An Amazing Race

It's 4:30 am.

Our flight does not leave for 7 hours but I am awake and anxious to start what will be an amazing adventure. In fact, it will be our Amazing Race.

Maybe you have seen this reality show on TV. Teams of two race all over the world to compete for a $1,000,000 prize. Each stage presents the contestants with a new cultural and competitive experience.

The anticipation begins when they open the envelope to learn their next destination. As they depart, a visual graphic flashes on the screen showing when each team is leaving and where they are going.

Ours would read "Team Africa ... departs Kansas City at 11:35 am ... headed for Kenya and Malawi."

Our bags are packed and we are ready. But we are not racing for money. This is about something bigger.

Paul sums it up well in Philippians 3:14-15.

" ... I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven."

Heaven is our ultimate destination. Along the way we get to help the orphans.

Now that's an Amazing Race.

The Silent Pandemic

The World Health Organization has declared a Level 6 global pandemic for H1N1, otherwise known as the Swine Flu.

As of June 27, there were more 59,000 cases of H1N1 in 110 countries. The number of deaths attributed to this outbreak is approaching 300 worldwide. More than 80 of those in the U.S.

The Swine Flu is nothing to sneeze at. I saw this in the Washington Post ...

"According to the WHO, seasonal flu kills 250,000 to 500,000 people globally. In the United States, there are about 36,000 deaths a year. The 1968 Hong Kong flu pandemic killed 1 million people worldwide. "

But there is another crisis that remains out of sight and out of mind. It is the global pandemic of orphans.

There are more than 140 million orphans around the world. 42,000 new orphans each day. One every 2 seconds. That is 30 since you started reading ... if you are a fast reader. Those are big numbers.

And consider this in perspective to the Swine Flu "crisis." Since the outbreak of the H1N1, more than 2.5 million orphans have died. That is a tragic number.

It's time to do something about the orphaned and abandoned children. We must give a voice to this silent pandemic.

For us, the journey begins tomorrow when we head to Kenya and Malawi for two weeks. We won't be able to save them all. But we can rescue some. And every one that is not a statistic makes a difference.

Won't you join us?

The Story Begins

Welcome to The Colonial Global Orphan Project blog! This is where we will share the story of how God moves a church, its members, their families and friends, and complete strangers yet to be known, to help rescue and care for orphaned and abandoned children in Africa.

To learn more about Colonial Presbyterian Church and The Global Orphan Project, visit their websites by clicking the image or the link on this page.

Prologue

Many great stories have a prologue. It sets the stage for the drama and excitement that begins with Chapter 1.

On June 30, we will travel to Kenya and Malawi. This trip represents the initial steps of a journey to be known as The Colonial Global Orphan Project.

Here is what you need to know up front.

• Jim West, lead pastor at Colonial Presbyterian Church, will be preaching to thousands at the Bahati Martyrs Church in Nairobi on July 5. We will broadcast this sermon back to the US and simulcast it at our two campuses in the KC area. You will be able to see this sermon on the church website starting July 6.


• The Colonial Global Orphan Project is part of the new C3 initiative to radically transform the care of orphans around the world. Check out the cool website and promotional video and tell your friends.


• To understand why Colonial and our family have sold out for the care of orphans, watch Joe Knittig tell a compelling story about Aslan and the "deeper magic" behind this movement. You can find the video here.

It has been almost 30 years since Out of Africa hit the big screen with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. This film won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Music, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. It was a great movie by all standards.

But it was still a movie. And even though it was based on the memoir of Karen Von Blixen, Out of Africa is now a fictionalized dramatization of reality from Hollywood reduced to memories on a DVD.

The Colonial Global Orphan Project is going In to Africa and will be the dramatic realization of a vision from God to be remembered forever through the changed lives of orphans.

Blessings until next week.

Chuck Wolfe, Debi Wolfe, Jim West, Heather Bass and Golden Davis