I know some of you who read this have adopted and I need you to tell the other readers about God's faithfulness in providing in all kinds of crazy ways to make that happen. This is a request from me to you to tell about how good God really is in order that those who are reluctant to start the process can be encouraged.
Please even just tell a little story.
Some have gone to pick up their kids recently, some have had them for a long time, I don;t really care which one you are please just share. I would love it if there were 50 stories on here about God's faithfulness. We can't praise Him too much.
10/9/09
Ants
Teresa and I were talking yesterday about the needs we just saw a week ago in Ethiopia. There is so much need and we have so little resources. She said she feels like a little ant.
Imagine the ant going back and forth from the scrap of food to the ant hill. The ant doesn't get discouraged and say, "Well it's too little food for such a long walk so I just won't do anything". The ant leader picks the closest food and the colony starts the work. Back and forth, back and forth; one crumb at a time. What are they really getting done? This is way too much work for one little crumb, but is it?
If they didn't, each one, do their part the entire hill would die.
Now imagine that we are ants but we have God as our Provider. God gives us some work to do and it seems like the "crumbs" are really far from the "hill" but that is where we are called to work. We work each day going to and from that "crumb", and as we work we pray that God would deliver to us a feast closer to the hill. Well, it only takes God dropping an entire picnic basket right next to the hill to change both our attitude and the effectiveness of our work.
So, we must not get discouraged that we are undertaking too great a task. We must not grumble that God has made the task too far away. We must not grumble at His provision. We must rejoice in His provision and pray that He would give us fruit in our labors and if He decides to drop a "picnic basket" right next to us, then He alone is the One who is deserving of our praise.
I hope this encourages you as you contemplate God's faithfulness to the ant hill.
Imagine the ant going back and forth from the scrap of food to the ant hill. The ant doesn't get discouraged and say, "Well it's too little food for such a long walk so I just won't do anything". The ant leader picks the closest food and the colony starts the work. Back and forth, back and forth; one crumb at a time. What are they really getting done? This is way too much work for one little crumb, but is it?
If they didn't, each one, do their part the entire hill would die.
Now imagine that we are ants but we have God as our Provider. God gives us some work to do and it seems like the "crumbs" are really far from the "hill" but that is where we are called to work. We work each day going to and from that "crumb", and as we work we pray that God would deliver to us a feast closer to the hill. Well, it only takes God dropping an entire picnic basket right next to the hill to change both our attitude and the effectiveness of our work.
So, we must not get discouraged that we are undertaking too great a task. We must not grumble that God has made the task too far away. We must not grumble at His provision. We must rejoice in His provision and pray that He would give us fruit in our labors and if He decides to drop a "picnic basket" right next to us, then He alone is the One who is deserving of our praise.
I hope this encourages you as you contemplate God's faithfulness to the ant hill.
10/5/09
Opportunities Abounding
I got an email from Michelle last night; a very long email. I need to talk to her today and make sure I have all the facts straight before I post too much. But here is what I know right now.
They brought a good group of kids to the orphanage after we left; close to 20 more. They hit a hyena with the van and had to do some repairs to the van while on the road with all the kids. There are some relatively large financial obligations that are looming over head right now and with the US and world economies doing less than stellar, it is difficult for them to make ends meet. Michelle is still very hurt from all the slanderous remarks made about her on Australian TV; the entire program was very anti-Christian. Since their vision is to place kids in only Christian homes that makes them a key target. There are some real positive opportunities in Ethiopia right now, but all these things take dollars, and they just don't have lots of dollars right now. Now there are a lot of mouths to feed there and that all takes money and staff, which takes more money.
I personally don't even have any idea where to begin. The needs are so great and we don't have enough to "fix it", but God knows where the support will come from and He works in some crazy ways to show off His great power.
Please pray that Michelle and her team would have wisdom. That God would show Himself strong to provide for each one of these issues. That each one of us would trust Him in our daily lives and live in such a way that He would be shown great.
What can you do? Whatever God calls you to do, in whatever way He calls you to do it. Don't quench the Holy Spirit and don't limit His power to provide, but also don't feel guilty and then give. Pray that God would make it clear what you are supposed to do. The Macedonians were delighted to give out of their poverty, not because they felt guilty, but because God provided a way for them to show off His greatness as they were lead to give.
What is God going to do and how is He going to provide? I don't have the slightest idea, but it will be fun to watch Him work through His saint and then to watch Him provide for His faithful ones.
They brought a good group of kids to the orphanage after we left; close to 20 more. They hit a hyena with the van and had to do some repairs to the van while on the road with all the kids. There are some relatively large financial obligations that are looming over head right now and with the US and world economies doing less than stellar, it is difficult for them to make ends meet. Michelle is still very hurt from all the slanderous remarks made about her on Australian TV; the entire program was very anti-Christian. Since their vision is to place kids in only Christian homes that makes them a key target. There are some real positive opportunities in Ethiopia right now, but all these things take dollars, and they just don't have lots of dollars right now. Now there are a lot of mouths to feed there and that all takes money and staff, which takes more money.
