The Russian Orphan Lighthouse Project was started by three friends with a heart for Russian orphans. Valerie Thompson, of Midland, Michigan, is an adoptive parent of eight Russian children. Lisa Smith, a Russian adoption facilitator since 1993, lived in Moscow for 10 years and has helped over 1600 Russian orphans find their forever homes. Larisa Filatova, a dual-citizen of Russia and the United States, lives in the U.S. and works as Head Translator and Logistical Coordinator of the Lighthouse Project.

The program was born when Valerie invited the children of Lisa's Russian adoption coordinators, from Russia, to visit her family in Michigan during the summer of 1998. The trip was such a fantastic success that Valerie and Lisa planned a similar trip the following summer with orphans as the child travelers. Vacation Bible School, as key a component of that trip as it remains today, sets our program apart from the many other orphan hosting programs around the country.

In the summer of 1999, the first Lighthouse Project trip delivered a group of 18 orphans to Michigan, resulting in the adoptions of many of the children. The interest generated from that trip encouraged friends in other states to volunteer to run Lighthouse trips locally. As we have relied on God, He has blessed us; since 1998, the Lighthouse Project has coordinated over 55 trips to seven states.

Our growth continued with the addition of National Volunteer Coordinator Becky De Nooy, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, to our staff. Becky, an adoptive mom through our program, became involved in 2003 and has since coordinated almost 20 trips. She helps to connect American families with their “forever” children, and we are blessed to have her on our team.

The Lighthouse Project began a new chapter in September 2009, when the Russian government put a temporary halt on all children's groups being able to travel to the U.S. due to the H1N1 flu epidemic. While waiting out that moratorium, we began running "Reverse" Lighthouse Project trips, offering American families the chance to travel to Russia to meet adoptable orphans and sightsee with them in Moscow (could change to Russia). Our first trip, in October 2009, was so successful and well-received that we have continued with the Russian-based model throughout 2010 and into 2011.