Providing a Safe and Loving Home for Every Child

So much has been happening over the last few months! One of the most exciting things is that we are planning a forum for those serving orphans and the vulnerable in-and-around Europe! This will be a much-needed  time of training, encouragement, prayer and support, not to mention networking and sharing wisdom, knowledge and experience. Over 200 participants will come from at least 27 countries from March 15-18th in Sofia, Bulgaria. Even more will be able to live-stream the event! We are so grateful for this opportunity, and excited for all of the growth we will see at a result of this. 

Another big focus for us is continued outreach and service to displaced Ukrainians. Thousands of Ukrainians have been living in other European countries going on a year now, most of them women and children. Thanks in large part to your generosity, we have been able to give over €90,000 in aid, support and long-term programs to help those in need.

We are not only serving in Europe! In 2022 we had the opportunity to lead a Thrive event in Egypt! Many people in Egypt still see orphanages as the only solution for children in need and it is often very difficult to convince them otherwise. Two staff members from a project in Garbage City have learned from their own work among orphans that orphanages are not good places for children to grow up. They started a project to change this. Their idea was to either strengthen and support the families of these children so that the children could return home, or to find foster families for children who really had no one left. In Egypt, the adoption of children who no longer have parents is not possible, but instead raising children through "kafala" is an option. The term 'Kafala' in Islamic law is used to describe a situation similar to adoption, but without the severing of family ties, the transference of inheritance rights, or the change of the child's family name. These two staff members wanted to take advantage of the Kafala system and developed a project to apply this. They were aware that they could not do this alone, so they invited  workers from other organisations to this conference. 

Right at the beginning of the Thrive event, one of the participants, who had taken in two foster children herself, said that she had been praying for 15 years that something like this would happen. Many participants also said that they had never experienced a conference where people from different churches and organisations came together with a single goal: to help children in need to grow up in a family. Through videos and presentations, the participants learned why it is not good for children to grow up in orphanages, and why the best thing for a child is a stable family. This thought was completely new to some participants. They went home with a new understanding and a new conviction that the best place for children is the family. 

There is much more happening as well! We led a seminar to support adoptive and foster parents in Croatia, we've seen growth in the movement in Bulgaria, and seen "without orphan" movements emerging in new countries! THANK YOU for helping us to make all of this possible. We are deeply grateful for your support. If you would like to know more about our work throughout Bulgaria and beyond, please write to us anytime at europe@worldwithoutorphans.org.

Thank you for your gracious partnership in serving orphans and vulnerable children throughout Europe! With your support, we have been able to do a lot of great work! 

We continue to serve those affected by the war in Ukraine. While it is not in the spotlight as much these days, there continues to be a huge need in this area. We have been able to raise £77,000 to support orphans and mum-only families who are refugees in Poland, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Slovakia. We are helping both with material needs and with processing the trauma of their experience. Our projects have included funding summer camps for refugee children, training of children, parents and professionals to deal with war trauma, psychological services to refugee children, play therapy and helping refugee families with living costs such as food, electricity and clothes.

We continue regular training and mentoring of national leaders serving orphans and vulnerable children. This year we are training 150 leaders and activists from across Europe in three online training events! In addition, we are now working towards a Europe-wide forum in March 2023, to be held in Sofia, Bulgaria. This will be a time of helping new “Without Orphan” movements to grow, solidifying existing movements, and a time of training, support and encouragement for frontline workers. 

Speaking of new movements, we are excited for the growing work in Croatia, Egypt and Slovakia! With your support we are meeting with leaders in these countries and seeing really encouraging results. Please pray with us that these seeds being planted will grow into strong country-wide movements toward every child having a safe and loving family. 

Thank you, again, for helping us serve vulnerable children and families in Europe and beyond. We are deeply grateful for your support. Please write to us an time to learn more about our work: europe@worldwithoutorphans.org.

Links:

• https://europe.withoutorphans.org
• https://www.facebook.com/WWOEurope