Archive for February, 2012

  • Feb
  • 27
  • 2012

It all Began with a Question

Posted by Amber In Business, Caring for Orphans, Haiti | No Comments »
It all Began with a Question

I just read an article about a High School Physics teacher who was sharing with his class about the tragic and widespread effects of three deadly hurricanes that had recently swept through Haiti. Floodwaters that reached 9’ deep forced school children to escape to the roof of the school where they were stranded for three days. Several kids from that school were HIV+ orphans who lived in the village. After three days of being stranded, they thought, “I’m hungry, I’m thirsty, nobody cares about us,” and so several of them simply slipped into the water. They gave up hope, dropped off the edge, and were swept away.

The teacher used this gripping story to teach about the importance of reclaiming topsoil and taking care of vegetation (one of the key reasons why the floodwaters were so devastating – there was nothing left to hold back the water.) A student raised her hand: “… We do all these science labs in this class, could we learn the same stuff and come up with a way of helping a village or a school purify their water?”

This young girl’s simple question led to a school wide, ongoing project of creating/ advocating/ traveling to Haiti and now other countries to install water purifiers in impoverished areas where clean drinking water is the difference between life and death for many.

Does this strike anyone else as incredibly profound?

On her own, a sophomore girl in High school couldn’t do anything. On his own, the Physics teacher was probably limited. But instead, an entire school and community wrapped their minds around authentic learning that led to practical relief efforts literally saved lives.

I wish I could share the whole article here and pull out the gems from these stories. I ache for the HIV+ orphans who simply had nothing to live for anymore. But I am so encouraged as I see simple questions and ordinary people standing up and making a huge impact in the lives of people they’ve never met. If there was ever a resounding argument that we all have a voice and CAN do something, I think this confirms it.

We can make a difference right where we are.

This blog references an article called “Dots in Blue Water” by Jon Gorman in Ball State Alumnus, Jan 2012 Vol 69

Take Action:

Start asking questions, and see where you can get involved. Check out our website to get started.

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  • Feb
  • 22
  • 2012

A Toothbrush & A Pole Barn

Posted by Amber In Business, Caring for Orphans, Haiti, LSM, News | No Comments »
A Toothbrush & A Pole Barn

To say that we’ve had a lot going on at our Ranch project in Haiti would seem like a major understatement.

Over the last few weeks, several groups from the states have trekked down to Southern Haiti and spent time working with our Haitian staff, training them to build a structurally sound Pole Barn. Others have used their expertise in helping set up a Tilapia Project as we test income generating projects, all at the Ranch.

Still others have helped with some crop production while others have visited our Home of Hope families in the surrounding area and taught basic dental hygiene to the kids.

As we continue to work with the Haitian church and reach out to the surrounding communities, we’re so thankful for the opportunities to build deeper relationships and long-term generational impact with the families we serve in Haiti.

Take Action:

Learn more about the Ranch project in Haiti.

 

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  • Feb
  • 21
  • 2012

The Making of a Man (& Value of a Dad)

Posted by Amber In Caring for Orphans, Haiti, LSM | No Comments »
The Making of a Man (& Value of a Dad)

Last week, I was listening to the biography story of a missionary, John Paton here. And as the story unfolded, I was touched with the impact that this man’s father had in his life.

John Paton’s life as a missionary was fraught with fear, pain, and many reasons why he could have given up. But from his father’s example and teaching came great courage. Courage to overcome criticism, to risk losing loved ones, his own sickness and courage for the almost constant threat on his life from the hostilities of the natives. But through it all, Paton made great strides for the kingdom. An entire island turned to Christ. His endurance resulted in a story that awakened thousands to the call of missions and strengthened his home church in some incredible ways.

This man’s father touched his life through example and many conversations and shaped him into a great man of courage – a great man of God. “The impact,” as John Piper rightly states, “of his father’s faith and prayer and love and discipline was immeasurable.”

And as I listened to the making of this man, who touched so many lives, I couldn’t help but think about some of our boys at Kpoux. They were asked to share what they wanted to be when they grew up. More than one responded: “I want to be a preacher like my Dad.” Their dad. Their second father, not by blood, but by love.

We’re not just about placing kids in a loving environment where their needs are met. Those things are incredibly valuable, but there’s SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. In our Home of Hope families, we’re seeing parents raise up their children in the way they should go. We pray that they teach their children the power of a GREAT God, and the character of courage.

Who knows? Maybe there’s another ‘John Paton’ growing up in Kpoux today.

Take Action:

-Invest in the lives of these former orphans regularly. Sponsor a family through our Hand of the Shepherd Program.

