Haiti in 3 Days: The Excitement Mounts

First, there was the last team meeting of our Haiti last Thursday night.  Definite uptick in excitement as we neared the one-week countdown and made final preparations.

Then, this message from Scott Sims, who led the team that I was a part of in Haiti late last year and who has just returned from leading a team from New Jersey:

"Hey bro... you will be able to do a serious update to that picture at the top of your page very soon :)"

 

My current Facebook profile photo, circa early November 2012

 

Then, I began to see photos from the progress that the team that was there was making:

 

Finally, in corresponding back and forth with Fenel over the last few days, he said that many of the roof panels are in place.  Our team will finish up on the roof and begin to paint.  I can't wait to paint again with Gary Foglesong -- we haven't painted together since Cuba in about 2008, I think, and we're still telling stories from that trip!

I want to take this opportunity to once again thank every one of you who has given to make the new House of Abraham possible.  All of our investment in this place is part of a bigger picture of ministry there in which Haitians will give their lives to Jesus and grow in their faith.  Our teams have already seen this taking place.  Just remember, this is not just about building a house for children; it is kingdom work whose fruit will be eternal.

You can pray specifically for our team from CHC as several of us are battling sickness, and one of our team members is caring for an aging father who is not doing well.  Please pray for us and for the kingdom work that is before us.  We arrive in Haiti this Friday!

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

 

Senior Coffees and Redeeming the Edges

My friend Jacob laughs at me when I get charged the senior coffee price at McDonald's.  It doesn't happen often -- I am, after all, a very young-looking 46 if I do say so myself.  A lady who I had not seen in some years looked at me yesterday and said, "You're in your 30's, right?"  But I digress.  But not before adding: If you think I look young, you should see my wife!  (That's just good home training right there...)

Back to the senior coffees.  I have been charged the senior coffee price four or five times, including today.  The cashier told me she knew I wasn't "gettin' on up there"; she just wanted to save me some money.  Typically, my coffee in $1.10, but the senior coffee price is only $.76.  I'll take the savings, and I appreciate her looking out for me; however, I really don't mind breaking the other dollar.  

Even if I buy several items throughout the day, I never spend the change.  At the end of the day, my pocket full of change will land in the peanut jar where the rest of my change resides. I look at my change as the "edges" of my income.  Let me explain through this passage in Leviticus, which speaks "for the voiceless":

"When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident;  I am Yahweh your God."  

(Leviticus 19:9-10, HCSB)

The Lord made provision for the voiceless, those who had fewer rights under the law and were easily taken advantage of, through this command in Leviticus 19.  The poor and the foreigner were often included with the widow and the orphan in Bible lists of the disenfranchised.  I believe this is a principle that honors the Lord even today.  It allows us to redeem the edges of our fields.

Now, I don't have any fields or vineyards (other than a few raised garden beds and fruit trees and vines), but I do have an income.  I see my change and some of my one-dollar bills as my edges, so I set them aside.  That was the motivation behind our small groups' Change It Now offering that I wrote about here.  That money is collected as an act of worship each week in our CHC small groups until the group moves it toward some redemptive cause of their choosing.  I use my change as my personal Change It Now.  It doesn't add up to much, but once or twice a year, I am able to redeem my coins to help with a project, sponsor a child at Christmas, help someone with a mission trip, or something similar.  And I never miss the coins and dollars.  

What are you doing with the edges of your income?  The edges of your time?  The edges of your skills and experiences?  Consider how you could set aside some of your edges for the poor, the foreigner, the widow, and the orphan -- the voiceless.  I encourage you to redeem the edges of your fields.  

That's 90 cents on a regular coffee and 24 cents on a senior coffee.  Hmmmm . . . I think I'll add a dollar to my peanut jar today.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

And Suddenly...Orphan Run MS

With just a simple Facebook message, bam!  This Wednesday morning, I saw a notification of message from my niece, a freshman at the University of Arkansas.  Through some connections at her church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, she had seen a video about a 5K run in Hernando, Mississippi (where I live), to take place in April to benefit orphans in Uganda.

