EP 17 Creatively Impacting Orphans in Haiti - Tiffany Smiling

After a decade of gathering women together for prayer, we are inspired to bring our words of encouragement to you. This is iRefresh. Welcome to iRefresh, where we empower ordinary women to do extraordinary things through the power of prayer and encouragement. And I wanted to welcome back Tiffany Smiling. Thank you so much for having me. Well, thank you. I wanted us to, one, is talk about this amazing book of inspiration. And you can get it on probably Amazon... Yeah, it's Barnes & Noble, Lifeway Christian online and Amazon. Okay, so I couldn't put this book down. It was such a great inspirational story. Actually, really kind of a couple stories in one. And I wanted to highlight your book because Your Dream, God's Plan, it's beginning where we talk about in our other segment about how basically walking through cancer, At a young age. What age was that starting? I was diagnosed at 10 years old. 10 years old. Wow. And overcame cancer part when you were around 16? I was 16 during my last surgery. And then when cancer wasn't enough, then a stroke happened in the middle of her last, was it the last brain surgery? Last brain surgery, the surgeon accidentally nicked a blood vessel that caused the stroke. Yeah, so unbelievable. And yet I am grateful to, because I know all the family and I just think, you know, when bad things happen to good people, we can either choose love and forgiveness and looking at what God wants to do in the midst of it and through it. And I see just the smiling family, truly, their name is so appropriate because they're there is such joy in their lives. And I wanted to not only highlight that, and you'll definitely want to listen to that podcast as well, but one of the things that I see is your passion, things for the Lord, the wanting to make a difference in your life. I think when you're in a place where your life was on the edge of life and death is what God has put in you. And so tell me a little bit, what birthed out of you to start a foundation? I had graduated from OSU, and I had opened a frozen yogurt store here in Tulsa. I love that. That was good, really good. And I was running the business, and it was great financially having a business, making money, seeing it grow successful, but it wasn't fulfilling the way I knew if God had called me to do that. So I started to pray God, this is wonderful and it's fascinating, and I love the customers, but there's something more you've called me to do. And he started speaking to me, about how he brought me through all my cancer journey and all the pain through that, and how he started saying to me about the orphan children. And I had never gone on a mission trip, and I've never encountered a child, because I was in the hospital growing up, you know, I wasn't overseas. And so I started thinking, I started taking the next step, what does this look like? I started going on trips, I started meeting children overseas. Uganda was my first trip. Right. And it all clicked when I got on the ground in Uganda and I started meeting children who were abandoned on the streets, had no parents. They were sick, they were ill, they were fighting for their life, but no one to fight for them because they didn't have any parents. So when I started meeting children who had, you know, illnesses and they were six years old taking care of their two younger siblings because they watched their parents get murdered, I started thinking, someone has to do something about this. No kidding. The Lord started showing me, that's you. You need to go rescue these children. So that had to be so overwhelming. Like even the idea of what you saw and like how can you make a difference. So then what were the steps that you began to take towards fulfilling like that need to help someone? For me it never was let's start an organization or a foundation. It was let's help this family. Let's help these children I just met. So I started when I would go on trips, I would meet children and then I would want to help those children. And then I wanted to build a home for children. So I wanted to give them, I had such a strong family structure growing up. I wanted to give them family. Because giving them physical necessities is great, but they need the family bonding, the family unity. They need to see the body of Christ as it operates in the family. That's good. So I wanted to build a home was the next thing. Wow. A little ambitious. Yeah. For me at the time it really was. I was in debt. I had the yogurt store. Right. So I was in debt paying off that loan and then I didn't have savings, didn't have anything to work with. It was strictly getting the cause out, fundraising, telling people about the children and having them help any way they could. Wow. That's a lot of work. Did you have volunteers to help you? kind of not not too much but I tried it I've tried to play most roles at the time just to make sure we could do what we could help those children that I had met. But see now I'm just a promo is there's still not like because she still has much opportunity for volunteering which you know when you think about how you can do a little bit that could go a long way even Ira Fresh got involved in in the fall and bringing together resources and when you all do a little bit It's amazing how it can make a bigger difference in these children's lives. So tell me, how did you, you were in Uganda, but how did you land in working in Haiti? I had gotten a call from a guy who started an orphanage in Haiti, and I had done orphan care at this point for a few years. Okay. And I had vowed to never go back to Haiti. My first trip to Haiti was not great. I had gone on the Make-A-Wish cruise when I was a cancer child growing up. And when I stopped in Haiti, we went through the market on the cruise stop. We went through the marketplace, and we picked up some trinkets. Okay. and this little knick-knacks, I mean flip-flops, purse, just souvenirs. And when I had come home, I had relapsed