Interviews With Ashton: Russia Meets Father of the Bride

Interviewing My Daughter:

The Best Kind of Working Lunch

Lunch yesterday at Holiday Deli & Ham was a working lunch, of sorts.  I met my daughter, Ashton, to catch up on her life in general and to talk about her recent mission trip to Russia that I first wrote about in "To Russia With . . . Hesitation?"  She went on this 10-day journey with two other young lades from our church, and they connected with a group of 14 others from Texas under the umbrella of Allies in Youth Development, whose stated mission is to train and empower in-country university students to become volunteer mentors to orphans in their area.

I will be sharing several stories of Ashton's perspective of orphan care in Russia over the next few blogs.  I look forward to writing about her perspectives on a graduation at an orphanage, a rat, a future millionaire, an angry little boy, and several others.

Father of the Bride . . . Well, in a Way

Ashton is 18 years old and graduating from Ainsworth Christian School (sounds better than graduating from homeschool, doesn't it?).  Her graduation party is tonight, and plans are in full swing to make it happen.  In fact, my blogging time this morning is cut short by the necessity of my participation in the preparation.

Several years ago, Ashton was in a play that required her to be away from home most nights for the better part of several months.  Or so it seemed.  She began to lead worship for the students at church -- practice every Monday night.  Not too long afterward, she became a licensed driver and the owner of Joey and Sarah Beeson's 1998 Taurus.  In rapid succession, she started going to proms, got a job, became a manager, decided what she wanted to do with her life after college.

Daddy-daughter dates have become much more difficult to schedule.  I have been living as Steven Curtis Chapman singing "Cinderella" and morphing into Steve Martin in Father of the Bride.  I said that out loud to Ashton that yesterday when, at the end of two hours together, I felt like we had just started talking.  That set up a really funny moment last night:

When my wife and I were talking last night about Ashton's graduation party and all the things that we both need to do today to make it happen, my wife dropped this line on me:  "I may need you to stay outside for a while tomorrow night and help with parking."   I had a vision of my 10-year-old and I destroying the neighborhood as we parked vehicles on every square foot of available property.  (If you have not seen Father of the Bride, you totally don't get that -- sorry.)

Starring Role

I promise to share some of my actual interview with Ashton and some of her experiences caring for orphans in Russia -- next week.  But today, I have the starring role in Father of the Graduate.  I have a table to get and set up, a ping pong table to move out of our entry hall, barbeque to pick up, and, yes, cars to park.  Because today, like all the other days before it as Ashton's dad, is not about me.  It's about turning her loose in a world that so desperately needs bright lights like her.  It's about releasing her to be everything God has created her to be.  I'm so incredibly proud of her; words just won't describe how much.

So when you see the guy on the edge of her party with that look that Steve Martin so wonderfully mastered, that's one proud daddy.  I love you, Ashton.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

3 Levels of Fishing

When my son Garrett and I go fishing, we always call our activity by the generic title, fishing . . . at least at the beginning of the day.  After a few hours, however, the terminology changes.  At the end of the day, we have three different levels of reporting, based on our results:

Level 1: Casting

This is when we spend (usually no more than) a couple of hours practicing casting, removing lures, tying lures, and trying new lures -- only to come up empty.  These are the days that we determine that "there are NO fish in this ENTIRE pond."  (Because if there were, of course we would have caught some of them.)

Level 1 days are also the days that we have the greatest opportunity to default to conversations of frustrations over the fishing.  Simultaneously, these are the days when we have the greatest opportunities to talk about other things that matter a lot more than fishing.

Some days, the beauty of the lake belies the scarcity of fish in the lake.

All it took was finding the right lure!

Level 2: Fishing

Garrett and I call the second level of fishing . . . well, fishing.  These are the days when we get a few bites and maybe even catch a few fish.  The lure (pun intended) of catching fish usually keeps us on the pond an extra hour, at least.  The right lure, the right spot, the right flick of the wrist, make this a different day and take us to the next level.

These are the days when -- in the poetic words of Ernest Lawerence Thayer -- "hope springs eternal."  There are many transferable principles there, principles to be taught and of which to be reminded, on level 2 days.

And then, there's . . .

Level 3: Catching

Every once and a while, we have those days when we catch fish after fish, including some big ones.  There was the time when Garrett and I went with my dad to a pond near his house and caught 27 big bass within a couple of hours.  We may have caught more, but we spent some of that time taking photos of the ones we did reel in.

The level 3 days are the days that keep us going back.  Every time we go fishing, we make our predictions of how many fish we will catch.  Typically, we are optimistic that it will be at least a level 2, perhaps even a level 3 day.

Always a good sign to start catching fish before the sun is up good.

Good morning, beautiful!

My favorite fishing photo -- definitely a level 3 day!

 

A Word of Encouragement

The whole point of this blog is not simply to share my fishing experiences.  The point is this: If you are influencing people at any level, there are various seasons of results.  There are seasons of casting, when our best efforts just don't seem to produce any results.  There are season of fishing, when we see enough results to encourage us to keep going.  And there are seasons of catching, when the results of our impact on others is so great that it can barely be captured.

Whether you are a pastor, a teacher, a mom, a student, an orphan care advocate-- no matter where your place of influence is, be encouraged that there are relationships that are enhanced at all three levels -- casting, fishing, and catching -- if you are intentional about using your influence.  Keep investing.  Keep influencing.  Keep encouraging.  Let God bring the results in His timing.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.  And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.  Immediately they left the boat and their 
father and followed him.  (Matthew 4:18-22)

Thanks for reading.  Fish for people today.

4theVoiceless,
Al

5 Nuggets and 5 Questions from Summit 9

My wife, Loretta, and I traveled to beautiful Nashville, Tennessee, last week to take part in Summit 9, the annual global orphan conference put together by the Christian Alliance for Orphans.  In nine years Summit has grown from just over 30 people to this year's over 2,500 (with registration closing early due to space limitations).  At least 25 countries were represented as well as 49 states (Come on, Vermont!).  The energy, focus, and passion of this year's gathering was most inspiring and contagious, most challenging.

