4 Ways YOU can Make a difference

In our fast and busy lives, we tend to ignore, put out of our minds, or just totally forget the fatherless. When God called Darren and I to adopt, our hearts were totally wrenched as we read statistic after statistic of the many neglected and forgotten little ones around the world.  I believe that we as Christians have a great responsibility and we as American Christians often have not only the responsibility, but the resources God has blessed us with to take care of His little ones.

There's an anonymous quote, which I may have quoted before, but it gets me every time:

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it.”

“Well, why don’t you ask Him?”

“Because I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.”

What can you do to help the 140 MILLION orphans around the world? Here are 4 ways you can make a difference today!

1) Pray that God will give you HIS heart for the fatherless. This can be a dangerous prayer! If you search the Scriptures, you will find that God loves His children and He commands His people to love and care for those without family. His heart breaks for those little children. When you ask God to give you His heart, I believe that God will challenge you in ways you never thought possible.


2) Consider sponsoring a child. There are many avenues through which you can sponsor a child monthly. Our family sponsors a little girl in Nicaragua through Latin American Child Care. There are other programs such as Compassion or World Vision which are great programs. This is a way to provide for a child in great poverty, so that they can stay with their families. So often children are abandoned because parents don't have the money to care for them. This is a solution that shows the love of God and these programs share the love of Jesus to those in great need. Many familes come to know Jesus through these programs and it prevents many children from becoming "orphans".


3) Support adoption & open up your heart to see if God would have you to adopt. You might think you would not be a good candidate for adopting a child, but I believe there are many families that God is calling to adopt. Children NEED the love of familes! Even if God does NOT call you to adopt, I believe every Chrisitian should support adoption. You can do this in numerous ways. Here are just a few.
-Donate financially to those who are taking the step of faith to adopt.

-Bring meals to those who have just brought their new little one home. The transition time can be rough, and even a meal or two can be an amazing blessing!

-Offer to help watch siblings while new adoptive parents go to doctor's visits, therapists and dentist visits with their new little one. These visits can be numerous, especially when first coming home, and having someone help watch the other children is a God-send!

-Get involved in an adoption ministry in your church...if your church doesn't have one-start one!

-Advocate for children who need families.

-Host an orphan for a month or two. There are many programs out there where you can host an older child or teenager. Some of them are not even available for adoption, but the difference you can make by connecting with their lives is unbelievable.


4) Support foster care and pray about becoming foster parents. There are children right in our neighborhoods who have been transferred from family to family. They are hurting and confused. We need loving, Christian homes to provide stability to broken children. If you don't feel called to become a foster parent, find some way to support those Christian parents who you know are taking care of those precious children! They need your prayers, love and support. It is not an easy job and God didn't call any one of us to do it alone. A few ways you can support these parents: Make a meal (food is always welcome!), invite them over to your house, give them a gift card or money to help purchase needed items, and let them know you are praying for them!! Advocate, learn and teach others about fostering and adopting. 

Everyone can and should care for God's children, and in turn many of them will come to know Him! Please consider these things and figure out your place in caring for His little ones! You can change a life (or two, three, four or more!) 

Mission 1:27 Christmas Wish List

Yes, it's that time of the year again!! Only 2 months until one of my favorite days of the year: Christmas! I love the anticipation of the little children, the sparkling lights, the brightly colored packages under the tree. I love the joyous music, the children in the Christmas plays, and the yummy goodies on the red and green trays; but most of all, I love the wonder of the story of the virgin Mary and my Savior who was born as a humble baby in a stall where cattle feed. The message of the Savior is meant for all mankind. I want to encourage you today to plan with your family to do something special this Christmas season for someone in need. Mission 1:27 has gathered a Christmas wish list from several of our orphanages around the world. There is such great need and so many children who need to feel the love of the Savior this Christmas. We are working with many missionaries all over the world that work with orphanages and children's homes. So many of them do not have the funds to provide for all the needs. Here is a sample of our Mission 1:27 Christmas wish list:

1. $100 for an awareness campaign on human trafficking in Nepal


2. $150 for a girls feeding program in Bangladesh

3. $150 for to support a Bible club in Lithuania

4. $150 for VBS material in the Philippines

5. $150 for a feeding program in Jamaica

6. $150 for housing in Guatemala

7. Up to $5,000 for multiple orphanage needs in Mexico, Including $200 for Christmas dinner for one orphanage.

8. Any amount for camping supplies in Russia

Thanks for showing God's children that He truly cares for them!! Any donations can be given at http://www.mission127.com/ securely through paypal. Be sure to put in the memo line which project you wish to donate to so we can give proper credit! A little gift can go a LONG way! God bless!!

We Cannot Ignore their cries

A few nights ago, my husband showed me a video that I cannot get out of my mind. Two missionaries went out into a very remote village in Uganda and what they found is beyond words. They found two children, literally left in the dirt, face down, starving to death. They could not walk, but would scoot around in circles in the dirt, grasping for hope. Their older sister, who we found out was 8 years old, returned from who knows where with a tub of water. She dragged the kids to the tub of water and cleaned them up. There were no adults around. The children were left to starve to death, except for an eight year old who cared enough to try to clean them up. The good news of the story is that the missionaries were able to raise money to get hospital care and food for the two younger children and find a private home with a guardian for the 8 year old. The children will live. They have been given hope and shown the love of Christ through someone who cared enough to be moved with compassion for their plight.

The church cannot ignore the cries of children any longer. There are so many children starving, beaten, abused, sold into prostitution and they are crying out for hope. God did not intend for children to be treated this way and His heart is breaking. He is compelling many of us to do something NOW. Did you know that if you want to adopt a healthy infant, there is often a waiting list, sometimes of several years? However, there are countless numbers of older children and special needs children that have been waiting and waiting for a family to adopt them. There are 14 and 15 year olds who are aging out of orphanages and being turned back onto the streets to fend for themselves. Many of those end up as prostittues because they are forced to find a way to live.

