Lisa Murphy knows there is a razor-thin line between life and death. She has seen it up close, and it has changed her life forever. It has also changed the lives of countless children and families around the world.
It all started when Lisa and her husband Jim adopted Daniel, a two-year-old boy from China with severe heart problems.
“He was so sick, but we took medication with us and he got better. When he smiled for the first time we cried from joy.”
For a brief moment, hope eclipsed fear for the Murphys.
But 19 days after undergoing heart surgery, Daniel died. He was just two-and-a-half years old.
The loss shattered them.
But despite their grief, Lisa was inspired by her faith to move toward a higher purpose. That purpose turned out to be the most important mission of her life (other than marrying Jim and adopting five children).
It was the birth of a nonprofit organization called “Open Hearts for Orphans.”
Founded a decade ago, Open Hearts for Orphans provides resources for vulnerable children both internationally and in the US. This includes medical intervention, adoption assistance, and meeting urgent basic needs for children in crisis.
It’s a calling that stretches across continents, orphanages, hospitals, and homes where vulnerable children are waiting to be seen, loved, and given a chance to thrive.
Lisa is not the only mother who has turned her pain into purpose. Her Director of Medical Intervention, Ann Bartlinski, is also on a similar faith-based trajectory of love and compassion. She has 11 children, seven who were adopted and have special needs.
Bartlinski shares the same calling to support (and love) those in need. Her adopted daughter Teresa had a heart condition and passed away at the age of six. Ann’s compassion led her toward one of Open Hearts for Orphan’s most ambitious projects.
While visiting Uganda in 2025, she walked into a hospital and was stunned to find a desperately ill little boy whom she knew was near death. His mother cried and begged Ann for help.
Bartlinski arranged for the child to be transferred to a hospital for medical care. Within days his condition dramatically improved. “It was a true miracle, and the doctors were even shocked,” said Murphy.
Ann named this miracle boy Josiah.
That encounter inspired Josiah’s Hope. This project is an ambitious one for OHFO and one that has come to fruition. “We refurbished the Pediatric Ward at a Hospital in Uganda. The purpose of this mission is to create a healing space for impoverished and abandoned children.”
The construction phase of the children’s ward is complete.
Open Hearts for Orphans is now raising funds for Phase Two. This will provide desperately needed equipment and medical supplies for children.
This means a lot to Bartlinski.
“Teresa’s memory inspires me every day to ensure vulnerable children receive the love, care and medical support they need and deserve. Through this work, her spirit lives on in the lives we touch.” Mary Sammons is also a mother who turned her pain into purpose. Her adopted daughter Ivy Joy passed away at the age of six. Sammons has seven children, three who were adopted. At OHFO, Sammons is the Director of Adoption Programs.
“Being Ivy’s mom is a love that didn’t end, it just changed form. Some days the grief drops me to my knees, but this work gives it somewhere to go. Turning pain into purpose doesn’t erase what I’ve lost, it honors it. I carry Ivy with me in this mission. It is in her memory that I choose to fill that deep pit of sorrow with hope,” said Sammons.
To Murphy this is a heavenly calling.
“All three of us are mothers with children in heaven who had heart defects. When I started Open Hearts for Orphans, the Lord called me to make this a collective of mothers who feel the importance of turning grief into something beautiful.”
And they have.
The organization’s “Say Yes” Adoption Grant Program has helped over 170 families in 38 states adopt children with special needs from 27 countries (including the US).
Open Hearts for Orphans has funded life-saving surgeries, shipped medical equipment to orphanages, and supported foster families in crisis.
Through partnerships with community networks, OHFO responds quickly when urgent needs arise.
Together Lisa, Ann and Mary represent something larger than nonprofit leadership. They represent hope, love and realized dreams for children in need of medical care and a forever home.
The mothers of Open Hearts for Orphans also understand that grief and compassion can occupy the same heart. They are beautiful examples of the transformative reality that brokenness can become a blessing.
For Lisa Murphy, Mother’s Day is not marked by flowers or brunch reservations. It is celebrated in every adoption grant awarded, every surgery funded, every child clothed and every hospital bed supplied.
“Every child deserves a home and a family. Some of these kids have never been hugged. No child deserves that,” said Murphy.
That truth continues to guide (and inspire) Open Hearts for Orphans. It also surpasses limits for their Phase Two mission for Josiah’s Hope Pediatric Ward.
In March, 52 children were admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, malaria, and other maladies. They are now treated with dignity, medical resources and hope.
Sick children are now receiving care and surviving. “We recently lost one child from malnutrition and septic shock. The hospital did not have a ventilator to provide respiratory support. We can’t accept that.”
“That is why we are trying to raise $50,000 to provide critical medical equipment. Because the next sick child who comes to the hospital deserves every chance of survival,” adds Murphy.
Open Hearts for Orphans started with the loss of a little boy named Daniel. But, it has inspired life for those who benefit from his namesake.
It has also given hope to mothers who chose love after loss. For Lisa Murphy – and the mothers beside her – love was never meant to stop with grief. It was simply meant to grow.
To support OHFO: openheartsfororphans.org or call (561) 827-2222.