I clicked on the Orphan Run MS video link and realized, "Hey, I know these people!"  Well, at least I had met the race director's parents, and they had visited our small group.  Did I mention that the race director is 14 years old and new to the Mid-South?

A couple of emails later, and EmilyFaith and her mom, Jennifer, were sitting in a 4theVoiceless planning meeting that very night.  It was a call to action for 4theVoiceless through way too many "coincidences."

You will have the opportunity to read EmilyFaith's story here and in the newspaper in the days to come, but I wanted all my readers to have a head start on what is sure to be THE event to attend in Hernando, Mississippi, on April 20, 2013.

If you have a group of people (school clubs, small groups, business associates, etc.) whom you would like to get together to hear EmilyFaith's story firsthand and get involved with Orphan Run MS, contact me at al.ainsworth@mychc.tv, and I will do my best to make that happen.

Here are some links to get you started on being a part of Orphan Run MS:

The YouTube video that started this whole process.

Orphan Run MS on Facebook.  Go "like" their page!

Orphan Run MS on Twitter.  @OrphanRunMS

Sign up for the race itself!  Sign up early as the funds generated from race sign-ups will provide operating expenses for all the other really cool things that will be associated with this run.  Sign up to run the 5K or the one-mile fun run.  Or (and this is a term I learned Wednesday night), you could be a "virtual runner," one who signs up and pays for the run but doesn't actually run the race.  I am somewhat of a runner, but "virtual running" sounds much easier.  In fact, my friend Jeff ran a marathon in one minute before bed last night; what a beast!

In Other 4tV News:

CAFO Membership

We received notification this week that Colonial Hills Church has been accepted into membership of the Christian Alliance for Orphans.  CAFO is an umbrella organization for many churches and para-church organizations doing great work for the world's orphans, and I am pleased to be "officially" associated with them. I serve as an area coordinator for Orphan Sunday (sponsored by CAFO), so if your church has never recognized Orphan Sunday (first Sunday in November) and would like to do so this year, please let me know.  I have found the resources offered on the CAFO site to be plentiful and helpful.

PATH Training at CHC

Interested in fostering or adoption through the foster care system?  Harden House is providing the training that you need on January 26 and February 2 at CHC.  Email Lauren Johnson or Heather Wright (who will actually be leading the training) for more information or to let her know you are coming.

Countdown to Haiti Mission Trip: 56 Days!

 

Thanks for reading.  Your feedback is always welcome!

4theVoiceless,
Al

4theVoiceless Photos: Top 12 in 12 (#5-8)

4theVoiceless Photos: Top 12 in 12

Today: #5-8

Yesterday, we began a look back at the ministry of 4theVoiceless in 2012 through a series of my favorite photos of the year.  There are many more photos and memories that could have been a part of this series.  2012 was a great year for this, the first year of 4theVoiceless.

#9-12

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

# 8

Progress on the House of Abraham

Jacob Walley and I joined with a team mostly from Charleston, Illinois, and a few from Florida in late October, early November, to help with the actual construction of the first House of Abraham building on their permanent site.  Between our crew and the Haitian workers working there that week, we made significant progress.  Work has continued on and off as funding has allowed.  This is the most recent photo I have of the work that has been done to date.  There is much left to do!

Relive our trip:
Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 & 6
Day 7 (Wait until Photo #1 to re-read this one!)
Day 8

# 7

Russia Mission team, May

In May, a group of six young adults from CHC joined others from Texas on a trip to Russia to invest in Russian college students as they minister to orphans there.  In preparation for their trip, the group from CHC led worship and shared about their trip in many of our small groups.  Our small groups also invested prayer and dollars into this group as they prepared for their trip.

