Friday Little Bits: Around the World in 3 Minutes

4theVoiceless is spanning the globe today in four quick updates:

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday is the first Sunday in November each year, November 3 this year.  This is a time for churches worldwide to focus on some aspect of orphan care in response to the consistent commands of God in His Word to care for orphans.  Orphan Sunday originated in a small church in Zambia, Africa,  and has grown exponentially in the years afterward.

I am one of a couple of the Christian Alliance for Orphans' (CAFO) Orphan Sunday coordinators in Mississippi.  The coordinators were introduced to some of the resources that we have available for this year at the Summit conference in Nashville last month, and more resources are being made available as we move closer to November.  If you would like any information about Orphan Sunday for your church (no matter the denomination), please contact me; you do not have to have a full-fledged orphan care ministry to do something for Orphan Sunday.

Click here to read how I spent an unforgettable Orphan Sunday in 2012.

House of Abraham

One of the new HoA bedrooms as I last saw it in March.

I communicated back and forth with Fenel last week, and they are about a week now from moving out of the current home of House of Abraham.  The new house is not completely ready, but he is trying to get a couple of the rooms completed and the security wall finished so that move-in can begin.  Please make it a matter of prayer over the coming days that the new house will be prepared (enough) and that the transition from the old house would go smoothly.

And speaking of Haiti . . .

These kids would love to meet you or see you again!

Haiti 2014

Colonial Hills Church will be headed back to Jacmel, Haiti, to serve the House of Abraham and various other discipleship programs in early 2014.  The dates are either February 7-14 or 8-15, depending on the cost of airline tickets.  This team will be limited to a maximum of 24 people.  We will be planning a meeting on both CHC campuses in the next couple of months to give you more information on this mission trip, but if you are interested in being part of this team, contact me and I will get your name on the list of those who have already let me know they wanted to go.   If you do not attend CHC but would like to go on the trip with us, you can contact me, as well.

And finally . . .

Jamaica 2013

 

 

 

A past "little blue house" dedication.

The CHC Jamaica team leaves tomorrow morning.  There are 33 from our church who will meet up with 16 more from Fairview Baptist Church in Sherman, Texas, to build four houses as a continuing part of our "Little Blue House Project" and to also serve at the deaf school there.  This is where two of our teams built a playground last year.  Pray for our team as they build houses and relationships in Jamaica this week.

Jeff Witt & a child from the deaf school.

Check out the CHC Missions Facebook page to know how to pray for the team and also for updates throughout the trip.

 There you have it: Africa, Nashville, Haiti, Mississippi, Texas, and Jamaica -- around at least a considerable part of the world in three minutes or so.  Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,

Al

Pictures of Heaven: Haiti Mission Trip, Day 7

Previous days’ blogs:
Days 1 & 2
Day 3
Day 4
Days 5 & 6

Sunday, November 4

Sunday was our last full day in Jacmel, and we got a REALLY early start, attending the 6:00 A.M. service at Hosanna Baptist Church.  I’ve never seen the sun come up during a service before.  And the place was PACKED!  Because of the heat by the 8:00 service, most in the church prefer the early service.  Would they be awake?

We didn’t have to wait long to find out.  With a keyboard, a saxophone, and one singer leading us, the place got loud quickly.  Why?  Not because of the sound system but because everyone was singing with all their hearts and voices.  What a beautiful sound!  I particularly love singing songs that I recognize and can sing along with in English.  I have also experienced this in churches in Cuba and Poland, and it is such a picture (though small) of the worship around the throne in Heaven one day when every tribe and tongue and nation will bring praise to our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

In all fairness, Jacob is playing, not sleeping.

An early church service meant a long morning and afternoon.  We took  photos with the kids all dressed up from church (above - Don't they look sharp?).  We played and finished signing one another's shirts. We played.  We rested.  And sadly, we packed.  But we also prepared for our final time with all the kids and one another that night.


Sunday night was the highlight of the trip for me.  If you were reading the blog before the trip, you read about the towels that my small group sent with us.  Each towel was monogrammed with one of the House of Abraham kids’ names on it.  The Lord had spoken to me in preparation for the trip just what we were to do with those towels.  I had hardly been able to contain my emotions throughout the week as I anticipated Sunday night.

Before our final team debrief, we gathered on the roof and put out 13 chairs in which the kids were to sit.  When they came up and were seated, I shared with them a short devotional from John 13, the account of Jesus washing the disciples' feet as an example of how we are to serve one another. Then, one by one, our team began to wash the feet of these precious children.  We dried their feet with their personalized towels and then folded them and placed them in their laps so that they could see their names on their towels.  I have no photos or videos of this; some moments are just too holy to try to capture through anything but memory.

