MEETING A NEED
Faces With Names God Called Local Pastor to Help Orphans & Foster Kids by Lori Just There was a time Eric Mills had zero interest in adoption or orphans. When his wife, Susan, first shared her heart to adopt a little girl from China, Eric was completely uninterested. Eight years after this initial conversation, his entire outlook would change to help support orphans and foster children both locally and globally. “When I was serving as an outreach pastor, I took my first trip to China, where I met a little girl who eventually become our daughter,” explained Mills, president & founder of Faces With Names International (FWNI). “That whole experience changed my focus on adoption, foster care, and global orphan care.” Now a family of five with son, Reagan, and daughters, Katelyn and Hope, he felt compelled to start his organization. During his role as an outreach pastor, he had the opportunity to work directly with those serving orphans in China, Burma, Nepal, Zambia, and Swaziland and start an orphan care ministry at their church. God began to stir their hearts toward a greater role in the orphan care movement. FWNI, a ministry to care for orphans and vulnerable children, was the culmination of a patient yet persistent wife and the complete transformation of a husband unwilling to adopt. FWNI started in 2014 in Bartlesville and partnered with Oklahoma Wesleyan University to bring foster care awareness and events for foster families. This early focus of the ministry pivoted when a chance encounter with an individual shifted Mills perspective. “Besides leading FWNI, I also serve as the U.S. pastoral director for Orphan Sunday,” he said. “Serving in this role, I had the opportunity to meet a king from Uganda during a conference in May of 2019. It was an amazing experience, as you don’t get to meet a king every day. Four months later, the king was back in the U.S. traveling through Tulsa. He unexpectedly called me and asked if we would receive him into our home. He came to Bartlesville and stayed with our family for a few days.” During that time, Mills got to visit with the king in-depth about the orphan situation in his kingdom. There are 2,000 orphans and 1,200 widows living in four
orphanages across the country. Mills felt intrigued and pushed by God to help care for these orphans. For eight months, he worked long-distance setting up their program to support these kids with food, nutrition, education, and opportunities. Unfortunately, the king passed away in February of COVID-19. Since then, Mills was invited by the king’s family to visit and complete their partnership. He traveled this past March and October to visit the orphanages and see the kids they are trying to help. On the second trip, Mills had two agricultural specialists accompany him for land assessments to develop into sustainable food opportunities. “Our mission is to help orphans and widows move beyond a life of survival, and thrive to fulfill their God-given purpose,” he said. “These kids, through no fault of their own, became orphans. I want them to see their full potential God has for them.” FWNI has worked with local churches to help area foster families with basic needs, as well as supporting the financial side of the program in Uganda. “We are working on plans to implement the farming process, and that will take equipment and finances,” he said. “We are also supporting the reopening of their schools after the pandemic and paying teachers to come back to provide education for these kids.” If you, your church, or business is interested in an opportunity to care for orphans and widows in distress, you can visit faceswithnames.org to learn more. “When I felt called to do this, God was just asking me to be obedient,” Mills said. “We would love the chance to expand our partnerships locally and globally in this united vision.”
DECEMBER 2021 | bmonthly
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