When He Doesn't Show Up

This is a post I've been meaning to share for awhile now. I wanted to share such a wonderful time I had with the Lord recently.

Some time in December or January I was really aching to be a mom. I didn't care whether it was biologically or through adoption, but since I was nearing 39 years old, I was really feeling this desire.

It just seemed that biologically things were not cooperating and our adoption just kept progressing and progressing, the wait time increasing and increasing.

I remember as I laid in bed, in that state between awake and sleep, I cried out to God, not understanding why I could not be a mom now. I was sharing with my husband that I was not mad at God. I was hurt by him... If He loved me so much, then of course I expected Him to want to give good things to me as His word says. Yet, he did not seem loving to me. He seemed selfish. He was letting me down, disappointing me and hurting me. I hated feeling this way as I love Him so much and I know the Truth is that He loves me even more than I can imagine.

As I cried out to Him, I thought about a time in the Bible when someone else was deeply disappointed by Jesus. The story of Lazarus.

It starts in John 11:6 where it clearly states, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister and Lazarus...". But then the very next verse does not seem at all to indicate that he loved them, "When He heard therefore that Lazarus was sick, He stayed two more days in the same place that He was." Now why would Jesus do that?! Common sense tells us that if you love someone and they are sick and you have the power to heal them, that you would RUSH to their side to SAVE them!

And that is exactly the same way Mary saw it! "Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:32) The next verse states that Mary was weeping. She was so hurt, so disappointed, so sad. If God had shown up, Lazarus would have been saved! All Jesus had to do was SHOW UP!

Have you had times like these? Where you have cried out to God to please come through for you? Whether it be to save the baby in your womb, or to hurry up and get your adopted child home, to healing someone you love.

What I love about this story is that after Jesus saw Mary and the other Jews crying and grieving over losing Lazarus, that Jesus was deeply troubled as well and wept. But Jesus did not weep because Lazarus was dead. He knew Lazarus was going to live again in just a few minutes. No, He wept because those He loved wept. It says in God's word that Jesus ONLY does what God, His Father, instructs Him to do. He CANNOT do anything that is not in His Father's will. I think He so wanted to have come through for them. I think He wept because He hated disappointing and hurting them.

As I cried out to God that night, I was comforted by this revelation. Jesus, one part of the Trinity of God, was identifying with my pain. He wanted to give me motherhood now, but God had a different plan. One that ultimately would bring Him more glory, which at the end of everyday is truly the cry of my heart. That my life would bring Him glory. He also, in His supreme wisdom knows what I can handle and what I can't.

Have you had times like this as a parent? Where your child wants something NOW, like a pony or a bike, but you KNOW they are not old enough to handle it yet. You SO want to please them, but you can't...not yet. And you really can't wait to give it to them....I think this is how Jesus was feeling as I cried myself to sleep that night.

And the best part of this story is that just a few minutes later they rolled away the stone and Jesus got to "loudly" cry out "Lazarus, come forth"! I honestly do not think it was a stoic somber cry. I think it was a gut wrenching, can't wait to see you LOUD cry. This is the same cry we will all hear when our hopes and dreams are finally in our hands. I can hear Jesus up in Heaven crying out in this way as our babies are born, or on our Gotcha Days or the days that our loved ones either come home to be with Him or wake up to new life here on earth.

Our Jesus loves us SO much! His waiting is truly His love for us! How hard this is to believe, but how awesome it is to share in bringing Him glory through our testimonies that are birthed through these hard waiting times. Be comforted knowing that God does love you and SO empathizes with your longings. He'll come through...hold on...

I Refuse Video

This is a great video created by one of our mission team members, Jennifer Hanson. She was a member from our second March 2011 Uganda team. It's so wonderfully created! It is a GREAT representation of what one of our trips is like. The Song is entitled "I Refuse" by Josh Wilson

Pure Religion: Uganda 2011 with Visiting Orphans from Jennifer Hanson on Vimeo.

When God Picks ME!

I wanted to share an email I received this week from Rebecca Brown, one our past Rwanda/Ethiopia team members:

I wanted to tell you myself what one Visiting Orphans trip did to my life...

Ok, lets see... on my trip we went to Rwanda first and it stole my heart. I really loved the Noel orphanage and wanted to do so much there. I really thought that God was going to bring me back there, until Ethiopia.