I will not try to summarize everything that we experienced, though much of what I learned and was challenged with will find its way through the blog in days to come.  For today, I have pulled five nuggets from my notes, each with a question to challenge you to action on behalf of the millions of at-risk children in the world.  As you consider each question, though, don't think in terms of millions; think in terms of individual orphans that you may or may not yet know.  Kids who are waiting for you to act on their behalf.

Nugget #1

Stephen Ucembe, a Kenyan pastor who was orphaned in a tragic way at age five, shared that he hated the term "I love you" because he never heard it as a child.  He recalled that when visitors came, they always picked the cutest kids to hold and to play with; he was never chosen.  His most beautiful memory of childhood was receiving a Christmas package from a lady in her 70's, a lady he had never met, from England.  In that package was a four-page letter in which she wrote, "I love you."

Many of you already sponsor at-risk children around the world.  We might think that our $25, $30, $35, $40 per month sponsorship is bringing great blessing to those children (and it is!), but would you go a step further and also write a letter to your child in which you tell him/her "I love you"?

Nugget #2

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann from Minnesota, a leading Congressional advocate for orphan care, was introduced to foster care through a friend at church.  In the years that followed, the Bachmanns brought 23 foster kids into their home, and each one graduated high school (If you have ever looked at the statistics, you know that this is an amazing feat!).  She recalled how therapeutic it was for the older children to engage with the younger children and for the younger children to engage with the older.


How will you intentionally train your children of whatever age to wisely engage with at-risk children? 

Nugget #3

Jedd Medefind, president of Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), announced to the crowd in the sanctuary of conference host Brentwood Baptist Church and to those in the overflow room that Summit has always been held in a local church because local churches were the answer to the world's orphan crisis.  I'm not sure any more profound words were shared in the entire conference.

Simply, what are you doing in your local church to carry out God's command to His people to care for orphans?  If you are a part of our faith family at Colonial Hills Church and you don't know what this looks like for you, I would love to sit down and have a conversation with you about how much there is to do and how you can get involved.

Nugget #4

Bishop W.C. Martin of Possum Trot, Texas, absolutely captivated the crowd with his larger-than-life personality and the story of how his church, Bennett's Chapel in the tiny little town of Possum Trot, has adopted over 70 children from foster care.  They have not provided out of their excess but out of a compelling desire to follow God's command to care for the orphan.  Their story has put Possum Trot, Texas, on the map.  (Just in case you were wondering, Bishop Martin reports that Possum Trot is "on the other side on Coonville.")

Will you consider the needs of children at risk from God's perspective and the child's perspective before your own perspective and see how God compels you to act out in faith?

Nugget #5

"Adoption begins with a parent's initiative, not with a child's choice."
"An orphaned child (who was ultimately adopted into a family) has no idea of the pursuit that had taken place on his behalf."
"The gospel does not begin with our pursuit of Christ but with His pursuit of us."
-- David Platt

If you have been involved in any aspect of caring for orphans -- adoption, helping others adopt, fostering, local and global orphan homes, whatever your involvement may have been -- how will you use your experience and your stories to share the gospel?

Thanks for reading.  Now take action.  I would love to hear your responses to the challenges I have set before you today.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Kidney Stones and Heartache: One Family's Foster Care Journey

One of the delights of my role as a pastor orphan care champion is to walk families through the process of deciding to adopt or foster a child.  I don't do much of the work, actually; I just point them in the right direction.  However, one thing that I have learned and that I have made sure to pass along to those going through the process is this: The process is not final until the judge (or whoever makes the ultimate decision) declares it final.  This has been wisdom learned and passed on to others who have needed to be prepared for it.

An Unexpected Move of God

When we kicked off the 4theVoiceless ministry at Colonial Hills Church in February of 2012, one of our small groups came to hear Rick Morton speak about the need for churches to get involved in orphan care ministry.  One couple in that group, Dolph and Kimberly Crafton, came simply because their small group leader asked them to come. 

What happened next was the start of a truly amazing and as-yet-unfinished journey.  God began to tug at their hearts to get involved in foster care.  They drove back and forth to Corinth (an hour-and-a-half drive each way) to receive the training they would need.  (Side note: A long car ride back and forth to foster care training gives a couple plenty of time to discuss and process . . . .)  They filled out all of the required paperwork, underwent the necessary background checks, built a community of support, and were ready to welcome a child into their home.  Their new home, one that they would move into in a matter of weeks.

That's when their story took a detour.  Well, several detours, actually.  I want you to hear the story as Kimberly told it to me in an email a couple of weeks ago.  It's a story in process.  It's a story without a pretty bow tied on top (at least not yet).  It's a story of God working in the meantime. 

It begins with Kimberly in the hospital with a PING PONG-SIZED kidney stone.  Here's how she describes the day she got the call from their social worker:

"One of the Worst Days of My Life"

The day we got the call about not being approved was one of the worst days of my life. I was in the hospital at Baptist East last August. Dolph had just gotten there to eat dinner with me - one of the few nights I had been hungry and wanted to eat. The day had been terrible -- nothing but bad news after bad news after bad news about my health and the prognosis for what the "doctor's thought" would happen (thank GOD it was not what HE wanted to happen). 

They actually told me that I was probably going to lose my kidneys and be on dialysis for the rest of my life or have to have a transplant. Plus, we got news that said that we might not get the house we are now in... needless to say, that day so far had been terrible. Dolph walked in with food, and five minutes later they came and took me to dialysis -- I wasn't even supposed to go until the next morning. That meant that for the next 6 hours I would be stuck in a freezing room being made to feel miserable and completely drained. 

Then halfway through the dialysis, my cell phone rang. I saw that it was our social worker. For a moment, hope cursed through me, and I wanted her to tell me that we had been approved. But that was not God's plan either. God knew that I needed to rest and get well. He knew what His plan was for me; I didn't. She told me that we had not been approved because of something completely silly in Dolph's past where he actually kept someone from kidnapping his daughter - but he was physically violent toward the person, so that meant they had to say no. I was crushed. I began crying uncontrollably.

