Orphan Run Mississippi: The Essentials

The purpose of the Orphan Run Mississippi 5K race is to build houses for orphans in Mabaale, Uganda.  Each runner's bib will have the name of one of orphans on whose behalf he/she will be running.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

2 DAYS AWAY!!!

Predicted Weather at Race Time:
46 degrees and sunny
(After running the course on Tuesday in heat and humidity, I much prefer a little chilly!)

Packet pickup and registration begins at 7:00.  You can still sign up before the race here.

Runners who registered online by the deadline will be guaranteed a race T-shirt.  If you signed up late or are going to register on the day of the race, come early to get a shirt; supplies are limited! 

5K Race begins at 8:00.

1 Mile Run begins at 8:30.

Run begins and ends at Longview Point Baptist Church, 1100 McIngvale Road (corner of McIngvale and Byhalia) in Hernando, Mississippi.

Want more?

Watch the Orphan Run MS video

Read 4theVoiceless posts "And Suddenly...Orphan Run MS" , "Prepping to Run for Orphans", and "Orphan Run Mississippi: A Personal Best, Half a House, and You"

Click here for The Latest Updates

Come See Us

4theVoiceless is one of the race sponsors and will have a table set up at the race.  We will have special race-day pricing on our Flavors of Forever Families adoption cookbooks (to assist families through the adoption process):
     1 book - $10
     2 books - $17
     3 books - $20
     ($5 for each additional book)

All of our paracord bracelets and paper bead jewelry will also be greatly reduced for the Orphan Run.  Proceeds from these sales will benefit the construction of the House of Abraham children's home in Jacmel, Haiti.


I'm looking forward to seeing many of you at the race on Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
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

Friday Little Bits: Hope for Haiti Update

Hope for Haiti is a campaign to raise $35,000 for the first building for the House of Abraham orphanage in Jacmel, Haiti.  The lease on HoA's current property expires in mid-November of this year.  They own a walled property ready for their first permanent home in a multi-phased project that will ultimately allow them to expand their ministry to orphaned children and raise up young men and women of integrity to be the future leaders of Haiti.

Progress

Construction of the Security Wall

 

Construction Update from Dusty Cooper of IsleGo Missions:

The work on the foundation at the new property starts (today) or Saturday. The river was so swollen from Isaac that they couldn't get across with materials until (Wednesday).

Financial Update:

We are now over 21% of the way to our goal of fully funding HoA's first building, which would house the 13 children and house parents from HoA's current location.

4theVoiceless Update:

We have been given the opportunity for several of our people to join a team from another church on a trip to Jacmel to be a part of building HoA's first building.  I am grateful for this opportunity.  Though I don't think of myself as much of a construction guy, I can't wait to be a part of this team.

How can you get involved now?

#1 - Pray every day that the Lord would provide for His kids in Jacmel, Haiti, at the House of Abraham.
#2 - Send a check to 4theVoiceless, c/o Colonial Hills Church, 5932 Highway 51, Horn Lake, MS  38637.  Please denote "4theVoiceless - Hope for Haiti" in the memo line.
#3 - Join seven other partners across the country in selling our special "Hope for Haiti" paracord bracelets.  We'll send you everything you need (info cards, order forms, and samples in each size) to get you started.  At $10/each, we need to sell a lot of bracelets!  The more we have selling them, the sooner the House of Abraham project will be fully funded.  Email me at alainsworth@chbc.net to get a bracelet sales kit or for more information.

#4 - Plan your own fundraiser for HoA.  Every dollar counts!

Thanks for reading.  Now get involved!
Al

She's Got the Look

There’s a look that people have when God grips their hearts for the orphan.  A look that mirrors the passion in the depths of their souls.  A look that seems to zero in on that passion in my own heart.  A look that knows no turning back.  A look that reflects the Father’s heart for the fatherless.

4theVoiceless exists today because I saw that look in my friend Tobie.  I’ll never forget that.

I saw the look in my friend Stephanie when God called her to leave her baby girl (in very capable hands – but this is her FIRST child) to go love on the orphans in Haiti.  When I say baby girl, I don’t mean it in the pet name sort of way.  Charlie turned FIVE MONTHS OLD while the team Stephanie was a part of was in Haiti.

