Claire Diaz-Ortiz
About the Author

Claire leads social innovation at Twitter, Inc. and is the author of Twitter for Good. Named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, she has a heart for speaking and coaching. Follow her journey of unexpected grace on Twitter via @Claire.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. Claire,

    YES! The investment in health and wellness, and what it does to our spirit! I can’t wait to read more of your story. I’m so drawn to it…as a runner and most importantly someone with a passion for investing in this aspect of people’s lives. I’d love to sit and chat with you about ways we can creatively encourage others and empower them to make a difference for themselves and the world around us all.

    My heart has always been drawn to Africa–to the children–though I’m not sure exactly why. I’ve found myself saying as a little girl that I was going to adopt a child from there. Today I still talk of adoption, though from the U.S., and still my heart cries for children everywhere. More and more Compassion International has been a poking and a prodding in my heart–and I’d go to the ends of the Earth to see God move in the hearts of children everywhere, even in spite of what we think they’re lacking. The miracle is how they don’t know what they lack and He moves regardless. Simply amazing.

  2. Itec. http://Www.itecusa.org. My love for this family and their grace under fire is a long story and one full of tears (told on my blog today). But to tell you shortly, my friends grandfather was killed alongside Jim Elliot. They have the most beautiful story pf redemption Ive ever heard, oitside of scripture. God has used them in missions in amazing ways – developing a flying car, a cheap dental chair that can be carried on your back, and most of all teaching indigenous peoples about Christ while not doing everything for them…but rather teaching them to maintain the good parts of their culture and function in the modern world. My little boy is a wheelchair with a feeding pump and cochlear implant, so I hardly know how we’d manage abroad…especially far from a power supply, but I know God is great, and He will provide wherever he wants us!

  3. In the past I have been part of a short-term-long-term ministry to the Rosebud and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations. I actually am not involved this year because I think that God has been trying to tell me that I was calling myself to that, but it wasn’t where he was calling me for the moment. I would love to go back and spend an extended amount of time there, but I’m not sure that is really where I am meant ot be.

  4. My dream – and calling – is in the mountain west of the US. I visited all over the West in 2003, and absolutely fell in love with it, and at the same time was completely overwhelmed with the dire need for the gospel here in our own country. And then I felt God calling me to return… if only time could hurry up and we could be over there already, where our hearts already are!

  5. When I was younger, my parents and I went to Mexico to visit the nuns of the Order of Saint Clare. It was then at the age of 16, I learned what is was like to have God tug on your heart strings, as I held a 3 year old orphan who longed to be loved. My heart sank with sadness. These young orphans only wanted attention and the basics of life, to have food, shelter, and be loved. My parents and I had brought some fruit and you would have thought we brought a 5 course meal. The sisters thanked us as they said that the children considered the fruit a gift and treat because they rarely have fruit or anything to eat at all.

    I left that orphanage with tears in my eyes wondering how many more of God’s children were left alone with no shelter, food, or someone to hold them. I wanted so badly to bring all the children home with us, so they knew what is was like to be wanted and taken care of.

    If I could volunteer anywhere, it would be to care for the orphans. I would love to help the nuns of St. Clare in Mexico, as the women of this order devote their lives to the poor and destitute. Maybe when my health improves, God will give me a chance to do so.

    Thank you for the opportunity to win your book in this giveaway. May God Bless you.

  6. My husband and kids and I spent 8 years as missionaries in Peru to the Quechua people. God has moved us to the U.S. and though we have no idea what He has in mind we still pray for the Quechua, and dream about how we could be involved even at a distance and get others involved in the process. We know God knows what our prayers are and that He is at work and has a plan for these people and for us too. We are excited to see what He will do!