 

My blood pressure jumped up to stroke level. I had nurses pulling and pushing at me all of a sudden. Finally, one nurse realized that I had gotten bad news on the phone. She made the others step away. She asked me what had happened and patiently waited for me to cry  my way through the entire ordeal. When I finished, she looked at me and smiled. She had been a child in the foster care system from the time she was 2 until she was 18. She was one of the lucky ones that got great foster parents and was able to stay with them until she aged out. Even after that, they treated her like family. We talked for 3 hours about the system and what it meant to be a foster parent. She was a Christ-follower and was able to walk me through the hurt and pain and show me that God had a plan for me. I will never forget her; her name was Adeille. She was an angel sent from God.

 

The last thing she said before they took me back to the room was, "Pray every day that God will heal you, and He will. Pray every day that He gives you your house, and He will. But most of all, pray that he will open hearts and lead the way for you to be great foster parents just like I had growing up. I feel it in my heart that is what He wants for you both. I can see it when I close my eyes, but you have to remember it is all in His time." 

 

I never saw her again after that day. I asked about her several times, and she was always on another shift or off that day. I wrote her a letter the other day and let her know that two out of three prayers had been granted by our wonderful Lord. And that now it was time to start on the last part. I'm well now - no more ping pong-sized kidney stone. Both kidneys are working perfectly; there's still some infection in there, but that is "to be expected" from passing the last of the stone and should be gone in 10 days.

 

I've been praying every day that when we go back to the state of Mississippi that they open their hearts and realize what a mistake was made. It's going to mean a trip to Texas for us to get the "proof" that they need to approve everything, but it's a trip we are willing to make. If you all will please start praying that the state of Mississippi reconsiders their ruling and allows us to follow the path that God has put before us, I would be extremely grateful. I have the feeling that this is going to take A LOT of PRAYER!!!!! But I know that nothing is out of God's reach or isn't within His ability.

 

Thanks,

Kimberly

 

Dolph and Kimberly Crafton with their handsome grandson Dexter

I will add nothing more to this wonderful yet still-in-the-process work of God other than to ask you to pause right now and pray for God's will to be done in the Craftons' lives, on earth as it is in heaven.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,

Al

 

Walking Away from the Fiscal Cliff: Two Victories

I'm not a fan of media-or publicist-created terms that are then propagated by the media themselves.  Are you as tired as I am of hearing about the so-called "fiscal cliff"?  As far as the politics of the whole fiscal cliff mess, I guess I have lived long enough to recognize political frenzy to accomplish a task that could and should have been accomplished weeks earlier.  It's the term fiscal cliff  itself that has bugged me.

However, perhaps because of the general good cheer of the Christmas season, I have found a couple of victories to claim from the fiscal cliff frenzy:

A Word Correctly Used

Victory #1: The word fiscal itself, used correctly.  I can't tell you how much it has bugged me for years to hear otherwise very intelligent people talking about the end of their company's physical year.  Perhaps the fiscal cliff talk will lead to a more proper use of the word fiscal in general.  Here's hoping.

Disclaimer: Although I have not been an English teacher for over 10 years now, the misuse of the English language still bothers me.  I have gotten better about correcting people, but you have to understand how far I had to come to get to this point: I corrected my wife's first love letter to me -- she didn't think it was funny like I did, but I digress.

Fiscal is not the only word that otherwise intelligent people butcher:

• School administrators (all intelligent individuals) who sought recognition from accrediting agencies called the process accredidation.
• I know that Alzheimer's is not the easiest word to say, but as many people as not say Alltimer's instead.  I think the etymology of this mispronunciation can probably be traced to some originally referring to the disease as "Old-timers."  (This is one that you and I should be careful not to correct in conversation because, chances are, the person saying this word is dealing with a family member with this cruel disease.  Having had a family member who had Alzheimer's, I can say that dealing with the disease with love and compassion is much more important that pronouncing it correctly.  See, I try to not be a chump.)
• Here's my current #1 language pet peeve: "all of the sudden."  I don't know when the proliferation of the misuse of the phrase "all of a sudden" began -- I first noticed it about three or four years ago -- but it has spread like wildfire.  (Interestingly enough, the phrase began in the 1500's as "the sudden."  Maybe everyone saying "all of the sudden" is just trying to get back to the roots of the phrase. . .you think?)

See how easy I can still get off track with grammar issues?  Remember, I'm still in recovery.  Be patient with me.  I have probably misused some part of the language in this post itself.  Now, where was I. . .

A Second Victory

Oh, yes, there was a second victory from all the fiscal cliff pandemonium.  This one is serious and meaningful to the movement of Americans toward orphaned children both in the U.S. and around the world. 

The adoption tax credit has been made permanent!

Jedd Medefind, the president of Christian Alliance for Orphans, has written about the specifics of this part of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (How many of you knew the fiscal cliff bill had a name?) on the CAFO blog.  It's well worth the minute or two that it will take for you to educate yourself on this important piece of a much-maligned piece of legislation.

I'm not typically much of an advocate on political issues -- call me a cynic -- but I wrote both of my senators and my Congressman on the specific issue of preserving the adoption tax credit.  I did not get a response from one of my senators, and I received a poorly copied and pasted email from the other.  However, I got a personal phone call (that I missed) and a voice mail from Rep. Alan Nunnallee's office that laid out his recognition of the importance of the issue to his constituents. 

The message also reminded me that the adoption tax credit would be part of a much larger bill that might affect how the Congressman voted on the overall bill.  Understood but still not a comforting thought. Regardless of our confidence in the rest of the "fiscal cliff" legislation, orphan care advocates must say specifically on the adoption tax credit portion of the law: They got this part right!

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

4theVoiceless Photos: Top 12 in 12 (#9-12)

For a ministry that didn't even exist prior to this year, 2012 was quite the whirlwind year for the 4theVoiceless ministry.  While we may not have even put a dent in the world's orphan crisis, we certainly did more than nothing.  As ministry opportunities opened up to us throughout the year, God's provision did, as well, through great relationships and training opportunities.

Among the year's highlights:

We had several families enter into the adoption process, including one adoption that was completed in 2012.  At least three families completed PATH training and are now qualified to take in children to their homes through the foster care system.

We were a part of mission trips to the Baptist Children's Village in Mississippi, to a deaf school in Jamaica, to orphanages in Russia, and to the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti.

