About ORPHANetwork

MBC Loudoun is partnering with ORPHANetwork in Bluefields, Nicaragua to build long-term relationships with local churches to help provide care for orphans in the name of Jesus Christ.

About ORPHANetwork

The mission of ORPHANetwork is to go beyond meeting children's basic needs to helping them fully develop their God-given potential. We want them to gain a vision for themselves and equip them to impact their community. They achieve that by partnering with local churches in Nicaragua who will help to provide care, nourishment, education, vocational training and spiritual guidance to children who are in need.

Initiatives

  • Rescue abandoned children.
  • Prevent children from becoming orphans.  Most orphans are social orphans – the parents simply can’t afford to feed their children.  To keep child fed and with their parents, local churches host feeding programs that provide one nourishing meal a day for the children. 
  • Community outreach via local churches

Values

  • Do everything through local churches
  • Nicaraguans need to solve the problems of Nicaragua. Find indigenous leaders and resource them.
  • Collaboration

     

About Nicaragua 

  • Nicaragua is the poorest Spanish-speaking country in the world. It is the 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The country's poverty most severely affects women and children.
  • Nearly 50% of all Nicaraguans are either unemployed or underemployed.
  • Distribution of income in Nicaragua is one of the most unequal on the globe. Over 2 million Nicaraguans live in poverty. The majority of Nicaraguans live on less than $2/day and more than 800,000 live in extreme poverty, less than $1/day. 
  • 1 of every 3 Nicaraguan children has some degree of malnutrition.
  • 1 of every 4 Nicaraguan children is born to a teenage mother.
  • Less than 30% of all Nicaraguan children complete an elementary education. On average, Nicaraguans complete fewer than 5 years of schooling.
  • 95% of all disabled children in the country receive no appropriate support.

 

 Our Partnership

Several factors were considered in the decision to partner with ORPHANetwork. We desired to work with an organization that has a vision and goals that our church can support. We also sought such tanglible factors as reasonable trip costs for congregants participating on yearly mission trips, a location to serve that is relatively close (western hemisphere) and provides opportunities for families to serve together.

With input from the local church leaders in Bluefields, and from the team that went from Loudoun in July 2009, some specific needs were identified that we, as a campus, would support. Those include:

  • Support of the local feeding center at Verbo Church. Goal is to provide 1 meal a day for at least 130 orphans (current funding only allows meals for 80 children)
  • Provide pastoral care to the Verbo church leaders. Pastors have been working for little or no pay and are lacking basic church resources (like bibles for the congregation to use)
  • Empower the local youth group to minister to and train the children who come to Verbo church

Each year it is our desire to send at least one team to Bluefields through our partnership. But our involvement wouldn't stop with the trip. We are always seeking ways to continue ministering to the children and families that we serve in Bluefields throughout the year. If you have ideas or suggestions we'd love to hear them! Contact: Lauren Payne.