I personally don't even have any idea where to begin. The needs are so great and we don't have enough to "fix it", but God knows where the support will come from and He works in some crazy ways to show off His great power.
Please pray that Michelle and her team would have wisdom. That God would show Himself strong to provide for each one of these issues. That each one of us would trust Him in our daily lives and live in such a way that He would be shown great.
What can you do? Whatever God calls you to do, in whatever way He calls you to do it. Don't quench the Holy Spirit and don't limit His power to provide, but also don't feel guilty and then give. Pray that God would make it clear what you are supposed to do. The Macedonians were delighted to give out of their poverty, not because they felt guilty, but because God provided a way for them to show off His greatness as they were lead to give.
What is God going to do and how is He going to provide? I don't have the slightest idea, but it will be fun to watch Him work through His saint and then to watch Him provide for His faithful ones.
10/4/09
I Need a Little Help here
For those of you have adopted previously and are much more savvy than I, will you add your thoughts to the site on the initial steps to adopting, please?
Since our return, and really before we left, we have some people in our church who are getting very excited about the prospects of adopting and want to know how they should begin, as well as where all the money will come from.
It would be very encouraging if you could just say a little about those 2 things. We started the process in a less than "normal" way and so if you could speak to this that would be great. Also, I know that all of you who read this are loaded:), and so if you could tell us some stories about how God provided for your friend's adoption, who aren't loaded, that would be awesome. I am giving you license to post a long comment.
It certainly is fun to watch our Magnificence God show off His power so we can only give Him glory when it is finished.
Since our return, and really before we left, we have some people in our church who are getting very excited about the prospects of adopting and want to know how they should begin, as well as where all the money will come from.
It would be very encouraging if you could just say a little about those 2 things. We started the process in a less than "normal" way and so if you could speak to this that would be great. Also, I know that all of you who read this are loaded:), and so if you could tell us some stories about how God provided for your friend's adoption, who aren't loaded, that would be awesome. I am giving you license to post a long comment.
It certainly is fun to watch our Magnificence God show off His power so we can only give Him glory when it is finished.
What's going on?
Just an update on the adoption process for our family.
Before we left I contacted the home study guy and he told me everything is going along fine. As someone who likes to keep the ball rolling and stay involved, it is a little difficult to just sit here and wait for others to do their part and not want to push, but he assured me everything was fine and that we would have time to get all the necessary components completed.
It is very interesting to be where we are right now and to watch God work. I am not sure, ministry wise, what it is that God has for us in the future. It certainly seems that He is changing our direction slightly, if not significantly, but at the same time He has not diminished our absolute love for the ministry we are currently in. So maybe He is just expanding it.
The great part about being in partnership with The Father in ministry is He knows EXACTLY where and what we should be, and He equips us to do the work that He has planned for us to do. When you sit back and think about that it really is amazing and can be overwhelming. The God of the universe has something very specific for each of His children and He doesn't ever give us anything we can't handle. In our weakness He is strong and I am much too weak to do any of this on my own, so it is good that He is really strong.
In Ethiopia I was expecting Teresa to be much more overwhelmed than she was, and at least as emotional as me, but God really protected her and she was able to contribute much. Often it is hard to think objectively when emotions get in the way and God worked mightily in and through her.
So how is God going to use us, with our new son coming soon and the kids going off and doing their own ministry things? I have no idea. But that is the best part. I don't have to know and I don't have to be concerned with any of the details. He is in control and He will direct our paths when we wait on Him. All of these things are for our refining and make us into useful vessels for His Kingdom. We get to participate in ministry for The King. WOW.
As I am still not a little messed up on the time change I was reading this morning James 1 and was thinking about how often I hear The Word and discount it as if it is for someone else. There are some pretty pointed statements in this passage and also some pretty encouraging as well.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
We certainly don't want to be deceiving our own heart, which are deceitful enough without us helping, but look at the end of this section. When we act on what we hear and know to be right and we persevere, God blesses us in our doing. He blesses our work when we do what we are obey. He doesn't have to make that promise, but He does.
So, what does God want form each one of us? He wants us to trust Him and obey. And the words of the song are true that when we do this we will "be happy in Jesus".
Before we left I contacted the home study guy and he told me everything is going along fine. As someone who likes to keep the ball rolling and stay involved, it is a little difficult to just sit here and wait for others to do their part and not want to push, but he assured me everything was fine and that we would have time to get all the necessary components completed.
