About Global Ministries Global Ministries exist to use our influence as a local church to ensure that the gospel is communicated across cultures, to ensure that disciples are made, and to ensure that the worldwide kingdom of Jesus Christ is advanced for the global glory of God.
Sometimes when we hear about events that are occurring in various parts of the world, it is easy to get dismayed or discouraged, thinking that perhaps there are places where God is not at work. Global Ministries focuses on a theme from the Old Testament, found in 1 Chronicles 16:31: “Let the nations say, the Lord reigns!” King David commissioned this psalm of praise to those who were to minister in the tent of the Lord at the time when the Ark of the Covenant was brought there as a symbol of God’s presence.
Just as David was able to long for the Lord’s reigning power in the nations surrounding Israel at the time, we also must long to see the Lord extending His reign to the nations of this Earth and trust that despite dark circumstances, He will be victorious in the end.
Becki Carlson opened an email describing the devastation of the earthquake and need in Haiti on a Wednesday and less than a week later she had a team of 11 on the ground ready to help the lost Haitian kids.
“I felt I had to do something and God was telling me I had to go,” Becki said. “I was so sad and all I could think about were the kids.”
Through America World Adoptions, a Christian adoption agency where the Carlson’s adopted their baby girl, Becki aligned herself with a sister agency, Visiting Orphans. Visiting Orphans enlists church volunteers to visit orphanages so they may help meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of orphans by developing relationships, providing comfort and sharing the Gospel. They also provide financial aid for child sponsorship, medical assistance and construction to improve the living conditions of the children.
“Visiting Orphans sends teams all over the world to help in orphanages and relieve the nannies who work around the clock,” Becki said.
The team flew into the Dominican Republic and drove three hours to the boarder of Haiti with boxes of medical supplies, clothing
and shoes for the Hope For Haiti Orphanage. Once they entered into Haiti Becki said, “You didn’t see any earthquake damage where we were, but we saw the poverty. You can feel the oppression in the air and you see people bathing in the same water they do their laundry in.”
Hope For Haiti Orphanage rescues, loves and cares for orphans. The four women who run the orphanage try to meet the children’s needs spiritually, physically, academically and emotionally, preparing them for a brighter future. “It is an awesome place—with all the hopelessness, the orphanage is the light,” Becki said. “The kids are fed three meals a day, are educated and speak English and they know Jesus. The children grow up in the orphanage with hopes they will be the future of Haiti—the next generation of leaders.”
During the time Becki spent at the orphanage she entertained the children and she gave them some much desired affection and love. Rocking a child to sleep or holding one of the kid’s hands as they walked to dinner is the interaction these children are starved for, and volunteers including Becki provide.
Injured and lost children from Port-au-Prince, the city which was hit the hardest by the earthquake, were found and brought to the Hope For
Haiti Orphanage for treatment and care. Becki said they found one boy named Johnny on the streets with a broken femur. Johnny dragged himself for 11 days until he was found. Another child was located in a full body cast with a note, “God loves you,” and directions for care written in marker on the cast.
“Many children were brought into the orphanage from Port-au-Prince and a lot of the kids were injured,” Becki said. “In the sadness it was neat seeing the older kids nurture and love the younger ones.”
One of Becki’s team members who traveled from Sugar Grove, IL is a foot doctor and surgeon who lent her expertise to the injured
children not knowing her life was about to change forever. As Becki tells the remarkable story of her team member, a huge smile fills her face. This woman and her husband, both in their 30’s, felt they didn’t want to have children but would possibly adopt if the opportunity presented itself. She spent the week holding and loving a little boy who suffers from Cerebral Palsy. He was so sick she had to feed him with a dropper. She fell in love with this special boy and has begun the process of adopting him.
“Working at the Hope For Haiti Orphanage, opened my eyes to the poverty in the country,” Becki said. “I had no idea how bad it was and yet you hear people singing praise songs in the middle of the night. I would go back in a heartbeat.”
The Compass Church is currently looking for ministry opportunities in Haiti and may team up with Visiting Orphans in the future. For more information, contact Jenny Kindelin at jkindelin@thecompass.net.