As each of us washed the feet of one of the children, we would look into his or her eyes and communicate the love of our Savior.  There were many unique and special friendships formed between our team members and specific children during the week, and many of these were paired for the foot washing. 

After we had washed the feet of each of the children, we washed the feet of Jean-Jean, Mimi, and Fenel. As Scott washed Fenel's feet, he told him that those who serve most, rarely get served themselves but that that was what we came to do.  Then, each of us, in turn, poured a bowl of water over Fenel's feet.  No words can capture that moment, so I won't even try, but if you have ever had an opportunity to bless someone who has been a tremendous blessing to you, you understand in some measure what it meant for us to be able to wash the feet of those who had blessed us.

As if our emotions hadn't been wrung out enough, Fenel asked Erlande and Richardson to pray for us.  They prayed in a language that we didn't understand but with tears and a fervency that we did.  What a night!

In preparing for this trip, there was one regret that I had.  On this Sunday our church was recognizing Orphan Sunday for the first time, and I would not be able to be there.  Though we had people at each of our campuses who were entirely competent (in many ways, more so) to talk about all the areas of the 4theVoiceless ministry with those who were interested, I wanted to be there.  However, on that Sunday night, washing the feet of children who had been rescued and the feet of those who were leading them in the ways of the Lord was the perfect place for me to be on Orphan Sunday 2012.  I will never forget it.

Tomorrow's blog will be about the final day of our trip.  Today marks the first day that I can't look back and say, "Last week at this time, I was (insert memory from Haiti)."  A large part of my heart is still in Haiti, and I am looking forward (and saving toward) re-connecting with it in 2013.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Friday Little Bits: Not There Yet, But Closer

My friend Jacob and I leave for Haiti in three days.  We will be meeting a team from Illinois in Miami on Sunday before flying to Haiti on Monday morning.  I have been telling people we leave for Haiti in (as of this morning) three days when I won't actually be in Haiti for (now) four days.  Leaving here doesn't equal being there.

As I prepared to write the blog this morning, the thought occurred to me that 4theVoiceless's current ministry projects resemble our day on Sunday when we will have left Memphis but not yet arrived in Haiti.  Progress but not ultimate destination. 

• Hope for Haiti has made some nice progress, but we are at 27% of our ultimate $35,000 goal to build a new House of Abraham.

• We have collected over 80 recipes and some of the adoption stories for our adoption cookbook, but we haven't yet reached completion.

•  One of our CHC small groups has taken on the task of providing dignity bags and some basic toiletries for social workers to be able to gather children's belongings in when they are taken into foster care.  We haven't given these things to DHS yet, but we're getting there.

• We are just getting started with our Kards 4 Kids Christmas project, but our church will have an opportunity to jump on board on Sunday, November 4 (Orphan Sunday!).  By Christmas we hope to have 700 hand-made cards in the hands of orphans and those who care for them in Mexico, South Korea, Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil, and Jamaica.

• We have several families in the process of adoption or fostering.  Not there yet but moving forward.

Waiting is often very difficult, but it is part of the process of almost every aspect of orphan care ministry.  Waiting is easier when there is movement.  Not always movement to the final destination but toward it.

Thanks for reading.  Please pray for our team as we are in Haiti from Oct. 29-Nov. 5.  I will update on our Facebook page as I have access.

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

Friday Little Bits: Progress Report

Here are a few ministry progress updates from 4theVoiceless:

Orphanology

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

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

Adoption Cookbook

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

Hope for Haiti

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

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orphan Sunday

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

Thanks for reading.  Now, move.
Al

What I Read vs. What I See

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

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

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

good news to GOOD NEWS

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

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

1.  God created man.
  

•      God created every child who is an orphan.

2.  Man fell.
  

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

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

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

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

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

A Living Example of the Gospel

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

Thanks for reading. Now, move.
Al

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

     
    

Friday Little Bits: Cooking Up Some Great Adoption Stories

4theVoiceless is in the initial stages of compiling a cookbook that will be available sometime around Orphan Sunday, November 4.  The cookbook will contain much of the usual fare with some notable variety that we’ll save for another post.  One unique feature that the book will contain is eight stories of adoption from different perspectives.  You will see the adoption process from some of these points of view:

• A family going through the process of adopting their first child and waiting, waiting, waiting…
• A family integrating an adopted child into a family with multiple biological children.
• An adult searching for and finding his biological family, who never knew he existed.
• A family integrating an older adopted child into their family.
• A family full of boys welcoming a baby sister.
• Several other perspectives on adoption.

All of the profits from sales of the cookbook will go directly into our adoption fund to assist families at CHC offset the costs of adoption.  Within the next couple of weeks, we will provide an opportunity to submit recipes for the cookbook on our Facebook page.

Happy Friday!  Thanks for reading.
Al