# 6

Baby Dedication for Annie Faith Basinger

Joel and Lisa Basinger helped start the ministry of 4theVoiceless, but they moved to Texas this year.  While there, they completed their adoption of Annie Faith.  During a visit to DeSoto County, they dedicated her to the Lord before a gathering of their former small group members and other friends.  Annie's adoption is significant because -- while there have been others before her who were adopted into families in our church and there are other families in the process now -- hers was the first adoption to be finalized after the beginning of 4theVoiceless.

# 5

You Can Go Home Again -- Homecoming at Wesleyanna UMC, Star, MS

I had the opportunity in July to return to Star, Mississippi, to my home church and preach a message at Homecoming Day on God's call to the church to minister to the voiceless (widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor).  They were very encouraging to me personally and to the ministry of 4theVoiceless.  The people at Wesleyanna have bought bracelets, fed us a meal during our trip to the Baptist Children's Village home later this past summer, and provided recipes for our adoption cookbook.  Thanks again to my hometown for your support of 4theVoiceless!

Next Monday: Photos #1-4 from the ministry of 4theVoiceless in 2012.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Adoption Stories: The China Connection

The 4theVoiceless adoption cookbook, Flavors of Forever Families, released this past Sunday.  As we have stated in various ways in previous posts, the goal of the cookbook is three-fold:

• To raise awareness (and ultimately, funds) for adoption.  The part of this book that sets it apart from other cookbooks is the adoption stories from so many angles.
• To provide a tool for people to share their faith.  What God does through His adoption into His family of those who place their faith in Jesus Christ reflects what lengths he is willing to go to redeem fallen man.  God's adoption of us is reflected in so many ways in the adoption of children into families.
• To provide some really good recipes.  Many are recipes you could find in other cookbooks, but I guarantee you that we have some unique ones, too!

Over the last couple of weeks, we have shared parts of some of the stories in the cookbook:

• Jay Trawick's story of adoption and re-connecting with his birth family.
• Joe & Annette Payne's story of the call to adopt and the resulting frustration of waiting, waiting, waiting...and finding God's will for their family in the process.
• Vicki Sharp's story of two domestic adoptions that both happened in a rush of circumstances.
• Larry Gideon's story of an intriguing journey to find his birth family that didn't know he existed.
• Joel & Lisa Basinger's story of a journey through James that led them to a greater "Faith" journey.

Today, I want to share parts of the stories of the Kobes, the Pillstroms, and the Satchers.  Like the Paynes' story that we shared earlier, all of their stories involve adoption from China.

The Kobe Family: The Family That God Built

God really started our journey to China long before WE started our journey to China.   For eight precious months, He allowed us the privilege of being parents to our sweet little daughter Helen.  Born to us with a rare chromosome disorder, she was taken home to Heaven, but she left in us the desire to parent again.  This seed was planted and then nurtured through friends who had adopted  from China....

Our wait was the longest 11 months I have ever experienced, but once again, God's timing is wise.  I think it gave us additional time to work through our grief over Helen (She died June 2002.).  It gave me time to wallpaper and re-wallpaper –  never quite pleased with the results –  the room that was to be Lillian's.  It gave us months to read about hundreds of names, only to eventually turn back to family names....

Our story is not finished.  This year, God has opened a door for us...

The Pillstrom Family: Made in China, Loved in America

Our story starts with a ten-year-old little girl with big dreams.  I will never forget Christmas 1984.  The toy of the year was the Cabbage Patch Kid.  That was the only thing I asked for, and apparently so did every other little girl in America.  I didn't get a CPK that year, but what I received was the start of my heart for orphans.  My parents had a family friend hand make me an “adoption doll.”  She was hand-painted with green eyes and brown hair, just like me, and she was beautiful.  I'd never heard the word adoption until that day, but I was hooked!  Several years and about 10 Cabbage Patch Kids (of all colors) later,  I knew that one day I would adopt a child.

