I Will Come To You...

Many people have asked me how they can be involved in caring for orphans and giving to the poor. There are many ways to live out the James 1:27, call to care for widows and orphans. While everyone is called to "care" not everyone is called to adopt. Sponsoring a child is a way to "adopt" with out bringing a child home. There are 147 million orphans in the world, they are all waiting for the promise parents.

This is Purity...her name reflects her personality. She is a sweet 7 year old girl, living in Kisii, Kenya without a mother or father. She is a total orphan. She is hungry with out a big variety of food, or resources. She walks about 1/4 of a mile to get water several times a day, and about 2 miles everyday to school. Her diet consists of a cup of millet for breakfast, no lunch, and posho (cornmeal) and beans for dinner. She lives without heat, or electricity or any modern conveniences. There is no running water or indoor toilets and she lives on a mud floor.

Purity needs a sponsorship to provide her three meals a day, medical care and education so she can go to university. When we invest in a young child, they have the opportunity to grow properly and break the cycle poverty.

Justin, as you can tell by his smile, is a vibrant young man. He lives under the same conditions of Purity. He is 13 years old and dreams of being a pilot when he grows up. He is a great student and good helper around the orphanage. He loves to sing worship songs with the other children and is a leader. He desperately needs a sponsorship so he can receive proper care and education, in order to fulfill his dreams.

Justin and Purity once lived in homes under the care of their parents. They once had someone to look after them supplying their needs. They were not concerned for their future. Like our own children, they didn't have a care in the world. Disease, poverty and hunger changed their circumstances. Their parents died leaving them to fend for themselves.

Now, with the help of Remember the Poor, The Mission, the orphan ministry in Kenya, and You, we can bring hope to the hopeless. Your sponsorship will provide your sponsored child with, three substantial meals a day, medical care, and education. We can change the world together, one orphan at a time. Please pray and ask God how you can provide for the needs of these children, and the love from a parent that they deserve. Click here, to minister to the "least of these."

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." ~ Jesus ~

Comission vs Omission...

We going through the book of James. The Lord has taught us so much on our journey to be more and more like Him. Tonight, once again, He showed me something profound. David Platt puts it far more eloquently than I do, so if you rather hear it straight from him Click Here. If not hang on while I attempt to share my heart with you.

In James 4:17 says: So, for the person knows to do good and doesn't do it, it is a sin. This sounds like a simple scripture. I tend to think of this scripture as a compare and contrast scripture. For example..the opposite of good is bad. So of course if we don't do good and do bad, it is a sin. What stood out to me the most, was that it is not that clear cut.

The 10 commandments lay out rules to obey. Thou shall not kill, thou shall not covet, thou shall not lust, etc. We sometimes think that if we do not do these things, then we are not sinning, this can be referred to as commission.

However there is another aspect to obedience, and that is omission. In other words...there are things that the Lord clearly lays out for us to do and if we don't do them we are disobedient. For example, if I ask my children to pick up their toys and clean up and they do not...it is disobedience. If I ask my son to be home at 10 and he returns at 11...that is disobedience. We must obey Jesus, in the same way. He has asked us to live in way that is different from the world, focused on others and not self. He has asked us to trust Him, not man. He has asked us to care for the poor, widowed and orphaned. He has asked us to make disciples of all nations. He asked us to sell our possessions and give to the poor so that our brothers and sisters would not have need. There are many things, that as followers of Christ we are asked to do and if we do not...we disobey Christ. There is no other way to look at it.

Although works do not save us, we are saved by grace and grace alone, they are necessary. James says "Faith separated from works is dead." If we love Jesus we will obey His commandments. That poses the next question..how do give? The Lord leads us in many ways. We not only give financially, but we also can give of our time. The thing that we must not do is compare ourselves to each other. All of us are called..it is in what capacity that differs. Like the widow and the Pharisees. The widow gave her last money and the Pharisees gave of their abundance and wealth. The widow was commended and the Pharisees, condemned. Why? The widow was obedient and her heart was lined up with Jesus'. The Pharisees were not. It was not the question of how much she gave, it was a question of how she was obedient to what the Lord asked her to give.

We should be obedient to what the Lord has called us to do individually, not compare ourselves to each other. Our heart needs to line up with what Jesus. And what He wants from us individually, will differ. We can also ask the Lord how wants us to give, and in what capacity. He will be faithful to show us and give us ideas and convict our hearts. We just need to be obedient to what He calls us to do.

Yard Sale for Remember the Poor

We are having a yard sale today, March 11th through Saturday March 13th to help support Remember the Poor. Come on out and join us for the fun.

If She Were Mine...

This is Dorothy...she is an orphan in Kisii, Kenya where we went to visit before picking up our children in Ethiopia. Dorothy is three years old and was found abandoned in the near by woods of Kisii, alone and starving. Government officials brought Dorothy to Pastor Cyrus, knowing that he had compassion for orphans and would care for her like his own.

Today Cyrus called me to let me know that Dorothy needed lots of prayer. She is sick with fever and possible Pneumonia. It is the rainy season in Kenya and they don't have the money for medical care, let alone food, or transportation to get to the hospital. As Pastor Cyrus was giving me the update on little Dorothy, my eyes began to fill with tears. My heart ached and here is why:

I am a mother of nine. If one of my children were sick with suspected pneumonia, I would be taking her to emergency ASAP. If Dorothy were my child, I would not have to wait until tomorrow to have her seen by doctors. If Dorothy were my little girl, no amount of money or medical expenses would stand between her and a cure. If she were mine, she would be on antibiotics, safe, warm and in my arms. I would comfort her when she coughed, monitor her temperature and feed her warm soup. If Dorothy were my little girl, mommy would be just a call away and she would not have to sit in a damp, cold dorm, with no electricity, and no heat. I would cradle her in my arms and tell her that it was going to be alright and that Jesus loves her.

But...Dorothy is mine, and yours. She is entrusted to us by Jesus Himself. His word says, that if we love Him, we will love Dorothy and 149 million others like her. He says if we love Him, we will love our neighbors like ourselves. He says if we love Him we will obey His commandments. His commandments say; To care for widows and orphans in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world. Jesus says; If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well, be warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?

Dorothy is mine. If you are a follower of Christ, she is your too. We are to be the hands and feet of Christ. God has allowed us to work on His behalf, sharing God's glory with all nations. Dorothy not only needs our prayers she needs sponsorship, which will afford her food, clothing, medical care and education. If you are interested in sponsoring Dorothy please leave a comment on my comment page and I will send you details on how you can become Christs hands and feet for Dorothy.