the next day with cancer. So I had associated that whole memory with the whole Haiti experience. So I vowed that I would go anywhere for orphan care, but I wouldn't go to Haiti. And so as the Lord works in those moments, I got a call from a guy to go to Haiti. He had started an orphanage and he needed help on creating the family style environment there. So I went down on a trip with him and I just fell in love with a culture and I knew when I got there, that's where the Lord wanted me to be. And the children there, they're just so, they're so joyful, they're so happy. The need, I mean, they're the neediest country in this hemisphere. The need is outrageous. I've never seen a need like it. And just, I mean, physical needs, the food, the sicknesses, I mean, they're hungry, they're starving, they need family, they need clothes. And so I was like, I have to come back here and do something for these children. It's amazing because my son's first missions trip was in Haiti, my younger one. And now my older son has gotten involved in working along with Tiffany through his business. And one of the things I wanted to highlight with All My Heart Foundation is I went to your first fundraiser. And what a beautiful night of just rejoicing what God's done, which I want us to highlight. But, you know, I think sometimes we don't realize the needs of what we can do. And my oldest son has thought, like, I'm just graduating, I'm working on my MBA, but what can I do? And I loved how God put in his heart about creating a dream, how he can do that with his business background. And as he was working in his own place of doing a business, he wants to link arms with some of the proceeds from his business to go towards with all my foundation, with all my heart. Because what he can do in working with people is changing a life and not just him and it's not about him just making money but it's everybody working together and I think that's the beauty of this is everybody can be a part in him even doing it where he wants people to know that when you buy a coffee you're also helping the children of Haiti and and some of the vision I would love us to highlight like some of the things you even spoke to Daniel about what you're doing right now in Haiti that I think is so amazing to sustain itself even Can you share some of that? Yes. After I went on that trip, I eventually met a lady who there, who is phenomenal, and she's the heartbeat of our work. And she is mama to the village where we serve. So working with her has been incredible. But we do missions differently. We take an approach, a long-term approach, and we want to make sure that everything that we're building is going to sustain itself. So poverty is the problem in Haiti. You're seeing hunger, you see human trafficking, you see orphans, you see slavery. But the main problem is poverty. So for us to end all these other issues, we have to end poverty. And so one of the ways to do that is by creating business and country. We gotta create business, and that's a Haitian to Haitian cell. So we have- Which is different. Yes. Yeah, it's working with them. Yes. Not like where we create jewelry and come back in America and sell it. But that's still dependent on the American dollar, which that's great. Right. Because it helps bring in revenue. But we need something that's going to make money in country by a Haitian for a Haitian. And so we created a chicken farm. And so the chicken farm has done wonderful. It's created jobs, it's created revenue for us. And so all the chickens lay an egg every single day. And then we take those eggs, half of them, we feed all the kids in our school, which there are a thousand. A thousand. That's a lot of eggs. A lot of chickens you have. And it's a job for the lady that has to peel them. There's a lady that her job is to peel a thousand eggs a day. Oh, her poor fingers. Right. And she's so grateful for the future of family with that job. But so a thousand eggs go to the school, a thousand eggs we sell in the marketplace. We're the distributor, so we have middle men there. So we make money selling it to the middle man. The middle man makes money selling it to the community for his family. And then we take the revenue from the profits at the end of the cycle. which is 18 months for our chickens. They lay an egg every day for 18 months. And then we sell those chickens when they're done laying eggs as chicken in the market, and all the money we buy our next batch of chickens with. Wow. And so that sustainable solution, we're not constantly sending money over to feed children. We're constantly feeding children from that one time. That's brilliant. Yes. It's been amazing. And they're excited. They have jobs for people. They're getting fed. The only school in the nation getting fed protein every single day. Other than just rice and the whole rice porridge I usually get. That's one thing I think is amazing too for you is that it's not just about asking people to give money. But it's you're allowing them to become independent in one area. But sometimes I know too that the funds that you use help to build other programs. Like what else, what is some of the new things that you're working on? We have a rescue home opening this fall. It's to rescue more children into that home. And then we're also building a mission team base. What we like to do is look at where other people are spending money when they come into our compound. One way is mission teams. We actually base them at a hotel close by. And so when we base them at our place, it'll pay off the whole building in less than a year. Wow. How creative. And then all the money we'll make off of that, we'll pay for the teachers, we'll pay for the medical supplies that we use for the orphans, we'll pay for those other avenues so we're not using fundraise dollars. And just creating solutions around to help truly end poverty and not just aid it for the moment. So even you're saying to me is we could reach out to different organizations, whether it's through different colleges, whether they're Christian or secular, people enjoy a cause when they know that you're helping another person, when you're helping so many children. Not only you're feeding them, you're educating them, and I believe too that they also do adopting, at least the one you're talking about, they've adopted, last I remember was like 26 kids? Our mama in our home has, we have 40 orphans. 