Fast forward 20 years.  Tony and I were married with one son and a child on the way.  We knew we were having another boy, but what we didn't know was God's big plan for our family.  Kaden was born in 2006 with a bi-lateral cleft lip.  No one that we knew of  in either of our families had ever been born with a cleft.  Tony and I knew then that God had something big planned for us....

(Tobie wrote a post for this blog several months ago that tells more of their story.  You can also follow their story on her blog.)

The Satchers: From an Orphanage to Our Home

Our adoption story really began many years ago for me personally.  I have a neurological condition, which contains a genetic mutation, that makes it 50% likely that any biological children would also be born with this condition.  With the difficulties I have faced throughout my life, I did not want to put someone else through my pain.  After marriage, my wife and I discussed this possibility, and we decided to take the risk and have a biological child.  Shortly after Arabella was born, I began to notice through some physical signs that she most likely had NF1 also.  This burdened my heart greatly because I know the difficult journey she has ahead of her.  After Arabella was diagnosed with NF1, April told me she wanted to talk about adoption for our next child....

In life, road blocks occur, and just after we decided to look into international adoption, my father died suddenly.  This sent my life into a whirlwind and put our adoption on hold....

At the time that I am writing this, we are still a family in process.  We are trusting God to provide us with the current expenses for the adoption, and we trust that we will be matched with the perfect little Chinese girl who will complete our family… for now.

(Michael wrote a post for this blog several months ago that gives some background of their story.  You can also follow his family's story on their blog or Facebook page.)

Read the rest of these remarkable adoption stories in Flavors of Forever Families: A Collection of Recipes and Redemption Stories, available here online, at the CHC offices during regular business hours, and at CHC Southaven and CHC Hernando on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights until Christmas. 

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Haiti Mission Trip: Days 1 & 2

Mission trips can't be accurately expressed through words.  Nor photos.  Nor videos.  Some things you just have to experience for yourself.  I know that. 

As I attempt to journal our 8-day trip to Haiti, I know that the ones who will be most impacted by words, photos, and videos are the ones who have actually been to Jacmel, Haiti.  The ones who have smelled the smells.  The ones who have felt the heat.  The ones who have experienced the traffic.  The ones who have loved on the children and staff of House of Abraham. 

Day 1: Monday, October 29

Jacob Walley and I had flown to Miami on Sunday night and met up with the rest of our team there early Monday morning.  Looking back on meeting all those strangers seems like forever ago now.  It didn't take us long to become family, and I miss them like family.  The team was comprised of 10 people from Salisbury Church in Charleston, Illinois; three people from two different places in Florida; and us two CHC representatives.  There were a husband and wife, mother and daughter, mother and son, and father and daughter as part of the team dynamics.

Scott Sims, Salisbury's pastor, served as our Isle Go facilitator.  Scott got us all there, helped us to run the gauntlet of "airport luggage facilitators," let everyone's gifts flourish throughout the week, and helped us to see how God was at work in us and through us.  He encouraged us to filter the week through these three questions:

     1. What did I see?  (Observation)
     2. What does it mean?  (Interpretation)
     3.  What does God want me to do with it?  (Application)

In the airport parking lot, we met Fenel Bruna, who, along with his wife Mimi, founded and runs the House of Abraham.

I knew going in that I would not be prepared for the humanity piled upon humanity that is Port au Prince.  We drove for about an hour through streets filled with people trying to scrape out a living by selling something, past the rubble that still remains from the 2010 earthquake that devastated Haiti, and past row after row of tents and tiny shacks that so many there call home. 

I took very few photos there and reluctantly share only a couple of them.   You see, God cares for every individual among that mass of humanity, and I don't take their plight lightly.  As Scott reminded us in urging sensitivity about taking photos of extreme poverty, "That's someone's 24/7."  However, if attention to the issues that plague Haiti (and they are many, but I will let you do your own research) helps any of these people, then I want you to see them.  Understand, though, that a couple of photos don't include the massiveness or the smell or the hopelessness of extreme poverty.

