Orphans throughout the world live in relative isolation and solitude, apart from their loved ones, destitute and yearning for help. We created Force For Christ Orphan Outreach [now Force 4 Hope] in 2014 to address these needs.
Force 4 Hope
James 2: 14-17 NLT: 14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Dream it.
In 2014 at the Christians Alliance for Orphans Conference Liz Stoumbos and Kim McKenzie (founding members) learned about hosting for the first time. Both ladies signed their families up to be host families, not realizing that their lives, as well as the lives of the host children, would be changed forever.
Since then FFC has helped over 200 orphans travel to the United States for hosting programs. Force for Christ has also helped over 80 children in Malawi and Tanzania attend school. Approximately 20% of the children who were hosted from Ukraine have found their forever families.
Force For Christ has more recently been led to work with vulnerable women. We are hoping to empower women around the world in their faith, family, and business. Most women living in impoverished countries do not have Bibles. One of our main goals is to provide The Word of God to these women. We are always accepting donations of Bibles in the English, Ukrainian, and Tumbuka languages.
Do it.
Ukraine: An adoption agency asked if our nonprofit would be interested in working with one of their friends who is a facilitator in Ukraine. We were told about the need and did some research. We saw that the orphan population was high and after much prayer we felt called to help. It happened quickly and within 10 months of hearing about the need, we started orphan hosting in Ukraine.
Malawi: We were approached by a teacher from Malawi to help the orphans in this beautiful country. Again, we did a lot of research and this teacher was very persistent. We traveled to Malawi 4 months later and saw the need and started hosting 6 months later.
As we have grown in our mission with orphans our vision has expanded. We began to see the need of those in poverty in the areas we were serving and felt we could expand our ministry to offer the love of Christ in the form of missions locally and globally. We have lead mission trips to Ukraine and are expanding to Malawi and several areas in the United States.
Share it.
In orphan hosting, the children come to the United States for several weeks in the summer and the winter. During that time, they learn fundamental English skills, make strong connections with their host families and witness firsthand how a loving, Christian family operates. Throughout this process the host family is in direct contact with FFC and other hosting families, which creates a supportive community for the family and host child.
During mission trips we work directly with orphans and those in need to show the love of Christ and meet basic needs. We provide camps, assistance, help with necessary building projects, food and hope. We also provide resources to supply a well to each of the villages we are working with. Our primary goal is to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Providing educational sponsorship is another way to help vulnerable children in the country of Malawi continue their education. Many children drop out of school because they can not afford the school fees and therefore the cycle of poverty continues. Providing these necessary funds not only changes the lives of the children, but also their community and their country.
Our Team
Liz Stoumbos- President (Michigan)
Jared Matlock- Vice President (Arizona)
Stephanie Nichols - Secretary and Treasurer (Texas)
Krista Matlock - Director of Hosting (Arizona)
Loukas Stoumbos - Board Member (Michigan)
Kimberly McKenzie- Education Sponsorship Director (Michigan)
Kensli Petty- Hosting Coordinator (Texas)
Felia Mwanza - Facilitator (Malawi)
Valery Dashevsky - Facilitator (Ukraine)
F4H
Force 4 Hope
Educate * Hope * Love