Orphan Run Mississippi: A Personal Best, Half a House, and YOU

Received my staff  T-Shirt for the Orphan Run MS 5K this week -- must be close to race day!

Orphan Run Mississippi 5K (and 1-mile fun run): 11 DAYS AWAY!!!

My goal for the Orphan Run Mississippi, from a running standpoint, is something better than 26:58, my personal best 5K time.  In light of that goal, I had been running at least twice a week, building up my stamina until I could push hard toward my goal.  

 

A sinus infection, a week in Haiti, and a week catching up on work and rest after the trip began to look strangely like 3 weeks without a run.  So last Friday, I decided it was past time to run to Orphan Run MS 5K course, a new course for Hernando, for the first time.  Though there were a couple of difficult spots on the course, I was only 32 seconds away from a personal-best time.  (As I should have expected, my body let me know over the next few days that it did not in the least appreciate the hiatus from nor the sudden re-entry into the running world.)

But more importantly . . .

 

From a much more important standpoint, I asked race director EmilyFaith Abbott for an update on the progress of the race preparation from a participation and funding standpoint.  Here are the current numbers:

The "why" behind the "what"

    

Race Participants

Closing in on 200 runners.  I have talked to several people who have great intentions of participating in the run . . . if it's not too late.  It's not too late!  Click on the race flyer below to sign up.

Funds Raised

Just over $12,000 so far.  The cost of a new children's home in Uganda costs about $25,000.  Who builds half a house?  Please use you influence to get others involved, and together let's get at least one home for orphaned children built!

Biggest Need

Participants!!!  More runners, more volunteers, more people to get the word out about the run over the next 10 days.  4theVoiceless will be handling runner registration and packet distribution; we will also have a table where we will sell cookbooks and jewelry to raise funds for our orphan care projects.  You can sign up to volunteer with us here.

More On Orphan Run Mississippi

Previous blog posts about the run:
And Suddenly . . . Orphan Run MS
Prepping to Run for Orphans

Orphan Run MS on Facebook
Orphan Run MS on Twitter

Uganda Facts

Population: 23,000,000

Life expectancy:  42 years (1 in 12 Ugandans is an orphan)

Income:  44% make less than 60,000 shillings ($34.00) per month

Geography:  Landlocked nation of 91,000 square miles (about the size of lower Michigan)

Neighbors:

North - Sudan

East - Kenya

South - Tanzania, Rwanda

West - Congo

Language:  English is the official language with a significant number of native Swahili dialects spoken

Religion:  Protestants 33%, Roman Catholic 33%, Indigenous 19%, Muslim 15%

 

Click above to sign up for the run, to make a donation, and/or to pass on the information to a friend.

Thanks for reading.  See you on race day . . .

4theVoiceless,
Al

 

Prepping to Run for Orphans

EmilyFaith speaking to Southaven Middle School FCS

I introduced you to Orphan Run Mississippi a couple of weeks ago.  This 5K run/1-mile fun run will take place on April 20 at Longview Pointe Baptist Church in Hernando and will assist in the building of homes and a hospital for orphans in Uganda.  A similar run in Tulsa, Oklahoma, last year netted over $150,000 and resulted in six new homes for orphans who, for the most part, were sleeping in the bush during all types of weather.

EmilyFaith Abbott, the race director of Orphan Run MS, has spoken to numerous groups in the last few weeks.  She has stood before church Disciple Now events, school clubs, and more than 30 local businesses.  I joined her as she spoke to students at Southaven Middle School this morning.  

And she turned 15 earlier this week...happy birthday, EmilyFaith!

Make plans to be a part of this run.  You can sign up here for as little as $11.24.  Several people that I know are making this a family event; what a great way to expose your kids (and perhaps yourself) to a world and a way of life they may not even realize exists...and have a great time in the process!  Early sign-ups are very beneficial in paying some of the up front expenses of the race.

One of the cool aspects of Orphan Run MS is that a bus is coming from Tulsa (EmilyFaith's hometown and home to the first Orphan Run) to bring some Oklahomans to run with us.  Mid-Southerners, let's greet them en masse with our running community and run together for a great cause!

Keep up with Orphan Run MS via Twitter, Facebook, and through their web site.

Thanks for reading and getting involved in moving toward the voiceless -- Proverbs 31:8, James 1:27.

