Coming to America

I am so thankful that the Turners and the Fannings have been so open throughout their whole adoption process. I know I want to adopt one day and the road to adoption to long, painful, stressful, expensive and extremely emotional, but Friday night I was able to witness the most joyful occasion: their arrival home! This was a great reminder that there is joy at the end of the tunnell! 

There were at least 50 people at the airport Friday night for their 10:00PM arrival at the Birmingham airport. The Fannings FIVE kids were there with their grandparents, cousins and friends and tons of  the Turner's friends and family were there. Some of my friends that I went to Guatemala were there along with other friends from church. We were all so anxious for their arrival.

I tried to record their arrival on my iPhone but I wasn't able to zoom well so it wasn't a good video. Thankfully, though, my trying to record kept me occupied so I didn't become an emotional wreck! I'm sure everyone on their flight through they were famous because we totally looked like the paparottzi (can't spell). Elly slept through the whole arrival. Apparently she sleeps a lot. That is both precious and sad all at the same time. For the first two years of her life she probably never got a peaceful night of rest. She probably never slept on a clean bed. She never had Dora the Explorer sheets and monogrammed pillowcases. But she is at peace now! The look on her face while she sleeps in her mother and sister's arms is breathtaking.

Zeke is a ham! He is so full of joy and you can tell that little man LOVES his daddy! He loves to entertain, too. What a joy! I can't wait to watch him grow up!

To me, one of the most beautiful things about Friday night was the vision of people in Birmingham, AL welcoming 3 little Africans with open arms. There are people in this part of the world that won't allow black people in their homes and these two families have spent MONTHS and THOUSANDS of dollars to bring these precious African kids into their families. This is a beautiful picture of God's love for us. We are all sinners and deserve death but God sent His only Son to come into this world and pay the price for OUR sins so that we can live with God for eternity. John 14:18 says, "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you." Praise God for stiring the Fannings and the Turner's hearts to care for orphans and to go to them and bring them home. Praise God there are 3 less orphans! 

For more pictures:

Homecoming....

Coming Home

Beds

Ruth seems to be doing better (malaria). She has been staying at My Father's House and getting some much needed rest. Rebecca notified me yesterday that Ruth and her sisters will be staying there for awhile and possibly even permanently. I don't know the specifics as to why they are staying there but they live in extreme poverty so the possible reasons are endless. Pray for their mother. I can not imagine what it would be like to have 4 daughter that I couldn't provide for.

 

One of the items on her "Faith List" is for more beds. They are $175 each (not sure if this is for a bunk bed or single). Now that these girls are staying with them indefinitely I am sure more beds are needed now more than ever. If you would like to help purchase a bed for Ruth, Faith, Mercy or Joyce you can make a donation at www.myfathershouseintl.org. 

The Current State of Kingdom Advance

The Current State of Kingdom Advance – Evangelism and Missions –

Jonathan Bean 2-20-11

And the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14

I.               State of the Nations (Unreached Peoples)

a.     Unreached People Group (UPG): A people group in which less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians. There are currently over 6,400 UPGs throughout the world.

b.     Unreached, Unengaged People Group (UUPG): A people group in which there are less than 2% of the population are Evangelical Christians and there is no active church planting among that people group. There are 5,845 UUPGs, representing over 1.5 billion people worldwide.

“For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will the call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10: 13-15

c.      Balance: More than 90% of the personnel and resources of North American missions goes to ministry among reached people. North American missions still evidences a great imbalance.

II.             Global Realities (Poverty)

a.     Staggering numbers

*963 million people do not have enough food to eat, more than the entire populations of USA, Canada and the European Union combined.

*25,000 people (adults and children) die every day fro hunger-related causes.

*More than 6-% of chronically hungry people are woman and children.

*65% of the world’s hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Ethiopia.

*Under-nutrition contributes to 53% of the 9.7 million deaths of children under age 5 each year in developing countries. This means that one child dies every 6 seconds from malnutrition and related causes.

*Worldwide there are over 25 million internally displaced people who have been forced to leave their homes due to violence and various human rights violations.