Now, let me tell you about Stephanie.  When she first came to our small group about two-and-a-half years ago, I thought she was going to break and run when we went around in a circle introducing ourselves.  (I’m pretty sure her husband Jacob still has nail marks in his arm from that night.)  So, yeah, she’s shy.  But lurking not too far beneath the surface is a steely determination that belies the shy exterior.  When she makes up her mind to do something, you can consider it done…and done well.  She’ll get that look.

That look usually comes from God’s Spirit being so heavy on Stephanie that she can’t help but say yes to His call.  When she says yes, it’s with no turning back.  I saw it when she decided to come back to small group.  I saw it when she first began to get serious about studying her Bible.  I saw it when she started to serve outside of her own context in our own area.  I saw it when she decided to go to Haiti.  I saw it when she trusted God to quickly provide the money for her trip.  And I certainly saw it when she returned.

4theVoiceless as a ministry is in its infancy.  We’ve never faced a financial need like the one that the House of Abraham faces right now in Jacmel, Haiti.  The needs we have met have been measured by twenties and fifties, not tens of thousands.  We knew from the beginning that the needs would be overwhelming and that we couldn't meet even a fraction of them.  But this one -- we feel like God has called on us to lead the way for a new, permanent home for the House of Abraham.

Hope for Haiti seeks to raise $35,000 to provide a permanent home for the House of Abraham’s orphans and house parents through the sales of $10 paracord bracelets.  Physically, it seems impossible; that's about 4,000 bracelets after you figure in expenses.  But when a group of people gathered at my house last week to learn how to make the bracelets, I looked around the table and was met by “the look.”  Stephanie and Jacob were there.  So was another family who went on the Haiti trip.  So were a few more who don’t see this cause as impossible.  Already, groups from Oklahoma to Texas to Mississippi to North Carolina have gotten on board to help.  Jesus Himself said that with God, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).  We believe that.

When it comes to pursuing God’s commands to care for the fatherless, we could all use that determination that comes from tying the need that we see to God’s heart for the orphan and His limitless supply of resources.  The look of childlike faith.  Stephanie – she’s got the look.  Do you?

$35,000 for a home for orphans in Haiti?  Not impossible.  Let’s do this.

Thanks for reading,
Al

Hope for Haiti: You Move, God Moves

   4,000 Bracelets = 1 Home for 13 Orphans

This is about much more than simply buying a paracord bracelet (or two or ten).  I do hope that as a reader of this blog, you will engage with your purchase of  some "Hope for Haiti" collection bracelets.  I do hope that you will share the story of the urgent need to get this home built as quickly as humanly possible.  But this is bigger than that.

This is about moving forward with what we KNOW from Scripture about God's heart toward orphans and what we KNOW about his unlimited resources.  The only thing standing between us and God's desire for this orphan home is faith.  This is about God's people moving toward something bigger than us, trusting in the Father to the fatherless to accomplish His will for His glory.

If you were not in attendance last November 20 when Pastor Shannon O'Dell from Brand New Church preached at CHC at the end of our Sun Stand Still series, I want to let you in on a phrase that has become part of our lexicon:  "You move, God moves."  Shannon spoke of the potential of God's people that often goes unrealized because we fail to move.  He is waiting for us to move in faith toward Him so that He can show Himself strong on our behalf to the rest of the world that does not know Him.

I met with a group of people last night to train them to make "Hope for Haiti" paracord bracelets.  Many of them had spent a week at the House of Abraham earlier this year on a mission trip through IsleGo Missions.  Their hearts burn for the need of "our babies."

The bracelets are in the colors of Haiti's flag.  We will be selling them for $10 each at the CHC Connections Bookstore on Sunday -- limited supply this week but more to come as our supplies arrive early next week.  We moved.  We will be selling them at carnivals and farmer's markets and flea markets, wherever we get a chance.  We're moving.

But that's not enough.  We need you, as an orphan care champion, to pray that God would do what we already know He desires to do.  Then, what else can you do?  Can you make bracelets?  Awesome, we're going to need a lot of them.  Can you sell bracelets?  Great, we need a much larger reach than our church.  You move, God moves.

Thanks for reading.  Now move.

Al