By Miguel Zayas
What does 140 million of anything look like?
If you stacked 140 million one-dollar bills on top of each other, the stack would reach more than 50,000 feet into the air, about 1.7 times the height of Mount Everest.
Crazy, I know.
Now try to imagine 140 million children.
Imagine the largest stadium on earth, filled with 132,000 people. Now imagine filling it again, and again, more than 1,000 times.
That begins to give some perspective to the number of orphaned and vulnerable children around the world. It is a number so large that it can almost become meaningless. We hear it, recognize that it is tragic, and then struggle to know what to do with it.
But 140 million is not really about a number. It is about children.
This is the space where Lifeline’s Global Orphan Care team steps in. Our mission is to equip the body of Christ, churches and Christian ministries, to manifest the gospel to vulnerable children. It is our privilege to work with Jesus on His mission around the world and to come alongside people who are already faithfully serving children in their own communities.
Let me tell you about one of them.
More than 30 years ago, Jon and Shannon Haslett sensed God calling them to serve children living on the streets of Caracas, Venezuela. That calling eventually became Niños de la Luz.
In those early years, they met a boy named Duglas.
Like many children surviving on the streets, Duglas had already experienced things no child should have to experience. There were plenty of ups and downs. Jon and Shannon gave him opportunities to choose a different life, and many times, he chose not to take them.
Then one day, with his life falling apart, Duglas found himself in prison and called Jon for help.
Something was different this time. God had gotten hold of his heart, and there was a real desire to change.
Fast forward to 2026.
Today, Duglas is the director of Niños de la Luz in the Dominican Republic. He, his wife and their family are now serving children who are facing many of the same realities he once faced himself. The boy who once needed someone to step into his life is now stepping into the lives of others with the gospel of Jesus, the hope of a different future and the safety of a family.
Lifeline has had the privilege of serving alongside Niños de la Luz for years, and stories like Duglas’ remind me why what we do matters.
I cannot solve a problem as overwhelming as 140 million children. Neither can you.
But maybe that is not where we should start.
For Jon and Shannon, it started with boys like Duglas. For Duglas today, it starts with the children God has placed in front of him.
The same question is worth asking ourselves:
What can I do for one?
Register for the 2026 “Run for One”
Miguel Zayas is senior director of Global Orphan Care at Lifeline Children’s Services, the largest evangelical Christian adoption agency in America.
