A Tough Road Worth Taking!

This post was featured on Together for Adoption and written by Jedd Medefind, President of Christian Alliance for Orphans -

Last weekend, my brother and I hiked deep into the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Our mission: to re-supply my father and his two close friends who are filling a lifelong dream of hiking the John Muir Trail, 210 miles of breathtaking, rugged wilderness. Their faces glowed as they described the glories of God’s creation they’ve encountered, from Alpine meadows to granite peaks. But my father’s friend Henry, though never losing his smile, also reminded, “There’s been real pain, too.” Severe blisters, cramping legs, shoulder pain, biting hailstorms and cold to the verge of hypothermia were just a partial list. It was clear the three hikers were having the time of their lives, but pain was interwoven with the journey.

It is easy to feel it should be otherwise. Something deep inside us still recalls the world before the Fall, and joins creation in groaning at all the things that aren’t the way they should be. But this side of heaven, most anything worth doing comes with pain—care for orphans via adoption, foster care or global ministry as much as any.

Of course, keeping our roots in Scripture (from Jesus’ words about “counting the cost” to Hebrews 11:36-38) disabuses us of any fantasy that health and wealth are guaranteed compensation for faithfulness. Yet still there is a temptation to gloss over the difficult thing or just shove them under the carpet. In adoption ministry, for instance, there can be a pull toward making “ministry” mainly a “cheerleading” for Christians to adopt with little emphasis on support after the child has come home. There’s certainly a place for helping people see the beauty and purposefulness discovered in adoption and other forms of orphan care. But ultimately we need to know: there will be pain, too.

What’s tremendously heartening is that the movement of Christians committed to orphans is coming to embrace that truth. I increasingly hear church orphan ministry leaders talk about the journey—that long, often beautiful, often difficult road that comes with loving anyone for a lifetime, especially a child coming from a hard place.

My prayer is that more and more, church orphan ministry will be a place where this beauty-mixed-with-pain is shown for what it is: an inescapable reality of life in a broken world and a journey worth taking. May it be that in Church, like nowhere else, worn out foster parents, struggling adoptive families and weary orphan care workers can speak transparently about their burden. And where others can help them bear the load in discerning, well-prepared, sacrificial ways. That’s church orphan ministry—and just plain Church—at its very best."

Equip Yourself to Take a Stand-Pt. 4

As a follow up to this post introducting Red Card Kids, we're highlighting lessons 5 and 6 in the Red Card workbook!

Lesson 5: Child Laborers

-Missions of children are forced to become laborers at a young age. They are denied the education needed to improve their family's situation.

-Pray for God to protect these children from physical and emotional harm.

-Memorize Psalm 72:12 - "For he (God) will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help."

Lesson 6: Children of War

-Adults wage war, but children become its youngest victims. They experience horrors that their tender hearts and minds cannot process.

-Pray for God to restore children who have experienced the painful trauma of war.

-Memorize Psalm 91: 2b, 5 - "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust... You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day."

To learn more, check out the introduction, lessons 1 & 2, and lessons 3 & 4.

Mark your calendars!

Make your plans for...

ORPHAN SUNDAY 

November 7, 2010

From Christianity Today to Catalyst, God’s call to “defend the cause of the fatherless” is echoing in ways not seen in generations.   Orphan Sunday is your opportunity to spread this passion as part of a nationwide movement.

Each Orphan Sunday event is led by local Christians committed to the Gospel and the orphan: from Sunday School classes and sermons to student-led fundraisers and foster family recruiting.  Here is just one testimony of the thousands of lives that were touched last year by Orphan Sunday...

“Orphan Sunday at Morningside Baptist in Sioux City, IA not only became a catalyst for us to launch an orphan ministry—including a new adoption and orphan care fund—but also spurred many church members to consider adoption, including a church elder whose family will be adopting in 2010 as a result.” --Jim Reynolds, Church Elder

 Hear the personal story of a family changed forever through Orphan Sunday 2009! 

Get Started Now...

www.orphansunday.org

What is Orphan Sunday? 

Alongside local events, a national concert featuring The Desperation Band will be simulcast live from Colorado Springs to high school and college groups nationwide on the Friday of Orphan Sunday weekend. 

The 2010 campaign aims for more than 2,000 events across America the weekend of November 7^th.  The ultimate goal:  to call Christians to make the Gospel visible in adoption, foster care and global orphan ministry.  Start planning your Orphan Sunday event today! 

Don't forget to put your Orphan Sunday event on the map!

Equip Yourself to Take a Stand - Pt. 3

As a follow up to this post introducting Red Card Kids, we'll be highlighting the third and fourth lessons in the Red Card workbook!

 Lesson 3: Orphans

-What different aspects of parents' interaction with their children help build a strong foundation for children to understand how God relates to us?  Think of a specific example in your family (such as provision, protection, forgiveness, trustworthiness, mercy, unconditional love). 

Lesson 4: Street Kids

-"Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street."  Lamentations 2:19b

-Construct a shelter and spend some time inside.  What if this were your real home? What would it be like to live in the shelter during the winter or in a storm?

 How will YOU respond?  CHECK BACK SOON... we'll be sharing about each lesson over the next few weeks!

Changed Lives @ Lifesong India

Please enjoy these updates from Bob and Siromani Stoll, directors for Lifesong India orphan care -

“Dear Friends,

                -your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corin. 15:58

His name is Yedukondalu – or was. About 30 years ago, Yedukondalu was brought to our Jyothi Nivas home by his poor parents who were illiterate and of the untouchable caste. They wanted him to have a chance at a better life! Even though they worshipped multiple gods, it didn’t seem to matter to them that he would be cared for and taught by a Christian organization.

While with us, he received the care and education his parents wanted for him, but he also heard the message of Jesus Christ daily, without fail. When he left our home to get employment he had not yet become a committed Christian.

One day while Siromani and I were visiting India he appeared at our Jyothi Nivas home, told me he had received Jesus ads the only true God and asked me to baptize him and his wife. We gladly arranged for the baptisms and at his request we gave both he and his wife Christian names. Now, his name is James and his wife’s new name is Sarah. His testimony follows:

Yeddukondalu (James) – fish merchange, Narsapur, India

I belong to a Hindu family. I entered Jyothi Nivas when I was 8 years old. The home manager, staff, and pastors used to teach us from the Word of God. Therefore, along with studies I learned Christian songs and God’s Word. I got married and we are blessed with a son and daughter. In the year 2000, the month of February, Bob Stoll baptized my wife and me. We are growing in the Lord, doing our traditional business as fish merchants.

Since Bob and Siromani Stoll have established such good homes, many people like us have benefited. Many students have completed their studies and become teachers, nurses, merchants, pastors, etc. May God bless the sponsors and may the ministry grow and become a blessing to many more.'

There are many, many more people who now have names like James and Sarah. They are the fruit of our labor. That’s why we are in India… and that’s why we greatly appreciate your prayers and support!”