After driving through Port au Prince and the surrounding towns, we began to climb the mountains toward Jacmel.  The scenery along this two-lane winding highway was breathtaking!

We saw school children everywhere, dressed in sharp, neatly pressed, colorful uniforms.  They stood in stark contrast to everyone else and were the picture of hope for Haiti's future.

We finally arrived in Jacmel at the House of Abraham late Monday afternoon.  There, we met the 13 children who live there, some of whom I felt like I had known since March, when a team from CHC served there.  We went through a brief orientation, ate dinner, and took in the first of many beautiful sunsets from the roof of HoA.  Have I mentioned that Haiti is a beautiful place?

Haiti is also a hot place.  Though there were fans throughout our rooms, it was hard to sleep.  For me, personally, this served as a great time to listen to the mix of songs that I had chosen for this trip and allow God to speak to me for sometimes hours before I could go to sleep.  He certainly strengthened me beyond the number of hours of sleep I was able to get while we were there!

Day 2: Tuesday, October 30

We were unable to get to the work site of the new HoA on Tuesday.  Flooding from Hurricane Sandy from the previous week had caused the rivers to swell, and there was a river that we were not able to cross on Tuesday.  That crossing would be interesting, to say the least, as you will see tomorrow.

Instead, we bought several hundred pounds of rice and beans, along with some canned fish and pasta to make food bags for the children at a school where Fenel leads discipleship training.  These families were affected by Sandy, so we prepared 140 bags of food to give away to the students and teachers there.  (And while we waited for the truck to return with the supplies, some of the team helped with laundry...House of Abraham style.

The children and teachers expressed gratitude for the food, school supplies, and candy that we gave them but joy that we stayed and played with them.  We had a blast, and I'm pretty sure they did, too.

After our time at the school, we had time to take a drive and walk through downtown Jacmel, and then we returned to the HoA, where the children had returned home from school.  It was playtime, where sometimes it is more fun to get the paper airplane out of the tree (and the bottle you got stuck trying to get it down) than it was playing with it in the first place!

Another delicious Haitian supper, more team sharing and hanging out together, Gabe's rendition of "Jacmel Blues" and the word of the day, and Tuesday was in the books.  We would begin our part of the construction of the new HoA home on Wednesday.

I will be back tomorrow with my chronicles on Wednesday and Thursday of our trip.  Like today's blog, those entries will seem so incomplete compared to the actual experience. 

For Those Who Invested Prayer and Finances in Our Trip

Thanks to everyone who prayed and paid for us to go.  I think I speak for the whole team when I say that your investment in us will reap long-lasting rewards in addition to the short-term benefits of our mission.  I pray that God will return to you many times over what you have invested in His work in Haiti.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Change It Now: Changing the World through Quarters and Dollars

When one of our small groups campus directors and I were laying out track for our church's small group ministry in 2012, one of the key components that we included in our groups was an element called "Change It Now."  Very simply, each small group -- as part of their worship each week -- takes an offering. We have suggested that each person bring a quarter to a dollar each week. At any point the group can choose to use the group's money toward some cause that will serve a redemptive purpose.

Chances are, not many of our people have missed that pocket change. (Get the double meaning of "change"?). The idea is that we will make a difference for the kingdom of God when we begin to move toward what He is doing on the earth.  Change It Now is simply a vehicle that gets us moving.

There are several goals that we hoped to accomplish through Change It Now.
1. To experience "the power of everybody."  We accomplish more working together than separately.
2. To intentionally look for gospel-centered causes in which to invest and move toward them with our time, prayers, awareness, talents, and resources. 
3. To worship through giving.
4. To go beyond just quarters and dollars in our giving.
5. To create opportunities to share what our groups are moving toward with others, not for our recognition but for how that movement reflects Christ.