III.           State of the People of God (Persecution)

a.     Statistics: There are over 200 million Evangelical Christians in over 50 countries who regularly face various degrees of persecution for their faith in Christ. As members of the same body, we are to pray for and identify with our persecuted family around the world.

b.     Christians Experience SEVERE Persecution in:

-North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Somalia. 

The Kingdom Mandate

Tonight our global disciple making pastor, Jonathan Bean, taught class. He is supposed to teach the "missions" part of the class and David is teaching the "evangelism" part. Jonathan recently discovered he has a brain tumor and he will be having surgery in the next 4-6 weeks so he is teaching class now and David will pick up later on. Please pray for Jonathan and his family. For more information about his tumor go to www.jonathanb.net. 

Evangelism and Missions – Jonathan Bean 2-20-11

The Kingdom Mandate

*Cosmic Realities: Creation and Fall (Gen 1-11)

            *Created for a Purpose.

*To ENJOY God’s GRACE in relationship to Him, so that we may EXTEND His GLORY to the ends of the earth.

            *Consequences of Fall

                        *Separation from God

                        *Created Order Distorted

                        *Distinct Peoples

*God’s People and the Nations (Gen 12-OT)

                        *Blessed in Order to Be a Blessing

                        *Disconnected the BLESSING of God from the PURPOSE of God

*The Kingdom Inaugurated: (King Christ: cradle, cross, crown)

                        *A Jewish Messiah for All Nations.

*The Kingdom Mandate: (Glorify God by making disciples of all nations)

*Global purpose of God in Scripture: God blesses His people with great grace so that His glory will be made known among all nations.

Empowered Kingdom Advance (Acts – Today)

 God’s means to accomplish His purpose is us.

*Empowered Agents:

            *World-impacting disciple makers

            *Ever-multiply churches

*Unhindered Ethno-graphic Advance to the ends of the earth

            *Mission in Jerusalem (Acts 1-7)

            *Mission to Judea and Samaria (Acts 8-9)

            *Beginning of the Mission to Gentles (Acts 10-12)

            *1^st Missionary Journey: Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13-14)

            *Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15)

                        *Proper Contextualization of the Gospel

            *2^nd Missionary Journey: 2 Apostolic Teams (Acts 16-18)

            *3^rd Missionary Journey: Paul’s Apostolic Band (19-20)

*Paul’s Missionary Example (Acts 20: 19-21) Serve Humbly, Declare the Whole Counsel of God, Testify to all, Do not Covet, Work Hard

            *Paul’s Trials (Acts 21-26)

            *Travel to Rome (Acts 27-28)

*Decline and Recovery of Biblical Mission in Western Christianity

            *Apostolic Church: Martyrdom and Witness

            *Christianity rapidly spread across the Roman Empire and beyond

            *Christianity became the Official Religion of the Roman Empire (333 AD)

            *Official Religion of the Empire

            *Dark Ages (500-1000): General Loss of Biblical Mission

            *Medieval World  (1000-1500)

            *Reformation (1500-1800)

            *Recovery of Biblical Mission

            *Multi-ethnic Global Church embracing Biblical Mission

Update on Ruth

Ruth is doing better. She and her sisters are staying with Rebecca and she is getting plenty of rest. If you've been praying for her, thank you!

 

You may read statistics of people in the world with malaria and the people are just numbers to you but when someone you know gets a preventable disease let me just tell you...it hits home. Two things have been on my mind all week....

 

I've been thinking about the fact that when I go to Africa I will have a few days worth of "prevention" meds in my system. Every day while in Africa I will be taking a prescription to prevent me from getting malaria and for awhile when I return. There is little to no chance that I will get malaria because I have access to the right medicine. Unfortunately Ruth is not so lucky...why not??

 

The other thing I've been thinking about is the impact $35 a month can make on a person's life. In the few months that I have been Ruth's sponsor I have witnessed her being healed of HIV. She's been given access to an education. She's been fed two meals a day. She's been given room and board, as needed. She's been treated for malaria. If you ask me, out of all my monthly "expenses" my sponsorship is by far the most important and the biggest "return on investment." My sponsorship is sustaining her LIFE! Well, Jesus is, but He is using my resources (well His resources He has entrusted with me).

