There are orphans all over the world experiencing neglect and poverty, who are deprived of a quality education, healthcare, resources, and more importantly, a healthy family sharing the love of God. NHFC partners with our orphanages in Ukraine, Haiti, and Kenya to bring mission teams to support care of the children and share God’s love. Our goal is to “serve as needed” and support those on the ground doing the work day to day. We want to make a positive impact on the caregivers, bring hope to the children, and leave knowing that all have been nurtured and lives improved because we were there.

During the trip, you will experience the culture, food, and community firsthand. Different trips require different levels of commitment with some being more mentally and physically challenging than others. The different food, a variety of bugs, lack of showers, lack of electricity, or lack of comfortable bedding can be overwhelming. You will be immersed in the lives of the caregivers and children working alongside them in their environment which is far more impoverished than what you have likely experienced in the USA. In addition to bringing needed supplies, we share the love of Jesus through our words and actions and by doing Bible stories, crafts, and games that share the gospel while helping the children develop various skills. We also support the work happening in the orphanage by doing small improvement projects, cleaning the building/grounds, or assisting with other similar needs. The needs addressed on each trip differ, and the amount of time spent with the children vs. working on projects will vary. The goal is to come alongside those providing the care and support doing whatever is most needed. Each trip will vary as needs change.

Ultimately, our trips are about serving God. We are going to places where we have clearly felt Him call us to go and take a team. On our trips, we meet the children and caregivers where they are at and build into their lives both physically and spiritually. You will meet and serve families and children living in poverty with varying degrees of delays, disabilities, and/or medical conditions such as HIV/AIDS. Often, many of the adults we work alongside have never accepted Christ themselves and have grown up with hardship. We are there to serve both the children and their caregivers. Sometimes hygiene, behaviors, and interactions may be less than what you are accustomed to in your own experience. But, we know the lives of the children and adults, as well as those of our team members, are changed forever when we take the time to step out of our world and into theirs and share the love of God. Our goal is not about our experience, but rather coming alongside those we serve, to help fill their needs as determined by the orphanage director. Our trip is meant to support their work with the children not to disrupt their work.

Your trip will challenge you to understand a world outside of yourself and your comfort zone. NHFC will arrange your cross cultural training, travel logistics, accommodations and much more. You will be guided through trip preparation – such as passports, visas, and immunizations (if necessary), and you will need to meet certain deadlines. We will provide travel tips and packing ideas. NHFC will do our part to help you prepare emotionally, spiritually, and physically, but there are always risks, and we encourage you to read up on travel to the region where you are going and what you can do to also help prepare yourself for such a trip. Our experienced team leader will be on the trip with you to provide direction and guidance from day to day. The team leader works with the on-site staff to determine the needs of each day. You will need to be flexible and trust the process. Be ready, willing, and open as God leads the team.