Most of the people on my team loved Ethiopia. I was already set that in my mind that Ethiopia was ok and wouldnt steal my heart b/c I was going to come back to Rwanda. The last two days of our trip some things got change on our agenda. The places we were going to didn't want us til like 3 afternoon. SO, we told Tymm, our team leader that we didn't want to sit around for the next two day waiting til 3 to do something - we wanted to help.

So, Nathan, another team member said, "would any of you like to take some street kids to lunch?" We loved the idea!! I thought that there was going to be like 4 boys that Nathan knew that would show up. We pulled up that morning and there were llike 30 kids. I remember thinking "OH my Goodness Lord, these are teenage boys." " I dont know what to do with teenage boys." I remember becoming a little scared of my stuff for the first time, thinking, "are they going to steal or beg from me?" I was the last one out the van and got out remember telling God a little prayer, saying... "I am definitely out of my comfort zone here Lord and I dont know who you want me to talk too. You are going to have to help me on this one."

As I was looking up from my prayer and looking back down there was this boy walking towards me. He grabbed my hand said MY name is Sami. Yes, the Sami everyone knows and loves so much. Sami asked me if I knew your hubbie Simon and that if I knew when he was coming back. That boy stole my heart! He never let go of my hand. He loved me so much for the next 3 days. That moment when Sami picked ME out of crowd God showed me that he always picks the weakest ones to do his work. That even though Sami didn't know me he loved me anyways, just as God loves us.

We go on these trips thinking that we will change these kids lives and they change ours so much more. I just fell in love with the street kids!!! I met Ephrem that day and later that night I have no idea what made him ask me but he asked me if I come for the summer to help. I prayed bout it when I got back and in the last few months God has made it his plan.

SO, I leave in 5 short weeks. I am selling my things and moving to Ethiopia. I had planned on the summer but as I am working with Ephrem ministry we feel that God is leading me longer term. So when I get there, I am going to try to find sponsors to sponsor me as a missionary to help Ephrem in his ministry, which God is about to take off with. So many doors are opening and very excited. I am going to get his sponsorship program up and running to get these kids sponsored by americans. I hope to get some kind of a tutoring program started and get a soccer tournment done this summer. I am so excited to see what God has planned b/c I could have never dreamed that this is what he had in mind for me.

This has been the most challenging thing having to give up so much and leaving what I do know behind, but I love a God who is great and awesome and see more potenial in me then I could have ever. So, I THANK YOU for Visiting Orphans and what you do for this ministry. I am sure I am one of many stories that lives where changed by God, but God used Visiting Orphans to do so. I hope that Visiting Orphans keeps the street kids close to them and continues to put it on the agenda so that kids lives can be changed through sponsorship. I am sure that we will be talking in the future as I contuine to grow in this ministry.

Its so crazy the connection you have being on a VO team. Loved that someone I never met came and supported me today. LOVE being a part of a VO Family :)

Marked

A wonderful blog post by my incredible husband, Simon, who is leading our team in Uganda this week:


Everyone always talks about being marked for Christ and marked for Jesus. I am here to say that today, our team has been officially marked for Uganda! Of course we give our allegiance to Jesus Christ but we have experience a new level of love and commitment to this place.

This morning, we rushed off to meet 500 students at a local school. There were 7 classes from 2nd grade up to 8th grade. We taught the kids “Simon Says” and they taught us how to laugh☺ I personally walked away with marks on my arms from little rug rats who would not let go! These children are so hungry for love. Get this… 10% of the students there were orphans. That’s right, 50 of the children at school went back to an orphanage.

Our biggest surprise of the day was early afternoon. I’ll try to keep this brief. “Pillars of Hope” is a grass roots organization started by a man who Amanda and I had a pleasure of meeting 3 years ago. The man’s name is Godrey and he had a vision 3 years ago to start a program for children who were from the streets. So, today we had the opportunity to see his 45 children and to meet his staff (of volunteers). That was only the beginning… We also heard a testimony of a young lady who only a year ago was a Muslim, a Widow, and a Prostitute. She was selling herself in a one-room home with her two young children living at her bedside. You can only imagine. Godfrey and his staff were able to minister to her and her children. Through their love and grace, she is now able to make scarves and rugs and she sells them to local churches. She shared her testimony and it brought tears to our eyes. She is now a transformed woman who loves Jesus and has a purpose!