We made paper bead jewelry and paracord bracelets and produced a cookbook to fund the 4theVoiceless ministry.  We had many opportunities to speak to people and make them aware of the needs of the fatherless both close to home and far away.

For the next few days on the blog as we close out the year, I want to share some of my favorite photos and review the stories behind them.  These photos capture some of the highlights of 2012.

Click on the photos to read (or re-read) the stories.

# 12

August Trip to Baptist Children's Village in Star, MS

A guys-only trip that was as much fun for the ones who went as it was for the kids that we served.  Nothing like a slip-n-slide on a hot summer day!

 

# 11

Bracelet Sales throughout the year to raise funds for 4theVoiceless

Crafts fairs, farmer's markets, Christmas fairs -- we served at them all!  Great conversations about orphan care and funds raised for adoption and orphan care at them all.

# 10

Hope for Haiti

The original "Hope for Haiti" post was by far the most popular blog post of the year.  These bracelets began a movement that so far has raised over $10,000 toward building a new House of Abraham home for children in Jacmel, Haiti.  Though there is still much left to do to make the new home a reality, the Hope for Haiti movement has generated interest and awareness in a great way this year.

# 9

CHC Mission Team to Haiti in March

Kim Bennett felt like she had to lead a team of ladies to care for orphans.  This became a reality when 10 ladies, along with Jim May, our missions pastor, went to Haiti in March.  This trip generated an incredible amount of interest in serving there and assisting Fenel & Mimi Bruna and the staff who serve at the House of Abraham.  This trip took place before we began blogging, but you can read how the trip affected my friend Stephanie by clicking on the photo.  She blogged in detail about their trip on her blog, Welcome to Walley World.

Check back tomorrow for photos #5-8 of the 4theVoiceless year in photos top 12 on '12.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Okay, I'll Play: 23 Ministry Blessings

Throughout the month of November, several of my Facebook friends have posted daily things for which they are thankful.  Some are simple, like coffee or bacon.  Some are sentimental, and others are thought-provoking.  On this Thanksgiving Day 2012, I thought I would play catch-up and list 22 blessings (plus 1)  in the 4theVoiceless ministry.  This is by no means a comprehensive list, just a list off the top of my head (which would explain anything important that was forgotten!).

22 Blessings

1.  That look in Tobie's eyes that led to my  My Taco Bell Moment
2.  The Pillstroms and and the Satchers and many conversations about caring for orphans
3.  The Pinnows, the Beesons, and the Basingers who all helped get 4theVoiceless named and off the ground before moving on.  Baby dedication for Annie Faith Basinger.
4.  Great friends to our ministry like Lauren Johnson, Jay Atkins, Russell Moore, Rick Morton, Tony Merida, Jan Biddick, Andrea Gehrett, Wayne Sneed, Mark Ottinger, Dusty Cooper, and many more.  (Please don't be mad at me if I left you off...)
5.  Paracord bracelets and paper bead jewelry
6.  A March mission trip to Haiti by a group of ladies from CHC, along with our missions pastor
7.  A May mission trip to Russia by a group of CHC young adults to minister to orphans alongside Russian college students.  Several nights of worship in our small groups telling their story and leading in worship.
8.  The powerful, transformative Word of God that compels us to care for orphans
9.  The opportunity this summer to preach in my home church in Star, Mississippi, about God's call to His people to care for the orphan
10.  The Hope for Haiti campaign that has sparked more conversations about caring for orphans that anything else we have done this year. 
11.  How caring for orphans in Haiti has transformed my friends Stephanie and Jacob
12.  Over $7,000 given in one day toward building the House of Abraham children's home in Jacmel, Haiti.  As many of you already know, construction on the new HoA has stopped due to a lack of funds, but we are grateful for what has already been given and what has already been done.
13.  An August mission trip to the Baptist Children's Village home in Star
14.  Beginning of construction on the new House of Abraham
15.  Together for Adoption conference in Nashville this past September
16.  The tremendous Orphanology class that we just completed at CHC Southaven and the action steps that people in the class have taken
17.  Two CHC families who have completed training to be foster parents.  Others anxious to begin that training.
18.  All the quarters and dollars that have gone into jars all over DeSoto County through our CHC small groups' Change It Now campaign.  This "power of everybody" campaign has served orphans near and far this year.
19.  A life-changing mission trip to Haiti in late October and early November this year.  What a team the Lord put together from Illinois, Florida, and Mississippi!
20.  Fenel and Mimi Bruna
21.  Our first Orphan Sunday at CHC on November 4
22.  All the recipes and adoption stories we have received for the 4theVoiceless cookbook, the profits of which will help fund adoptions for CHC families

Plus One

23.  The opportunity to express myself on Tuesdays and Fridays (and occasionally other days)  through this blog about what God is teaching me about Himself and about His most valuable creation: people.  Thank you for showing up here from time to time to read my thoughts and to engage in conversations that move the Kingdom of Jesus Christ forward, especially on behalf of the orphan.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Project Update Day: Happy Friday

Happy Friday to all you friends of 4theVoiceless!

Much of the attention on the blog for the last couple of weeks has been focused on our recent trip to serve the House of Abraham children's home in Jacmel, Haiti, but I wanted to use today's blog to give some updates on some other projects that we have going on.  Many of these will be coming to a close soon.

Kards 4 Kids

Our ministry friends at Orphanos Foundation sponsor an annual project called Kards 4 Kids.  Homemade, handwritten Christmas cards go to kids in orphanages in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil, Jamaica, and South Korea.  Here's one unique aspect of this project: the cards are written in the child's native language!  (There is a list of Christmas greetings in each language; they have done most of the work for you.)  Click on the K4K link above to find out more.

If you attend Colonial Hills Church (Southaven or Hernando) and would like to be a part of K4K, encourage your small group leader to pick up a packet or two in our leader meeting or find me Sunday, and I will get you a packet (Southaven before and after 1st service, Hernando after the service).

If you are one of our followers from outside the Mid-South, you can click on the K4K link above and get every bit of the information that I have.  You do not have to go through 4theVoiceless to be a part of K4K, but we would like to know if you participate.

