Encourage the Oppressed

2010-07-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

"One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 27:4

Over a year has gone by since I last entered a blog. This has been a time of seeking the Lord's face. I want this blog to be about the Lord and what He is doing. I have been silent as I desperately seek after HIM.

This is a time of change. In this last year, the Lord has moved us away from our familiar, comfortable dream home in the country, to a rented home in the city. He put 2 year old, twin, fatherless children in our home until the day "He says" it is finished. He is preparing us to say "good bye" to our son, as He prepares for marriage. He is sending our youngest twins 2 different ways to college in August. He has sent one daughter to India, and now the other 2 to Haiti. We have had many trials and tears as we are called to "let go" and trust in the Lord, in ways I never dreamed possible. God is faithful, He is mighty, He is worthy, He is more than able. He IS my life.

He has called us to build the Kingdom, fight for justice, defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow, spend ourselves on behalf of the poor, care for the least of these, and sell everything we have in order to be His disciple. (only to mention a few) We do not have to "do" anything to get to heaven--only by God's grace through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, can we go. He paid the price. It's just that when you know your Savior and what He has saved you from---you want to be where He is!!!! You just can't sit in a comfortable place anymore---you are called to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And, behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

I began writing again, after a year of silence, due to the things God is opening our eyes to. God is opening my eyes to the young boys and girls used as sex slaves in this world. This is grieving and why have I not noticed before? Now that I know--I am responsible and held accountable. I don't even know what this means exactly--but God does. Today, we are trying to raise money to rescue 10 girls from human-trafficking sex slavery. Please help!!! These are helpless children and God is calling His people to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We can all do something. If these were my children, I would never sleep until they were rescued. They are God's children. I will let Tom Davis of Children's HopeChest explain.

Follow this link: http://blog.beliefnet.com/redletters/2010/07/how-to-make-a-profit-selling-virgins-for-sex.html .

THE CRYING PLACE

2009-06-13T20:10:00.001-07:00

The Lord is constantly teaching me through His word. Recently, a friend brought to my attention a bible verse that I have never read before. This verse comes from Ezekiel 16:49-50 and it says: "'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen." We all know what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah--they were destroyed.

I don't know about you, but this verse describes my life. How many times am I too busy to be concerned for others? How many times do I stuff myself at a graduation party or picnic? How many times do I look down on someone else? How many times do I ignore the poor and needy and assume someone else will help them? God has defined this behavior and thinking as SIN. Oh, how I need my Savior.

The pictures I posted yesterday were taken while in Uganda. The children in the top picture are waiting for food. One child has food while the others are waiting for their turn. While we were at this place, we ran out of food. So many more orphans showed up than were supposed to. We had to tell the rest of the room filled with children that we had no more. My teammates and I refer to this place as "The Crying Place". God broke our hearts in ways I could never explain in words. No one could tell us when these children had eaten last or when they will eat again. There is something that takes place when you witness this tragedy. Remember these are orphan children with no one to meet their needs, no one to tell them, "I love you" , and no one to protect them in the night.

The other picture is a picture of a young girl carrying a baby on her back. This is most likely a younger sibling. This girl is probably the head of her household--referred to as a "child-headed household". There are so many children raising children in Uganda. Many parents die from war, Aids, malaria, and famine just to name a few causes. The children are left to care for each other.

Look into their eyes as you gaze upon these pictures. How could we possibly turn away from these precious children of God or others like them in the world? God calls it sin. I don't know how I could ever go back to "life as usual". I want to spend the rest of my days telling them and others all around the world that they have a Savior who loves them. They need food, shelter, medical attention, school and love just like the rest of us. We can't give people these things without giving them Jesus. We all need Jesus! Food will fill their tummys for a day or longer but Jesus will fill their hearts for all of eternity!!!!!!!!!! "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Please consider sponsoring an orphan child. We will be starting a sponsorship program so we can start to feed them under a tree. The next step will be to teach them about Jesus! This will be life to one child at a time! To God be all of the glory as we reach out to these children in His name!!!!

2009-06-12T19:52:00.000-07:00

HE KNOWS THEIR NAMES

2009-06-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

Again, I find myself doing something I said I would never do-start a blog!! God is always challenging me and I am forever grateful when I am reminded by my perfect Father that it doesn't matter what I want. My heart is so heavy that I could not go another day without spreading the word.

As many of you know, I returned from Uganda about a month ago from a vision trip with Children's Hopechest. There are no words to explain what God showed me there. Countless people starving. Many of those people are orphans. These precious children of God have NO FOOD and NO ONE TO LOVE THEM OR CARE FOR THEIR NEEDS. We visited a large area where there are 20,000 widows with hearts to care for so many more orphans--and everyone is starving. This area has experienced cattle raiding since 1960, civil war because of the Lord's Resistance Army from 1987-present (the children are stolen from their homes and tortured and beaten and turned into child soldiers and sex slaves), the year 2007 brought a drought to the area for 6 months, then floods for 3 months. Many were killed, raped, beaten, stripped of everything and everyone they had. They are just moving back from refugee camps trying to start new lives with nothing. There is virtually NO FOOD. Children are raising children. To them, life seems hopeless.

But guess what! God knows their names!!! He created them, sent His son to die for them and loves them with His whole heart. He sees each tear that falls and hears them when they call. God calls us to care for the poor and broken hearted and especially the orphans and widows. "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27
We are commanded to do something! We can all do something!

Do you know that: $0.14 provides 1 meal for someone in Uganda?
1.40 provides 10 meals
14.00 provides 100 meals
140.00 provides 1000 meals
1400.00 provides 100,000 meals

We (those of us who went on the vision trip) have been led to try to raise $20,000 to "FEED THE FORGOTTEN". As of lunchtime, Thursday, the $8,000.00 mark was passed. That's 57,000 meals for starving Ugandan widows and orphans. This project is set up to raise enough money to feed 6 complete villages for 20 days. We are praying that this food for 20 days will nourish them and give them strength enough to get them to harvest time. They are too weak to even plant. This is our first goal. These villages are waiting for sponsors from people who do have enough--like you and I. I will get links set up another time regarding the sponsorship program. The sponsorship would allow these orphans to start being fed at a regular basis. Then a discipler is hired!!! They will get fed physically and then spiritually!!! When you feed them---Jesus becomes real and they want to hear. "Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?" James 2:5

Please pray for these people of Uganda!! I pray that the Lord moves in all of our hearts to give to the poor. Just $0.14 feeds 1 person. There are no homeless shelters in Uganda, or food pantries, or health care providers, or government assisted housing. They have NOTHING and NO ONE! We are so blessed --God is waiting for us all to bless others because it blesses Him. These are Jesus' words:
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed chothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 25:35-36......"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"