 

Continue to pray for Ruth as she heals and consider sponsoring a child today!

3 Less Orphans!

Tomorrow night I have the great privilege of welcoming THREE FORMER UGANDAN ORPHANS into the United States at the Birmingham airport. The Turner family (the people I went to Guatemala with, One Way Ministries) have been in Uganda for the past 3 1/2 weeks with their 3 children meeting their new son and daughter and taking care of all the legalities of finalizing their adoption. Also, another family from my church who have FIVE kids (that were not able to travel with them to Uganda) have been there getting their daughter, as well. I don't know the other family but I've been following their blog and praying for them.

 

They are both coming home on the same flight which leaves 7 hours from now (midnight Entebbe time). PLEASE be praying for these families as they travel. These three kids have never flown before and they have a long flight ahead of them. They have so much transition ahead of them, too, so keep praying for them! I encourage you to check out each of their stories (if you haven't been following already) and check out their precious new babies on their blogs. I feel like I have been right there with them for the whole process so it is such a privilege to welcome them all home tomorrow. I really don't think I will be able to keep my emotions in check!!!!

 

Turners - www.1wayturner.blogspot.com

Other family - http://www.vitafamiliae.com

Pray for Missionaries

Yesterday's message reminded me that I need to be praying for the brothers and sisters in my faith family that were once sitting in our congregation and are now serving full time in another context. David talked about how lonely one missionary said he was. Most are struggling with language barriers and cultural differences. And they are all at war. Satan does NOT like them giving up their comforts in America to be Jesus' hands and feet in a dark world so he will try everything in his power to discourage them. We need to be covering them in prayers.

 

We received a list of people that are serving either mid term or full time. Let me encourage you to add them to your daily prayer list if they are not already on there. Pray specifically using the notes from Feb 13th for them. I would also encourage you to ask God how He wants to use you to specifically minister to one or more of the families. I would imagine even sending them encouraging emails would speak volumes to them. (I'm guessing if you sent an email to Jbeam@brookhills.org Jonathan can forward your emails accordingly).  

 

Last night during the 6PM service prayer time I watched the pictures of the families scroll through as we covered each of them in prayers and I was reminded that I had not been praying for the family that I helped with their taxes last year. I prayed for them last year while I worked on their taxes but I did not keep it up. When their picture scrolled I felt horrible. God used this to get my attention! I emailed them this morning and extended my offer to help them again this year and they were beyond grateful. I pray that God will continue to put a burden on my heart to pray for them year round, not just at tax time!

 

Side note - last year I helped a young girl that was serving on Mercy Ships with her taxes. She is back in the states right now because she couldn't sell her townhouse or get a reliable renter. She plans to serve full time again once that is handled. Anyway, she is in my Evangelism and Missions class on Sundays and I got to meet her last week! It was so special to meet her! 

 

Urgent Prayer Request

I am home for lunch and saw that Rebecca posted on my FB page to pray for Ruth. She tested positive for malaria. Please lift this precious girl up in pray. She has been through SO much!

My Little Valentine

I realized the other day that I never posted about my sweet little princess, Peaches. I knew when Shrimp died that I would get another "lap" dog but I had no idea I would get one 3 days later. I've had a Chihuahua since I was about 9 years old and was lost without one so my way of "grieving" was to move on as quickly as possible....apparently. Shrimpie died on Tuesday and I had a new lap dog by Friday. 

I had always had male dogs but my sister convinced me to give a girl a try. I am so glad! I love playing dress up with my baby girl. I found Peaches on Craigslist in Georgia. A lady adopted her at 6 weeks old but she had wild kids and two other dogs and she didn't think it was a safe environment for a 1 lb. puppy (I agree!) My mom drove to Georgia to get her and brought her to me. I struggled settling on a name for her. I kept calling her lil bit and Peanut (my sister's old rottie who had similar markings). I had to decide at the vet's office so I settled on Peaches since she's from Georgia. 

                                                                Peaches Craigslist picture

                                                                                 Teacup

       
                                                                  You had me at hello!