Deadline to have these turned in to Orphanos is November 30!

Adoption Cookbook

We are down to the last few days to gather recipes for the cookbook.  I must have them by Wednesday, November 21.  Go here to submit a recipe online.

We will still take recipes in all the different areas, but we especially need international recipes, crock pot recipes, and starter/appetizers.

We will be compiling and formatting all the recipes, as well as the adoption stories that we will sprinkle throughout the cookbook, over the next couple of weeks and will have them published in time for Christmas.

Dignity Bags

I wrote about this project on the blog back in October.  Click here to read the background on this project.

One of our small groups has committed to providing the toiletries for the first bags and is working on getting the bags themselves through one of the group member's company.

I know that there are sometimes avenues toward serving others that go untapped because those with access to certain goods and services never see how they could be used in ministry.  If you have access to basic toiletries that kids who are picked up by DHS social workers might immediately need (toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant, comb, brush, etc.) for free or for cheap, you can help us provide this for kids who are already going through a painful experience.

Ditto with nice duffel bags that provide some sense of dignity (as opposed to a garbage bag) to children who are being removed from their homes most often because of abuse or neglect.  If you have access to such bags for free or for cheap, please help us provide 100 bags to our local DHS social workers.

For our out of town readers, would you consider making a call to your local DHS office and asking if dignity bags would be a need for them, too.  Many of the issues with at-risk children could at least be improved if the church got involved in a helpful way such as this.

House of Abraham

Finally, as some of you may have read yesterday on our Facebook page, construction on the House of Abraham children's home in Haiti has stopped due to lack of funds.

Dusty Cooper of Isle Go Missions wrote a  guest blog back in August about the origins of the House of Abraham and the need for this new home.  Our recent trip confirmed everything Dusty wrote (not that I expected any different) and then some.

4theVoiceless will have a table set up at the CHC SHE ministry crafts fair on Saturday, December 1.  All of the profits from our sales of paracord bracelets and paper bead jewelry will benefit the House of Abraham.  These make great stocking stuffers and will provide great opportunities to share with friends and family members the work that God is doing in Jacmel, Haiti, to provide for the needs of 13 kids and to provide hope for a nation.

Several of you from outside of this area have asked how you can give directly.  Click here to go directly to Isle Go's "Donations" page.  Be sure to note "House of Abraham" on your check or, if you give electronically, in the box next to the amount of your donation.  I know that Dusty and Fenel and all those who have already invested in this project will be extremely grateful for your help.

Get Involved

How will you live out the biblical command to care for orphans?  I have laid out in this blog several ways you can get involved, and most of them don't take a lot a resources, just a willingness to help and a heart for the orphan.

God did not plan for us to remain spiritual orphans.  Nothing better reflects His heart for spiritual orphans than our care for physical orphans.

John 14:18
"I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you."


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Defining Moments: A Highlight Reel

Have you ever had a moment that captured you, a defining moment?  We hear that a lot in the sports world.  As a St. Louis Cardinals fan who has followed most every game for over 20 years, there are certain moments that define my “fan-ship.”  Among so many others that stand out, there was McGwire and Sosa in 1998.  There was the month in 2003 when no one could get Bo Hart out.  There was So Taguchi’s game-tying homer against the Cubs in 2004 that forever earned him a not-so-repeatable middle name from Cubs fans.  There was the unimaginable World Series title of 2006, defined in my mind by Adam Wainrwight’s devastating curveball in Game 7 of the NLCS that froze Carlos Beltran for strike three to send them there.

And then there was last year – WOW! Tony LaRussa, the longtime manager who retired after last year, always pushed his teams to “play a hard nine.”  Nothing captured this never-say-die attitude quite like David Freese’s performance in Game 6 of the World Series last year.  After allowing a pop-up to doink off his head earlier in the game, Freese stood at the plate in the bottom of the 9th inning as the potential last out of the game and was down to his last strike before launching a two-run triple to tie the game and then ending the game with a walk-off homer two innings later.

There are already moments from this year that, as a Cardinals' fan, I will always remember.  Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma's heroics last Friday night, for starters...

A Personal Orphan Care Highlight Reel

I have found that as I have engaged in orphan care ministry, there have been many defining moments.  A video here, a song there, numerous Scriptures, and numerous stories have served to convey God’s heart for the orphan to me and to others.  I began this blog with My Taco Bell Moment, which served as my call to pursue orphan care as a ministry at Colonial Hills Church, where I serve as a small groups pastor.  There have been many other moments that have strengthened that call.  Welcome to a glimpse of my highlight reel:

• Eighty babies in a room in an Eastern European orphanage and no crying because no one ever came when they cried.  How is that a highlight, you ask?  Because it propels people to action.
• Calling the Pillstroms from my room in Poland as they were in China to get Lynleigh a little over a year ago.  Seeing and holding her for the first time a week later.
• Passion 2012 and their focus on significantly decreasing human trafficking in this world.  I wasn’t there, but my friend Josiah was, and he personalized everything I was hearing about what God was doing in his generation.  Songs that came from the same conference:
• Kristian Stanfill’s “Who You Are”

You hear the cry of every broken heart
You give the hopeless soul a brand new start
You lead the captive in Your freedom song
This is who you are
And in the night when all our hope is lost
You are the one who won’t give up on us
You hold the orphan in your loving arms
This is who you are

• Christy Nockel’s “Sing Along” (Click here for the story behind the song and the original first line)

From babies hidden in the shadows
To the cities shining bright
There are captives weeping
Far from sight
For every doorway there's a story
And some are holding back the cries
But there is One who hears in the night

• Seeing Eric Ludy’s “Depraved Indifference” video for the first time.  Tears every time since.  I can’t wait for our church to see it on Orphan Sunday in less than three weeks.

•  The captivating lyrics of Needtobreathe’s “Slumber,” a song made popular in our church by young adults preparing to serve orphans in Russia:

All these victims
Stand in line for
The crumbs that fall from the table
Just enough to get by
All the while
Your invitation
Wake on up from your slumber
Come on open up your eyes

• Stories of kids taken into foster care with their belongings stuffed into a garbage bag.  The look of people’s faces when they hear that, the look of “THAT”S NOT RIGHT!”

