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A Gathering of Passion-Orphan Summit 2012
April 2, 2012 | 
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145 million orphans on the earth today! True and undefined religion is this, to visit the widow and orphan in their distress. Hundreds will gather on May 2nd and 3rd at Saddleback Church for the annual Orphan summit put on by Chirsitian Alliance for Orphans. Attendees come from all over the world to share, learn and mobilize the church to answer the call to care for the orphan.
ZOE’s own Michael and Carol Hart will be sharing at one of the workshops at this years conference. Those who attend their workshop will learn how human trafficking and modern slavery are both cause and effect of the global orphan crisis, and what can be done about it. The Harts will join a panel of orphan care leaders engaged in working to protect and liberate orphans from trafficking.
An attendee from last year’s summit shared the following:
“Being with people whose hearts are lit up for Christ and the fatherless is amazing. They glow with warmth and light. So being with 1,500+ such people from 46 states and 7 countries in 1 place for 2+ intense days…well, it’s breathtaking.”
If you are interested in being a part of this gathering in Southern California, CLICK HERE to visit the Orphan Summit website.
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Integrity and Honor: A Key for the New Boys Home!
As Americans continue to face challenging economic circumstances, stories of corporate greed and injustice seem to dominate the media. This, however, is not one of those stories. This is the story of corporate generosity and social responsibility, wherein two successful business partners team with their employees to extend much needed help to children.
Current ZOE Children's Home on the right. New boys home will be on the same property to the left.
Ron Regenstreif and Michael Goldstone, co-owners of Regency Lighting, a nationwide business based in Chatsworth, CA, built their business on ideas of integrity and honoring relationships. Their steadfast commitment to these ideas has garnered them success, as they now operate 78 locations nationwide. In conjunction with “honoring relationships,” Regenstreif and Goldstone believe that business owners hold a social responsibility to those less fortunate, and they contribute a sizeable portion of their annual profits to those in need. Regenstreif was searching for their next philanthropic endeavor when Vickie McCoy, Regenstreif’s and Goldstone’s long-time employee, returned from a trip to ZOE Children’s Homes in Thailand and reported ZOE’s need for additional housing for rescued boys. Without hesitation, Regency Lighting committed to funding the project.
ZOE Children’s Homes is a Santa Clarita, CA based non-profit organization that cares for orphans and rescues children from human trafficking. Currently, ZOE’s work is focused in Thailand, a region where human trafficking crimes are prevalent. Once children are under ZOE’s care, ZOE remains responsible for them through adulthood by providing a safe and loving home community. Currently, boys and girls are housed on separate levels of the same building at ZOE. However, because there has recently been an increase in the number of boys being rescued, the ZOE staff believes building a separate, 9,000 square-foot home for the boys would not only ensure the healthiest possible living environment for everyone, but it would also provide more space for ZOE to rescue more children. Upon hearing of this need, Regency’s executive team authorized McCoy to commit Regency Lighting to funding the $250,000 project and to extend the effort to Regency Lighting employees as well.
McCoy and committee have since organized fundraisers, whereby Regency Lighting provides supplies and their staff makes donations for events such as Root Beer Float Fridays. McCoy’s next project allows staff and other ZOE supporters to fund the facility by donating $27 per square-foot. If you’d like to join Regency Lighting by purchasing a square foot of the boys’ home or by becoming a ZOE supporter, visit www.zoechildren.org.
THANK YOU REGENCY LIGHTING!
First Ever ZOE Rescue Walk Coming Soon!
This year, there will be several charitable walks across Southern California dedicated to raising funds and supporting those suffering from diseases. For victims of cancer, multiple sclerosis and AIDS, these walks provide not only much needed financial help, but they also raise awareness and create a sense of community support. This November, Southern Californians will have the opportunity to provide support to children who are suffering, not from a physical disease, but from a societal affliction: human trafficking. The ZOE Rescue Walk will provide several ways to help raise awareness and funds to support ZOE Children’s Homes as they combat this human atrocity. All of the funds raised during the ZOE Rescue Walk will help ZOE continue on their mission of rescuing children in need.
The ZOE Rescue Walk, which will take place on Nov. 10, 2012, between 9 a.m. and noon in Newhall Park, offers several ways to join in the fight against human trafficking. Interested participants can register as walkers, team captains, team members, or simply support someone who is walking. Registration is $20 for adults and $15 for kids. Signing up as a team captain allows participants to set a fundraising goal and invite their friends and family members to become part of their team. In addition, ZOE is inviting businesses to become corporate sponsors for the event, which will include a silent auction, a kids’ walk and an awards ceremony. ZOE is also accepting donated silent auction items. Visit http://www.zoerescuewalk.com.com to learn how you can participate in any of these ways.
An Unexpected Visit. Guest Blogger: Suzanne Marshall
A 17-member short-term missionary team recently traveled to the city of Chiang Mai in the northern region of Thailand. ZOE Children’s Home is located outside the city. ZOE is committed to caring for orphans and rescuing children from human trafficking.
A highlight of our trip was offering classes to those at ZOE, young and old alike, drawing on the talents and skills of team members. Classes included art, crocheting, haircutting, storybook making, and English lessons. I taught three sessions of floristry: to the children, the youth and the adults. I helped teach English and I also had the opportunity to teach puppetry to the Ministry School Students, who are part of ZOE’s evangelization outreach team. We helped paint one of the rooms at the home and we prepared and served a large barbecue for the entire ZOE family.