Another HUGE blessing was given to Canaan Children’s Home today by one of our team members, Welch McCollough. He literally spent all day hooking up wifi internet for an orphanage so that they can now offer computer services to the local community. This will not bring in funds to support the children but it will offer opportunities for the children to learn viable skills in technology. Like I said, HUGE blessing.

We ended our night singing praises to our KING Jesus with children falling asleep in our arms. Literally, we worshiped and gave glory to God for a day that left a mark on us forever. As I close, I will say this… Going on a mission’s trip holds so many secrets and keys that will unlock your heart to the things close to God’s heart. I can’t begin to explain the joy we have had today. No amount of money can replace these deposits from God. You truly have to “Go” to experience what James calls “Pure Religion”.

The Waiting

With the new news of adoptions in Ethiopia possibly slowing down, it has really increased our yearning for our little girl we are trying to adopt in Ethiopia. I was the given the following verses from my Assistant, Amanda Herdina. It brought me SUCH comfort and I wanted to share it with the rest of you who are waiting.

Letter Given to Timothy, For All Those Who Have Ears to Hear

Oh Timothy, you of little faith. Have I not said to you, “Trust in Me”? You weigh all that is, and is not, on your emotions and lack of patience. Finish that which is set before you, then shall you be given more.

Next week, go east and work with your new client, but do not abide there. There will you find enough to carry you over. Have faith... Have I not provided thus far? In the weeks to come, I will provide you with plenty. Have patience and rest in The Lord... be not tempted of satan. All good things come to those, who wait patiently in The Lord and overcome with steadfast faith. Pray and ask of The Father, in The Son’s name, and it shall be given you. Obey all that I ask of you, and I will return to you ten-fold in Heaven that which is due you. And yes, Timothy, I will keep your head above water. Even more so will I give to you, so much so that your tithe shall grow and help those in need near to you. If your tithe shall grow, shouldn’t that which you tithe from grow first?

I have spoken, so it shall come to pass. Trust in Me, and I shall increase you greatly in your land. Through you, many shall be lifted up out of their need; and through Christ working in you, shall many be lifted up to redemption, which is in Christ, The Lord.

I also received this today from a daily Word I receive:

You are right on schedule, but not according your time frame. You have placed yourself under My authority and kingdom rule where time on the earth takes only a secondary position. You can make your appointments and set your schedules, but you must remember that My purposes for you supersede natural plans. For, I see and know all things, and I know how to bring about that which is best for you, says the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Focus on the things of the day, Timothy, especially the works of The Lord. Worry not on tomorrow, for The Lord holds tomorrow in His right hand, and yesterday in His left. But today, cherish, for The Lord is with you today. Let The Lord handle your tomorrows. You, Timothy, work, and do those things both necessary and pleasurable for your family today, for tomorrow holds its own trials... All of which can and will be overcome through Me."

El Roi Saw Andrew

I had a couple hours this morning that I could have finally have slept in...yet, I was awoken at 6 AM. As usual, I tried to go back to sleep but as I tried, the memories and realities of our last fourteen days rushed in. I've had no time to process everything as the leader. I'm always "on". Always... but here at the Adonai Hotel which feels like a big hug, thanks to their sweet service and lovely accommodations, I've had some down time and some time alone. We leave tomorrow night so our schedule has slowed down some as I'm trying to be sensitive to the team's emotions and energy which is quickly running out.

As I began processing these last two weeks, I suddenly remembered the news I heard yesterday which, had I been in the privacy of my home and not having to "hold it together" for the team, would have brought me to my knees.

On Monday we visited Renee Bach's ministry, Serving His Children in Jinja. Renee is doing an extraordinary service through her ministry to starving and malnourished children among the least of these in Jinja. What makes her even more extraordinary is that many times as she is nursing a child or young man or woman back to health, they will pass away in her sweet arms. Yet, she keeps on going and serving, loving her God, by loving and fighting for these children.

Our team had the honor and privilege to meet sweet Andrew who was in her care. He was four years old and had been left by his mom in a starving condition at his grandmother's front door just a few days earlier. He was at Renee's when our team visited.

We were all stunned and shocked that he could be four, yet he barely weighed anything. I held little Andrew's feet as they were so cold and I could tell he wanted to sleep. I know when my feet are cold that I can't get comfortable enough to sleep. So, I held his little feet in my hands and rubbed them until they grew warm. It's all I knew to do. We all gathered around him and asked questions, spoke to him in our English, which he did not understand and tried to let him know we loved him.