•  More than any of these, God’s Word from Genesis to Exodus to Deuteronomy to Job to Psalms to Isaiah to Ezekiel to Hosea to Zechariah to Galatians to Ephesians to James (and that’s just off the top of my head) that makes it clear that our care for the voiceless is a direct reflection of God’s care for broken, sinful man.  Orphan care is a picture of redemption.  It is the Gospel.  The Gospel defines who I am.  It should define what I do.

Have you had a moment or moments that have propelled you from comfort into the most uncomfortable world of standing up for the defenseless, the voiceless?  What did it for you?

Thanks for reading.  Join the conversation.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Do You Have a Personal Mission Statement?

I have carried around a personal vision statement in my wallet for probably close to 15 years now.  It began as a small group exercise, and I remember seeing some group members’ statements – about a page long each and very impressive.  I felt that mine was a bit inadequate by comparison like the school kid who completed the minimum requirements of the assignment only to find that the rest of the class had gone above and beyond.  However, in this case, I wonder how many of those folks ever really centered their lives around those elaborate statements.  My personal mission statement, based on my “life verse,” John 10:10,  reads simply: “To live and model the abundant life available in Christ Jesus.”  Successes and failures, victories and struggles, easy times and hard times – they are all run through this filter.  I can evaluate every part of my life by how it stacks up to this statement.

I was blessed with a copy of the book Raising a Modern-Day Knight (by Robert Lewis) when my son Garrett was a baby.  Using the principles from the book, I had a manhood ceremony for him when he turned 13 and included godly men who had influence in his life.  Each one spoke to him from the following principles, which have become guiding statements (even if Dad-imposed) in his life:

• A real man rejects passivity.
• A real man leads courageously.
• A real man accepts responsibility.
• A real man expects the greater reward, God’s reward.

These statements have given me a foundation from which to teach him life principles.  These principles are springboards for both praise and correction in his life.  (And they seem to work much better than a generic “Do the right thing” or something like that.)

Jesus had a mission statement. Luke records it in chapter 4.  After Jesus has begun his ministry in Galilee, he returned to his hometown of Nazareth.  Let’s pick up in Luke’s narrative in verse 16 (HCSB):

He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.  The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place* where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.  He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.  And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”  Luke 4:16-21 (HCSB)
*Isaiah 61:1-2

Jesus specifically said that he came for the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.  Now, there are obviously some spiritual connotations to those for whom Jesus came I had nothing to offer God that He needed – I was poor.  I couldn’t get to God because of my sin – I was a captive to it.  I couldn’t see my need for God because the enemy kept me from seeing my need – I was blind.  I was beginning to suffer the consequences for my sin – I was oppressed.

However, these weren’t just spiritual analogies Jesus was making.  Look at who the better part of His ministry was aimed toward: the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed.  Among these were children, widows, the sick, demoniacs, the lame, beggars, and so on.  If you take a look at Jesus’ mission statement and then look at how He lived it out, you see a life of practical expressions of deeper spiritual truths.  (Important note: These practical expressions of Christ were accompanied by His words that drew people to Him.  We should not expect people to understand the gospel just through our good deeds; those deeds must be joined with something truly life-changing, the gospel of Christ.)

I listened last week to a friend of mine speaking at a gathering of churches doing some type of orphan care ministry.  Chris had for some time been visiting nursing homes on alternating weekends and mentoring emotionally and behaviorally troubled young men on the other weekends.  When asked why he did this, he simply responded by pointing to the Bible and saying, “It’s in there, right?”  A life vision with practical expressions, based on the Word -- it's a beautiful thing!

Do you have a personal mission statement?  It can give your life a center that you can verbalize.  Jesus had one.  Follow His example and base yours on the Word of God.  I would be interested to hear your personal vision statements.  Your sharing may help someone else develop his or hers, so please share!

Thanks for reading,
Al

Friday Little Bits: Right Around the Corner

Do you want to make a difference in the life of a fatherless child?  If you live in the Mid-South area, you have several opportunities right around the corner.  (If you live somewhere else, you have opportunities, too; I just don't have a list of them for you :)

• CHC Southaven's Orphanology class was full again this week.  Lauren Johnson from Harden House Adoption and Foster Care helped our class know some of what to expect during the adoption process.  She will be back again this week to talk about foster care.  We are hopeful to provide some specific training in our area for potential foster parents in the near future.  You can come and take part in our class at any time; you need not have attended any of the previous classes!

• 4theVoiceless will have a table with our jewelry and T-shirts at the Tricia's Hope fundraiser (Read Tricia's story here.) at Jim Saucier Park in Southaven.  Ten percent of our profits from that day will go toward helping defray the Chavez family's medical expenses. The rest of our profits will go toward building the House of Abraham children's home in Jacmel, Haiti.  We are grateful to partner with our friends from CHC's Celebrate Recovery; they are awesome folks who have been great friends to the ministry of 4theVoiceless!

• The flow of recipes for our adoption cookbook has picked up this week.  We still have plenty left to go before we are ready to publish, but this week has been very encouraging that we will get there and be able to help families fund their adoptions.

•  Orphan Sunday is just four weeks from this Sunday.  This will be the first time for an Orphan Sunday emphasis at CHC.  I met with our pastor this week about what November 4 will look like for our church, and I am looking forward to hearing his message to the church from James 1:27.  His HYPOChRIsTianE series has been eye-opening to say the least, and this message will fit in perfectly with the rest of the series.  We will also have some practical expressions of care for the orphan in which our people can engage.  If you attend another church, I hope that your church is also recognizing Orphan Sunday in some way.  The official Orphan Sunday web site has plenty of ideas that churches all over the world have done and are planing for this year.  If I can be of any assistance to you, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Let me offer you a challenge between now and the next blog post on Tuesday: look for a way to engage in a conversation about orphan care and see what you discover.  

