Peeling, dicing, cutting and baking.
Wonderful team work!
(Image, caption courtesy Orphan Outreach)
Latvia (MNN) — For vulnerable girls in Latvia, certain friendships are more than important: they’re life-changing. Orphan Outreach is forming this type of friendship with girls from the Jelgava orphanage. During a monthly “Girl’s Night,” the Orphan Outreach team shares meals and talks about God with girls from the orphanage.
“We are extremely glad that we get to spend extra time with these friends on a more regular basis,” says one of the team members on Orphan Outreach’s Facebook page.
“We are happy about all the times we get to see them, but it is so much more comforting to have a monthly schedule for our extra time together!”
For January’s get-together, team members and eight girls from the orphanage went grocery shopping together, prepared and partook in a meal, studied a Bible lesson, and played games. A previous Girl’s Night found the group making crafts along with their meal.
“We had wonderful conversations!” stated a team member. “Some of the girls really opened up about some of their concerns regarding many girl- and God-related questions.”
Tea and friendly conversation.
(Image, caption courtesy Orphan Outreach)
Latvia’s broken homes and widespread poverty put many kids at-risk of human trafficking. According to the U.S. State Department’s 2013 Trafficking In Persons (TIP) report, “Latvia is a source and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking.”
The country has a viable child sex tourism industry, and kids in state-run orphanages are particularly vulnerable. Pray that the Orphan Outreach Girl’s Nights will teach the young girls about Christ’s love and their value in His eyes. Pray that they will be less vulnerable to trafficking because of the friendships and moral lessons established in this activity.
Orphan Outreach works alongside the Jelgava orphanage and a Day Care Center in Latvia. Learn more about their program here.
