A great number of people reacted to our last posting about the generosity and general coolness of Mitch Arnold. In the midst of all the tragedy that surrounds us right now, people were encouraged and brightened by the story of Mitch and his efforts to bring light and hope to children all over the globe.

How Mitch found Mission 1:27 is also a story worth mentioning. Why is that interesting? Because we have NO IDEA how he came across our organization. Somehow (by the grace of God?), he stumbled onto the Contact Us page on our website. Did he Google “orphan ministries?” Did he find us on Facebook or Twitter? What we know for sure is that he found us somewhere, somehow on that World Wide Web thing that Al Gore invented.

This a-ha moment has raised so many questions for us. Are we fully leveraging the power of this blog and social media? How many other Mitch Arnolds are out there? How many people have a passion for orphans in Russia and elsewhere? How many people might UNCOVER this passion in themselves if they saw others living out God’s call to serve orphans? How can we tell more people about what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of the children in Slobodskoy? All these questions have got us thinking about how we are using social media in our ministry.

The team at Mission 1:27 is excited about the power of increasing our social media presence. We are so passionate about our work in Russia and want to share that passion with others. We also know that to do this, we need a little help from our friends! Here are a few things you can do to help get the word out:

• Subscribe to this blog – By far, this is the best way to receive up-to-date information from Mission 1:27 including daily update from the travel team. and it’s simple to do – go to www.mission127.org and subscribe on the right hand side of the page. Any new blog posts will come to you via email. For those who already subscribe to this blog, you can help by getting others to follow your admirable example. All you need to do is forward the email you received to friends and family who would benefit from following Mission 1:27′s work in Russia.

• Like Us on Facebook – For the ultra hip and cool Facebookers (which more and more is everyone, much to our childrens’ chagrin), another simple thing to do is to LIKE us on Facebook. All your friends will notice this on your Wall and maybe they (another Mitch Arnold?) will see what’s happening and seek to learn more. Click on this LINK or the cool Facebook logo below to friend us:
  

• Follow Us on Twitter – For those who use Twitter to tell the world when you are going to the grocery store or what you had for breakfast, you can also follow us there. We are just starting to build our presence on Twitter and have great potential to increase the awareness of Mission 1:27 using this channel. Again, click on this LINK or the logo below:

  

• Comment on our blog posts – We love interaction on our posts and commenting is the best way to get the dialogue going. But lots of comments also helps increase the traffic on the Web and increases a site’s profile in Google searches, etc. Tell us what you think. Ask us questions. Challenge us. Or just offer words of encouragement. So feel free to comment early and often!

There is so much activity around Mission 1:27 right now – and we appreciate all of your help in spreading the good news of what God is doing in our lives and in the lives of our family in Russia. We are down to ten days before our next travel team departs for Russia. In the coming days, you will be hearing from past travelers, new travelers and some our Russian translators/friends – all sharing their thoughts and dreams about our upcoming trip.

So expect more activity on this blog and our other social media sites in the coming days. And who knows, maybe we will meet another Mitch Arnold in the process.

For the Fatherless,

Mission 1:27