Where are the Thieles....

We are not in country!! Funny string of events have happened, which you might be saying to yourself, "not unusual considering it is the Thiele's". We arrived ON TIME!! Lets get that out of the way for those of you who were wondering.



In Phx. our flight to Dallas, TX was delayed by 1 hour. That made us late to Dallas, TX. Where we missed our other traveling partner, who was coming from New Mexico. So the four of us that were in TX, ran and ran, with burning calves, hacking up lung, half dead, to the gate in for our connecting flight to London and missed it. Bev, is on her way to London, and we are not with her. SO....we make plans to get the next flight to London, and that plane was delayed too!!!



Now it was just announced that the plane was broken, and a new one is coming. We are going to be delayed 4 hours total and will miss poor Bev in London and she will travel to AZ with out us!! Pray for her, she has never traveled out of the country and is for great surprise, that we do not meet her in London. SO...we have called ahead and left a message for her to continue on with out us. As for us four here WE WAIT....



We may or may not make another plane to AZ tomorrow. Bev may be there by herself for a whole day!! Never a dull moment with God at the helm, and with the Thiele's in tow.



Okay, lesson...we have endurance...remember what I said about running for the first plane...endurance. God give us courage, and endurance to hang on tight. We have adventure, enough said. We have God!! He plans our course, not us:)



Love to all of you, Hopefully I will post from London!!

Prayer...

Many things are on the horizon. We are so...busy and are in need of much prayer. Please join us in prayer in the up coming weeks.

First, we are getting ready to leave the country for a few weeks on a vision trip. We will be in a Musl*m nation in Euro-Asia. Please pray for Gods safety, provision and guidance. We are hoping to connect with an unengaged people group that has no understanding of Salvation through Jesus Christ. Although our trip will be short, pray that the Lord uses this first work, to start a much bigger work among the lost of this nation.

Also please pray for our children while we are away. They will be staying with a close friend and are very comfortable there. Please pray for peace, comfort and safety for our kids while we are away from them. They all support us, but I am sure some are a little apprehensive.

Secondly, our daughter C~6, has a blood disorder. Before we brought her home, the Lord showed me in scripture that she would be fine, and that our faith had healed her. I still do believe that!! She had a yearly check up last week and her blood work was OK, however the levels of this disorder were high. There are no bad results to her, but it is not what we expected to hear. Pray for Gods healing touch on her body, where there are low levels or no levels. I know that the Lord is not done with her yet, and wants to use all of this to His glory. We want to give it all to Him as well and are praying for a miracle healing.

Lastly, our Children in Ethiopia need prayer. You have all read our updates and know the situation. God is good, and is providing. He is using you all too. We have had many people respond and sell stuff on Craig's list and donate money and items to our garage sale. I have also had people donate gold and diamonds. To date we have raised $18,000.00!! WE ARE OVER HALF WAY THERE. However, we are still NOT DONE and neither is God.

The Lord showed us in September that he was calling us to these children. This is not our extravagance, these are Gods children. Like my post said yesterday, this is our savior, and we are going to bed with full bellies, while The SAVIOR of the WORLD is going to bed hungry. How can this be?? God has invited us all on this journey with him. He wants us to trust Him and give more. He wants us to risk in HIS name and give more. He wants us to be Radical Givers, He wants us to be Radical Lovers, He wants us to be Radical Followers, He wants us to give more of ourselves, our time and our finances.

This is the action of giving freely of ourselves, exampled by Jesus himself. We are to let our good deeds shine, so that God may be glorified. Caring for orphans Glorifies Christ!! Jesus show us how to put our love for Him into action (deeds) in Matthew 25:34 it says; The the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me."....What you have done to the least of these my brothers, you have done unto Me.

We need about $17,000.00 more to bring these precious children home. Would you pray, and ask God what he would have you give to, feed, give drink, shelter, clothe and comfort Jesus, our savior. Some of you may be able to provide all that is needed to bring these kids home, some may only be able to give a small amount, ALL of you are important. It is not what we give it is with what condition we give it.

We are so excited to watch God work. It is so amazing to be able to share this adventure together and we thank you for supporting us. It is sometimes hard to step out in faith and be Radical for Christ! However, I would never want to miss out on the journey of a life time, there is no place I would rather be!!

Blessings to you all!

The Starving Savior...

The following is a blog posted by a friend who is in Uganda. Sometimes there is really no reason to change words, she says it perfectly. The pictures have been changed to protect her children.





Twice in Scripture Jesus is asked what needs to be done in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.



Twice He answers.



The first time, He says to Nicodemus, "In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven you must be born again, baptised in water and the Spirit."



We take this quite seriously and celebrate baptism with joy.



The second time, Jesus is asked the same question by an unnamed rich man. This time His answer is this, "In order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you must sell everything you have and give it to the poor."...We skip this one because it is a bit more difficult.



But what if Jesus WASN'T KIDDING?

Every day I am hit in the face with how over-the-top blessed I am. Yea, you would think after two years or so it would wear off, but it doesn't. Every day I look into the face of Jesus in those people pictured above and my heart breaks.

They are hungry.