Peaches and her big brother love each other so much. She helped us heal after the loss of Shrimp and she is one social little girl. She LOVES kids, grown ups and other dogs! She LOVES going on walks, in fact, she cries at the front door when she wants to go visit neighbors. At 7 months old she is almost completely potty trained (accidents are due to cold weather, I'm convinced)!

Last night I was watching a Nicholas Sparks movie. I love his books and movies but they always make me cry. When I started crying I looked down at my little girl (who was of course on my lap) and she had a tear in her eye, too. What a priceless moment. I had never seen her do that before. She is truly a bundle of joy. I love you, Peaches!

Home Study Complete!

First let say that I do NOT recommend you schedule a home study on your birthday! Not a fun way to "celebrate" your special day, lol. Thankfully I knew the Social Worker that was coming and we have somewhat become "friends" so I wasn't too intimidated by the process. All 3 dogs behaved rather well, yeah! We basically started talking about the ages, race, and types of kids I would accept at the beginning. I told her I would take ages 0 – 16, up to 2 kids at a time (siblings), any race, no major handicaps.

As of right now I am still only planning to do respite care which will mean I will "fill in" for another foster family, as needed, if they are going on vacation or need a break from their foster child. This could mean I would only have them on the weekend or it could mean I would have them for a week in the summer or something like that. I know Spring Break is a big "need" but unfortunately I can't help during tax season. Some (most) foster parents don't work outside of the home so I wouldn't be able to keep their kids during the week because I wouldn't have a daycare to take them to.

After we covered that we talked about my "background." Typical questions were: What is your earliest childhood memory? Who disciplined in your family? Did you get along with your sister? Were getting good grades important to you and your parents? Did you like being the baby in the family? Describe a crisis your family went through and how it was handled. Were you involved in extracurricular activities? What was your favorite thing about school? Did you get along with your teachers? When did you become a Christian? What is your relationship like now with Jesus? Do you have a regular "quiet time?" What do you like about your job? What frustrates you about your job? What are your hobbies?

Ok, so that is maybe 15 of the 100 questions she asked. Like I said, not something you want to do on your birthday! Thankfully I'm usually am open book so I was able to share freely with her. I just don't have a very good memory so sometimes my answers were based on things others told me more than they were things I actually remembered like drowning when I was like 3 or so and my sister rescuing me. I don't know how many times I've heard that story but I don't for real remember that happening. It has certainly affected my life, though (not a fan of water).

After the "interview" she started to go through the home "checklist." I knew there were a few items I still needed to tend to before I pass the home check but she was able to check off quite a bit. Here are my pending items:

*I need to lock up ALL medicine in my house. This can either be a lock box or just lock up the cabinet I keep them in. Not sure what I'm going to do for this one.

*I need to put any "tools" that I have out of reach of children.

*I need to buy a 5 lb fire extinguisher. (I currently have a 3 lb one).

*I have to put covers on ALL electric outlets.

*I have to email her Roscoe and Peaches' rabies vaccinations

*I have to post a list of emergency contacts (hospital, poison control and ABCH).

 I'm going to try not to drag my feet on this but locking up the medicine, putting covers on all the electric outlets and getting another fire extinguisher are just a pain to deal with, ya know!

Once I've completed these items she will run back by my house to check these items off. Of course we are still waiting on the background check to be complete, too.

I'm in no rush. I can't foster during tax season anyways. Plus, Africa will be right after tax season, too. So that's my foster update for ya!

Sacrifices and Blessings

There was a time when going to the gym was like my part-time job. It was a big part of my everyday life. I really looked forward to going and planned my evenings around it.

I gave up my gym membership last year, though, as a part of the Radical Experiment. It was a hard sacrifice but I knew I wasn't "getting my money's worth" during the warmer months because I was always out walking the dogs. I saw my gym membership as a luxury versus a necessity for the first time and decided it was something I didn't "need."

Winter came, and well, I don't walk the dogs in the cold. So, naturally the weight started to creep up, too. I've really been missing the gym lately! Not being active can make you stressful and depressed!

