ANNUAL REPORT ! 2013

! PAGE 1

"If I could relive my life, I would devote my

entire ministry to reaching children for

God!"- Dwight L. Moody, evangelist

2006 - Open Arms is founded in Assis, Brazil with 30 children and 10 volunteers.

2013 - Open Arms Worldwide has nine mission locations, spread over 3 states in Brazil, hundred’s of volunteers ministering to thousands of children and their families weekly. With partnerships in place OAW is poised to launch our first North American outreach in January, 2014

2020 - Only God knows. Won’t you come along for the ride?

Year in ReviewStill so much to be done- A word "om founder Michael Meyers

It is with great joy that I thank God for all that has been accomplished in 2013 through the ministry of Open Arms. Now in 3 out of the five regions of Brazil, our outreach to at-risk to children in South America’s most populous country is advancing. Children are being pulled away from the influence of drugs, violence, and poverty and being ministered to on a weekly basis, learning the timeless truths of the Bible and seeing the love of Jesus Christ in action. More churches are being mobilized and trained to join the cause. You all have, in a variety of ways, played a huge role in this movement that has blessed so many young people, their families, and their communities in Brazil.

It has always been our hearts desire to see Open Arms begin to mobilize the American Church as well, not only to give and go to the foreign field, but to turn their hearts to the children right under our noses here at home. 2013 was the year that the

groundwork for making that desire a reality was laid. Now with our first US partner church we will be opening our arms to children in what we hope and believe will be the first of many neighborhood outreach programs.

We thank you for standing with us and ask that you redouble your commitment to our mission of implementing and maintaining gospel-based programs to reach at-risk children.  We need church partners, financial partners, volunteers, people with business and financial savvy, fund raisers, prayer warriors, organizers and more. As you read through the rest of this praise report, do so with this question in mind, “How can I can invest in the Kingdom through Open Arms?” There are children waiting for your answer. May God bless your New Year!

! Michael

ANNUAL REPORT ! 2013

! PAGE 2

OPEN ARMS WORLDWIDE - USA

2013 was a year of change for the Board of Directors of OAW. The expansion of our focus to include operations in the US brings with it new challenges and opportunities. We covet your prayers as we try to take OAW to the next level as an organization in order to reach more children and get our message out to more churches this coming year.

2013/14 Board of Directors (right to left) - Bellamy Brown, Chris Labaw, Kim Reynolds, T. Ladson Webb, Michael Meyers, Andy Calvert, Jen Winter

Open Arms mission is to partner with Christian churches to implement and maintain gospel-based programs to reach at-risk children in the church’s local community. In early 2013 as we began praying and seeking God’s direction for where to begin the work in the US, several doors began to open which led to relationships being formed with a thriving Baptist congregation in Sterling Park - VA, SPBC, led by Pastor Mike McKinley and Mercy Ministries Director, Timo Sazo. A connection was made with one of

the elementary schools serving the children of the community as well. SPBC, Open Arms and the school administrators met together in September and a partnership was

formed to bless the children of Sterling Park.

In January volunteers will begin to be trained to serve as homework helpers in the school. The church is reaching out with assistance for the most needy children through their food-bank and clothing ministries. Plans are under way for outreach events at the school for the Winter/Spring of 2014 with the objective of beginning a sustained, weekly Open Arms Cornerstone Program in that community by the Fall.

RUN FOR HOPE 2014Our 2013 race that was scheduled for December 14 and was cancelled due to icy conditions on the course,

has been rescheduled for April 5, 2014 at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, VA. The proceeds of this event go toward a fund to support the local Open Arms outreach in Sterling.

OPEN ARMS - USA: STERLING PARK, VAOAW Executive Board Retreat 2013

Spring Gala 2013 - In May we celebrated, with 130 special guests (a sold out crowd for our first such event), the many amazing things God has done in and through this organization and those of us who have been touched by it.  We were blessed to share with many, many new faces the dreams we have in

our hearts for reaching and teaching children right here at home and around the world.  The response from those in attendance far exceeded our expectations.

You can already save the date for the May 15th, 2014 Spring Gala.

ANNUAL REPORT ! 2013

! PAGE 3

SOCCER CLUBS

Love Without WordsI remember arriving in

Florestópolis 3 years ago and it was pouring down rain and just cold enough to be uncomfortable. As the kids started arriving, I felt intimidated. They spoke Portuguese. I speak English. I wondered, "How is this going to work?"

But I soon learned that love is much bigger than words. My friend Ken had brought some frisbees and so we taught them

how to throw. Soon, you could see the barriers coming down. We may not have been able to talk much, but the fun we were having said enough. The hours we spent playing together displayed a mutual love that words could never convey.- Pastor Matt Windley, The

Bridge Community Church, Morrisville, NC

Short term mission teams play an integral part of Open Arms strategy in Brazil.

What began as a pilot program in 2012, has become a thriving ministry with a team of more than thirty volunteers engaging in evangelism and ongoing discipleship of youth inmates in one of Brazil’s infamous youth detention facilities. Plans are underway, at the request of the State, to expand this ministry into other facilities in 2014. Eduardo, the founder of Project Zadoc, was himself an inmate before becoming a follower of Jesus, then a volunteer, and now a full-time missionary with Open Arms in his hometown of Assis.

SHORT TERM MISSION TEAMS

PROJECT ZADOK - YOUTH DETENTION MINISTRY

OAW Missionary, Eduardo Ribeiro & Pastor Tiago Meneghetti outside Youth Detention Facility in Brazil

Under the skilled leadership of Missionary Jose Carlos “Neto” the children of Open Arms in Brazil continue to grow in character, wisdom, and ability on the field and off.

