Resource Library

Something has sparked in your heart. you wonder what it might look like to open your life to a child that needs the love and protection of family…or at least to help in some small way. Questions like that are rarely simple. But here are seven key truths for what could become the most remarkable … Read more

Many churches around the country are taking bold, noble and exciting steps towards repsonding to God’s call to care for orphans and vulnerable children in unprecedented ways. While it is an exciting time, it is also a time filled with many questions from church leaders regarding how to launch and lead effective and sustainable orphan … Read more

In the flurry of all the things that come with leading and implementing ministries, one of the most critically important yet often overlooked component of ministry leadership is establishing clear and consistent messaging. What are we going to say? How are we going to say it? Why are we going to say it that way? … Read more

At the core of our motivation to care for the orphaned and vulnerable is the heart of God demonstrated through the gospel on our behalf. It’s the gospel – the story of Christ interjecting Himself into our brokenness and redeeming us out of it by bringing us into His forever family – which acts ars … Read more

It’s not an event, it’s a process. It’s the long, sometimes slow and sometimes tumultuous journey of movement – from where we are to where we need or want or hope to be. Discipleship toward a goal or vision doesn’t just happen – it requires intentionality, purpose and planning. Often times when we think of … Read more

Sometimes the problem feels really big, and our people feel really small. They don’t know where to start, what to do or if they can really make a difference at all in the lives of orphaned and vulnerable children. And if we’re honest, sometimes as leaders we don’t know what to do or where to … Read more

Service-focused travel during short-term missions trips can have the potential for great harm if not wisely led or prepared. These risks can be especially high when visitors seek to serve children, particularly those lacking the protection and connectedness of family. The potential for good that short-term trips have calls for continued refining, correction, and improvement. … Read more

The proper functioning of the people of God to fulfill the purposes of God are most often portrayed in communal terms, not individualistic ones. While one role may be more visible and another more subtle, both operate on a cooperative level of equal codependence, to the extent that if even one seemingly “small” part suffers, … Read more

A collaborative project of the National Church Ministry Initiative and the Applied Research and Best Practice Initiative of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. Impacting the world in significant, meaningful, Christ-honoring ways has always been a hallmark of the Christian church. Through local, domestic and global initiatives, God’s people have historically led the way in compassionate … Read more