40 orphans, okay. And so those are her kids. And so they are not up for adoption, but there are many places that we work with because we also do feeding programs in other orphanages. And there are many children over there for adopting. Wow. There's so many incredible things that Tiffany has been working on and has worked in the community. And I also know even you, not just only my son's coffee business, but I know there's other organizations that have come and linked arms together. You know, you may even know of an organization that would really want to participate and be a part of creating solutions that are sustainable. It's not just ask, write, and check, but these are literally, they're going towards something that reproduces and increases and allowing them to even do more and more feeding of kids, educating them, allowing them an opportunity to have a life, to be in a family environment. And the other part that I think we haven't really hit on too is that you wanted to link arms though with the church. So they're also getting the Word of God in them. On the U.S. side, we're the With All My Heart Foundation. On the Haiti side, we are no named. We are the church. Okay. And so when we feed kids or when we care for children or when we educate children and when we love children that way, it's coming through the body of Christ. Okay. And so we want the name of Jesus to be lifted up, that Jesus, it was Him that clothed them, Him that fed them, Him that met their needs, not of an organization. And so we are planning, we have already planted a church there and we also do pastor training. So we have over 50 pastors that we train once a month on a weekend at our place. Because we're preparing to send them out to the Unreached Villages. So right now they've been there for three years. They still have a ways to go before they're ready. We want to make sure they're ready before we send them out. But so we definitely are the body of Christ on the ground. Yes. That's powerful. You know, I think that there's a lot more that you can learn about. It's not just one program. There's multiple programs that are happening. Tiffany, how can they connect with you and learn more and get maybe involved in knowing how to even invite maybe a boss or your organization, that you could approach them and send a link to them. How would they get involved in getting connected with you? Yeah, you can connect with us on our website. It's W-A-M-H, or With All My Heart Foundation. But it's W-A-M-H foundation.org. Or on Facebook or on Instagram, just send us an email. We work with so many different businesses. There's so many people behind our cause. We're just the unity factor for everyone else to be able to give back and do more and reach more people. So it's amazing to see businesses or individuals or just people come alongside wherever the Lord leads them. Yeah, that's the great thing. I've been watching even if you follow her on the social media with their foundation and seeing all the fun things. And there are some companies that literally they take some of their employees and they go down there. And whether that's a missions trip or just a trip for a cause, they're making a difference in their world. And so I just wanna encourage you is to prayerfully consider maybe that's a way that I can get involved or I know someone that that is so their heartbeat. But every one of us making a difference to get children off the streets fed. and giving sustainability of people getting hired in the community and giving them jobs. So many incredible things that you are able to work alongside with them. That's where I agree, it's great. It's the body of Christ, it's businesses linking arm in arm with the people there. It's something that's not just a temporary fix, but it's a long term, which I love that mission of long-term, sustainable, making an impact, the people there are making the impact. It's not just us from the outside, but they're making the impact. And that training, I think it's a powerful tool that when you have the word and the prayers and then just the visual, you know, just thinking that we can have our hands there. You could go on a trip. You can get a community within your own church even. But so many incredible ways that they can make a difference. Yes. So what would you want to say just to highlight? A lot of times people have in their mind they don't have certain things right now to make a difference in that way. I always tell there's always room. I have a lot of my teacher friends who are, right now they're helping write curriculum for our school and they're making a massive impact because that's their gifting. That's great. And you have a gifting and you are called to make a difference in some way, not necessarily with our organization, but somewhere. Right. To overseas, here in Tulsa or anywhere around the US. But we all have a gifting where we can use that resource to do greater for the kingdom. That's great. Well, we are so glad that Tiffany can share just something that God's put on her heart and how it's able to actually help so many people, but it's also engaging people around our own community and abroad. And we want to hear from you. Maybe there's something that you've done, some kind of creative idea that you have. You've done it or you've wanted to like to do it. We want to encourage you to be able to walk out what God's put in your heart. So get in touch with us. Subscribe to our podcast. Follow us on Facebook. We love to hear from you about your story and how you're overcoming the things in your life and making a difference. Until then, go change your world.