Thanks for reading.  Now, move.
Al

Friday Little Bits: Progress Report

Here are a few ministry progress updates from 4theVoiceless:

Orphanology

Wednesday night was the first night of our Orphanology study at CHC Southaven.  There were 18 of us in attendance, a great group.  The study will continue through November 7 on Wednesday nights from 6:30-8:00.  This past Wednesday, we focused on how orphan care reflects the gospel and how God’s commands to help the “voiceless” have always been to His people.  Therefore, believers have a responsibility to minister to orphans.  We ended with this video, which.powerfully captured the first session of our study.

Lauren Johnson, adoption specialist, will join us the next two weeks as we focus on adoption and foster care.  Lauren and her husband Chris are active in the orphan care ministry of Lifepoint Senatobia.  If you live in the DeSoto County area, please join us on Wednesday nights.

Adoption Cookbook

We are hoping to complete the 4theVoiceless cookbook sometime around Orphan Sunday (Nov. 4) so that they will be available during the Christmas season.  The cookbook will help fund our adoption fund as well as create awareness about adoption through some pretty remarkable stories.  The recipes are still coming in slowly.  Would you use your influence to help us gather about 300 more recipes in the next month?  Each person can submit up to 10.  Click here for the form.

Hope for Haiti

Not much change in the Hope for Haiti campaign over the last couple of weeks, at least as far as funding goes.  We are still at about 26% funding for the new House of Abraham.  4theVoiceless will be selling paracord bracelets and paper bead jewelry at the Trinity Baptist Church (7200 Swinnea in Southaven) crafts fair tomorrow from 9:00-3:00.  We will be at the Tricia’s Hope fundraiser extravaganza at Jim Saucier Park in Southaven (near the library and police department) from 11:00-dark on October 13.  Finally, we will be at fall festivals at CHC Southaven (Go Center) and CHC Hernando (Conger Park) on October 31.  Get the word out!

Work continues on the orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti, as you can see in the photos below.  Thanks to Dusty Cooper of IsleGo Missions for the update!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday is a day when churches around the world focus on God’s call to defend the orphan.  This will be the first Orphan Sunday at CHC Southaven and CHC Hernando, and we are still in the planning stages.  More and more churches are joining in.  Check out the Orphan Sunday website for the story behind the day and to see what churches around the world are doing on this year’s Orphan Sunday, November 4.  If you are part of a church that would like to get involved, please let me know; I have recently been asked to serve as an area coordinator for the Orphan Sunday organization and would love to talk to you and share ideas.

Thanks for reading.  Now, move.
Al

What I Read vs. What I See

I spent about an hour in conversation with a friend yesterday.  It was one of those conversations with more questions than answers.  He is a fairly new believer in Christ (a few years), one who immediately after his conversion set out to learn the Word of God.  His questions could be rolled up into one question that we should all consider:  Why does the Christianity of my experience not look like what I read in the Bible?

The easy answer would have been, "Come to my church!"  He might indeed come, and I hope he finds more similarities than differences between the Christians in our church and the Christians in the Bible.  Our pastor at CHC is currently going through a series called HYPOChrIsTianE, a challenge to the church to more accurately reflect the object of our worship, Jesus Christ, to a world that largely does not follow Him.

Within the specific scope of this blog, however, I want to point out the huge chasm between what the Bible says about caring for the orphan and what we, as churches in the wealthiest nation in the world, are doing.  Imagine what happens when a maturing believer like my friend reads the Old Testament and sees the heart of God for the voiceless (the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, and the poor) and then compares it to the normal American church experience, where the orphan is rarely, if ever, mentioned.  His resulting questions are legitimate.

good news to GOOD NEWS

The good news is that more and more churches are re-awakening to this ancient command to care for orphans.  Orphan Sunday is November 4, and more churches than ever before are doing something to raise awareness of the world's orphan crisis.

Even better -- that good news is a pointing finger toward the Good News.  Orphan care -- adoption in particular -- so beautifully and accurately reflects the gospel.  Consider:

1.  God created man.
  

•      God created every child who is an orphan.

2.  Man fell.
  

•      Some result of the fall led to every orphan's status as an orphan.

3.  God redeemed man back to Himself.  Man was in desperate need of rescue, a spiritual orphan.  Man had nothing to offer God.  Despite all this, God made a way for man to be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.  He gives those who follow Him help for today and hope for tomorrow.

•      Orphans are among the weakest and most vulnerable of God's creation.  They seldom have anything to offer, only needs, yet some believers move toward them and give them hope and a future.

4.  God adopted us into the family of believers.  He is our Father, Jesus is our older brother, and the church is made up of our spiritual brothers and sisters.

•      Adoption provides a home for an orphan, often with father, mother, sisters, and brothers.

A Living Example of the Gospel

So what is our response to someone like my friend who sees the gap between what the Bible says and what he sees lived out in the church?  What about, "Let me show you."  Make sure you don't have to look far.

Thanks for reading. Now, move.
Al

Random add-on:  Passion for the writing of this post was enhanced greatly by Phil Wickham's "You're Beautiful."

     
    

My Lowest Point as a Pastor

Eighteen months ago I was at my low point as a pastor.  You couldn't have looked at me and known that at the time, probably, but there was a storm stirring in me.

During the previous summer, I had read a really harmless-looking little orange book called Radical, and it had intensified every area of my life as a Christ-follower.  I made some, well, radical changes to my own life, and I led my small group through a study of the book over the next few months -- with mixed response.  Most of them revved up their walk with Christ...for a few months.  Some continue to pursue Him with passion today.  I don't think it was as paradigm-shattering to anyone else as it was to me, though.  Looking back, I know I pushed too hard and much to quickly for my group members to "get" what I had "gotten."  I probably also gave too much credit to the little orange book and not enough to the Holy Spirit of God that was burning inside of me and that had burned inside of David Platt as he wrote it.


Fast forward through the first couple of months of 2011.  I was spending a few days of spiritual refreshing at my parents' cabin, as is my habit to do most every spring.  This time, I was spending a couple of days at a conference in Hattiesburg.  On February 28, 2011, I watched pastor after pastor take the stage and preach some of the most powerful, Gospel-centered messages I had ever heard.  And yet, this was my low point in ministry.