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 (1-4)

4theVoiceless Photos: Top 12 in 12

Today: #1-4

Last week, we began a look back at the ministry of 4theVoiceless in 2012 through a series of my favorite photos of the year.  Today, we look at four of my favorites from 2012.

#9-12

#5-8

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

# 4

Kards 4 Kids

Approximately 400 hand-made Christmas cards went out from CHC to kids in orphanages in Columbia, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, Jamaica, South Korea through the Kards 4 Kids effort of Orphanos Foundation.  Another 30 or so went to kids in Haiti and Star, Mississippi.

# 3

Flavors of Forever Families: A Collection of Recipes and Redemption Stories

In December of 2012, 4theVoiceless published the Flavors of Forever Families cookbook to help raise money for our adoption fund, a fund that will assist financially as families pursue adoption.  The book contains eight unique stories of adoption (along with close to 200 great recipes!).  Reviews on the book have been great, and we still have plenty; click on the link above or the graphic below to get your own copy!

Adoption Stories:

"Temporarily Todd"
"Growing Paynes"
"It All Happened So Fast"
"Found! God's Perfect Timing"
"Give Me Faith"
"The China Connection"

# 2

Lynleigh

Tony Pillstrom and I had just returned from the Together 4 Adoption conference in Atlanta in time for the CHC Hernando preview service.  We had spent the better part of two days learning to lead an adoption ministry in our church, and I captured this shot of Tony back home living it out.  Though not of the best quality (phone camera), this photo is my favorite of 2012.

# 1

Orphan Sunday 2012 -- Washing the Feet of Orphans in Haiti

My very favorite photo of 2012 is, in fact, one that wasn't taken.  The moment just seemed too holy to snap a photo or take a video.  I assure you that the scene is captured forever in my mind.  Read the story behind the towels and then click the photo to re-live my favorite moment from 2012.

2012 -- what a year.  And to think that it all began with a suggestion, a free book, a "chance" meeting, and a "Taco Bell Moment."  I go back to those moments often to realize just how big a work God has done through this ministry this year.  We have much to be thankful for as we reflect on how God has so richly supplied what He called us to do in the first place.

Thanks to everyone who has made James 1:27 ministry happen at Colonial Hills Church and beyond.  I can't wait to see what 2013 brings!

Thanks for reading, both today and all the other times you have visited the 4theVoiceless blog.  I am honored by your interest in what we have to say.

"Speak up for those who have no voice, for the justice of all who are dispossessed." Proverbs 31:8 (HCSB)

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

Last Day, Saddest Day: Haiti Mission Trip, Day 8

For the last few days, the 4theVoiceless blog has chronicled the mission trip of a team from Illinois, Florida, and Mississippi to serve at the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti.  Links to previous days of the trip can be found at the bottom of this post.  

Monday morning, our last day in Haiti, was another early day.  Most of our things were already packed, and breakfast was a quick bowl of cereal, but we had to be ready early if we wanted to spend a little more time with the kids before they left for school.  They were ready early, as well, and after they said their prayers together, the final goodbyes began.

               


And then,
just like that,
they loaded up in Fenel's truck...












...and drove away.










As soon as Fenel returned from taking the kids to school, we loaded up our luggage and began the long, winding drive through the mountains to Port au Prince.  Again there, the goodbye to Fenel was quick, and there we were in the airport, waiting to fly home. 

A delay in Port au Prince put Jacob and I in a rush to catch our flight out of Miami (We made it juuust before the doors closed!); because of that, our goodbyes to our new friends from Illinois and Florida were rushed, as well.  After a lengthy delay in Dallas for mechanical issues, Jacob and I finally greeted our wives in Memphis about 1 a.m.

Maybe hasty goodbyes were a good thing.  Somehow, though, I don't feel like I gave anybody a proper goodbye after such a purposeful and life-changing week.  Sure, our team here in the states can stay connected through technology (like the first of Gabe's promised Sunday morning texts!), and we can connect with Fenel through social media, but what about with the kids? 

My friend Stephanie (Jacob's wife) wrote about this very thing on her Welcome to Walley World blog just before we left for Haiti.  Sometime during the week during a conversation with Fenel, he told us that Haitians in general do not forget people who come to visit them.  I'm glad.  Because there's a certain photo that, when I look at it, I have to remind myself that they won't forget.



I'm not exactly sure what Tchikovsky is holding up in this picture, but as you can tell, he was very happy to show it to me.  He's also holding the football that we threw together so often throughout the week.