But, you could tell he was so scared. So sad and so uncomfortable. Renee in her beauty, grace, peace and strength just calmly reassured him all the while answering our many questions. We just could not understand how someone could let their child starve. There are many questions that will never be answered. How could this team of white people ever understand life in a small mud home that has probably been visited by death and sickness many times over. Most of these poor women just give up when they find their children very sick, or when they can't find the resources to care for them.

But this sweet Andrew's grandmother had the love to take him to the hospital where Renee found him. His last couple of days were spent with two sweet women of God, Renee and her best friend, Shana, as they stayed up every hour all night long, just to feed him two tablespoons of this special mixture they make, as that is all he would eat. Every hour....all night long.

Yet, the news I heard yesterday was that Andrew passed away. What breaks me the most is that his last words were "I want my mommy". In all the love and care that Shana and Renee poured on him, he just wanted his mommy. But his mommy was nowhere to be found. I don't say this to bash her. We do NOT know her circumstances. But, I think of the MILLIONS of children who are in Andrew's condition, who die alone just wanting their mommy and it WRECKS me. In his last minute, he just wanted his mommy.

I think of Jesus who died on the cross and how forsaken He felt in those last minutes...He felt abandoned by his own Father, the God of this universe. Even he wanted to live. Even he wanted his daddy in his last few minutes here on this rotten earth.

They all just want their mommy and daddy and they are left alone.

I weep as I write this as the idea of now returning to our plush, seemingly lifeless reality hits me. We are sick in America. We are sick with fatness, complacency, indulgence, entertainment, the pursuit of success and distraction. The enemy's goal is to lull us to sleep...to make us so comfortable we cannot move!!!!!!!!!! And yet, there are starving orphans, literally, left alone to die.

I hope this blog post WAKES YOU UP!!! I hope it makes you stop eating all those lifeless foods which are trying to put you to sleep. I hope it makes you turn off that movie or television which steals your time and WASTES it. And lastly I hope it convicts you of the reality of the life of an orphan here in Africa and many other nations. And I pray as well that I will return with this same conviction and never return to that place.

A few minutes ago I went into the kitchen at this guest home to get my cup of coffee. Above the coffee maker was a sign that said, "El Roi - The Strong God Who Sees".
God sees these children and he saw Andrew. This strong loving Father picked sweet Andrew up and placed him in Renee's arms. I pray he some how knew that His loving, heavenly Father never forsook him. He loved him so much that he took him home to be with him. Home where there is no sin or death. Home where he is surrounded and engulfed by Love. Not the emotion or feeling, but the One who is Love.

We love you Renee and we are so sorry. Thank you for always getting up and going forward, even when your heart breaks so much. We are praying for you. And you inspire those of us whose hearts break. We can't give up either... There is too much at stake.

Sereka

I am writing this as our team and I are on our way to Rakaii, Uganda after several days at Canaan Children’s Home. Our team spent the nights in this orphanage. I have found that the teams who get to spend the evening and early morning hours with the kids always come home more broken hearted than the other teams. It must be due to the unscheduled free time where each team member gets to spend quality time with certain children whom the Lord softens their heart to.

It’s usually the little children who seek out the team members.

Every time our teams arrive at an orphanage they are welcomed with screaming little children who are clapping and jumping up and down. Then, as they get off the bus, they are literally tackled with tribes of children. There is something extremely special about African children…they trust you completely. They rush over, greet you and immediately start holding your hand. If you pick them up, they will in time fall asleep on you. They so want a place to surrender, to be held and loved and rocked to sleep as you hold them.

So, this team is wrecked as Canaan Children’s home had about 23 new orphans. Most of which came from traumatic backgrounds. Sereka was the little girl who chose me this time. She wasn’t the most beautiful of the little girls. She had some teeth missing prematurely, but she didn’t care. She smiled so big. She rarely spoke anything. She hardly moved, unless prompted by me. I asked Pastor Isaac for her story. He said she was sexually abused by a relative until she came to Canaan’s. She was maybe four years old. And we noticed that she barely moved and was very hot and found out that she also had malaria.

This is the little girl that God decided to break my heart with again. The list of those He uses in my life continues with each trip. Ababa in Ethiopia, Faida in Gulu, Adelisa in Costa Rica, etc.

