Cry of the Orphan

Family Life Today is having a special emphasis week on the needs of orphans worldwide. You can visit their website at this address, http://www.hopefororphans.org/. They have resourses for getting your church involved in orphan ministry. They have pdf resources that you can download as well. It touched my heart to see all of the links and descriptions of resources and books. They are partnering with Shoahannah's hope and Focus on the Family. So, go and be encouraged that the Christian community is going to be impacted by this focus on fostering, adoption, and orphan care. If you listen to a Christian radio station that airs the Family Life Today or Focus on the Family broadcast, you may have already heard about this campaign. It airs on HIS radio at 2pm EST daily in my area. You can also listen online at http://www.familylifetoday.org/
You can also attend the Adoption and Orphan Care Summit V which should be coming to an area near you. Just visit www.cryoftheorphan.org/ to learn more. All of these websites are linked together so you should be able to navigate to any of them through the fltoday website. There is also a link for financial help.

Oh! On Nov. 22, which is Saturday, there is a Wait No More event at New Life Church in Colorodo Springs hosted by Focus on the Family to help waiting children in that area.
God bless all of you who have already adopted and all of you who have already started your process. God brings to mind the children of the blogs I read. Usually in the morning when I wake up or sometimes when I am wakeful in the night. I am reminded of the children's struggle. The Lord is working in so many ways and in the hearts of many others who don't know you personally to bring your children home and to help them in their process of adjusting to their new lives. He holds each of us in His hands. He knows our names and He hears us when we call.

The Face I Can't Forget

I think his name is Sasha.

He was between 12 and 14 years old when I met him in 2005. He was one of many that I talked to through an interpreter that day at the boy's prison in L'viv. I have prayed many times for him and the other boys. I wrote their names down in my prayer journal. They were typical names for Ukraine: Sasha, Misha, Yura. I don't know why they were there, what crimes they had commited. Whether they ever lived in an orphanage, ran away, or lived on the street. They might have stolen some food because they were hungry. We were told that at least a couple of them had taken a life. Was it in self defense or something else? They were so hospitable and welcoming, we were their guests and we were treated as such. They spoke english to us. They asked, how far did you travel? How long did it take you to get here? Our interpreter pointed out that they wanted to please us by speaking english. They were impressed when we gave the answers. We told them, God has sent us here to tell you that He loves you. He knows your name and He has a plan for you. We told them about Christ and His sacrifice for them on the cross. That day, they were just boys, nice, mannerable boys. I felt sad for them. Not knowing whether they had a mother or not. A mother who cooked them supper, encouraged them to read, to get their education. A mother who worried about them. A mother who tried to protect them as they learned to become men. You hear stories. Stories like, one boy who wrote to his mother saying that he would be discharged soon from the prison. She wrote back saying that she had another child now and she must do all she could for this other child. How sad? What happened to him, you ask. Well, Misha at New Life Ministries who visits this prison often, took him in. He has rooms at his church where people in need can stay. Where orphans stay for the weekend, a few at the time, in order to get a broader view of the world, by going to the circus or the mountains near by.

Will I ever see him again? I don't know. Will I ever hear of what became of him? I can only hope. We asked the boys that day, What are your dreams/ hopes for the future. Their answer was so sad. They had none. My prayer is that He has Christ as Savior. That he has a safe place to sleep at night. That he is not hungry. That he is not mistreated by anyone. That he has hope.

For the grace of God has appeared,bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires,... looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. Titus 2: 11-13

What is an advocate?

Advocate \'ad-ve--ket, -Kat\ n- 1 one that pleads the case of another
v- 2 to plead in favor of
SEE Support

In my short travels to the country of Ukraine, my life has been forever changed through those 14 day mission trips. Shortly after the first one, I acquired the knowledge that there are over 100,000 orphans living there. That first opportunity came in 2003 when I traveled with a group from my church to L'viv. We assisted two churches with outreach in the surrounding communities.
We led VBS at the churches and backyard bible clubs in different communities. We also traveled to various orphanages and prisons to carry the word of Jesus Christ and the hope, joy, peace, and love found in Him. We shared through puppet ministry and personal testimony.

The following year, I had the inexpressible joy of returning with my husband and two children as part of the team. My niece went on the two trips as well. Again, we shared Christ through song, puppets, skits, and fellowship.
Again, in 2005, God offered another trip to minister and testify to many in orphanages and prisons.
My heart has been forever linked to the orphan of Ukraine. With the direction of a loving, heavenly Father, I set out to bring attention, support, and plead the case of orphans.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.