  7. I don’t know if I could be a missionary outside of my home country, but I do want to reach out…

  8. My dream is to help women and children in crisis gain justice in the legal system and witness the transforming power of Jesus Christ as they escape the bondage of addiction, abuse and sexual sin. Giving a voice to those who are denied a voice because there are no organizations with a Christian worldview and perspective willing to fight for them against the secular, anti-Christian organizations such as Planned Parenthood, ACLU and similar groups. I’m new to Twitter but already seeing how it can be used by God for great good. Thank you for sharing your story.

  9. I spent time working in Europe and Eurasia, specifically the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and I imagine/hope/pray I will be involved with those areas of the world at some point again 🙂

  10. Thank you Claire for sharing this! I can’t wait to read the next installment!!

    As I was reading this morning, the word “gobsmacked” came to mind…I’m not British, but it just seemed the most appropriate word …. one of its meanings is “utterly astounded”. I am “gobsmacked” and in awe, when I see the hand of God working in others. I am “gobsmacked” to see how God aligns circumstances to bring us to a place of new ministry. I am “gobsmacked” to see a journey that uses all your past experiences as the foundation for a new path. I am “gobsmacked” to see how God uses the simple things, (well simple to you!), like running, as your ministry to the children. Wow!!!

  11. I would LOVE to work at an orphanage somewhere………probably Asia or Africa. Adoption and children in need are a huge passion of mine. God is working that out in my life right now.

  12. My call is to the people of this country, USA which is easily forgotten as a missionary field.
    I have a Passion for renewing the minds of those held in bondage to their past through abuse and strongholds of sin. Isaiah 61 is my calling to proclaim. Most recently volunteering at the local pregnancy support center is a door the Lord has opened for me to do so.

  13. Since 2000 I have been so blessed to have been able make 8 trips to Africa for missions ministry…Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda. I remember the first time I saw the rift valley, the Uganda border, experienced the Ghanaian heat (114degrees and an orphanage and Prison there) ,and the Rwandan Genocide Memorial…over the past decade I have come to love the African people so dearly and rejoice in all that the Lord is doing there. Rejoicing in the privilege it has been to minister the word of God to these dear souls, to worship with them, to provide worship through dance, to celebrate thier spiritual growth and the favor of God over thier lives.

  14. Thank you for sharing your story you brave woman! Like some of these ladies, someone its simply natural for me to sense a magnetization to others, be it children or those Christ gives us eye to see through to their needs. With those eyes, I believe he affords opportunity. It doesn’t matter where these people are so much as our desire to obey and go. I have the privilege to “go” to Honduras in a month. First trip for me. As a mother of 3, I simply sit in wonder as to how He will answer my prayer of “Lord, unsettle me”.

    The other part of your story that resonates with me is running. God asked to be my coach 6 years ago, and with His strength I am “able” to continue today. It is the vessel in which I have learned the privilege of presence in the most intimate way I’ve ever known. It’s such a precious gift that is too important to keep to myself. I feel compelled to share it however He deems. It presses me to say I will run with Him wherever He leads.

    Thanks for you bravery in sharing!

    Off to run on the beach of San Diego… I’m from Ohio. Blessed.

    My other draw to your story is that He asked me to run 6 years ago, and only through Him, I continue to run today. It’s a precious “able to” vessel that has brought me closer to Him like nothing else.

  15. Thank you for sharing your story you brave woman! Like some of these ladies, someone its simply natural for me to sense a magnetization to others, be it children or those Christ gives us eye to see through to their needs. With those eyes, I believe he affords opportunity. It doesn’t matter where these people are so much as our desire to obey and go. I have the privilege to “go” to Honduras in a month. First trip for me. As a mother of 3, I simply sit in wonder as to how He will answer my prayer of “Lord, unsettle me”.

    The other part of your story that resonates with me is running. God asked to be my coach 6 years ago, and with His strength I am “able” to continue today. It is the vessel in which I have learned the privilege of presence in the most intimate way I’ve ever known. It’s such a precious gift that is too important to keep to myself. I feel compelled to share it however He deems. It presses me to say I will run with Him wherever He leads.

    Thanks for you bravery in sharing!

    Off to run on the beach of San Diego… I’m from Ohio. Blessed.

