Feeding 5,000 Vision
Feeding 5,000 Vision
June 11, 2022
By Scott Nordstrom
James 1:27 Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Today as many of you know, we distribute aid through a network of like-minded in-country partners in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Zambia to serve 2,479 children (May 2022). Since our beginnings we have also been honored to provide aid to orphan children in India, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, and Uganda at some point in time since 2005.
In caring for orphan children in various countries, cultures, and communities throughout the world, we believe this process would be misguided without consideration for culture-specific solutions. We leverage our local relationships to deploy local methods of meeting children's needs. This process involves an exchange of ideas between our team In the U.S. and our local partners in the field until we come to a mutually agreeable solution that will efficiently benefit orphan children.
Typically, our partnerships fall into one of four initiatives.
Home-based Care | Through this Initiative we care for children in a family environment. This Is accomplished through a combination of group homes built and then supported, and through foster care which enables the children to remain with extended family while receiving some level of support. This Is the most expensive method of care of all our initiatives as we place a child in a home with a family, or we work to provide sustainability of the extended family where the child already resides.
Kenya, Pakistan, South Sudan, & Zambia = 225 children
Scholarship | Through this initiative we provide support for a child to attend school who would otherwise not have this opportunity. Our scholarships are awarded to orphan children in need and is usually targeted to participating local area schools and is facilitated by local ministry partners.
DR Congo, Kenya, & Zambia = 651 children
Nutrition | Based on this method of care we provide food aid to children in need. Distribution is provided by our field partners in local participating schools and can be in the form of providing meals or supplementing existing food supplies.
Ethiopia, Kenya, & South Sudan = 1,386 children
Church Mobilization | Is our newest initiative launched in February 2022. We are currently working with local area churches to co-host Great Commandment Workshops (GCW) where we bring together multiple subject matter experts to discuss the why and how to serve the poor generally, and orphan children specifically. We will track the scale of impact for the children served through this effort to hone our approach and to justify continued investment. We have no plans to be funding the care of children through this initiative.
Kenya = 167 children
Beyond the financial commitment of the workshops, this effort is to be indigenous, self-propagating, and self-supporting. Our objective is to engage local churches to mobilize the church body to serve orphaned children in their communities, to advance the Kingdom through demonstrating the Gospel to others, and to expand our GO! network. Through these workshops we are:
VISION: The vision we have for our movement is to build upon our capacity to impact 5,000 orphan children each month. We call this effort Feeding 5,000.
Like when Jesus fed the 5,000 in the Gospels, our greatest opportunity is to demonstrate the love of Christ to as many children that we can. Based on the current level of aid provided across initiatives, the number of field partners, current resources, and the places in which we serve, we believe that this scale for our ministry is achievable by 2025. The most critical variable referenced is resources, so if this obstacle is overcome in the near-term, reaching 5,000 may not require three years to achieve.
The vision we have for our movement will require additional resources that will be three to four times the funds generated in 2021. This will require a robust investment in our capacity as an organization. We will need acquire talent and capabilities to reach more people, to acquire more funding partners, increase donor acquisition, and to diversify sources and methods of fundraising.
From 2014 to 2021, GO! grew by 43 times when considering the number of children served, so we are experienced in adapting to growing needs in the field and understand what is needed to grow the organization.
While we plan to grow our three primary initiatives: home-based care, scholarships, and nutrition, into the future as resources allow, we believe that the driving force in the field for our movement is our Church Mobilization Initiative.
This initiative was launched in February 2022 after many years in the working. Today, our concentration is on Great Commandment Workshops that deploy the local church body to care for orphaned children. We are currently working with Minister Isaiah Kimani in Kenya, to coordinate these workshops in Kenya..
Isaiah is a graduate of Nations University-USA with a Master of Theological Studies degree and Christian Leaders College with a Bachelor of Divinity Degree. Minister Isaiah is our Director designate for the Global Orphan Relief’s Church Mobilization Initiative in Kenya and will work corporately to launch additional jurisdictions. He currently coordinates and leads Great Commandment Workshops throughout Kenya and was instrumental in our launch there in February 2022. He is leading in championing the rights, interests, and well-being of orphan children by deploying the local Church to be more focused on serving orphaned children in their communities.
Unlike our other initiatives, our Church Mobilization Initiative is more so a training effort rather than the distribution of aid to children. Like-minded churches are enlisted to co-host these events with Global Orphan Relief based in Colorado. We target the Why & How to serve others by empowering the Church to serve as Christ commanded. We work to equip the body to serve the vulnerable by providing practical steps to do so.
We accomplish this through local events called the Great Commandment Workshop, and our objective is to encourage and deploy the local church to serve the poor. In this process we emphasize serving orphan children, and as a result, we proliferate the Gospel.
“I have witnessed firsthand the Great Commission as we have carried out the Great Commandment to “Love our neighbors as yourselves.” You see, we can’t sustain caring for others without knowing Him personally, and as we carry out this scriptural mandate to serve others, people cannot help but witness the love of Christ. This is the fulfillment of everything it means to have faith in Jesus. As far as the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, I don’t believe that you can accomplish one without the other,” as I shared earlier this year.
This is to be a worldwide movement, as our deployment in Kenya is just the beginning, with an emphasis on penetrating the 10/40 Window to demonstrate the Gospel to the unreached.
We are so encouraged by the results thus far with over 800 ministry leaders attending eight Great Commandment Workshops in 2022.
As we move forward with the rollout of this initiative, be praying how you might be more involved. In addition, pray for our team in Kenya and our board as we raise funds for this initiative and allocate resources throughout the ministry. Pray for the process per the following challenges, goals, and objectives:
While we have yet to begin a formal tracking mechanism to gauge the impact to orphan children, several attendees voluntarily reported their work in their communities last month. These leaders stepped out to serve orphans based on their attendance of one of our Great Commandment Workshops held earlier this year. In all, 167 orphan children were served in some way by these GCW Ambassadors. Since our launch in February, we have commissioned 295 ministry leaders for this important Kingdom work, so we look forward to receiving more of these reports moving forward.
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Global Orphan Relief (GO) has been serving orphaned children since 2005. We have accomplished this work to date through local partners in each country that provides oversight and distribution of care. As of May we served 2,479 orphan children in DR Congo, Kenya, Pakistan, South Sudan, and Zambia within our Home-based Care, Nutrition, Scholarship, & Church Mobilization Initiatives.
Scott Nordstrom leads GO! today and was a co-founder when we launched in 2005. Scott has served with GO! for 16-years. Scott has been instrumental in deploying 163 volunteers on 26 teams to the mission field, and has personally served in DR Congo, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, South Sudan, and Zambia. Scott is a published author and has also spoke in the United States, as well as, internationally regarding child welfare and matters of faith, hope, and love.
You may send support or other correspondence to Global Orphan Relief, 16352 Prairie Farm Circle, Parker, CO 80134 or you may give also give electronically at Support the Global Orphan Relief Children or give on this website at the upper righthand corner under ‘Donate’.
Movement of FAITH | Voice of HOPE | Act of LOVE
Global Orphan Relief (GO!) is a Christian relief agency serving vulnerable children and is a recognized U.S. public charity, tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3). All donations to GO!, or any charitable contribution processed through Network For Good Donor Advised Fund, are tax deductible to the extent of the law. If you prefer, you may provide gifts of support by sending via mail to the address above.