It is very interesting to be where we are right now and to watch God work. I am not sure, ministry wise, what it is that God has for us in the future. It certainly seems that He is changing our direction slightly, if not significantly, but at the same time He has not diminished our absolute love for the ministry we are currently in. So maybe He is just expanding it.
The great part about being in partnership with The Father in ministry is He knows EXACTLY where and what we should be, and He equips us to do the work that He has planned for us to do. When you sit back and think about that it really is amazing and can be overwhelming. The God of the universe has something very specific for each of His children and He doesn't ever give us anything we can't handle. In our weakness He is strong and I am much too weak to do any of this on my own, so it is good that He is really strong.
In Ethiopia I was expecting Teresa to be much more overwhelmed than she was, and at least as emotional as me, but God really protected her and she was able to contribute much. Often it is hard to think objectively when emotions get in the way and God worked mightily in and through her.
So how is God going to use us, with our new son coming soon and the kids going off and doing their own ministry things? I have no idea. But that is the best part. I don't have to know and I don't have to be concerned with any of the details. He is in control and He will direct our paths when we wait on Him. All of these things are for our refining and make us into useful vessels for His Kingdom. We get to participate in ministry for The King. WOW.
As I am still not a little messed up on the time change I was reading this morning James 1 and was thinking about how often I hear The Word and discount it as if it is for someone else. There are some pretty pointed statements in this passage and also some pretty encouraging as well.
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
We certainly don't want to be deceiving our own heart, which are deceitful enough without us helping, but look at the end of this section. When we act on what we hear and know to be right and we persevere, God blesses us in our doing. He blesses our work when we do what we are obey. He doesn't have to make that promise, but He does.
So, what does God want form each one of us? He wants us to trust Him and obey. And the words of the song are true that when we do this we will "be happy in Jesus".
10/2/09
Finally back to posting
While away I added my thoughts to the computer and now have put them in for you to read. I did this differently than normal, as I want you to be able to start on the first day and read down the week. So, just keep scrolling down until you have finished the trip.
I really am serious about having people over for dinner, or whatever, so you can ask us questions and you are able to see more clearly what is going on in Ethiopia.
We pray that God would call some to adopt and some to help in other ways so we can, each one, fulfill the purpose He has for us. Don't ignore the Holy Spirit's calling on your heart to move. God is big and somehow He will provide for you everything that you need to complete the task He has called you to do. But, you have to step out in faith and trust Him. If we don;t trust Him we are sinning and we put ourselves in His place, as we think we know what is best.
I certainly do not have all the answers about the subject by going there for a week, but I have some and we would love to help you in whatever way we are able.
Pray that God would work mightily in your own heart and in the heart of others that His work may be carried out by His servants.
I really am serious about having people over for dinner, or whatever, so you can ask us questions and you are able to see more clearly what is going on in Ethiopia.
We pray that God would call some to adopt and some to help in other ways so we can, each one, fulfill the purpose He has for us. Don't ignore the Holy Spirit's calling on your heart to move. God is big and somehow He will provide for you everything that you need to complete the task He has called you to do. But, you have to step out in faith and trust Him. If we don;t trust Him we are sinning and we put ourselves in His place, as we think we know what is best.
I certainly do not have all the answers about the subject by going there for a week, but I have some and we would love to help you in whatever way we are able.
Pray that God would work mightily in your own heart and in the heart of others that His work may be carried out by His servants.
Italy to Ethiopia
We left with 3 hours to travel what would normally take 2 but there was a lot of traffic and so it took almost the entire 3 hours. We made our flight and were told we were the last to check in, but the gal gave us the exit row on both the flight to Dubai and also to Addis; God is so kind.
The travel in flight with the lay over was another 9 hours. Tack that onto the already long day and then loose another night of sleep and we are tired. Something new I had never seen was there was a video camera attached on the front of the plane and so we could actually watched the take off and landing. There was a serious cross wind on approach to Addis and it literally looked like we were going to land in the field rather than on the runway, but of course they know what they are doing and we landed fine.
The sights of Addis were close to what I expected, looking much like India. The roads into the orphanage are terrible, reminiscent of India/Sao Paulo. But what a treat awaited us when we got to the orphanage. The kids were ready in the room when we arrived and they sang us a song. Their little eyes just light up with joy as they sing and the boys sing so enthusiastically that the veins stick out in the neck.
The older kids are like big brothers and sisters to the little ones. They are really caring for their needs. Teresa immediately became attached to one little guy named Abenezar. 
He just loves to be held.
There are many sibling groups and it is not best to split up, so that is more of a challenge to place them, but they really are awesome little ready made families. Take a look. We would love to tell you about them over dinner:)Invite yourself over and we'll talk.