Atleast I know I will be back in Uganda in just two months. Sereka will see me again and that’s what is important to her heart. She’s worth more than one visit. Her little heart doesn’t need to feel used again, abandoned again, or forgotten again.
I had some time in the quietness of my room at the orphanage to hug her tightly and pray over her. She held on for what seemed like dear life. I prayed for protection and for the healing of her traumatized heart. I watched her as we drove away in our bus..and thankfully she was smiling and not crying. She seemed loved and encouraged and hopeful. She knows in her little trustful heart that I will come again soon.

This is why I encourage our team members to try and visit the same orphanages and children three years in a row. We want the orphans to know they are loved and remembered. Not just a great experience for us and now we can move on. Because they aren’t moving on. They are in the same place day in and day out. We have to come to them. We are the ones who can model Christ and go to them to visit.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18

The Lord is My Helper

This is what I keep reminding myself..."The Lord is My Helper"..

Currently, I am sitting in the manager of Ethiopian Airlines' office here at the Dulles airport. Atleast I will now know him on a first name basis and have his cell phone number for any future teams that go out with VO! ;) Always have to look at the positive side of things and see God's providence in it all.

Basically, our flight which was scheduled at noon tomorrow (12/28) was originally on a 777 aircraft. They had issues with that carrier and had to "downgrade" to a 767, which means that it would take longer to fly to the Addis airport from Dulles, thus missing our 10:30 AM flight out of Addis to either Entebbe or Rwanda (which is where are two teams are headed), so the next flight out would not be until 10:30 PM that night, meaning we would not get in until midnight. So, our teams opted to stay an extra night in D.C. and fly out on the noon flight on the 29th instead. Ethiopian airlines is giving each person $200 cash and they are throwing in some first class tickets, so I think the team is happy.

We will just head straight to ministry on the 30th, jet lagged and all. I always know in situations like this that God has a plan.

Please continue to pray for favor for our team.... We need it! :)

The Best Gift There Is

Are you looking for peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle? Are you looking for peace in the midst of chaos? These slogans are all too familiar this time of year for different advertising companies as they push their sleep meds or new soft mattresses and the like.

I sit in a home that is quite dirty, compared to my usual attention to it's cleanliness. A home with lots of clutter due to gifts that need to be wrapped, pine needles that have fallen from the tree and many new wonderful Christmas cards we've recently received in the mail. All blessings, for sure! Even a home is a blessing, I know!

But this time of year has been especially chaotic for me. We are in the midst of paper chasing for our adoption and fundraising. Visiting Orphans is being so wonderfully blessed with new partnerships, with has brought changes and additions to our staff. I am also sending out three teams to Africa right after Christmas, the largest team of 25, I'm personally leading and will be gone for 14 days with them. Honestly, Christmas has become more of a duty and obligation lately than a joy to me. I can't imagine I'm the only one who has felt like this.

I am reminded of a wonderful saying that my good friend, Bethany Haley, just tweeted, "Should we learn to live more simply so that others can simply live?" My husband and i recently purchased new Android phones from Verizon. I resisted this for months...finally, with the trip for Uganda coming up, and my old blackberry acting up for the 10th time, we decided to "upgrade". So, I now have this fancy phone that vibrates when you touch it and can do more than I think my computer at work can do. I had this overwhelming feeling. But it was more like a resentment towards it.

I'm not that old. I'm not that young either. So I remember life before cell phones existed. And even a little bit before cable was in everyone's homes. There was so much more time to read, use your imagination and spend face to face, quality time with friends. And the best of it...there was QUIET time. If you had to drive from one place to another and you were alone, you could turn down the radio and just be quiet and reflect. I remember when I used to have to fight rush hour traffic in and out of Atlanta for work each day. I used to call that time "my church". I would listen to worship and sermons and just praise and worship God and just be quiet in prayer and reflection before Him.

There's such little time for this now. And it worries me. I was sick this past weekend. I will spare you the details. :) Sometimes I really love being sick. I honestly feel like God allows the flu and small illnesses to get us to be still. What I hate is that it may take that to make us stop doing so much, ignoring Him, the one we are living for.

Today, I had the day off. I had much "to do". Stocking stuffers to buy, cleaning the house and making up the beds for the guests, running to the bank, coffee with a wonderful friend, and even plans to get a massage. However, every time I tried to leave the home, I had this pull in my soul and spirit to just stay home. To be still. To spend an entire day with the man I love the most....Jesus Christ. I was softly reminded of Isa 48:17-18 and Isa 30: 15-18 and many others..