Over My Head

Several speakers into the conference, it began to occur to me that I was in way over my head; these guys had strings of initials after their names as long as my arm.  (The only initials I have after my name are B.S - draw your own conclusions.)  Each of them seemed to be a pastor, author, professor, advocate of some world-changing cause, etc., etc.  And here's the kicker:  they were all much younger than me! 


Here I was, 44 years old at the time, with my heart pounding to make a difference in this world for the kingdom of God but with seemingly no outlets.  I went back to mom and dad's cabin that night with a very heavy heart, considering my wasted life.  Why didn't God call me to ministry sooner?  Sixteen years as a high school baseball coach -- did I really even make a difference?  Were all the other years for naught?  And how much difference was I making now, even after a call to the ministry?  All these were questions I threw up to God during the night of February 28, 2011.

And then, on Day 2... 

 

God responded.   Russell Moore, in his message on Colossians 2:16-23, made a couple of statements that the Holy Spirit used to interrupt my self-absorbed melancholy.  Here is what I wrote:

• "The only thing that can kill what is killing you is the gospel of Jesus Christ."
• "Why would I allow myself to be judged or disqualified by some idea of what my life and ministry should look like when I am a part of a living being in the body of Christ?"

That word disqualified hit me right where I was.  That's exactly what I felt.  My eyes were on the other parts of the body of Christ and not on the head, Christ Himself.  I was starting to get what God was saying to me, but He had an exclamation point for me in the next message from Tyler Jones:

• "Coveting robs me of the joy of being who God made me to be."

This was one of those statements that made me do a double-take. Looking around, I wondered if everyone else got that like I did.  No, apparently not.  Apparently, that was just for me.  I had done what I always tend to do: Identify the the issue and begin to deal with it.  God was telling me to acknowledge my situation for what it was, the sin of coveting my neighbor's influence.  Before I could move ahead, God wanted me to call my covetousness what is was: sin, an offense against Him.

I don't know about you, but I don't particularly like a fault in my life being pointed out starkly as sin.  But there it was.  That wasn't the low point, though, because God was now speaking to me.  It wasn't pleasant, but it was God.  He was calling me back to my first love, Jesus Christ, and focusing my eyes on the opportunities, small though they may have seemed at the time, that I had right in front of me.

I had two more opportunities to speak to the kids in our church's AWANA program on the grand story of redemption throughout Scripture.  I had my weekly meetings with my discipleship partner.  It didn't seem like much influence at the time, but in reading back through my journal, I am reminded that 12 third- and fourth-graders gave their lives to Christ on March 9, 2011, and that two ladies led people to Christ for the first time that night (not the last for either of them).  And now, I am joining my discipleship partner on a mission trip to Haiti next month as he continues to pursue God in bigger and bigger ways in his life.

Conception

And then there was one more inconspicuous little nugget from March 5, 2011.  I found it tucked into a long list of things I was asking God for his heart about on behalf of our church:  "I pray that You would open our eyes to feel the same about...orphans as You do...."  And thus began my journey into God's heart for the orphan.  I suppose that 4theVoicless was conceived that morning in that prayer.  And because of what we know about God's heart for the orphan and because we as the church are God's hands and feet in this world, we fully expect to change the world.

Thanks for reading.  Now fix your eyes firmly on Jesus and change the world yourself.
Al

Busting Up Boulders

Just like there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there’s more than one way to break up a boulder (like the one pictured above).  A jackhammer of some sort is ideal, but what if one is not available?  In Jamaica and Haiti, where heavy equipment and power tools are most often not available or affordable, workers use an interesting method that involves the following steps: 

• digging a trench around the rock
• covering it with charcoal and allowing it to burn until the rock is fiery hot
• dousing it with cold water to hopefully break the large rock into smaller, moveable pieces.  

When I learned of this technique, I couldn’t help but think how much starting an orphan care ministry is like that.  The boulder is the enormity of the need -- at least 140 million orphans in the world by the most conservative estimates.  There is no jackhammer big enough to do the job of providing each of them a loving home with parents to care for them.  So what do we do, just concede that the boulder is too big and can’t be moved?  God’s Word simply does not allow for that.  He commands His church to minister to orphans, so we look for other ways to break up the boulder.

I am very grateful for men and women and organizations who have done the work of breaking up the biggest rock.  They have done much of the preliminary hard work of creating opportunities for others to get involved., but there is still much to do.  Many of the rocks are still very big and need exploding further.  The question for us, especially as churches, is this: How big a part can we play in the movement (and I hate to call it that, like just another social cause) to care for the world's fatherless children?  How big a rock can we chip away at? 

The people who helped get the ministry of 4theVoiceless off the ground believed we could take a good-sized piece of the bigger boulder and learn how to most effectively chip away at it.  We have chipped away some fragments, and we have seen some significant pieces fall away.  For instance, we have spent considerable time and space in this corner of the blogosphere talking about our Hope for Haiti campaign, an effort to raise $35,000 to build a permanent building for the House of Abraham orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti.

However, the smaller pieces are no less significant.  There’s the call I got yesterday from one of the widows in our church, getting clarification on the purpose of the forthcoming 4theVoiceless cookbook to benefit our adoption fund.  She is aggressively gathering recipes for us from the senior adult Sunday school classes.  There’s another conversation I had with a lady in our community who wants to adopt but doesn’t even know where to begin, so someone put her in touch with me.

If you are not currently involved in caring for orphans in some practical way, explore how you can get involved.  If you are a part of a church that is not moving toward the command of James 1:27 to minister to orphans, we need you to take your rock and chip away at it (under the authority of your church leadership).  It doesn’t take a large budget; 4theVoiceless started with zero dollars.  It doesn’t take a multitude of connections; most of the people who have been a great help to us we met after we began to move toward God’s command.  It doesn’t take a huge team; we have operated with a handful of dedicated people.  You don’t have to have a dynamic leader for your ministry; I am not being falsely humble when I say that my personality is not exactly magnetic.  But know this: none of those things determine the success of an orphan care ministry.  The great God of the universe, the Father to the fatherless, and the owner of all the resources on Earth (not to mention Earth itself) will guide you to break up more of the boulder that is the needs of the world’s orphans than you could possibly imagine.  Just move and see.

Thanks for reading,
Al