Orphan Run Mississippi: The Essentials

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

Saturday, April 20, 2013

2 DAYS AWAY!!!

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

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

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

5K Race begins at 8:00.

1 Mile Run begins at 8:30.

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

Want more?

Watch the Orphan Run MS video

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

Click here for The Latest Updates

Come See Us

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

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


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

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

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

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

Among the year's highlights:

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

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

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

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

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

# 12

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

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

 

# 11

Bracelet Sales throughout the year to raise funds for 4theVoiceless

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

# 10

Hope for Haiti

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

# 9

CHC Mission Team to Haiti in March

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

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

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

The Good News First

Update from Haiti

Good news from Haiti: As you can see from the photos below (Thanks to Dusty Cooper from IsleGo for posting these), construction began again recently on the House of Abraham.  The concrete roof was poured for the first floor.  Also, the walls are several blocks higher now than they were when our team was there a little over a month ago.

Further good news:  The kids and staff of HoA will be able to stay in their current house a while longer while work construction of the new home continues.

And now, the bad news: In messaging back and forth with Fenel earlier this week, I have also learned that construction stopped again shortly after these photos were taken.

The project is about $25,000 short of being funded.  Please take a moment to pray that the funds would be raised up, that these precious kids would have a permanent home, and that God would get the glory for it.  If you would like to give a Christmas gift toward this project, you can do that here.

Cookbook Update

We have sold over 100 Flavors of Forever Families cookbooks in the first week!  Thanks to everyone who has invested in families and the children they will adopt into them.  If you haven't gotten your book yet, they will be on sale at CHC Southaven and CHC Hernando before and after services at least until Christmas.  You can get one online here.  (For online orders, please order by 12/17 in order to get yours in time for Christmas!)


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Adoption Stories: Found! God's Perfect Timing

Flavors of Forever Families: A Collection of Recipes & Redemption Stories is a cookbook/adoption story book that will be available at Colonial Hills Church this weekend and online next week.  In the days leading up to the book's release, we are sharing parts of the stories that are included in it.

Today's teaser comes from a story that I discovered during a hospital visit, of all things, earlier this year.  This may be the most fascinating adoption story I have ever heard.  I have known Larry Gideon for many years, but I had never heard his story.  I am very grateful that he shared it with me and now with you.

Found! God's Perfect Timing -- Selected Quotes

 "She put me up for adoption because she was already on what was then called “relief” for herself and the six children living at home."

"I was adopted by closed adoption through the now-defunct Tennessee Children's Home Society (TCHS) in Memphis, run by the notorious black market baby broker Georgia Tann."

"I really had no desire to find out about my birth mother.  I never knew her and surely did not want to hurt Mama's and Daddy's feelings by making them think I was not happy with my life with them." 

"Daddy passed away in 1999, and Mama –  already diagnosed with Alzheimer's –  never recognized me again after Easter of 2001."

"... I was the only qualified person to open them.  I agreed to make the request."

"...my sealed adoption records were mailed to me."

"After getting over the shock that I had other siblings, Joy and I began searching for my relatives." 

"... I was about ready to give up, but my wife was determined."

"This woman said that the first names sounded like the names of her cousins from west Tennessee..."

"She said that now it all made sense."

"Our mother had told her and our siblings living at home that she was going to Paris, TN, to have a tumor removed from her abdomen."

"Our mother had given false information about our family..."

"My sisters thought he was delirious..."

"...she asked if she could ask me a very personal question." 

"...after what she had just heard from me that she was entitled to ask me anything." 

"I am told that had I made this contact with my birth family as little as a year before I did..."

"God knew we were going to need some type of replacement family when this happened..."

"It is only because of Him that this remarkable story is here for me to share."

 Larry's story is one of eight that are part of Flavors of Forever Families.  There are some pretty good recipes in the book, as well!   Get your copy for only $12.  Pre-sales will be going on at Information Central tonight at CHC Southaven before Wednesday Night Reveal classes and at CHC Hernando after Reveal classes.

Prior teasers:

"Temporarily Todd"

"Growing Paynes"

"It All Happened So Fast"


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Adoption Stories: It All Happened So Fast

... and with just a click, it was gone.

Months of soliciting recipes.  Weeks of gathering stories and photos, categorizing recipes, changing it all when more copy arrived.  Ten days of formatting, re-formatting, tedious proofreading, editing, re-formatting again.  A furious last edit.  And then, this morning, with just a click, it was out of my hands and on the way to the printer.  Flavors of Forever Families: A Collection of Recipes and Redemption Stories will be a reality by the end of the week.