One of my small group members and I leave next Monday for Jacmel, Haiti.  Our group is sending us with 15 towels and some black shoes for the children at the House of Abraham orphanage there. I wanted to reflect on how a few towels and a few pair of black shoes originating from Hernando, Mississippi, will change the world:
1.  Jacob and I will be the ones getting on a plane, but our whole small group is going with us in some way.  They have invested their time and their prayers and their money into our trip.  In a sense, we're all going.
2.  The children that we are visiting are hearing the gospel on a regular basis, and we want them to become children of the King and our brothers and sisters with whom we will one day share eternity.  They are not a project; they are people.
3.  Our group has collected $85 since our last investment in a mission team that went to Russia to minister to college students and orphans earlier this year.  Quarters and dollars that have not been missed.  Quarters and dollars that will provide a necessity for daily living (the towels) and a necessity for attending school (the shoes).
4.  Our money only paid for the towels.  The shoes were one family's "above and beyond."
5.  We have already had several opportunities to share why we are going to Haiti and why our group is sending towels and shoes.  I'm sure there will be more opportunities as we travel.  And we will be able to look orphaned children and those who care for them in the eyes and not just show the love of Christ in a practical way but to share the Good News with them.  After we return, we will continue to share our story.  And we will continue to talk about how showing God's love for orphans reflects His love and sacrifice for us.

To our small group, I want to say what a privilege it is to walk through life together with you.  We have shared deep sorrows and breathtaking joys together.  I have been blessed to be allowed into the deepest parts of your lives, to see you move more and more toward God's heart, and to see you become more and more like Jesus. As we have studied God's Word together, I have seen it move you to action in so many ways.  I wish you were all physically going with Jacob and me...

To our other CHC small groups, I rejoice to know that what is happening through our group's Change It Now is also happening many times over in our other groups.  The world is changing because of you. 

To our other readers, please join our small group and pray for us while we are in Haiti from this Monday through the following Monday.

Thanks for reading.  

4theVoiceless,
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

Transracial Adoption: Is It for You?

I had a funny experience regarding trans-racial adoption a few years ago.  I was checking in on an outreach event that our church’s bike repair ministry was doing on a Saturday afternoon.  I was standing in the middle of all the bike repair, storytelling, coloring, face painting, etc., that was going on that day having a conversation with a black pastor from the neighborhood where the outreach was taking place.  He pointed to a friend of mine whose back was to us.  My friend had a very short hair cut and a very dark tan at the time.  The pastor asked, “Is that a black guy, or is he mixed?”  I laughed and answered that he was white.  I then pointed to two little black boys (twins) and told him that they were my friend’s sons.  I enjoyed his utter confusion for just a moment before I filled him in that the boys were adopted and introduced the two men.

My friend, I’m sure, became quite accustomed to confused looks and questions.  When a family includes a child who looks different from everyone else, the questions, stares, and confusions are inevitable.

I am going to make a bold statement that may surprise some of you:

I believe that every Christian should be in favor of trans-racial adoption. 

Understand that I grew up in Mississippi, and I live and work in the shadow of Memphis, Tennessee, one of the most racially charged cities in the United States.  I have seen and heard some of the extremes of the racial divide that has long plagued the Deep South.  I can only begin to understand the issues that families of different races face.

But I stand by my statement.  Every Christian should be in favor of trans-racial adoption.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and a child of God, it is my responsibility (and my great pleasure) to reflect God to a world that largely does not know Him.  The center of what I reflect to the world is trans-racial adoption.  Jesus Christ, a Jew, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on a cross, and on the third day in a tomb was raised to life; as a result I, a Caucasian American, was adopted into the family of God, a family consisting of reds and yellows, blacks and whites.  Every one of us are undeserving of a perfect heavenly Father.

