Mark Gumm

On a sunny December day in 2008, my wife Julie and I sat on a couch in a bustling Ethiopian orphanage. Outside the open door, dozens of kids played in the courtyard, kicking a tattered ball, braiding hair and giggling while they snuck curious looks at the white foreigners. Hours later, as we left with our two newly adopted children, I couldn’t help but think about the kids left behind. No matter how well cared for they were at the orphanage, God designed each of us to be part of a family. To be loved, nurtured, guided, and protected.

God placed a call on my heart that goes beyond adoption. I served in orphan-care ministry for many years, first with World Orphans and then with another nonprofit organization. After working in church ministry for the last eight years, the Lord is leading me back to orphan care with World Orphans. Working in nine countries (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Iraq, and Nicaragua), World Orphans equips and empowers local churches to support vulnerable families and children in their communities. One of the beautiful things about their work is that the local church is the champion and the light to those in need, not me or World Orphans.

In my new role as Church Partnership Director, I will foster relationships between partner US churches and churches in Ethiopia, as well as other countries where World Orphans operates, to promote the long-term development of gospel-centered care of widows and orphans in those communities. Through this support, families and children receive food, shelter, healthcare, education, hope, and love through relationships in the local church.

I’m excited to see churches engaged, children restored, families preserved and strengthened, and communities transformed by the gospel of Christ.