Terry Meeuwsen, longtime co-host of “The 700 Club” and founder of Orphan’s Promise, knows firsthand the amazing things that can happen when we say “yes” to God.
Meeuwsen, who appeared on a special CBN News prayer event for Ukraine last Friday, shared the incredible story of how God gave her a heart for three orphans — and then birthed a massive organization that is now changing hearts and lives across the globe.
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It all began 20 years ago when Meeuwsen and her husband were in their 50s. They had four children at the time — two biological and two adopted — when they heard about three Ukrainian orphans in need.
“[We] heard the story of three sisters in Ukraine who were potentially going to be split up,” she said. “God just began to burden my heart with the fact that they were not to be split up.”
Meeuwsen didn’t know the girls’ ages or names, but she felt a calling from the Lord to take steps to bring them into her family.
“We began to follow the leading of the Lord, and we went and pursued adopting,” she said. “Less than a year later, we came home with three new daughters from Ukraine who were 9, 11, and 13.”
Meeuwsen added, “We thought that we were just being obedient to the Lord about that very specific situation.”
Watch her explain the amazing ways God worked through her obedience:
But she soon learned that God had much bigger plans. She and her friend Nataliya Khomyak — who serves as director of operations for Orphan’s Promise — started praying about how they could help other orphans in need.
The two were burdened that “99% of children who are in orphanages worldwide will never have families.” This fact left Meeuwsen and Khomyak prayerfully looking for answers.
“Our hearts were burdened for the 99%,” she said. “We said, ‘What happens to them?'”
So, for two years, Meeuwsen and Khomyak prayed each night and pondered how they could help orphans who age out of the system. Then, the seeds for Orphan’s Promise were set as they started working with kids in Ukraine.
After the initial center opened — an effort to help meet physical and spiritual needs — their work quickly expanded. Today, Orphan’s Promise operates more than 250 projects in over 60 countries.
And it all started with Meeuwsen’s simple act of obedience to adopt three children.
“We never had an idea that [Orphan’s Promise] would grow the way that it has grown. That is so purely God,” she said. “Today we have more than 19 centers in Ukraine alone.”
Meeuwsen continued, “I look at it and … we are strategically positioned for the moment that we are all in right now.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Orphan’s Promise has been able to work through the centers and projects already in place to provide supplies, baby food, clothing, and a safe place for refugees and those impacted.
“God opened the windows of heaven and purposed all of this to happen,” Meeuwsen said.
Watch her explain the history of Orphan’s Promise here. And watch the entire prayer event:
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