My pastor preached from Luke 15 this past Sunday, the story of the prodigal son.  He talked about the kindness of the father drawing the wayward son home.  The son remembered what home was like and longed to return to it.  When the son returned to a right mind and went home, hoping to be treated as a servant, he is certainly shocked at the response of the father.  The father instructed the servants to get the best robe; as Rick pointed out, the best robe would have surely belonged to the father.  He instructed the servant to get the ring, likely the family’s signet ring.  The prodigal’s inheritance may have all been spent, but he came to realize that he couldn’t “prodigal” his way out of his place in the family.

I am grateful for a place in God’s family; it is certainly undeserved.  I am grateful for a loving, holy Father; He has stuck with me so much more than I have been loyal to Him.  I am grateful for a perfect, sacrificial Older Brother; His sacrifice for me is more than I could ever even begin to repay.  I am grateful for brothers and sisters all over this globe of every size, shape, and color; I look forward to joining them in a great heavenly choir to worship our God, the author of trans-racial adoption. 

In his message at the Together for Adoption conference last month, Leonce Crump II said, “Trans-racial adoption was the plan of God from the beginning.  The church is the perfect model.”  I am for trans-racial adoption because I have been trans-racially adopted. When I see a family with a child of another race, I’m just looking in the mirror.  What about you?

Thanks for reading,
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."

     
    

Friday Little Bits: 4 Ministry Updates

Hope for Haiti

Hope for Haiti continues to make progress.  Right now, through bracelet sales and contributions, we have raised $7,200 (23%) of our $35,000 goal.  Construction on the new House of Abraham has begun with work on the foundation.  Look for photos in the next few days on the Facebook page.

 

4theVoiceless Adoption Cookbook

We have received 37 recipes (9%) so far and have 363 to go.  Remember, profits from this cookbook will go toward the 4theVoiceless adoption fund to assist those adopting children.  If you haven’t submitted a recipe yet, would you please send us up to 10 of your best.  Click here for the form.
Categories:

Main Dishes
Breads
Side Dishes
Desserts
Starters/Appetizers
International Dishes
Soups/Salads
Crock Pot/Slow Cooker Recipes

Adoption Conference

I am looking forward to attending the Together for Adoption national conference near Atlanta with one of our other team members.  There are some great breakouts scheduled; we had a hard time choosing eight of them between us.  I look forward to reporting on what we learn.

Orphanology Study at CHC

Colonial Hills Church - Southaven will be offering a study of Orphanology, by Tony Merida and Rick Morton, as part of our equipping classes beginning September 26.  This is a great place to step in to orphan care ministry.  Along with many others, I have found this book to be a great blend of WHY we should do orphan care and HOW we can do orphan care.  Whether you are an attender at CHC or not, you are welcome to join us for this study on Wednesday nights at 6:30.

Thanks for reading,

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

Friday Little Bits: Turbo Week

I have learned that in the early stages of a ministry like 4theVoiceless, much time is spent dreaming and planning.  Actual movement toward those dreams can be slow.  Not this week.  Someone must have hit the turbo button this week.  Here’s a quick update:

1.  As you have probably seen on our Facebook page, some big contributions gave a jump start to our Hope for Haiti campaign.  Between gifts to 4theVoiceless and IsleGo, over $7,000 was given toward the approximately $35,000 needed for the new House of Abraham.  Bracelet packets were sent out to six different ministry partners across the country.  We don’t know how, but we fully expect God to come through on behalf of these future leaders of Haiti.  It doesn’t stop us from being overwhelmed with joy as He does it, though!

2.  I had a chance to speak to a 6th grade English class this week about Hope for Haiti.  They had read a book about a kid getting a vision to build a deepwater well in Uganda and others coming alongside him to do it.  I had the opportunity to tell them about something like that going on real time, about Fenel Bruna’s vision to build leaders of integrity in Haiti, and about our efforts to help him to do it for the glory of God.  Imagine the teacher’s excitement when I came back for the afternoon class and reported a $7,000 increase in Hope for Haiti over the previous three hours!  The number one question that the students had:  How can I get involved?