After dinner we found out that the orphanage is going to be moving tomorrow so the girls started to sort through all the things, some to be left here and some to be taken to the new location. The infants will stay in Addis and all the rest will go to the new place. There are so many politics involved with all of this kind of thing and especially because it is in a different country. The “normal” way is not normal here at all. But God knows and He cares for these little ones and all that can be done is to do what is known to be right and let Him take care of the rest. His ways are not our ways and our thoughts can’t even begin to comprehend His thoughts, so we work as unto Him and rest in His provision and care.
The staff here seems to work hard and to really love and care about the children. With the world economy going south, it is impossible to carry on this type of work without God providing even the most basic of needs.
Currently there are about 30 kids here in the orphanage that could hold as many as 80, but since He is in control He knows that the move was coming and it certainly will be much easier to move 30 kids rather than 80. They have placed about 40 this past summer, which has obviously diminished the numbers here and they would like to try to place 80 or more each year.
Imagine going from the village, which we have yet to see, where daily food is a luxury and certainly not the norm, and water is at a premium.
Imagine the staple food costing at the very extreme of what a family can afford and so often they go without food for more than a day at a time. Imagine living in the same clothes everyday until you can no longer actually fit in them.
Now imagine coming to the orphanage and having food 3 times a day, clothes that are periodically cleaned and past down, so you get different ones, and a firm roof over your head. Now imagine coming to the normal American home and how crazy that would look comparatively.
For sure, individually we can’t solve these problems, but we can make a difference in the lives of one or 2, or maybe 80 this year. It really doesn’t take that much to significantly change the lives of these kids, but we must start the process or nothing will ever happen.
It’s late and it’s well into tomorrow by my clock. God is amazing as He has allowed us the privilege of being here and hopefully making some sort of small difference in the lives of these kids. We can certainly go into all the world and preach the Gospel, but we can also bring them into our homes and have a huge impact on some.
The travel in flight with the lay over was another 9 hours. Tack that onto the already long day and then loose another night of sleep and we are tired. Something new I had never seen was there was a video camera attached on the front of the plane and so we could actually watched the take off and landing. There was a serious cross wind on approach to Addis and it literally looked like we were going to land in the field rather than on the runway, but of course they know what they are doing and we landed fine.
The sights of Addis were close to what I expected, looking much like India. The roads into the orphanage are terrible, reminiscent of India/Sao Paulo. But what a treat awaited us when we got to the orphanage. The kids were ready in the room when we arrived and they sang us a song. Their little eyes just light up with joy as they sing and the boys sing so enthusiastically that the veins stick out in the neck.
The older kids are like big brothers and sisters to the little ones. They are really caring for their needs. Teresa immediately became attached to one little guy named Abenezar. 
He just loves to be held. There are many sibling groups and it is not best to split up, so that is more of a challenge to place them, but they really are awesome little ready made families. Take a look. We would love to tell you about them over dinner:)Invite yourself over and we'll talk.
After dinner we found out that the orphanage is going to be moving tomorrow so the girls started to sort through all the things, some to be left here and some to be taken to the new location. The infants will stay in Addis and all the rest will go to the new place. There are so many politics involved with all of this kind of thing and especially because it is in a different country. The “normal” way is not normal here at all. But God knows and He cares for these little ones and all that can be done is to do what is known to be right and let Him take care of the rest. His ways are not our ways and our thoughts can’t even begin to comprehend His thoughts, so we work as unto Him and rest in His provision and care.
The staff here seems to work hard and to really love and care about the children. With the world economy going south, it is impossible to carry on this type of work without God providing even the most basic of needs.
Currently there are about 30 kids here in the orphanage that could hold as many as 80, but since He is in control He knows that the move was coming and it certainly will be much easier to move 30 kids rather than 80. They have placed about 40 this past summer, which has obviously diminished the numbers here and they would like to try to place 80 or more each year.
Imagine going from the village, which we have yet to see, where daily food is a luxury and certainly not the norm, and water is at a premium.
Imagine the staple food costing at the very extreme of what a family can afford and so often they go without food for more than a day at a time. Imagine living in the same clothes everyday until you can no longer actually fit in them.
Now imagine coming to the orphanage and having food 3 times a day, clothes that are periodically cleaned and past down, so you get different ones, and a firm roof over your head. Now imagine coming to the normal American home and how crazy that would look comparatively.For sure, individually we can’t solve these problems, but we can make a difference in the lives of one or 2, or maybe 80 this year. It really doesn’t take that much to significantly change the lives of these kids, but we must start the process or nothing will ever happen.
It’s late and it’s well into tomorrow by my clock. God is amazing as He has allowed us the privilege of being here and hopefully making some sort of small difference in the lives of these kids. We can certainly go into all the world and preach the Gospel, but we can also bring them into our homes and have a huge impact on some.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)