So, I changed back into my sweats, fixed my favorite cup of coffee and went to my favorite chair next to the fireplace, in the warm sunlight. I have exchanged busyness today for what is best, the richness of time in fellowship with my Heavenly Father and Bridegroom. It's out of this relationship that ministry is birthed anyway. Without Him we are truly nothing and have nothing to give.

Isn't this what Christmas is about anyway? Jesus Christ? I submit that maybe the best gift to give Him this year for his birthday is a relationship with Him. Not a decision, not just an act of faith, but an active and walking relationship with Him. I bet He would love to spend an entire day with each of you. Let's remember, that Jesus is the one who deserves a gift more than anyone else. Give Him your time, adoration and self this year. It's truly the gift that keeps on giving.

We are Adopting! Let the Fundraising Begin!

So, here's the official announcement finally! Simon and I are excited to announce that we are adopting a little girl from Ethiopia! Let the FUNDRAISING begin!!!

First the details...
Our little girl has a name...she is what they call in the adoption world, "pre-identified". However, we've never met her. Basically, through a friend and former team member of Visiting Orphans, we were easily persuaded to try to start the adoption process for a little five year old girl from Ethiopia. This team member had fallen in love with her on a previous trip to Ethiopia. B_____ is I guess, in some ways, a street kid. I know that sounds awful, but I want you to know the awful truth. Right now, she is abandoned and lives on the street in Ethiopia. Through the kindness of many strangers, she is loved on as much as possible and now, she is in the process of getting her adoption paperwork started. Yet, at this time, she is still on the streets...

Our adoption is what you call "high risk" as she's not even in an orphanage, does not yet have a birth certificate, nor a certificate of abandonment. In a way, she is forgotten and unknown. But soon...she will not only be known, she will have the last name of Lawrence!!

Please keep B____ in your prayers for protection. Prayers that once her paperwork is completed she will be put in the right orphanage and that all the other hurdles that may come up, will be very small and almost obsolete in nature. We have to keep most details protected at this time, but soon, once her adoption papers are complete, we will tell you more!

If you would like to donate to our adoption, feel free to donate through the PayPal Donate button on this blog.

At this time, your donations are not tax deductible, but as soon as we complete our home study, we will work with a not for profit so that all donations are tax deductible at that time. However, if that is not important to you, we would greatly appreciate your donation now, as there are many small payments that we have to make during this "paper chasing" time of creating a dossier. You can send a check to 8669 Burkitt Place Dr., Nolensville, TN 37135. You can make it out to us or America World Adoption, whichever you prefer.

I cannot wait to have her home and we cannot wait to be parents!! We know she is hand picked by God in every way....

CBS News Covers Project Hopeful

Visiting Orphans is so excited to partner with an amazing agency, Project Hopeful, for an Ethiopia and Uganda trip this coming April. Carolyn Twietmeyer, Founder and Director of this ministry is leading this team. Her family was just in this past week's People magazine and featured last night on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. You can watch the news clip below.
To join this trip, whose purpose is to bring more awareness to HIV/AIDS orphans, sign up here.

Profile of a Winner

I wanted to introduce you all to the winner of our Mission Trip Giveaway, Anna Cardiel. Anna is a school bus driver in Tehachapi, California. She has been on 3 Visiting Orphans trips to China over the past years. She raised every cent of each trip through fundraising. Except this year she was unable.

This year she was not even able to afford to purchase the Pure Religion t-shirt so her mother purchased it just so she could be entered into the mission trip giveaway drawing!

On Anna's first trip to Chaoyang, China in 2007, she was changed immensely. Anna had never been around special needs children and honestly in her words, "was a little afraid of them". She met this little toddler baby boy named Fu Jain who had microcephalus, which is the condition when a child's head is abnormally smaller than the rest of his body. The nannies at this SWI neglected this baby boy and he was never held and had never been out of his crib. Anna said that she truly felt the love of a mother for this baby boy and took him out of his crib for the first time and outside for the first time. She said her heart broke when she had to come back to the states and leave him and insisted that the nannies take him out of his crib and outside from now on.

