I met some Australian church planters several months ago in North Carolina who had a unique attitude about the kingdom of God.  "Give it a go, you never know" was a refrain they said repeatedly.

 

Has God given you a dream?  Give it a go, you never know.

Got an idea?  Give it a go, you never know.

Got an idea and you're not sure if it's you or God?  Give it a go, you never know.

 

In that spirit I'm declaring 2010 the Year of the Orphan.  This year we're going to raise money for literal orphans living in Swaziland, Mexico, and Pakistan, and we're also going to address the problem of the "orphan spirit" which so many people in the States carry with them.  The orphan spirit is a repressive spirit that whispers to us, "You're on your own.  God isn't showing up. You need to fend for yourself." 

 

Everyday I interact with customers, colleagues, and Christians who are being oppressed by the orphan spirit.  They're not walking in the reality that they have a Father in heaven who has adopted them into His family and they need to stand up and walk as sons and daughters.  Doubt, worry, and powerlessness dominate their lives. 

 

I have an idea of how to help both kinds of orphans.  

 

First, I'm going to approach my 500 colleagues in the state of Ohio and ask them to support the work we're doing in Swaziland, Mexico, and Pakistan.   I'll ask each to give $100.  Even if the average donation is $25 per person, that's $12,500 for orphans.  And if the average comes in at $100 per agent, that's a whopping $50,000!  Give it a go, you never know.

 

Second, I've plastered my office lobby with pictures of orphans from Swaziland.  It's a great conversation starter for those coming in with the orphan spirit.  Customers come to me daily and share their worries and fears about their family, the economy, and all sorts of other things.  I would love to say to each of them, "You remind me of this orphan right here.  She worries constantly about where her next meal will come from and who is going to protect her.  You're carrying around that same orphan spirit, believing you have to look out for yourself, BUT you have a Father in heaven who wants to adopt you into his family and take care of all your needs..."

 

Give it a go, you never know.

 

This month we learned about Swaziland using these activities:

 

1) Gabe shared his stories and pictures (again) from his AIM vision trip to Swazi last January.

 

 

2) We read a book called Learning to Swim in Swaziland: A Child's Eye View of a Southern African Country. You can find it here.  I was so impressed that our local library had a copy of a children's book about this tiny country! 

 

 

3) Our friend Tami came over one evening and shared her story with our family. She is preparing to move to Swaziland to work in the clinic in Nsoko.  You can read more on her blog here.  

 

 

 

This year, we hosted both sides of our family at our house for Thanksgiving Dinner.  We decided to make this ALSO our Swaziland party (since we had a captive audience:)!  You can read about all that we did HERE. (It is posted on our family blog.)   My favorite part was the game we made up called "Safari" which involved a nerf gun and the Grandpas!  The kids did a great job sharing about the country. It was lots of fun!

 

 

Thank you to the five groups (4 bunco parties and 1 book club) who collected formula for His Home in Haiti!  I lost count somewhere, but I think we collected approximately 50 cans of infant formula from this. Some has already made its way to Haiti, and more will be going soon.  It is a drop in the bucket for the babies there, but we pray that through spreading the word about the ministry, God will touch hearts and link kids with adoptive families or meet their needs through new ways.  My prayer through the whole project was simply that God would be glorified through this!

 

I am going to postpone the women's trip until Fall. Several women were interested, but it seemed like spring was not a good time of year. We will see if God puts together a trip later on.  Maybe He knew I wasn't ready to go meet the babies yet, in case I really want to bring some home...:)

 

I am putting together a Women's Trip to Haiti to deliver donations and visit His Home for Children. 

 

 

I have wanted to go to Haiti since I was 14, so I am excited to go and deliver all the formula we are collecting through the "bunco for babies" plan. I have met the leaders of His Home a few times, and I have been following their newsletters for years. I am excited to finally get to visit the children's home in person!  They have an awesome ministry caring for children and facilitating many adoptions into Christian families in the US. 

 

 I know that there are other women that God will call to go too... but I don't know who you are yet!  On that note, I am putting out an open invitation to any women who want to go.  This is not about a church or organization, just Christ-followers with a heart to serve and give.

 

Here are the details that I know so far.  

 

That is all I know right now.  Email me or post a comment if you are interested!  Once we have an idea of who wants to go, we will narrow down the dates and start planning!  Also, ask me questions!

 

*Here is a list of items we can collect and take:

 

 

 We were so inspired by Julie's pictures and stories of her visits to His Home. You can read some of her stories here. The situation in Haiti is hopeless and heartbreaking, but His Home is shining God's light as they care for 124 children and finding "forever families" for many children. Read more details about His Home for Children in this blog post.

 

 One huge cost is for baby formula. They have approximately 20 babies on formula at any one time. Hal (one of the directors) estimates that it costs about $10/week per baby, for a total of $500 per year per baby. If each baby uses one can of formula a week, that is 20 cans of formula per week, which means they need a minimum of 1,040 cans of formula each year.

 

My mom has been collecting donations for them for a while, but we thought of a new idea we are going to try!  Read about it below and let us know if you want to join in!  Pass it on as well!

 

1. Ask your bunco group to do this!
2. Host a one-time bunco night (if you are not in an ongoing group) and collect formula. We can help you with how to set up the bunco game.
3. Be a "bunco mentor"- if you know how to play and would be willing to help another person set up a one-time bunco night who new to bunco.
4. Help coordinate this project. (mostly online I would think)
5. Pick up formula and transport it to our collection spots (Beavercreek and Huber Heights)
6. Go on a 3 day weekend- women's trip to Haiti next spring to help deliver and meet the babies.
7. If you have any connections with airlines, ask about free luggage or shipping!
8. Anything else God might tell you to do!