- Become a prayer partner with us for these children and their parents. Learn more here.

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  • Feb
  • 16
  • 2012

What Happens When We Pray

Posted by Amber In LSM | No Comments »
What Happens When We Pray

I wanted to share a profound message from Patrick Johnstone written on Operation World’s website. You can read his full message on prayer here. These highlights I’ve shared here have really touched me as I think about praying for the world, for the orphan, and for organizations like LSM. Please join me in reading and listening as the Spirit speaks to your heart through these words on prayer:

“When man works, man works; When man prays, God works.

The ministry of the children of God is not doing but praying, not strategizing, but prostrate before God seeking His will, not clever strategies for manipulating people and events but trusting in God who moves in the hearts of even His most implacable enemies. Through prayer Nebuchadnezzar, and today’s dictators get covered, Manasseh’s and today’s persecutors repent and kingdoms of Babylon and Iron Curtains are torn down. We do not engage in ministry and pray for God’s blessings on it, prayer IS the ministry from which all other ministries must flow…

The enemy will seek to frighten us and dangle allurements to distract us from the vision of a heavenly, eternal kingdom filled with people from every race, tribe, people and tongue. Yet Jesus offers you a share in his reign. We may look up to Him in agony at times, but see your true position looking down with Him exercising the authority bequeathed to you by Him in the Great Commission He has given to you and every Christian. May you become an intercessor with a world vision that prays Satan-defeating, kingdom-taking, people-reaching, captive releasing, revival-giving, Christ-glorifying prayers.

Prayer not only changes people, situations and even the course of history, but also those who pray! It is dangerous for the enemy and also ‘dangerous’ for you.

There is a price to pray to be a person who stands in the gap in prayer. That price may mean becoming an answer to your own prayers in giving time, finances and even going out as a witness in your Jerusalem (where you live now), your Judea (your own country), your Samaria (the other ethnic groups in your own country) or even to the ends of the earth. Our prayer is that many will give their whole lives for this most noble of causes – to obey Jesus’ last command in making disciples of all nations and so ready the church and the world for the grand climax of His glorious return.

Let this fuel your heart today for God’s kingdom work through prayer. We have a job to do!

Take Action:

Pray with us for the orphan. Let’s see the Spirit take it from there!

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  • Feb
  • 14
  • 2012

His Name was Love

Posted by Amber In Combating Exploitation, Ethiopia, LSM | 2 Comments »
His Name was Love

Her story hit me forcefully as I gazed at her half smile as she posed for the picture. The room was barely big enough to hold the small bed where her tiny son laid amidst the bright colored fabrics. Here was the place she worked – the same place where she gave birth to her son, the same place where her pain and tears mingled every day. With tender hands, she wrapped her child in the cleanest fabric she had and gently lay him on the bed, as if wishing to shelter him from the pain she’s been forced to endure. She named her son Fickar. Love.

She was barely 18 years old when interviewed on a research trip to Addis Ababa, and was working in the Red Light District of Ethiopia. She came from the countryside looking for work to support her family. They had no idea what she’d been forced to do. Desperate poverty in a city where over 80% of the population is unemployed led this young girl to the depths of despair.

But in the year that she’d been working the streets, this young girl held onto something deeper. She held on to the tenderness in her heart, and chose to give her son a name of meaning – Love. Not bitterness. Not hatred. Not defeat. Love.

I think about this girl and her little boy Love, this Valentine’s Day. I think about the life she, a young woman, has been forced into, and it makes me wonder how love can still exists in the middle of a world so wrapped up in sin. I’m humbled at the courage of this young girl, who in the middle of her nightmare remembered that love hadn’t died.

This, I believe, is the greatest thing we can cling to on this day where we celebrate love – love that fosters hope. You see, God’s love is the kind that showers us in grace and courage in the moments where we think all has died. His grace and mercy cover us in the name of Love.

“God pursued, forgave, wooed them back, as a Lover. But of course, with God, that’s not the end of the story… Grace always triumphs over judgment.” –S. Claiborne and C.Haw

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  • Feb
  • 09
  • 2012

When We’re Willing

Posted by Amber In Adoption, Caring for Orphans, LSM | 2 Comments »
When We're Willing

“At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.’” – Mother Teresa

A co-worker shared that quote with me this morning. To be honest, my immediate reaction was “Oh that’s a great one to share. It’ll really make people think.” Enter beam in my eye. Thankfully, God’s been really good over the years at helping me see my own flaws when I’d automatically pass blame on the rest of the American culture instead of looking at my own heart. Truth is, everything in our culture (and many other cultures) tells us that we need to make a name for ourselves, be well educated and live lives of luxury. It’s expected of us, and if we somehow fail to do these things, there’s obviously something we didn’t do right. I buy into it as easily as the next person.

