On May 3, a team from Lost Sparrows—including one of our board members, Blythe Royaards, a ministry partner, Taylor Irby, and myself—flew to Sarajevo, Bosnia to reconnect with our local partners. It has been four years since we were last able to be there in person. It was so encouraging to reconnect with so many amazing people and support the ongoing work they are doing to serve orphans and those with special needs. Our week in Bosnia involved training many foster parents, case managers, caregivers, and professionals on the impact of childhood trauma. So many of those we work with grew up duri ..read more

A little over a month ago I’d had it with our boys and their feet. Ruslan had once again walked a hole through the bottom of his shoes and another PT had told us that he couldn’t help, and said, “In fact, no one in Ukraine can help you.” In the throes of frustration, I decided to put it out to the wonderful Wide Awake community to see if any of you knew someone who could help our Ruslan. We had exhausted our resources here in Ukraine and, at last, decided it was time to look outside our borders for help. I wrote a blog post asking for help or recommendations for Ruslan and was blown away by al ..read more

Hayes is a delightful 2-year-old who is described as cute and clever. His absolute favorite activity is to swing on the swing set. Hayes is learning to call out to his on-site family care mom and dad when he needs their attention. They lavish the praise on him when he does this, to encourage him even more. Hayes is in need of sponsors to support his continued placement in on-site family care and avoid going back to an orphanage.     More of Hayes’ Story In late November of 2021, eight children were transferred from orphanage care into two family care apartments on the orphanage grou ..read more

Hayes is a delightful 2-year-old who is described as cute and clever. His absolute favorite activity is to swing on the swing set. Hayes is learning to call out to his on-site family care mom and dad when he needs their attention. They lavish the praise on him when he does this, to encourage him even more. Hayes is in need of sponsors to support his continued placement in on-site family care and avoid going back to an orphanage.     More of Hayes’ Story In late November of 2021, eight children were transferred from orphanage care into two family care apartments on the orphanage grou ..read more

Lost Sparrows has several areas of focus within their mission to help end the orphan crisis. One initiative is the Foster Care Support Project in Bulgaria. Many of the orphans in Bulgaria are social orphans—babies and children who are abandoned by their families due to poverty or physical disability. Lost Sparrows supports a group of therapists and volunteers who work tirelessly to respond to the need of foster families. Families providing foster care in Bulgaria are often not supported financially or emotionally.     The Foster Care Support Project collects resources, such as diape ..read more

Some of you may remember Nik from Nik’s Heart of Hope (NHOH)—connected with Lost Sparrows. He’s the young man with a ginormous heart for serving and spreading God’s love who worked to collect and crush aluminum cans to exchange for money at the recycling center. That money turned into donations and grants for needy organizations. Well, he’s still at it! NHOH continues to partner with organizations like Helping Hands Healing Hearts in the Philippines whose mission is to provide care and advocate for children in crisis situations. Recently, they were awarded the first ever NHOH Hero Award. In Bo ..read more

Horace and Phyllis Leister from the Tumaini Children’s Home in Kenya, Africa, recently contacted Room to Bloom with updates on two (of their 44) children. Room to Bloom shared about their daughter, Debby, in the September issue. Debby is still awaiting her surgery in the US to address her scoliosis and the additional issues with her lungs. Phyllis shared, “Debby is doing well. She is anticipating her upcoming surgery in the US. We are waiting for the invitation letter to be processed.” Thank you for your donations towards Debby’s surgery. Please pray for Debby as she continues to go to school ..read more

“Thank You!” from the Phillips Family “Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, for all you have done to support our family. Our prayers have been answered through y’all and it was a sweet glimpse of heaven. We are humbled by your generosity and forever changed by God’s goodness through your organization. Thank you for your kindness, generosity, encouragement, and prayers. May God bless each of you greatly as you have blessed us!” ~ John & Shea Phillips     An Update on Andersen Andersen was in the hospital for eight days recovering from his second open-heart surgery. He was di ..read more

    Elon – Age 7 – Eastern Europe – Arthrogryposis (delays in development)Elon walks independently. He feeds himself and cleans up after his meals. He does not talk at this time, but understands what is said to him and follows simple instructions. He responds to his name. He interacts appropriately with adults and with other children. He attends to tasks and works well 1:1 and in a small group.     Ned – Age 3 – Eastern Europe – Cerebral Palsy, Hydrocephalus (delays in development)Ned lived in an orphanage for the first 2.5 years of his life. When he entered foster care ..read more

Five-year-old Zuri was born with congenital heart disease. Her specific diagnoses are atrial septal defect (ASD), severe pulmonary hypertension (PH) and tricuspid regurgitation (TR). All this means that her heart condition is quite complex. Zuri has five siblings, one of whom passed away as an infant. As a newborn Zuri was very weak and kept in the hospital for three weeks. This was a heavy blow on the family’s small income which comes solely from the father doing migrant work. The next step in Zuri’s care is a heart catheterization procedure to determine the best course of surgical interven ..read more