That's right. This means that the Body of Christ, Jesus, my Savior, goes to bed hungry while I sit on my bed with a full stomach. It is unimaginable.

It is easy to look to God and ask, "Why is there so much poverty in the world? Why is there so much hurt, so much inequality and unfairness, so much destituion?" I bet He would ask us the same thing.

With This Ring Part II...

I am so excited to share this particular story with you. I waited to share it with you because I was going to speak at a Women's Tea and I was going to use it in my talk as an illustration and didn't want to give it away before I spoke. However, I didn't have the time to add it in to my talk, so here is the story. It is part two to our wedding ring story and I believe, it deserves special attention, because it displays God's perfect love. Even when it is something that we don't need, but want, Jesus cares. He loves us, just like we love our kids. We want them to have what they desire, sometimes they get it and sometime they don't, depending on the situation. However, Jesus cares more than we can fathom.

You all remember that we sold our wedding rings and ALL other jewelry that was worth something. I even sold my moms jewelry. I told you that this was not with out great grief. I told you I loved my rings and what they meant to me, and my moms things and what they meant to me. A couple of days after the whole thing happened at about 1 am. I was set in a panic! Terrible grief came over me. I couldn't believe that I sold one specific piece that was my moms and that brought sweet memories to mind when I saw it and wore it. Of all her jewelry, this one was the MOST special. She bought it over seas and when I wore it, it was like looking at my moms hands.

I began to cry, almost sob thinking that I would never retrieve this again. Nothing would bring this back. How silly I was to sell this. It was not because it was worth a lot, it was because it was simply my moms. It is sort of like the white board I still have that we used to communicate with mom when she could no longer speak. I still have it in the same place, simply because it was hers. I laid there thinking that I wasn't ready to rid myself of ALL of her special things, it was like she died all over again.

I know that it may seem silly to most of you, however, it is something that was so important to me. Bryan happened to wake up that night hearing me cry and asked what was wrong. I told him how I felt. He told me to spend time in prayer and it was after only a possession. He was right, my mind knew that, but my heart really hurt.

The next morning I did pray. I looked up giving & sacrifice. I had come to the conclusion that it was just a possession, and the the Lord would heal the hurt I felt from the loss. Later Bryan called and asked me how I felt I told him my resolve, but through tears. Bryan had to get off the phone, and told me he would call me later.

About a half an hour later Bryan called me from the jewelers. He decided to go ask for the ring back, and told me that we were going to hold on to this one, pray about it, and then make a decision. I was embarrassed and told Bry to just leave, not to ask this guy for any more. Bryan told the jeweler it was my mom's and that she died a year ago and that if he could find it, Bryan would "buy it back". They looked and looked and could not find it. I told Bry, that the jeweler put it in a separate bag, with other jewelry like it. The jeweler found it, it had been misplaced!!

When Bryan called me back, he was in tears, weeping pretty hard on the phone. He told me "it's not for sale, the jeweler won't let me buy it back". I knew at that point that it was not meant to be and told Bryan so. He said, "hold on, it is not for sale, IT IS FOR FREE"!! The jeweler was so...touched by what we were doing he began to sob in the middle of his store. He said to Bryan,"after all you are doing for these kids, you can't buy this back, you can just take it at no charge". Then because he was crying so hard, (him and Bryan both) he asked Bryan to leave (nicely).

If that were all the story, that would be great, but wait, there is more!

When Bry called to tell me the news of my mothers ring, there was something he left out before. While they were searching for the ring, ALL of the other rings were already taken apart. My wedding rings were just an empty shell, all of the other rings and necklaces with diamonds, or sapphires were just empty. They had already harvested the diamonds from them. My moms ring was misplaced, and therefore UNTOUCHED!! What a praise!

Hold on it gets better!! God is so...good!!

Later Bry called me to ask me how I felt. I told him that I felt like Abraham and Isaac. Not that my silly little possession even came close to the sacrifice Abraham was called to. But because, I was obedient and the Lord gave the sacrifice back, He provided a way. A couple of hours later a friend called. She had NO idea of what just happened, but she called to tell me that she felt the Lord gave her some scripture and a word for me. This is what she said, "I am always reluctant to share something that I think is from God, just in case it is not. I don't want to misrepresent Christ. But I will tell you anyway. As I was praying for you this morning, the Lord lead me to the story of Abraham and Isaac. I felt as Jesus wanted me to tell you this. "Sometimes I will ask you Andrea to give a sacrifice, that I don't intend on giving back, it will fully cost. BUT sometimes I will ask you to sacrifice something and I will return it to you, and even more restored"!!!

Can you believe that?? I can, but still can't!! This was FULL CIRCLE. Not only did he return my mom's ring to me, not only was the jeweler blessed, not only were we blessed, BUT He confirmed it to me as well. That is such AMAZING LOVE!! God cares about the little things, HE CARES!!

I never had any idea that this would happen. I have mourned the loss of the other things, I am human. I don't think that Jesus does not expect that. However, I do believe, just like Abraham, sometimes He has called us to obedience and He fully intends to bless us with offering us more!

Praise you Jesus!! May we live like Him!!

A Day to Remember...