I wonder, will Tchi be as excited to see me again when I return to the House of Abraham as he was to show me this little scrap of paper? 

I will trust Fenel's assurance that, yes, he (and the other kids) will remember me.  But I think I will send Christmas cards along with photos and me and my family...just in case.  And learn a little Haitian Creole so that I can communicate more next time.  Next time...



You can read about the other days of our week of service in Haiti here:

Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 & 6
Day 7

Tomorrow, I will have a few closing thoughts about our trip along with some photos and videos that didn't make it into any other posts and a video memory of our trip. 

Perhaps you would like to go, too.  Check out Isle Go's site for more information.  If you are part of a church that already goes to Haiti on a regular basis, make sure you find out the dates of the next trip so that you can begin to plan (and save) to go.  God's hands and feet on this earth are His people's hands and feet to "visit widows and orphans in their distress" (James 1:27).

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
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

How Many Orphans Do You Know By Name?

How many orphans do you know by name?  That was a questions Tony Merida asked pastors and church planters at the One8 Network Boot Camp last week in his message “The Gospel and Mercy Ministry.”  What a challenging question.

Having the right theology about the marginalized (the orphan, the widow, the foreigner, and the poor) is much easier than personally serving them.  Think about these specific questions:

• The right theology says that believers are all adopted into God’s family.  But has that led us to adopt or help others adopt or personally serve orphans in any way?
• The right theology says that it is the responsibility of the church to take care of its widows.  But have we personally spent time with the widows in our churches and gotten to know them and served them where they had needs?
• The right theology says that the foreigner living among us is loved just as much by God as much as we are.  But what specific kindnesses have we personally shown those who were born in other lands and speak other languages?
• The right theology says that we should serve the poor.  But are we satisfied with meeting the physical needs of the poor by sending money but without personally getting to know them?

Do you know an orphan by name?

On the Friday night before our 4theVoiceless mission team visited one of the Baptist Children’s Village homes a couple of Saturdays ago, I asked them to consider what one of the most valuable things that each one of the children we would meet would have, something personal and unique and precious to each of them.  One of our team answered, “Their names.”  One of our main focuses during the time we were able to spend with those precious children, then, was in learning each of their names.  Everyone likes to be known.

I didn’t really consider something until just now as I was writing:  I don’t remember one time that the children asked our names.  Perhaps that’s all just as well.  We didn’t go to be known but to get to know.  We went to be the body of the Father to the fatherless. 

• God used our backs to let His kids play “horsie.”
• God used our voices and arms and legs to tell His kids of His “Marvelous Light.”
• God used our laps to take His kids down a slip ‘n slide.
• God used our hands to serve His kids lunch.
• God used our hands to draw His kids pictures on their goodie bags.

Years from now I hope those children remember their Father’s kindness, not the names of some men and boys from DeSoto County, Mississippi, for it is His kindness that leads us to repentance.  The only name they really need to remember is Jesus.

4theVoiceless doesn’t exist to be known but to know.  It’s a simple mission, really.  To know children who don’t have a loving home, wherever the Lord would lead us, and to let them know that they are personally known and loved by their Father.

Thanks for reading.  Now move toward the fatherless…personally.
Al

Orphan Care Made Easy: A Pictorial Guide

Now, we all know that the title to this post is misleading at best.  Orphan care can be very demanding.  Caring for foster children pulled from tragic situations can reveal more baggage than we feel we are equipped to handle.  Adopting children from other cultures takes much time, many tears, and exhausting patience.  But getting involved in caring for kids doesn’t have to be so complicated.

This past weekend a small team of men and boys from 4theVoiceless visited the Baptist Children’s Village home in Star, Mississippi.  Our team was comprised of three adults, two teenagers, and four boys ages 10 and under.The following is a pictorial guide to getting involved with connecting with kids in crisis.  (No photos were taken of the children at the home for privacy and legal reasons.  Just imagine other kids, mostly below the age of six, sprinkled throughout these photos.)

How to get involved:

Go to them.

 

Ride bikes with them.

Pull their wagon.

Set up a slip 'n slide.

Slide down said slip 'n slide with them.

Avoid crashes on aforementioned slip 'n slide.

Cook them lunch.