She returned the next year to find him WALKING! The nannies had learned by Anna's example and had loved him now. The next year Anna was unable to return to visit with Fu Jain due to the swine flu, although she was determined to go on missions to China and went to Heng Feng, China instead.

This year though, she just did not see how it could be possible that she could return. She felt she had asked too many times for funds and her faith was just lacking. So, her precious mom believed for her and purchased her t-shirt just so she could be entered into the drawing and she WON! In fact, yesterday was Fu Jain's 5 year old birthday!!! The day she won this trip to see him again!!!!

Here is Anna's response to the announcement that she won:
So UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!! Hi I'm Anna Cardiel The winner of the Visiting
Orphans mission trip contest..YAY!!! I went to Chaoyang China 2007 on
my first mission trip never knowing what condition the orphans would be
in, special needs is not something I though I could handle. Because we
server such an awesome God Christ Jesus my heart became His and I fell
in love with the Children especially a little one, Jain. I could never
afford a trip so I did a fund raiser for that year and the next two
years. I was unable to go in 2010 due to my own finances and that was
such a heartbreak. Then this year Visiting Orphans comes up with this
contest (which NEVER in a million years did I think I would win) and at
the very last minute I entered the contest, which my mom paid for the
t-shirt, and here I sit writing a winners testimony!!!!!!!! THANK YOU
CHRIST JESUS!!!!!!! Oh thank you too Visiting Orphans for your small
part hee hee

Won't you be an Anna to an orphan this Summer?! You can join Anna in Chaoyang in 2011 by applying here!

You can see a photo of Anna here with her beloved Fu Jain in the SWI (social welfare institute, what China calls an orphanage) in Chaoyang.

And the Winner Is?!

Watch this video to find out who won our amazing Visiting Orphans Mission Trip drawing:

Orphan Sunday Tomorrow

In honor of Orphan Sunday tomorrow, November 6th, please watch this video. It is why I fell in love with sending missions to orphans. It was the child after child in an orphanage that I met and fell in love with, only to have to leave behind due to governmental systems that are not "for" them or due to the fact that no family was stepping up to adopt them. I still remember the time I was at the Mother Theresa HIV orphanage in Addis and a little 4 year old boy was pushed into a gutter and split his head open. This time someone was there to pick him up and console him....that was me. But every other day, no one cared. No one came to rescue him. No one came to love him. No one came just to hold him when he fell....

Hope is Fading – Orphan Sunday from Allan Rosenow on Vimeo.

The Ripple Effect..

Here's an awesome example of why I love what I do! Not only is it the millions of orphans who need us to come meet and love them, but it's TWO fold! It's the people who go on these trips to visit orphans who are changed forever. I fondly call it the Ripple Effect.

Mary Beth Lavin joined me on the first mission trip I ever led for VO in 2006! It was VO's first time sending a team to Ethiopia. From that trip, God ignited Mary Beth's heart (and obviously mine!) with a passion and she returned home with a another term I am fond of, a "holy frustration". A frustration from God..one that she would wrestle with until a year and a half ago when God's purpose for her life was made clear. Please watch this video to see how Mary Beth's not for profit, Formula One Life is saving orphaned babies lives all over the world!

You'll want to fast forward to about the 4th minute into the video...

Real Conversations - Formula One Life - RC04 from Real Conversations on Vimeo.

Why Do I Do What I Do

There are many days that I feel judged. Many days that I feel disliked. Many days that I feel misunderstood. Many days that I feel resisted. I know what's in my heart, but others don't. God does.

People may judge me and think that I am just trying to "grow" a company. They may think that it's all about me or Visiting Orphans. In fact at the end of the day I feel like there are many who truly are more against me than for me. And that makes me sad. I am not a woman made of armor. I am made of flesh and blood and words and judgements hurt.

What I do know is this. I know there are more than 143 million orphans in this world. I know that there are probably a lot less of God's people doing what James 1:27 tells them to do...to visit orphans in distress than this 143 million number. So, I have this burn...not just in my heart, but in my GUT! It's what I call a Heart Cry. It comes from the belly and wells up and compels me. My heart's cry is to see every orphan visited. Yes, I wish that every orphan could be adopted into a forever family and yes, I wish at the end of the day that there were no more orphans! But the reality is that there has been since the Old Testament times and most likely will be until Christ returns. So, what's my place, my lot, my purpose for this life I live until He returns?! My personal mission is to bring the hope of Christ to every orphan. For them to know that God sees them. That they are not forgotten. To find them in their hidden places. That they are found, adopted by their Abba Father and have a royal inheritance. To know that I personally do love them. That God has downloaded a love for them that is so strong that I can't possibly do anything else!