  16. Hello Claire!

    WOW!!! I cannot wait for Part 3 of your story!

    I have a real ache in my heart for young girls, teens, young women and older women who are held in bondage to eating and body image issues. That is my background, and the Lord has called me to minister to them here in the US. If he calls me to speak beyond these borders, I will go, but, for now, these sweet girls and women here in the US are my focus.

  17. Mexico.

    I’ve always dreamed of volunteering in Mexico. I’ve been going there with my family almost every year since I was three – for vacation. I’m 22 and married now, so I went for my honeymoon and will be returning there later this year for my first anniversary.

    A couple of years ago, I stayed in Mexico for a few weeks with a host family while I attended a language school. I love the language, the people, the culture – everything about Mexico I love. I thought of being a missionary there while in college.

    I’m not sure if I will ever make it there as a volunteer in some way… my husband has a heart for Japan… and I knew that when I married him. He knows I love Mexico… whatever God has for us to do, we’ll do. Right now, it’s to stay in the USA.

  18. My husband and I were foster parents to three children of crack-addicted parents. It was so sad to see how the parents wanted to love their children and yet their addiction dominated their lives and desires. We fostered them until their biological grandfather was able to retire and adopt them.
    I work for a church and would be grateful to be in the drawing to receive a copy of the book. Our church is able to reach so many more people for Christ because of social networking!

  19. I’m not much of a traveler, so I’ve never really had the draw to go to another country to volunteer. I’ve found there’s plenty of need just in my own backyard.

  20. Claire~
    I love reading your story. It’s so wild the way God changes our intended paths and sets us off on His journey. I am currently an Advocate for Compassion International, and dream of someday making the trip to Rwanda to not only meet one of our sponsored children, but also to serve. I don’t know that God is specifically calling my family to Africa, but I do long to become further involved with Compassion. My heart breaks for the children served by that ministry, and I am thankful to be involved as I am, but I do want to go deeper…

  21. My husband and I live in Mexico and I witha friend go about once a week to pray over a Children´s shelter here. We also have a God child that is the love of our lives. She is 16 and adorable. She and her 5 brothers and sisters were abandoned by their mother. Life is good here and fulfilling but would love to do more.

  22. It is my dream to join Samaritan’s Purse (or other similar medical mission group) and provide medical help to people in Africa. My husband and I both work in the medical field and are paying off our student debt and gaining experience in our respective fields, so that we can join a long term medical mission team.

  23. I just read a heart wrenching account about broken runaways and the horrors they face on the streets of big cities like NY, Los Angeles, Chicago…and we can go on and on around the world of broken kids that have no way of dealing with their circumstances. It was a book from Covenant House that takes in these kids. I would love to help them!

  24. I’ve always wanted to help with children. Recently through mutual friends an organization called Jordan international went to Africa to help with children… Watching several videos I’m compelled to want to go and be a part of this. I’ve be able to sponsor others to go but the dream to go myself is always there…

  25. What a wonderful journey so far. I can’t wait to hear the rest of your story. I have type 1 diabetes, and it’s my dream to start (or be part of) an organization where I can supply insulin and other diabetes meds to developing countries where type 1 diabetes is otherwise a death sentence. There are similar organizations out there already, but none who also share the love and hope of Christ.

  26. I have always had a heart for women, especially teen girls, in pregnancy “Crisis.” those that are pregnant and have no where to turn. I am looking to get involved in a local ministry that helps women like this. I recently learned of MERCY HOUSE in Kenya that works with pregnant women living on the streets and would LOVE to go visit there someday.

  27. I Chair a charity in the uk called Northamptonshire Rape & Incest Crisis Centre. We are the only organisation in our area providing free support to women, men & children who have survived recent or historical rape or sexual abuse. We are on twitter & recently Facebook but we would really benefit from learning how to do ‘it’ properly! We almost closed after 25 years in 2011 due to lack of funding & although we have now turned a corner we need all the help we can get in order to be here for another 25 years. Thanks for the opportunity 🙂

  28. Good question for me to answer.

    My husband and 3 kids and I are getting ready to put our house on the market – pay off the rest of our debt – make some major life changes….so that perhaps, we can head overseas to serve.