Neto and his team at practice

Pastor Matt & Samela

ANNUAL REPORT ! 2013

! PAGE 4

VOICE & LIFE - ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF JESUS IN US

For the third year running, Open Arms in Brazil has promoted a free concert called Voz e Vida (Voice

& Life) in our headquarters city of Assis. This year we were blessed again by the participation of the Reston Bible Church worship band, “One Voice.” This event gives us the opportunity to

share what God is doing in and through Open Arms via radio, newspaper, television, in public schools and at the show itself in a very unique way. It never ceases to amaze us how Voice & Life opens doors for us to reach more children in more communities.

Something very unique happened in 2013. Open Arms began its first outreach program among a 100% indigenous population. The children of the Lagoinha (Little Lake) reservation

of Aquidauana, Brazil have joined the Open Arms family. Under the leadership of missionary Sarita Romeiro, the local indigenous church has been mobilized and trained to carry out this labor of love. Already Sarita has received requests from two reservations to help train Open Arms teams for them in 2014.

Not without challenges -At one point during the year the reservation was closed to non-indians due to a violent conflict between a local farmer and the tribe. Sarita and her team couldn’t

get to the reservation, but word got out to her that the volunteers she had trained continued on with the work just the same!

WE ARE FAMILYOpen Arms Worldwide is different from many other children’s outreach organizations.

Our strategy and our culture revolve around an ever growing team of volunteers and financial supporters working together as a community. We don’t invest in things, we invest in people. We believe that all transformation begins with the individual. It starts with me and you.

EVERY TRIBE AND TONGUE - OPEN ARMS AQUIDAUANA

ANNUAL REPORT ! 2013

! PAGE 5

OPEN ARMS MISSIONARY TEAM 2013

Gilberto & Rosana Oliveira - Brazil Neto & Roseli Souza - Brazil Valdei & Angela Tapia - Brazil

Eduardo & Claudia Ribeiro - Brazil Lucas & Krystin Clemente - BrazilMichael & Patricia Meyers - USA

Sarita Romeiro - BrazilRosimeire Soares - Brazil

ANNUAL REPORT! 2013

One story An annual report is about the big picture, but the story of Open Arms is truly found one story at a time. One life at a time. Every child is a promise in the hands of God. There is not room to share them all here, but one will speak for many. Normal is in the eye of the beholder. For Mariana, who has grown up in a

neighborhood notorious for drug trafficking and violence; police raids, gang shootings, and prostitution are part of the “normal” landscape. Living in a two-room structure with her mother, two adult sisters and nine other children, Mariana has been a caregiver from a very young age. There were never adult men in the home for very long. Her own father has been in prison much of her life, along with an older brother. Another brother began working for the local drug boss when he was just twelve years old. He started as a courier and moved his way up to enforcer before he was picked up in a police raid at the age of 14 and sent to a juvenile detention center.

Mariana helped make money for the family by selling pastries and occasionally carrying an unmarked package from here to there for the local traffickers. No questions asked. In a neighborhood where 70% of the population is involved in the drug trade to some extent, this was all “normal.” Mariana struggled in school with her grades and with discipline. She was tough and angry. She had to be to get along in her world. Mariana’s life was leading down the same path as her older sisters who had become single mothers in their teens. She had never been someone’s “princess.” A loving father, a godly friend, or a safe place to just be a child were all foreign concepts until the day a concerned city health worker took an interest and sought out help.

When Mariana arrived at the Open Arms outreach that day in 2007 we had no idea what to expect. She was part of a group of about seven children who had been referred to us by a concerned nurse from the health clinic that serves Mariana’s neighborhood. She and her comrades weren’t sure what to expect either and so they began on day one to test the boundaries. It was mayhem! At one point, in desperation, I took the lot of them to the library where I could speak privately and said something

like this, “You all are here because someone cares about you and wants to give you a chance at hope and a future. I am here because Jesus loves me and He loves you. So you can try to test me and push as much as you want, but I’m not giving up on you because GOD never gave up on me.”

It would be a beautiful testimony if that little talk fixed everything, but it would take a lot more than talk to convince Mariana that what I was saying was true. It would take visits to her home to meet her mother and sisters, helping out with groceries when things were tight, taking her to youth camp with us, attending school events with her, and hundreds of other little gestures to show her that we loved her and cared about her in Jesus name.

More and more Mariana connected the things we taught her from the Bible with the way we loved her every day, until one day she believed those words I had spoken to her way back when we first met. My daughter, Gabriela, who was five years old at the time, sat with me and Mariana in a little room at the outreach where we were video taping interviews with the children about Open Arms and what it meant in their lives. When I asked Mariana to tell me who Jesus was to her, she just looked at me as though she didn’t understand the question. I’m not sure if it was the way I phrased the question or what, but she was stumped. Before I could try to re-phrase, Gabriela jumped in and began to explain to Mariana what the good news about Jesus is and how wonderful Jesus was to her. Her five year olds’ presentation was so simple and genuine that I had nothing to add other than to ask Mariana if she wanted to give her life and heart to Jesus. She did and so she prayed with us and that was that.

In the following year one of Mariana’s sisters, who had been part of a car theft ring, also received Jesus as her savior and began to take her four little ones to church. She found a real job and moved into a house of her own. I had the opportunity to visit with Mariana’s brother in juvenile detention where, upon hearing of his sister’s decision, he asked for prayer and talked about his desire to repent. Mariana now at age 14 is an apprentice volunteer and her story is still unfolding, but I am confident that He who began a good work in her life will carry it on to completion. Mariana has a very large family but she is part of an even bigger family now. I interviewed Mariana recently for another video and when I asked again, “Who is Jesus to you?” she replied without missing a beat, “He is my father. He is everything to me.”