His Love

So very full this morning as I consider so many things.  The way we love, the conditions we put on our love.  How quickly we can turn away from someone who is walking in sin, not realizing they are in bondage, and need us more than ever.  We are the ones, the children of God, who have the power and authority to lift them out of bondage through the power of the Holy Spirit in us.

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. 

We are to share one another's burdens.  We are to love one another with an unconditional love. We are to love others more than we love ourselves.  We are to walk in forgiveness.  I am asking God this morning to make me more like His Son, realizing I have such a long way to go.  

The scripture says to get the PLANK out of your own eye when we begin to point fingers at our brothers and sisters.  We all have weaknesses.  Some may seem worse than others but the bible says that no sin shall enter Heaven.  So if I go to hell because I am a backbiter, a liar, a thief or  a murderer or an  adulterer... I still go to hell and suffer eternal damnation. 

The story of the alabaster box makes my heart hurt when I think about the opportunities we have had to nurse someone back to health and did not.  The song says you don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box.  None of us know what someone else has walked through, the circumstances that may have led them astray, the pain they have endured or the condition of their heart.  We do not see into the deep places of their soul and spirit and know the guilt and shame they have felt over past decisions.  What we do know for sure is that we are to love them and encourage them in the faith.   

Heavenly Father please place in us, your children, the fruits of the spirit.  Enable to walk in those in full confidence of who we are in you.  Let us love deeply as you loved, enough to send your son to Calvary.  Let our love be unconditional as yours is and our hearts tender, ready to forgive and forget.  Help us God to become spiritual physicians tending to one another's wounds and bringing healing into the body of Christ. We need to be healthy to be effective  Help us God to see the needs around us, to answer your call to occupy right where we are.  Help us to see God that we are busy but not necessarily with the things of the Kingdom of God. Help us to do everything we do with your love which sees with spiritual eyes the needs of the hurting.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have bcome a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.  And though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

A Particular Moment

What a day!  It was filled with playing games, pictures, jewelry making, story telling, watching soccer on tv, etc.  Today had it moments, but one in particular caught my attention.

I know that culturally we are very different, the Ghanaians and us.  Many of us are interacting with them for the first time, maybe second time and I think we are all going through some growing pains. We are very different and yet very much alike.  This is not the time to compare what we have or are use to.  It is a time to love another people and to try and understand how they feel especially since we are guest in their country.

One difference I notice right away is the pace.  In America I am running to bible study, post office, grocery store, meeting someone for lunch, etc. You know the drill.  Always somewhere to go and some place to be.  Life is not that way here. The Ghanaians spend most of their day at home visiting with each other.  I can remember the frustration I felt on my first trip when I was waiting for someone and they said, "oh why, why are you worried because I am two hours late?"  Truth is because I wasn't use to that. What I have learned is it is not so bad to slow down, rush less, eat slower, just sit in a chair and think or visit with a family member or friend  or here's a biggy... take a fiesta during the day.

Back to that particular moment.  It was a look on John's face as Little Richard left.  I thought about how hard it must be to hold these kids, care for them when they are sick,  laugh with  them, play with them, feed them, watch them grow for years and then watch them leave.  I am sure John and Irene have had achy hearts many times.  

Like most dads, John is gone throughout the day and sometimes he is gone for a week at a time.  He has an orphanage in Togo several hours away and is helping FTO with Hondzo, a school which is also hours away. I watched as he called the children to come and join him for stories. They raced to get their chairs and get as close to him as possible.  They began telling funny stories and it was beautiful just sitting  there watching them laugh at each other and at John.  If one moved from his lap, it was filled quickly by another one.  Yes watching him follow after Little Richard, holding Yaw's hand, was a moment that caught my attention. 

We are not so different  when it comes to our feelings.  We all want to be loved and we all are human.  I cannot think like an American while I am in Ghana because Ghana and America are different.  I must love like God tells me to love and try to appreciate the differences instead of finding them inconvenient which I have been guilty of.  This trip is different and I am seeing that God is teaching me some new things like appreciating some things that are different.

Being rich isn't always about money.  If I have plenty money and do not laugh, love, enjoy I am not rich, I just have money. The Ghanaians are very rich in many ways, a few that we could learn from.  

I love America, I love Ghana and I am praying that we will grow together through the love of Jesus Christ being patient, kind, long suffering and joyful with one another.

Pray for Little Girls

Today was very eventful.  I headed back to Chorkor, a place that helped deliver food every month for nine months.  Today was a school day so there were not as many children running around as when I went on Saturdays.  As I got out of the car today and headed for the bathroom I caught a glimpse of Mary and she caught a glimpse of me and she came running.  It was so sweet to see her again.  Things have changed for her and she is needing our prayers as she struggles with the challenges of being a single mother of four children.  

We also visited Grandma Agnus, whom I had not met before.  She has just lost her husband and it was heart breaking to see the pain on her face.  As Robin reached out to her she began to sob and I could not hold back the tears.  Life is hard here and now it is even harder for her.  She is a precious mother and grandmother and I am so thankful for the people who are helping her through this difficult time.

