About 

Back in the later 1990’s, a group of youth from a Virginia Beach church spent parts of summers serving orphaned children in Nicaragua. After a few years of serving and building relationships with children from Casa Bernabe orphanage, the pastor and a group of parents from that church joined those passionate young missionaries in an experiential trip that forged the formation of a Christ-centered ministry called to impact the lives of orphans in one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.

And, in the year 2000, The ORPHANetwork was formed.

God’s Story – Impact More Children

From Isaiah 58:10 (ESV), the word states “And if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”

What began with a focus on serving a specific group of vulnerable children, God soon introduced a new path for the ministry to expand its focus on demonstrating and delivering Good News to vulnerable children with even greater needs.

• In 2005, ORPHANetwork started the first Life-Saving Feeding Program in partnership with a local church in Nueva Vida – a very poor community in Managua, that was started as a refugee camp after hurricane Mitch hit Nicaragua in late 1998. In the following years, 5 more churches adopted the feeding program, reaching 1,200 children in that community alone.

• In 2011, we started a Medical Clinic and provided access to basic medical attention to children, cooks, pastors, and their families who participated in the feeding programs. God also allowed us to start a partnership with a Dental clinic for those children to provide preventive and curative dental care service for the 1,200 children from Nueva Vida.

• In 2012, we officially launched a second programmatic model called the Life Changing Health Program which formalized the combination of feeding (meals) & health evaluations: check-ups – height & weight, & body mass index measures in Nueva Vida. Our Medical doctor started to visit 23 other feeding programs where our ministry had already expanded through partnerships with local churches and where we wanted to do the health evaluations and nutritional assessments. In that year we hired our first nutritionist and established meal menus for the feeding programs. The ministry also grew dramatically as we started working with networks of churches outside of Managua in Matagalpa & Leon. This was the start and growth of relationships with Rise Against Hunger and Feed My Starving Children, two Gift-In-Kind suppliers of highly nutritious meals.

• In 2014, we expanded the Life-Saving Feeding Program to other parts of the Pacific departments and brought those kids into Nueva Vida for dental care services and exams. Our ministry reached 15K children through our feeding programs. A Job Skills training program began with Mission 14 to train sewing machine operators and provide a sustainable source of income to young adults.

• In 2016, we added a Focus & Intensity component to the Life-Changing Health Program in addressing chronic and acute malnutrition specifically to children 0 – 5. We also launched a brand new After School Education Program to create a more comprehensive developmental model now called the (comprehensive Health & Education) Life-Changing Program.

• In 2022, support for orphanages ceased due to government-mandated closures. Now, ORPHANetwork exclusively partners with local indigenous churches to execute its child-focused model of development.

God’s Next Chapter – Transform Vulnerable Children

In the story of the Ten Lepers from Luke 17:11-19, Jesus in His merciful and redemptive exchange with the one grateful, cleansed leper, reaches down and gently affirms the foreigner’s “new life.” Jesus says, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

In an incredible moment, one leper experiences a transformational shift in identify – from outcast to eternal value; from anonymity to light; from poverty to potential. His healing was “whole.”Jesus reset his path and directed him to pursue a life of purpose.

God’s promise of “rising” within the context of this ministry inspired us to more impactfully advance our Mission to be “in partnership with the local church and join with Jesus Christ in His transformative work to break cycles of poverty amongst highly vulnerable children.”

After 25 years of delivering Good News, we have launched an outcomes-driven Life Transforming Program, a new comprehensive child and youth development program tailored to each child’s age and one’s physical, cognitive and spiritual conditions. Our church partnerships have expanded to include local volunteer support and critical partnerships with government services.

The history of ORPHANetwork is one of innovatively feeding children. But it’s more than food. It’s about fullness. Wholeness. The meal was just the beginning. Now, it’s about faith…and a future.

The Promise – The New Name of “Transformation”

The Problem:

Vulnerable, marginalized children are too often the victims of neglect and underservice. Inconsistent access to life-saving and developmental resources tells a child she/he is not worthy. Children deserve to know they are valued; they matter and are loved by Jesus.

The Solution:

Together in partnership with the local church, children can grow into their full potential through holistic nourishment for physical, cognitive and spiritual development.

Through a networked body of child champions, children can rise from poverty to reach their God-given potential.

We call that “Nourish!”

Nourish.

From Poverty to Potential.