Our team did a great job engaging the kids at the children's home.  One of my two favorite highlights was seeing our teenage young men find the little boy least likely to engage with everyone else and staying with him all day and getting him involved.  My other favorite is seeing the four house parents -- who are constantly cooking, cleaning, parenting, etc. -- sitting on the front porch in their rocking chairs doing absolutely nothing but enjoying watching the kids play.

Five of our team were on their first mission trip of any kind. They did very well, and I would take them back in a heartbeat. For at least a day, our focus was entirely on others.  We should all move toward more of that.

Thanks for reading.  Now you find a way to move in kindness toward children whose homes are not God's original design for the family.  Chances are pretty good that you will be blessed more than they will be.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Dinner on the Ground

I love being from Star, Mississippi, though I will probably never live there again (not saying never, just probably never).  It's a small, unincorporated dot on the map, right next to Highway 49 less than 20 miles south of Jackson.  I've been asked many times over the years if Star is one of those one-traffic-light towns.  (To which I would replay, "No, but we're hoping..."  And there is now a traffic light!)

Star was a happening little town back in the railroad days, but now it's claim to fame is as the home of country music singer Faith Hill.  ("Well, it's a long way from Star, Mississippi..."  Yeah, that's the place.)  

When my nine-year-old son Drew and I were there a couple of weekends ago, he got to experience small town church:

• members coming out on Saturday for church work day
• a visit to the parsonage (had to explain what a parsonage is)
• the church service itself with its open sharing of announcements & prayer requests (which would be chaos in our church!)
• maybe best of all -- dinner on the ground.  Dinner on the ground was quite the misnomer on this day, since lunch was served and eaten inside in the fellowship hall.  However, with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees that day (with the usual central Mississippi humidity), we weren't going to split hairs.

Star is a place where things don’t change much, the new Dollar General (aka the Star Wal-Mart) and the now-annual Christmas parade in December and the Rabbit Run 5K in April notwithstanding.   I've come to value that in many ways.  Don’t get me wrong – I like change and variety in life.  But it’s nice to have my roots in a slow-to-change place that I can call my hometown.  I’ve come to realize something, though.  I don’t think it’s the town that has served as my foundation as much as my family who lived there.

My parents moved into the house where they now live when they brought me home from the hospital over 46 years ago, a little less than a year into their marriage.  Two sisters, a brother, several additions to the house, quite a few “outbuildings” (none of them outHOUSES for you smart alecks not privileged to be from Mississippi) later, it’s still home.  My family reflects my childhood family in many ways.  Growing up, we always had pets; I’ve always had pets.  My childhood family attended each other’s activities; my family tries to do that, as well.  My mom always read to us when we were little, giving us what has been for all of us a lifelong pursuit of learning; my wife and I read to our children when they were little (and still read to Drew).  We learned Bible stories in our childhood home and have taught our children the Word of God.

But do you know what I remember most and believe was more formative to all of us Ainsworth children than we ever could have imagined at the time?  Every day, my dad’s truck would pull into the driveway, and four kids would meet him when he opened the door asking, “Daddy, will you ___________ with me?”  For my brother and me, we filled in the blank with playing whatever sport was in season.  For my sisters, it was often, “Daddy, will you jump on the trampoline with me?”  (I would be remiss if I didn’t say that that meant equal time with each sister, time that was closely monitored.)  He would typically respond with, “Let me have a cup of coffee with your mama first.”  At the time that meant, “Wait.”  We didn’t realize at the time that it really meant that he was prioritizing his relationship with Mom ahead of his relationship with us, as it should have been.

If you’re waiting for the hook that ties Star, Mississippi, and the family I grew up in to orphan care, here it is: Psalm 68:6a -- “God sets the lonely in families…”  Many of the principles I live by didn’t come from conferences I’ve attended or sermons I’ve listened to or books I’ve read; they came from living in a family.  I appreciate that more than I ever have in my life, but I also have an increased awareness that it’s not enough to simply acknowledge the blessing of my family and not enough to simply perpetuate that investment into my family.  I must do what I can for those who weren’t born into the blessing of a loving family to experience the love and grace of a heavenly Father, who has a special place in His heart for the fatherless.  God's Word commands it.

I long for the fatherless to know what it means to have Bible reading time as a family, to go to church as a family, to do fun activities together as a family, to cheer for one another and console one another.  And every child should – at least once in his or her life – experience dinner on the ground.

What values did you learn from your family that children without families could benefit from?  Those children need those values, too.  How will you get involved?

Thanks for reading.
Al