    It sounds odd, but the Lord has been laying London on our hearts. Why? I have no idea. We are praying through it. Also, Kenya (my husband served their at an IDP camp this past February) and Asia. We are praying through a lot! We’ve been reading up on World Vision, Compassion International, YWAM, and a few others. I have no idea what all this will look like or turn into – but I’m trusting Him in it 🙂

    Blessings to you,
    Kate 🙂

  29. The country that I would love to visit and volunteer in is Africa! Everytime I see pictures of orphans and young women in Africa, my heart is stirred for them. I would love to go and just love on the hurting people there, helping out in any way I can!

  30. For years I wanted to get involved with Relay for Life–Cancer. A few years ago our pastor’s wife invited me to join the church team. I did right there on the spot. Now every year I assist in any way I can–even at the actual Relay event.

    One year I was very enthusiastic about selling our chicken dinners and we got first place for spirit. Lately it has been my dream to help fund a cure for cancers of all kinds.

  31. Praying for opportunities to serve at my home church as well as ways to show God’s love to those in and working at an orphanage in Haiti.

  32. Learning the harness the power of Twitter and technology makes a major difference in the number of people you can reach. I would like to help protect women and children who are facing oppression and abuse, offering them a chance to develop themselves and gain a sense of personal freedom.

  33. I have had a real burden on my heart for the people of the Middle East, like Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan–the whole region. I don’t have any tie to this region, and I don’t have any family in the military. I just feel a real love for these children of God.

  34. My dream trip…I have ALWAYS wanted to go on a missions trip (of some kind). I’m not sure where exactly, but I would love to go on one…maybe with World Vision and meet some of the kiddos…maybe one or both of the ones I sponsor (how cool would that be?!!). Maybe to somewhere in Africa? Haiti? I’ve just always wanted to go and serve. Maybe one day 🙂

  35. I dream of working with an anti trafficking programme, or Compassion both offer hope and restoration in Jesus’ name. This is something i dream to be part of. Yet with all my dreams i will go wherever God wants me x

  36. New Hope Uganda would be the organization I would chose. My daughter and son-in-law spent six months there participating in the Institute of Family and Child Care. The experience changed them, deepened them. I’ve never even been on a mission trip (not that I haven’t desired to go, circumstances of life have prohibited my going) so why in the world would I dream of going to AFRICA?? I don’t like heat or camping type life or mosquitos or anything that goes along with LIVING basically out doors. Because, I know there is a need for love, for understanding, compassion and giving your life. I’m almost 50 years old, after raising my own children I do know how to be a mother, I’m good at mothering. It’s just a dream buried in the depths of my heart. If God permits and makes it happen, I would go!

  37. Many, many years ago (even decades ago) I had what I might call a vision. It was of an oriental archway. Since then I have had a heart for the persecuted Christians in China. Presently we help support someone who is working in a red-light distric there. But I have longed to go myself and see the work or the need there in China.

  38. My hearts desire is to find a cure for Childhood Cancer & all other cancer. I’ve been trying to raise awareness for many years now. It all started with a prayer list for kids with cancer I have lenses on Squidoo & an Awesome page on Facebook called
    Childhood Cancer Awareness. I would LOVE to work with Make A Wish Foundation to help make kids wishes come true <3

  39. I don’t have a specific country or organization, but it has been on my heart for our family to sponsor a child, or adopt a family at Christmastime. I would like to transition from having gifts under our Christmas tree to gifts going to a family in need instead.

  40. Our church supports orphans in Uganda…I would love to be able to travel there to meet them, but I don’t feel the Lord nudging that. Always praying that my heart is open to His leading…wherever it may take me. Looking forward to Part 3!!