But what about the life of a believer? If we really want to follow Christ, then I believe that should look radically different. It should mean pouring out the resources that we’ve been given and feeding the hungry, giving clothes (maybe even off our own back), and taking in the homeless or the orphan or the down and out. It means using our resources because they aren’t ours to begin with. It means making ourselves less so that Christ can be more.

And maybe, at the end of our lives, even if we can’t say that we were great by American standards, maybe we can say we did our best for God’s standards. I think I agree with Rich Stearns thoughts on this:

“God can do so much with just one person who is willing to be used by Him. Whether that results in the liberation of nations or racial groups, or whether it means that one child [has a family], saying ‘yes’ to God changes the world.” – Rich Stearns, World Vision President

Take Action:

Consider sponsoring a family in Haiti or Ethiopia through our Hand of the Shepherd Program.

 

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  • Feb
  • 07
  • 2012

Keeping Connected

Posted by Amber In Adoption, Caring for Orphans, LSM, News | 1 Comment »
Keeping Connected

We’ve got some events coming up in the next few months. If you’re around these areas, check them out for some great opportunities and ways to get involved in caring for orphans!

Empowered to Connect Conferences

February 17-18, Dallas, Texas and April 20-21, Denver, Colorado

(Check out the intro video HERE. And learn more about Empowered to Connect.)

The Cancer Redemption Project

In an effort to ‘redeem his cancer’, see what a young man is doing to raise money for 6 Homes of Hope with LSM in Haiti. Check out www.cancerredemption.com to see more of how you can get involved in caring for orphans through the Cancer Redemption Project.

LSM Indiana Annual Benefit Auction

If you’re near our home office in Bluffton, IN, we’d love to see you at our annual benefit auction to raise support for the ministry and come together for an evening of giving for the orphan.

Summit VIII (with Christian Alliance for Orphans) May 3-4

One of the leading annual conferences for adoption and orphan care, Summit has become a national hub for the “burgeoning Christian orphan care movement.” We’d love to see you in Southern California this spring for the event!

Keep Tuned for more on these events through the year:

LSM’s 10th Anniversary this summer

Together for Adoption Conference, September 14-15, Atlanta, GA

Orphan Sunday, November 11, 2012

 

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  • Feb
  • 02
  • 2012

This is Jesus

Posted by Amber In Combating Exploitation, Ethiopia, LSM | No Comments »
This is Jesus

“This is Jesus. Not that He apologizes for the hard and the hurt, but that He enters in, He comes with us to the hard places. And so I continue to enter.” –Katie Davis

Katie Davis said that in response to her work in Uganda among some of the poorest and most desperate people she’s known, but long before I heard this quote, I had my own encounter with Jesus in the hard stuff…

I closed my eyes tightly for a brief moment to hold back the tears that threatened to surface. It was dark, and the glow of faint lights along the streets casting eerie shadows in the dark corners of the alleys. The van was quiet as we drove through what had been a bustling market just hours earlier. Now… it was ‘prostitute alley,’ an area in the city that transformed after dark to sell not fruits and vegetables, but humans. Woman after woman stood along the crumbling walls, stone faced, waiting. They say roughly 40,000 women work in a 3-4 mile radius here.

These women were desperate. Desperate enough that they would do anything for mere pennies to support themselves and their children. And even though I knew what to expect, nothing had prepared me to see face after face of young women with faces of stone, like they’d died long ago.

In the hour we drove around the red light district of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia that night, I don’t think I’ve ever been more aware of the sinfulness of humans, or of the strongholds that Satan has on this world. But even in the long, heartbreaking ride that night – and in the days and months and years that have followed – I have hope. Hope because of Jesus. He’s aware. And Jesus travels not only with us in those trenches of sin and desperation, but beckons us toward them to help. That night, I saw a fierce need for justice. I saw desperate women needing someone to stand up and be a voice for them…

So this is Jesus. Not that he apologizes for the hard and the hurt in this world that our sinful nature has brought, but that He enters in, He comes with us to the hard places. He shows us WHO HE IS in these places and asks us to be his hands and feet in bringing hope and life and death to evil. And so we continue to enter.

Take Action:

To see more of what we’re doing to Combat Exploitation in Ethiopia, check out this page on our site.

To give to our work in Combating Exploitation, click here.

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