What was most impactful to me about ZOE was the organization itself. They take time to explain their goals and their structure. It is easy to see that they have a firm foundation and a broad framework for the ministry with great potential for growth. Presently, they have 63 children at the children’s home and hope to have 100 by the end of this year. Although for safety reasons they could not talk about it much, they are actively rescuing children.
Part of ZOE’s mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ to a people who have never heard of Him. Partnering with the local pastors, they go into schools with the ministry teams. Their preventative education includes teaching children about predators.
Our team went to a school in Chiang Mai and shared about Jesus through songs, a story, puppet show and crafts. The ZOE outreach team provided preventative education.
We also visited a hill tribe village high in the mountains of northern Thailand and colder than we were prepared for! Upon arriving, we brought gifts to the villagers as we went house to house. We shared the love of the Lord, prayed for any needs they had, and invited them to come to an outreach event that night at the community center.
That night the ZOE outreach team did most of the event. Our short-term team sang a couple of songs and tried to stay warm! Several responded to the message of God’s love that night.
We went to bed in a wooden home with no insulation and an outside squatty potty. The thermometer dipped into the 30’s that night and no one slept the night through. Instead of sleeping, we prayed, although some prayed “Lord, let this night be over!”
The next morning we went to the local church. The pastor came to know the Lord while at university and then came to this village as the only Christian and started a church. Today, there are several families in his congregation. Normally we would have gone to a school for an outreach but children were not in class that day so we altered our plans.
Since the church partners with Compassion International, we helped with the Compassion International program which has about 200 children.
Well the 200 showed up and then more kept coming and coming and pretty soon we had about 600 children and 200 adults. The village has 1000 people so almost the entire village showed up on a Monday morning! We told the story of Father God’s love towards us, illustrated with a puppet show. When it was over, I asked if any wanted to know Jesus and little hands shot up all over the audience. I asked them to stand so I could see them better. The whole group stood up and I directed them to the ZOE outreach team members who gathered them in circles to answer questions and pray with them. There were just under 130 people, mostly children, that fully responded.
We handed the pastor the response cards and he was overjoyed. Never has the whole village showed up at his church. As we drove away that day, I thought about how God had miraculously visited that faithful pastor in a most unexpected way, how our congregation on the other side of the world was a part of that miracle for him, and how he did not do anything different to receive the blessing of the Lord: it just happened suddenly!
To see more photos …click here
BLOG FLASHBACK! Rockford First
Here is a flashback to some fun times we had with Jen DeWeerdt from Rockford First …back in January 2010.
Guest Blogger: Jen DeWeerdt
A team of ten incredible ladies and I recently returned from a trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand where we worked with the amazing ZOE Children’s Home. What an awesome, life-changing trip for all of us. This was my second time working with ZOE and although this trip was completely different than the first, the impact of the culture, children, and staff of ZOE again touched my heart in ways hard to explain. One of the questions I have been asked since returning is, “What was your favorite part of the trip?” That is an IMPOSSIBLE question to answer, because every aspect was unique and impacting in its own way. Having said that, one event that stands out as one of my greatest memories from our time there is, quite honestly, surprising to me that it has ended up being so memorable!
The team and I were asked to cook a spaghetti dinner for the entire ZOE family, which totals about 150 people including ministry school students, staff and the children. I have NEVER cooked for that many people nor had anyone on our team…so this was an adventure! On the menu were salad, garlic bread, and spaghetti with meat sauce. Eight of us cooked, cut, chopped, minced, and stirred for approximately four hours in order to feed our family that night! We experienced a level of teamwork that brought our group closer together and gave us a memory that will last a lifetime.
I learned a few lessons from our cooking adventure that I think are noteworthy:
You can do more than you think you can do!
I have a family of four (soon to be five in October!) and I sometimes struggle to “find” the time to make them a healthy meal every day. Well, at ZOE, a team of ladies cooks for NINE hours a day to feed everyone breakfast, lunch and dinner! Wow, NINE hours! After learning that, I adopted a new line for myself, “Pull it together, Jen! You can cook for four!”
Serving together creates a great sense of team!
Something happens when you have to put your heads together to accomplish a task that you know will affect 150 person’s meal time that night!!! We all had the end result in mind and that brought us together! Seeing the sweet faces of everyone who walked through the line to take their dinner and knowing you and your team made this happen was simply an amazing, fulfilling feeling!
Learn to have fun while serving!
Some of our FUNNEST memories as a team were a result of us living the adventure of cooking together! I need to apologize to all future ZOE teams, that you may find yourself having to do this same task! We were the first team to try this and I told ZOE founder Carol Hart that EVERY team needs to do this together. We had MANY laughs because of our spaghetti dinner adventure!
At the risk of sounding sensational, I would have to say this was one of my favorite and life-changing memories of my trip. It was truly humbling to serve a meal and provide nourishment to a group of people who are either laying their lives down for the sake of the children at ZOE or for the orphaned and rescued children themselves who are grateful for three meals a day at the beautiful “House of Destiny” that is now their home.
I will never forget serving bowls of salad, slices of garlic bread, and plates of spaghetti (with slightly burnt meat sauce) in the name of Jesus to our beautiful ZOE family!
Jen DeWeerdt
Rockford, Illinois