3.  Recipes have begun to come in for the 4theVoiceless cookbook.  Sales of that cookbook will go toward our adoption fund, the major financial commitment of an orphan care ministry.  The cookbook will also raise awareness for the need for adoption through moving stories of adoption. We still need many, many more recipes, so click here to give us your best.

4.  A group of nine of us leave this afternoon for a weekend trip to the Baptist Children’s Village home in Star, Mississippi.  It is an all-guys (3 adults, 2 teenagers, 4 little guys) trip that’s sure to be entertaining; we look forward to having a great time serving the kids and those who care for them.  Please take a moment as you are reading this to pray for us.

Progress.  When you can feel God’s kingdom moving forward, it has been a good week. 

Thanks for reading.
Al

Guest Blog: Hope Amidst Corruption

 Dusty Cooper is the director of IsleGo Missions, along with his wife, Corrine.  The mission of IsleGo is to connect the church across all borders.  Our church has partnered with IsleGo for many years now in Jamaica, Cuba, Brazil, and Haiti, among others.  He introduced us to the ministry of Fenel and Mimi Bruna at the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti. 

 

 JANUARY 12, 2010      

On this date, Haiti, a country already devastated by poverty, violence, crime, and corruption on every level, was further decimated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, one of the worst in history. By even the most conservative calculations over a quarter million people died in just over 30 seconds. Millions of dollars in foreign aid poured into this island nation in just a matter of days as mass graves began to fill with the dead.

Today, over 2 years later, Haiti looks pretty much the same as it did before the quake. All the food, clothing, construction materials, and supplies have not visibly changed the nation or the hopelessness of its people. While some of the rubble from the quake has been removed, no great strides forward have been made in spite of all the good intentions. 

We began to ask ourselves in late 2010 what was lacking? If millions, maybe billions, of dollars couldn’t seem to set Haiti on an even keel, what would? When asking these questions to Haitian leaders in religion, business, and education, the same answer was repeated over and over again: Haiti needs leadership that has at its very core integrity, character, and compassion. It seems that most of the aid went into the pockets of corrupt government officials, criminals, and greedy business leaders. It became clear to all of us that this was the same problem that has kept Haiti poor for most of its history.

From those conversations came others with Fenel Bruna, awesome friend and brother in Christ in Jacmel, Haiti. God had already birthed in his heart a way to make a difference for the future of Haiti in this regard. From the heart of God to the heart of Fenel rose the beginning of the House of Abraham, a group home for children that would be brought up in the nurture and admonition of Jehovah God to become those needed leaders with integrity, character, and compassion. 

In early 2011 the first House of Abraham was opened in Jacmel, Haiti, in a rented house that had ample room for the children and staff as well as classroom space and security. The staff was assembled, themselves amazing people of God with a heart for God and their nation. The first children were identified and interviewed, some of them orphans and some from single parent homes. The funds were raised to make sure everything needed was there for the staff to achieve the desired results. Materials for education in the principles of the Bible and godly living were purchased. Regular schools were contacted to find the right match for the basic education of the children. House of Abraham opened with a bang and today has 14 children that are being molded into leaders who give glory to God in both what they say and how they live. 

In the summer of 2011, we purchased 6 acres of land just outside Jacmel  and began working there to relocate by mid-November of 2012, the end of our lease on the house where we started. We need at least $35,000 to make this first house a reality and be able to move by the end or our lease. While millions of dollars seemed to have gone for naught, $35,000 will make a huge difference in the lives of the children at the House of Abraham and very well could be the beginning of a new Haiti. 

All of us can do something to get this house built in the next 3 months…what is your part? Pray for the House of Abraham, Fenel & Mimi Bruna, and the kids (Widly, Clyphode, Luciana, Roberson, Erlande, Richardson, David, Lucien, Anadine, Tchikovsky, Christella, Saintamene, and Vitama). It’s all about HIM!

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