Today we had our Pakistan Party with some of the kids' friends!  I wore the beautiful outfit that Pastor Emmanuel sent to us!  We decorated with posters, pictures and streamers.
 
 
 
We then read a book about Pakistan and our kids talked a little bit about Pastor Emmanuel and his ministry.  Kiersen said, " He teaches people about the real God."  Josiah said, "He gives food and help to people who need it."   We said a short prayer for his ministry together.
 

 
The kids each made a picture or card to send to Emmanuel to encourage him in his ministry.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
We also had a birthday girl in our midst, so we sang happy birthday to Juliann!

 
Each kid was given a kite and information sheet to take home, which included prayer requests for Pastor Emmanuel and his wife.  
 

 
It was fun!  We hope that the kids learned a little bit and that our prayers and cards will encourage Pastor Emmanuel and Sonera!  We are thankful for their ministry and the chance to share it with our friends.  
 

 

 

I read Psalm 8 during my time with God today, and these verses stuck out to me...

 

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise...

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?

9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

I had planned to work on the Pakistan Party with the kids tonight, but instead I decided we would do a praise walk.  We read this psalm and then took a walk through the park.  We took the camera and each child had the opportunity to take pictures of the amazing things God has created.  Here are a couple of their pictures.

 

 

 

 

 This week, we focused on learning more about Pakistan.  We have mentioned praying for Emmanuel and the orphans there, but I realized we didn't know that much about the country itself.  So this week we read a book from the library called "P is for Pakistan" (you can find it here).  Then the kids made a list of questions they wanted to ask Pastor Emmanuel.  We emailed those questions to him and then shared his responses with the kids. It was fun for them to think of questions and hear back from Pastor Emmanuel.  Now we are planning a "Pakistan Party"... more to come on that soon!  Here is the (email) interview. 

 

Dear Pastor Gabe & Sister Heidi and all little angels,

Greetings in the sweet name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks for your email. I would like to answers your question.

It's my pleasure to give you information.

These are the answers of your questions.

1. What do you do for a job?

We apply and submit our application then they call for the interview.

2. How did you come to know about Jesus?

Salvation Experience.

 

              I use to live sinful life before accepting Jesus Christ as my personal saviour and Lord. I was far from the Lord, my deeds were evil and I was living miserable life but One day I heard the word of God from John 1/12 when I heard this word I repented from my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal saviour and Lord in 1997.I took water baptism in 1998, and on 14 December 1998 .I was baptized in the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2.

 

Call of God for His Service.

 

              After my salvation and Christian life experience I felt the call of God to serve Him. I went to bible school in 2003 and obtained 1 year bible training from F.C.Bible School Khanewal. After the bible school the call of God fulfilled in my life and I begin to serve Him.

 

Ministry Experience.

 

               I begin to serve the Lord in April 2004 from that day up to now my ministry for the Lord is going on, during my ministry many people accepted Jesus Christ and received salvation from their sins, many people receive healing and many were delivered from the evil spirits.

I am serving the Lord my God in Multan.Pakistan believers that God is using me for the establishment of His Kingdom on this earth. I request you to pray for my ministry. I have Ministry called.

* Apostolic Faith Mission Church of Pakistan*
OUR ACTIVITIES ARE FOLLOWING:
Evangelism, Church Planting, Crusades, Campaign meetings, Prayer and Revival seminars, Christian literature Distribution, Sports Programme, Village outreach Ministry, Children Ministry, Translation books into Urdu language Youth Ministry, Women Ministry, Medical assistance, financial and spiritual assistance for the Widows, 0rphans, disables, rehabilitation for Drug addicted, Education for Adult illiterate and Children etc.

We speak Urdu language because this is our national language .Our mother tongue is Punjabi.

 

4. What foods do you eat?  Can you send us a recipe of one of your favorite foods?

We eat rice and chipaty (Bread) it cook by the flour, we cook curry, meat and potatoes and other vegetables and Baryani. Baryani cooks by the meat and rice .My favorite food is Baryani.

Recipe.

First of all we cook meat when it is ready then we boil rice and after boiling we mix them it called Baryani .

5. Do you play video games and televisions?

I do not play video games and television.

6. What kind of house do you live in?

I live in a simple house .It makes by the bricks and cement..

7. What kind of games do kids play?

 

Kids play Cricket, Hockey, Foot ball, Tense and Badminton.

8. Have you ever traveled to other countries?

No, Yet I did not traveled any country.

9. Do you ever get sick?  Do you ever go to the doctor?

Yes.

 We have Pakistani money, its called rupee.

Dear Pastor Gabe, if you have need any more information please write to me I would like to give answers.

Please give my greetings to Sister Heidi and love to little angels (Josiah,Kiersen,Liam and Aliya)

Yours brother in Christ.

Emmanuel Sadiq

 

Summer is over and the kids are back in school!  (Yes, we were thinking of homeschooling but decided to send the kids to school this year. That decision itself is another blog!) Anyway, we are adjusting our family discipleship time to work with our new schedule.  No more Friday Experiments for now, but we are beginning a focus on learning about missionaries and orphans around the world. Each month(or so) we will focus on learning all about one country and ministry there.  Last night was our intro night. We put up our new map and found the countries where we know missionaries! 

 

We also read this blog update on Pakistan, and prayed for the people there.

 

When Josiah was a baby, we decorated his nursery with a "kids around the world" theme.  I had saved all the stuff, so we pulled that out and let each child pick a couple things to hang up in their room now to remind them to pray for kids in other countries.  Here are the kids with their picks:) 

 

 

As I tucked Kiersen in to bed, she said, "Don't worry Mommy! I looked at my world jar and prayed for the Christians in Pakistan already!"  A good start to our new learning/prayer focus.  More to come!