We left Chorkor and headed for Toodoo  Market (not sure if that is spelled right) to pick up a sewing machine for Etronam.  She is a beautiful, joyful single mother living with the Beebe family temporarily until she can take care of herself and her beautiful son Elyon.  We ladies, five of us, were set loose in the fabric store and we were ooing and aahing at each other's selections for an hour or sew (get it... sew).  The idea is to have Etronam teach other single mothers how to sew to earn a sewing maching.  It is a beautiful program that I am sure we will hear more about from Feeding The Orphans.  

Later at the market, Reid and the other girls had gone to get the sewing machine, Robin and I stayed to watch the car and met these beautiful little girls.

Robin used the word "helpless" today when we were talking about how much we wanted to help them, which is the perfect word.  I just wanted desperately to pull them in the car and rescue them from this life. These girls will spend their entire day carrying food and other items for the shoppers in the market making very little money which they will turn over to the person in charge of them, better known as their master.  I spent quite a bit of time trying to help two young girls out of this situation last year when I was here, but their older sister who was also a carrier could not afford to let them go.  It's a viscous cycle that steals opportunity away from these young children to break away, go to school and make a better life for themselves.  Please pray for these girls that God will make a way for them.  I couldn't help but think, except for the grace of God this could be me, my children, my grandchildren.  Please pray.

Time for Gardening

I was really blessed in church yesterday and how relevant the sermon is today. The sermon was “Are you prepared”. I wanted to reflect on my life and consider, am I prepared? We live in a world where the influence of Satan is allowed to go about seeking whom he might destroy.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy

Jesus was tempted as we are tempted. His victory was in denying Himself and honoring His Father. Satan tempted Him with a kingdom. He was not living in the Ritz Carleton and Satan wanted to offer Him something enticing. He was not offering Him something that was sinful in itself.

Satan does not offer us things that are offensive (or not at first anyways), he is strategic in his plotting. I believe we have come to the place where gradual deception has been surpassed. You cannot look at a magazine rack in a store, watch television or go shopping without the effects of a sinful world touching you. We have all seen too much and heard too much and it has taken its toll.

We have made the statement loud and clear that we will entertain evil to have what we want. Why haven’t we turned off our televisions in disgust and said to the people in tv world, enough!. Why haven’t we said to the store owner who puts filth in front of our children, enough! We have become complacent, and perhaps a little more worried about what people think of us rather than what God thinks of us. You don’t have to barge into the store angry in a cloud of moral disgust. You can simply let the store owner know that you will not shop there until the magazine rack has been cleaned up. What if 100 people walked into Wal-mart every day for a week and did this? What do you think would happen? I think they would start cleaning the shelf up. What if we Christians turned the television off for one month. We would definitely become closer as a family and Hollywood might consider they are not that attractive anymore.

PS Have you noticed how you can watch a television show and it is really good for a few episodes and then BAM, here comes the immoral behavior so idolized by Hollywood. This is the part where denying the flesh comes in and you turn the show off and stop watching it. I will be honest, sometimes I just want to watch the show because I like it and I am an adult, I know how to process this stuff. Hogwash or as God says:

Job 14:14 Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!

Besides the obvious, I can become so busy with the day to day task at hand that I am not having in the front of my mind people are dying and going to hell! Who have I led to the Lord lately? Who have I fed, clothed or gave a drink of water in His name?

Mathew 25: 34 - 40 Then the righteous will answer him Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you? The king will reply Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.

I am so guilty of trying to justify allowing a little sin into my life, excusing being a little too busy and forgetting to read the bible "one day" and there is no justification and I have no righteous excuse when I read what God’s Word says:

Phillippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

The tool of Satan is to gradually seep into our lives things that will destroy our relationship with the Heavenly Father. He is trying every day to use things that will desensitize us and separate us from God. I know that I need to take inventory and do some gardening, how about you?

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well, tomorrow at noon I will be boarding my first flight of three on my way to Africa.  I was asked yesterday how I am feeling.  Frantic, happy, sad, excited, nervous, etc.. My mind is racing; have I unplugged everything in the house, is the temp set, have I forgotten anything, yes bug spray, do I have my visa, shot records, other paperwork.  I am excited to see my friends and the kiddos in Africa and so so sad at leaving my kids and grandchildren here.  It is only six weeks this time and I am sure it is going to fly by with all that I have to do. 

A quick praise.  While in Ghana I visited Togo, a neighboring country.  I met 224 beautiful children that attended a school in the mountains of Togo.  I learned from their school master  that the children go to school all day and do not have food or water.  They do not send them home in the afternoon because there is no food or water for them at home and they would have to walk in the mid-day heat. My heart was breaking as I looked at these mal-nourished children dressed in tattered and dirty clothing and I promised them help. I have prayed about it many times and God is so faithful.  A lady, whom I haven't had the privilege of meeting yet,   messaged me from France.  I will be meeting with her team in Togo and their heart is to sponsor this school with clothing, shoes, school books and teachers to train them to use the curriculum.  Togo is a French province so it makes perfect sense.  They have had a cargo plane donated once a month to carry donations to Togo and bordering country of Benim. I can't wait to introduce them.  Please pray that this is a match made in Heaven!