So when you see me "marketing" and campaigning some more for Visiting Orphans and our mission trips, it's this heart cry that fuels me. It may not be your heart cry and you may do thing differently, but this is all for God's glory. That's why we are here on earth to bring Him glory. May Visiting Orphans bring Him glory by increasing as the number of people choosing to GO and visit orphans in distress increases and the number of orphans not visited DECREASES.

Our Mission Trip Giveaway!

We have an exciting opportunity for you that we can't wait to share with you! The details are in this video!

Visiting Orphans Mission Trip Giveaway from Amanda Lawrence on Vimeo.

www.visitingorphans.org/tshirts

The girls get their new beds!

Want to Visit Orphans in Ethiopia this February for FREE?!

Kari Gibson, one of our team leader's extraordinaire is giving away two free mission trips to Ethiopia! Just purchase one of her awesome orphan advocate t-shirts and you will immediately be entered into her give away drawing. You can find out more here on her blog.

Can't Sleep Because of Haiti

The last two nights have brought me little sleep and it's not because this is the hottest country I've ever visited, so hot that in fact, when you lay down at night, you need no bed covers and no clothes if you can help it!

My lack of sleep is due to the questions and concerns rolling around in my head after these last two days visiting Haiti. The main reason four of us descended onto Haiti for only one full day this week was to visit an orphanage with seriously some of the most precious children I've ever met. We sat with the landlord of the orphanage, the orphanage director, and the two powerful women that ran the orphanage. I want to tell you about this meeting and all that came out of it, but there is another orphanage visit that was "impromptu" which is the one that kept me awake last night praying and crying out to God..."How in the world can we help them?" as I fought against all kinds of feelings of being overwhelmed and feeling so small against needs that are so big.

We visited an orphanage called Well Being. This orphanage has about 25 orphans. They had a home, but the earthquake destroyed it. Thankfully no one was hurt in it though. However, since they now have no building to live in, they are living in a Unicef tent in the back yard of an amazing friend to the orphanage director. That's difficult, right? Just the fact that these orphans and director have no house...Now, imagine that this orphanage director has diabetes and in April, she stepped on a large nail, but due to her diabetes did not even feel it. She did the best she could to bandage it, but as she walked around in the Haitian dirt daily, caring for the orphans, her wound became infected and developed gangrene. So what did they do? I guess what they had to do, cut off her foot and calf. So, now she's an amputee and some how still has to care for the 25 orphans she was previously carrying for. She is fighting depression, despair and hopelessness.

The home that is caring for them has well water. the well is just this huge 30 foot hole, with no walls around it. They have to lift a bucket of water to bring up the water. They said that many of the children are getting sick and they fear it's the water and that once one child almost fell in. I almost fell in just standing and looking over it! Thankfully "Feed the Poor" is giving them enough beans and rice every two months to feed them. However, all their other needs are not being met...and they are asking me, little ole' me, to please buy the field next door so they can some how have a house one day! There were so many other needs I'm not mentioning.

But this is what is keeping me up at night. I laid awake wondering and asking God, "Who can provide a prosthetic leg for this orphanage director and how can we fit her with it?!" Only GOD can provide this divine connection. I've seen and heard about stories where He's done this and I know He is not a respecter of persons, so what He did for one amputee, I have to believe He WILL do for another one.

Visiting Orphans teams can help bring supplies, build a wall around their well, and bring love to meet their basic immediate needs, but that's where we look to churches to partner with orphanages like these. VO is only the connector. We have no other funds to help in cases like these. We can't do it without the churches...Do you know a church which might want to "adopt" this orphanage?

This was the chapter of the Word that kept swirling around in my head as I thought about all of this..
James 1: 22-24
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:27 to visit and care for orphans follows directly after. So, how can I see what I have seen and know that the Word of God says to care for the orphans and walk away and not do anything?! I am now responsible....But I know God has not only called me, but the whole body of Christ. So, I will walk confidently in the fact, that God finishes what He starts. He will not forsake this orphanage director. He will some how connect us with the right person to fit her with a prosthetic and maybe, hopefully, move on the leadership of a church to help for their long term needs and to give them a home.