Today is my mom's Birthday. She would have been 66 years old. No worries, I am doing ok, but I do miss her terribly. She was such an awesome mom, and loved to be with her kids & Grand Kids.

Lately C~4 has been missing her so much. It is funny how time flies, and yet crawls. It seems like only yesterday she went to be with the Lord, yet it is hard to remember her laugh and the way her voice sounded when she recognized it was me on the phone.

I am so grateful for having a mom like this one. She has taught me so much, and her grand-kids have a memory of such unconditional love that they will never forget. I look forward to the day where we will be united once again, with no more death and pure joy!!

Today she celebrates beyond celebrations, with Jesus!!

Happy Birthday my Sweet Mommy!

C~2 and Nana, her little sidekick

Mom and Me at a wedding

Yup, thats me...we are at Bush Gardens, does anyone remember Bush Gardens?

Three generations

Nana with C~3 and her sudo grand-daughter

An Awe Filled Weekend....

No, this isn't our living room, this is our driveway at the end of a long day!

My little C~4 and a friend. The are so cute!!

One of our guard dogs, Amy and Zona, slept outside to guard all of the stuff!!

WOW!!!

Amy and Zona, having so much fun!!

An Awe Filled Weekend.....

Another crazy garage sale behind us and maybe one more to go!!

First I want to thank all of you who helped in one way or another. From collecting things for us to sell, spreading the news to friends and family, making quilts, selling tickets, praying, setting up, tearing down, bringing food, loaning tables, sleeping outside, etc......

I want to tell you that God is so....good! The first time we did this for C~6 we had SO....much stuff. Not that we didn't this time, but we all agree, that we had so much more. We only used our front yard and garage this time. The first time we had all of that plus our front room in our house and our whole back yard!! However, our prayer was that the Lord would do far more than we could ask or imagine......Ephesians 3:20

He did just that!!! With not as much stuff, the Lord supplied far more than the first time!! We raised $5610.00!!! This is something to be praised!! The Lord knows what we need to bring these sweet children home and he has shown us over and over that He alone is in control and that He is faithful and He will do it. (If you know me well, I am clapping my hands over this one)!

We worked for about 15 hours putting all this stuff out, and spent hour after hour straightening and sorting, laughing, almost crying, and praying!! Again, God is so good!!

The best part of this for me (other than raising money for orphans) is the people watching. I LOVE to people watch. We had so much fun, talking and getting to know others. We met so many followers of Christ, and so many non-believers as well. We were able to shine the light of Jesus to Muslims, Catholics, and atheists. We were able to make friends, with people we would never have the opportunity to meet. One guy (pictured below) was shopping with his wife, and liked Bryan's guitar. He couldn't speak a lick of English but with help of a friend, and our choppy Spanish, we connected!! He played a couple of songs for us on Bry's guitar, and even sang! We were blessed, and I am sure he was too! Again, God is so good!

Bryan and I feel so privileged to be a part of your lives. We are so grateful for you as friends, and even some of you we don't even know. We feel so privileged that the Lord has called us to orphans. We feel so privileged that He is using YOU to join along side of us on this journey. We are all called to help the poor. We are all called to give, we are all called to obedience. We are all called to serve. Thank you for serving with us!!

Again, God is so....Good!!

Okay, where does this leave us?? This puts us at a total of $17,610.00!! We need $17,400.00 more! We are more than half way there. God is so....Good.

We have been trusting the Lord from day one to open doors and break strongholds, and I know He is. He is through YOU! Some of you have prayed, and given. We need both!! God is the supplier of our needs, He does not need us to rescue anyone, He chooses to allow us the opportunity to do so. Please pray and ask the Lord how you can give to close the gap between the money we need and Gods children.

Jesus loves Hope, Jacob and Samuel. No amount of money should separate children from the Love they need and should have. Jesus loves us, and we have the privilege of showing these beautiful children, the love of Jesus Christ. We must be the hands and feet of Christ, will you please pray and ask God how you can be involved?

A missionary friend of mine, who cares for orphans in Uganda said this on her blog recently: Pray for unwanted children. They are real. They may not be in your living room, but they are in mine.

They are in mine too!! I get to see what a difference a family makes for these children, who are broken, and unloved. You can see what a difference it makes also!! Your donations help to repair, hearts and minds. Your donations give hope to those who are hopeless. Your donations provide a Father & Mother, warm beds and food. They provide an opportunity to know Christ! We are missionaries witnessing to a lost and dying world of orphans.

Tax deductable donations can be made payable to Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministries. You can donate online to http://www.kingdomkidsadoption.org. Please specify Thiele Adoption.

We appreciate all of you, and are so blessed to have you in our lives!

Just some of the stuff we had for the sale, this quilt was made by one of my friends to raffle

My friend Zona, a little loony after setting up the sale for 15 hours

Random customer, did not speak an ounce of English, but we communicated rather well anyway through music!! I love this part of all the work!! What a blessing!

The box on the right has my little Chinese baby in it. Amazing, that THIS time she was here, 3 years ago, this same type of sale was for her!!

Only half of my three car garage, not including what we had everywhere else. God is so good!!