEO
This article was originally published in the World Orphans Fall Insight Magazine 2025.