A few weeks ago I got a flyer in the mail about a new $10 a month gym with no membership contract and only $1 to enroll. What, $10? Ok, so this gym won't be as close to my home as the $39 a month gym but for $10 I can drive the extra 2 miles down the street, right! It also won't have all the fitness classes the other offered but so what! I can justify spending $10 a month to have access to a gym a lot more than I can $39.

I tell you this to remind you to acknowledge and thank God for the small blessings in life. In July I sacrificed something that I thought was important to me and He turned around and gave it right back to me. Sometimes God tests us to see if we are willing to give something up but He doesn't intend for us to go without.

"Sewing Gospel Threads..."

Sewing Gospel Threads… - David Platt 2-6-11

#1 God is the just and gracious Creator of all things.

*Talk about God like He is Someone you know.

*Talk about God like He is Someone you worship.

*Talking about God as Creator…

            *Acknowledge the glory of God in creation every chance you have.

            *Acknowledge the presence of God in specific facets of life.

                        *God is working in my life (in this way)…

                        *God is blessing me (in this way)…

                        *God is leading me (in this direction)…

                        *God is guiding me (to make this decision)…

                        *God is teaching me (this truth)…

                        *God is showing me (this realization)…

*Talking about God as Judge…

            *Express confidence in God even when things go wrong.

            *Express humility before God (and others) when you do something wrong.

*Talking about God as Savior…

            *Constantly point out evidence of God’s grace in and around you.

            *Consistently credit God as the source of everything good in and around you.

#2 We are each created by God, but we are all corrupted by sin.

*Speak respectfully to and about all people as individuals created in the image of God.

*Look intentionally for opportunities to encourage others.

*Talking about our rebellion…

            *Speak humbly about the seriousness of sin.

            *Speak honestly about our propensity of sin.

*Talking about our separation…

            *Acknowledge the root of sin in and around you.

            *Acknowledge the consequences of sin in and around you.

*Talking about our deadness…

            *Constantly point to our dependence on God.

            *Constantly point to our desperation for God.

#3 Jesus alone is able to remove our sin and reconcile us to God.

*Take advantage of every opportunity you have to tell His story.

*Talking about Jesus’ life…

            *Look for opportunities to highlight Jesus’ example for us.

            *Look for opportunities to acknowledge Jesus’ work in us.

            *Look for opportunities to point out Jesus’ identification with us (Hebrews 4)

*Talking about Jesus’ death…

            *Never stop emphasizing the gravity of sin.

            *Never stop talking about your gratitude for Christ.

*Talking about Jesus’ resurrection…

            *Speak about difficulties with hope.

            *Speak about death with joy.

(Speak the name of Jesus as much as you can this week. There is power in His name)

#4 We are reconciled to God only through faith in Jesus.

*Take advantage of every opportunity you have to tell your story.

*Talking about turning…

            *Point to the forgiveness of Christ when people around you see their sin.

*Point to the presence of Christ when people around you come to the end of

themselves.

*Talking about trusting…

            *Encourage people around you to see the Lordship of Christ.

            *Urge people around you to receive the love of Christ.

#5 Our eternal destiny is dependent on our response to Jesus.

*Minimize your conversations about temporal things.

*Maximize your conversations about eternal things.

*Talking about responding to the Gospel…

            *Be clear. Trust the power of the Gospel.

            *Be Christ-centered. Point people to an encounter with Jesus.

            *Be confident. Trust the work of the Spirit.

            *Be careful. Remember the goal is NOT decisions; the goal is disciples.

*Talking about hell…

            *Speak about God’s judgment with humble fear.

            *Speak about God’s wrath with honest compassion.

*Talking about heaven…

            *Take advantage of every opportunity to talk about the hope of being with God.

            *Take advantage of every opportunity to talk about the fact that dying is gain.

Class

Tonight's class was so far the best class on providing practical ways to share the Gospel. I took my lap top to class and typed as David taught us but unfortunately he skipped a section so I am only able to post part of the notes. But no worries, I asked his assistant, Anita, to email the fill in the blanks that he skipped so I will post them as soon as she emails them!

Read and re-read "Sewing Gospel Threads..." Good stuff!