I want to say thank you to my friends who have sponsored me for this trip and my trip in 2011.  This has been life changing and I am asking God for clarity on what He wants from me when I return home.  There is an opportunity to work at an orphanage in  India, stopping in Africa on the way  which would more than likely be a six month commitment. For me it is more than a commitment since I promised God in month 5 of my last trip that I would never say no to Him again. To date I have 150.00 pledged monthly.  I also have the unbelievable gift of a home for which I do not pay rent. It has been hard financially, especially with the price of food and gas, vehicle breakdown, new brakes, etc. I know that this is a struggle for all. What I have learned though, is priceless. God is faithful at my time of need!  I have not gone without food and I have been able to go visit with family and friends.  

I am asking you to  consider partnering with me so that I can continue to do what God has asked me to do.  Not only do I love what I am doing, I consider it a privilege as I know that there are others who are much more qualified to do this, but God has chosen me!  Sometimes I can barely get my mind around that. You have to just be so grateful for the way He puts each of us just where He wants us and we are all working for the Kingdom.  I need your financial support and I cherish your prayers!  I know that your prayers have kept me safe, met my needs, kept divine appointments such as the school in Togo and helped me everyday to remain faithful to this calling.  I need your prayers for four very specific unspoken request and am saying thank you in advance.

Please remember my friend Kathy, who is fighting breast cancer.  She is a young wife and mother with two precious boys and needs your prayers. 

Can You Imagine?

            CAN YOU IMAGINE?

I attended my first Beth More bible study this past week.  It was nice to meet all the ladies and share our hearts with one another.  I was touched by many of the things that the ladies shared as we dug our heels in and began to take a look at the life of Esther. 

We were moving right along when suddenly and profoundly the words of Beth Moore, as she spoke on her video, pierced my heart.  Esther was an orphan.  I knew that but I never really focused on that part of the story as I was so enamored by her life once she had been taken from her cousin Mordecai and dropped in the palace of the king. 

Beth began sharing a story of her family members, a young man and woman with two small girls, who were taken suddenly in a car accident.  The two small girls, also in the car, survived.  She began to expound on the fact that without notice, without warning these two girls lives were changed forever.  The following morning mommy would not be coming in the room to wake her girls with a kiss, coach them to the kitchen where she had made breakfast for them.  No longer would she be packing their lunches for school with precious little notes in it saying I love you or you are special.  They would not be sitting with an adorning mother brushing their hair discussing everything that was important to them.  They would miss the big strong hugs from dad as he arrived home from work, bedtime stories from the deep calming voice that made them feel safe every night as he tucked them in bed.  Things would never be the same for these two girls or any child who has ever lost a mother or father.  Can you imagine losing both?

I have said so many times that nothing could be worse than losing a child, nothing.  This made me think, and Beth pointed it out in the video, that yes, something could be.  If we are old enough to have a child we at least can process death, we still have the stabling factors present in our lives and know how to take care of ourselves.  I am positive the heartache on either end is devastating but a small child finding themselves alone, without the two people in your lives that are supposed to be there for you and love you like no one else can... well, I don’t think any of us can imagine unless we've been there.

I left there feeling more responsible, feeling more compassion and more drive to work with orphans than before even before.  I could not imagine that the words I would hear after I entered the bible study

would cause my heart, which is already broken for orphans, to be broken more.

 Listen! The orphaned children in this world, here at home and in other countries, are our responsibility.  Whether like me you go and minister or  you sponsor a child through an organization like Feeding the Orphans, it is our responsibility.  Just try, and I mean really try, to put yourself in a child’s place who has lost everything. They are not old enough, educated enough, wise enough or anything else enough to care for themselves. Everything that happens to them is at the mercy of others. Try to imagine your little ones or your grandchildren being faced with the kind of tragedy shared above.  We all need to join hands and take care of the kids that are suffering in this world!  What can you do?

Hot Lunch Program for Orphans

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interest but for the interest of others.

It is such a privilege when we have an opportunity to  honor God in our giving.  So many of you have been so faithful to do just that and it has been such an encouragement to so many. Feeding The Orphans has reached out again and we need your help.

 

FAITH ROOTS INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY
Faith Roots International Academy currently has 185 students in City of Refuge. For those of you who are not familiar with City of Refuge, it is a safe haven for rescued slave children. 18 children will reside in a house with a mother and father (house parents) and receive three square meals a day. There are two completed functioning homes right now with more in the works. Currently about 36 children reside at City of Refuge and attend the school. The remaining students are from the neighboring villages. 

 DADDY JOE AND MOMMY TERESA

City of Refuge’s first house parents.     

 

If three churches would partner with us we could provide lunches for all 135 children for a donation of $266.00 per month by each church.  This will ensure that these kids will receive a healthy hot meal and for some of these children it will be the only meal they receive that day.  Will you help us feed these children.  If you think your church would be willing to help us please speak with them and be an advocate for these kids. 

LUNCH TIME