There were about 10 of us who looked over at least part of the final project.  Even so, there will still be some things that we missed, I'm sure. None of us has ever produced a book before.  I hope everyone who invests in this project by purchasing cookbooks finds at least a few new favorite recipes, but the purpose of the book is adoption.  To tell the stories.  To pave the way for more stories of adoption.

I have given you a preview in blogs past of some of the stories that will be included in the book:
     "Temporarily Todd"
     "Growing Paynes"

Here is another adoption story that had me frozen in worship as I entered the story into the book this past weekend:

It All Happened So Fast

by Vicki Sharp

The Sharp family: Steve, Elliott, Vicki, & Sarah

Our story started on September 14^th, 1985, the day God put us together as one.  We thought we would be like any other normal couple and be able to conceive children.  However, God had another story planned for us.

Over the next six years, we both visited several doctors and had many tests performed to discover that they were not really sure why we couldn’t have a baby.  So we started sharing with our family and friends about how we wanted a baby.  One night a friend called and asked if we would like to try to adopt a baby.  She had met a woman during a meeting about tough love with teenagers.  She said she had a girl working for her who was pregnant and didn’t want to tell her family.  She agreed to let us adopt her baby and ten days later we were the proud parents of our son, Elliot.

We thought Elliott would be our only child, but he decided he wanted a baby sister or brother so he started praying.  A couple from church had adopted children from the state so we decided we would try.  We attended classes and were approved to adopt.  Meanwhile, a cousin of Steve’s called and asked us to come and talk to a girl about adopting her baby.  However, she had left a message that she had given the baby to another couple.  We didn’t want to give up so we continued to pray.

One day while I was working in the church nursery, another friend told me she had been talking to a girl that was trying to give her baby up for adoption.  We received a call early one morning from our friend asking us to meet the girl now because she was in labor.  Steve was very shy about praying out loud, but after a heartfelt prayer from him, she said she wanted us to adopt her baby.   So seven days later we had a new baby girl, Sarah.  We truly believe that only God could have planned our adoptions. 

Steve passed away to be with the Lord earlier this year, but he was always eager to share our story; he always said it was his testimony.

 
This weekend, Vicki handed me two treasures: Steve's life story as he had written it when Elliott was six years old and a letter Steve had written to his small group leader after Sarah's adoption.  I could hear Steve's voice in my mind as I read his own words of praise for what God had done in building his family through adoption.  Steve's words are included in Flavors of Forever Families.  I pray that his story continues the legacy of adoption that he built in his own family.

More stories will follow throughout the week on this blog as we move toward the book's release this weekend.  The books will be available for $12 at CHC Southaven and CHC Hernando this Sunday.  We will release info next week on online options.  I want to personally thank you on behalf of the families who will move closer to bringing a child into a forever family for your investment in the steps of faith.

Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Completed Project!

Happy Friday, everyone!

4theVoiceless has several major projects going on right now. 

We're still trying to raise funds for the House of Abraham in Jacmel, Haiti, through our Hope for Haiti campaign.  (Hope to see you tomorrow at the SHE ministry crafts fair at CHC Southaven between 9am and 5pm...) 

The adoption cookbook has been an overwhelming task this week and promises to continue to be through the weekend.  We have made significant progress, though, including settling on a name for the book:  Flavors of Forever Families: A Collection of Recipes and Redemption Stories.

Today, however, we pause to celebrate the completion of a project!  Last night, I turned in over 350 handmade Christmas cards that our church's small groups and families have made over the last few weeks as part of our participation in Orphanos' Kards 4 Kids project.  I would sum up the project like this: If the kids in orphanages in Korea, Jamaica, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and Columbia have as much fun opening the cards as I have seen our people having making them, then this project will be an enormous success.

Thanks to everyone who spent time investing in these children that you will likely never meet.  Thank you for those who invested in your own children by involving them in this project with you.  Thank you for being James 1:27 in action.  Enjoy some photos from the project:








 

 Thanks for reading.  And for moving toward the orphan.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Adoption Stories: Growing Paynes

We continue today to share snippets of adoption stories from 4theVoiceless's forthcoming adoption cookbook.  (We hope to have a name for said cookbook by sometime today.)  Today, I want to introduce you to Joe and Annette Payne's story of adopting their little girl, Hayley, from China.

