10 Feb Covering World Without Orphans Global Forum in Chiang Mai, Thailand

My first meeting with Karmen and Ruslan of World Without Orphans last year that kicked off our working together.

World Without Orphans is a global movement with a shared vision for orphans becoming sons and daughters. Their dream is that every child will grow up in a safe, stable and nurturing permanent family, and know their Heavenly Father.

The first Global Forum for a World Without Orphans will be held on February 11-14, 2016 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This will be a strategic time to activate, connect, and equip the Christian community worldwide to address the orphan crisis, as leaders from around the world develop and share solutions that provide every child with a safe, stable, and nurturing family.

As the photojournalist for the upcoming Global Forum, one of my roles has been to interview leaders in orphan care from around the world who are speaking at the forum week in Thailand. These interviews have taken place in locations ranging from Nashville, Colorado Springs, Manilla and Zürich with these photographs telling part of that story. The answers given to the questions I asked have been even more interesting than the locations in which the interviews took place.

Among those interviewed were CAFO president Jedd Medefind who also served in the White House as a special assistant to George W. Bush. In Colorado I visited Compassion International’s headquarters to interview Wess Stafford, president emeritus of Compassion International. The time that I spent with each person interviewed was memorable and there was the distinct feeling that God’s hand was on each of their lives in a divine way as a result of there commitment and obedience to James 1:27.

The interviews are now online and can be found at the following links. If you have a heart for the orphan, you will be encouraged by what these leaders have to say.

Jedd Medefind – President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans http://wwoforum.org/speaker/jedd-medefind

Wess Stafford – President Emeritus of Compassion International http://wwoforum.org/speaker/wess-stafford

George Vincent Ebenezer – Chief Executive Officer, Beyond Barriers http://wwoforum.org/speaker/george-ebenezer

Billiance Chondwe – Executive Director Balladeers Global Missions Network International
http://wwoforum.org/speaker/billiance-chondwe

Alex Sam – President at Everett Mission Charitable Trust, India – http://wwoforum.org/speaker/alex-sam

For more about the Global Forum and those who are speaking, please visit http://wwoforum.org/speakers

In Colorado Springs, interviewing Wess Stafford – President Emeritus of Compassion International

Jedd Medefind – President of the Christian Alliance for Orphans

Heading to Zurich

Switzerland

Cows of Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland train …. Early morning? Or late night, can’t remember which smile emoticon

Brilliance Chondwes – Executive Director – Balladeers Global Missions Network International, Jodi Jackson Tucker – International Director of Orphan Sunday, CAFO, Alex Sam – President at Everett Mission Charitable Trust and myself in Switzerland.

George Vincent Ebenezer – Chief Executive Officer, Beyond Barriers