Anyone who has been through the adoption process, whether domestic or international, knows that the waiting and the unknown are the hardest parts of the process.  Yes, the paperwork is daunting, but at least you are DOING something. As I read Joe and Annette's story, I couldn't help but notice many very familiar phrases that I have heard from other families at similar stages of the process.

Life on Hold

"We knew something was missing."

 

"I was totally shocked."

 

"...I wasn't fully on board yet..."

 

"At the time it all seemed endless."

 

"...we did not have the resources on hand..."

 

"...still no word from our adoption agency."

"We were growing a bit impatient."

 

"We began to question..."

 

"Out of frustration we even made statements..."

 

"...we had to know something."

And then...

Annette, Joe, & Hayley Payne

"A special needs child?"

 

"There was no way imaginable that WE could care for a special needs child."

The Rest of the Story

The rest of the Paynes' story will be available in the adoption cookbook.  For now, I'll leave you with one more significant phrase from their story:

"...God intervened..."

 For the rest of Joe and Annette's story, along with all the others, we hope you will invest in our cookbook for the sake of others following in their footsteps and walking through that long process and great expense of adoption.  Oh, and there are some pretty good recipes in the cookbook, too!  Personally, I'm looking forward to making the Haitian gratinee. 

We are working feverishly to make the cookbook available by the end of next week. Pre-orders will be taken locally at the 4theVoiceless table at the SHE ministry crafts fair at the CHC Southaven Go Center this Saturday from 9:00-5:00.  As soon as we have a production date, we will let the rest of you know how to order.

Thanks for reading and making a difference for the fatherless.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Adoption Stories: Temporarily Todd

For the last several months, the 4theVoiceless ministry has been collecting recipes in anticipation of producing an adoption cookbook.  What began as a trickle of recipes flowing in became a deluge at the deadline, and we are now in the process of putting them together, getting the cookbook formatted and to the printer, and making them available in time for Christmas.  We anticipate having the cookbook completed in the next couple of weeks and will let you know how to get your hands on one (or several).

The purpose of the cookbook is to fund our church's adoption fund that will help families make adoption a little more financially feasible.  At the same time, the cookbook is intended to raise awareness about the need for adoption and how it reflects what God has done for us in adopting us as children in His family.  To that end we have included nine stories of adoption from several different angles.  Over the next few weeks on the blog, I want to give you a taste of those stories.

We'll start today with Jay Trawick's story:

Temporarily Todd

March 8, 1973 was the day my story began. I was born in a hospital in Mobile, AL. I spent two months in foster care as they gave me the temporary name of Todd. They said I was a healthy and happy baby, always smiling. 

Little did I know, May 10^tph, 1973 my world would really begin. A young, married couple named Cheryl & Jerome from Eufaula, AL, were looking for a child to adopt, as they had no children of their own. They prepared their lives for over a year before they got the news a child had been chosen for them. They did not know the details of my story; all they knew was that they were going to love me and accept me into their home, no matter what! 

 And that’s exactly what they have done since that day. My world as I knew it from the start has always been a home filled with genuine love. Somewhere along the way, I knew God had given me amazing parents; I just did not realize how amazing they truly were. My childhood was dotted with special friends and warm memories. Every step of the way, Mom & Dad were always there. 

When I became a young man, I moved away from my parents to the Memphis area. I’ve always enjoyed going home to visit. All of the years had passed quickly in my adult life, but inwardly I always wanted to know the real answers to why I was adopted. 

During the month of April, 2010, my parents hired a private investigator from the state of Alabama. Within 7 days, they found the keys that would unlock the chapters of my life story. On April 19, 2010 at around 2:30 AM, my wife woke me up and said I had a phone call from my parents that I might want to take...

The Rest of the Story

You can read the rest of Jay's story when the 4theVoiceless cookbook becomes available.  The first opportunity to pre-order will be this Saturday at the CHC SHE ministry craft fair in Southaven.  4theVoiceless will have a booth set up to sell paracord bracelets and paper bead jewelry (Great stocking stuffers themselves for a great cause) as well as pre-orders for the cookbook.  I will let you know here on the blog and on our Facebook page when we will begin to take pre-orders online.

^{Galatians 4:4-6 (HCSB)}

⁴ When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

Project Update Day: Happy Friday

Happy Friday to all you friends of 4theVoiceless!

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

Kards 4 Kids

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

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

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

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

Adoption Cookbook

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

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

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

Dignity Bags

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

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

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

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

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

House of Abraham

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

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

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

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

Get Involved

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

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

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


Thanks for reading.

4theVoiceless,
Al

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

Busting Up Boulders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for reading,
Al

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: 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

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