Don't ignore the cries of children around the world today. God's heart is moved with compassion and our hearts should be too. God is compelling us to do something...give up your Starbucks for a week, give up your lunch for a day, sponsor a child through latin american child care. You say, how can that little bit help? If you start with a little and you allow God to use you in a "little" way, He will begin to move on your heart with compassion and soon you will be allowing God to use you in a "mighty" way! Darren and I, along with some of our friends from our church have started a ministry called Mission 1:27. Right now, we don't have much by way of funding, but we are beleiving that God is going to move on people's hearts to give. Our passion is for children around the world to be reached with the Gospel through love. If you want to start by donating and helping us with our passion, go to http://www.mission127.com/ and find out some of the projects we have waiting to be funded. We cannot ignore the cries of the hurting children any longer.

Pray for us also as we are in the process of adopting. We really feel God has a "waiting" child for us. Please pray that God gives the wisdom and compassion to know how to care for our new son or daughter because we can only imagine the things which have happened in that little child's life. Our God is a God of restoration and I believe that He will restore our child and begin a healing process in his or her heart even now!

Living Simply

I was reading through some blogs the other day and I ran accross this quote  from one of our Missionaries, Glen Garrison, that really stuck with me  "We must learn to live more simply so that others may simply live." What a powerful word. We in America are so blessed. We have so much stuff. We have above and beyond what we need to live. In so many places around this world, people do not even have clean water to drink. They have only 1/2 a cup of rice a day, or less.  In a several countries in Africa, parents don't even give their child a name until they reach the age of 5 because such a large percentage of children die in those first few years. When I stopped to think about this statement, I wondered why I was born in America. Was it because God loves me more? Was it because I deserve it? No, God does not love me more and, no I don't deserve to live in luxury any more than an orphan deserves to live in poverty; however, I do believe that God  expects us to share our blessings with those in need. He says in Luke 12:48b "When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required" We in America have been given much. What will we do with what we have been given?

I've decided this year to strive to live more simply. I've never been a person to spend money on designer jeans or purses; I've never been a person who buys name brand shoes and fills my closet with all kinds of shoes, only to wear each pair one time; but I do believe that I can live more simply. One thing I love to do is bargain shop. There is nothing wrong with bargain shopping; however, I often find myself purchasing something just because it's a good deal and not because I really NEED it! I also like to eat out, and I love my Starbucks! There's nothing wrong with eating out or an occasional Starbucks, but it does cost a lot. What could I do with the money I save by taking my lunch most days instead of eating out? I could fund a project with Mission 1:27, maybe even feed one of those orphans which I shared about in my previous post or sponsor another child through Latin American Childcare.  Most of us in America live in extravagance compared to the rest of the world, where millions of people struggle to barely live. What could you do today to live more simply, in order to help someone around the world simply live?

My heart for Orphans: Mission 1:27

Today we are launching an e-touch campaign for the orphan care and adoption ministry my husband and I started in our church, so I just want to take a few minutes to share with my followers my heart for orphans around the world. As my husband and I began this journey of adoption, our heart was broken for the destitute, abandoned and abused children of the world. God began to speak to our hearts about doing something to help these children.  It is an amazing story how God has begun to create in us a picture of His love for the world and out of this passion for Him and His heart for children was birthed a ministry called Mission 1:27. Today we were sent a story from one of our missionaries at an orphanage and I want to share a portion of this e-mail with you. For the protection of the children and the missionaries, I am not including the name or the location of the orphanage.

"Today we received two new children. Some policemen found these two little precious out the day before New Year's Eve, alone, trying to keep each other warm next to a concrete wall, on a pile of rubbish out on 15 degree weather. They were left to die.No birth certificate, no identity, they don't exist in our state's eyes. They were poorly dressed with what the employees from the center had brought from home.When our children saw them, they all ran to their closets and brought them clothes and toys.

Of course the clothes were too big and the new children couldn't enjoy the toys, they were too frightened. They are so tiny, beaten (the boy has cigarette burns on his bottom), unfed, never even had a bottle, the only food they are used to is dried out bread. They rather stay squeezed in a corner and can't communicate. I don't know the last time we saw such a pitiful sight. But having them and being able to care for them, blessed our hearts.
If any of you would like to help with the initial needs of these children, these are the following:

We need to run some medical tests, and because they have no id number, it all costs a lot.
We need diapers and shoes. They are so small we need stuff for 1yo and 2yo.

Also we took these children in by faith, the cost of feeding one child is $80 a month"

My heart broke for these children and for the multitudes of children like this around the world. These children need the love of Christ, and one way we can show the love of Christ is by providing for their physical needs. I wish I personally had the funds to help these children. Everytime I hear a story, I want to help; but there is no way I can do this alone. This is why Mission 1:27 exsists. If you would like to help, please go to our website at http://www.mission127.com/ and donate through our secure paypal account or mail a check to the address found on that site. Please know that 100% of your donation will go to help children such as these around the world. God has called us to make a difference and together we can! Please share this post and the website information with anyone and everyone! Spread the word and change the lives of children around the world!

The Mission of Mission 1:27

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. Time has slipped by, with not much happening on the adoption front. We are in the waiting game, before the REAL waiting has even started. We are waiting for our psychologist to finish up his reports before we can start our homestudy. So today I want to write a little bit about Mission 1:27, the ministry birthed in our hearts for the orphans of the world. As my husband and I started on our adoption journey, our hearts were broken by the great need in our world and by the lack of churches and Christians reaching out to meet these needs.  In our research for adoption we discovered there are 147 million orphans around the world, and millions more children who live in complete poverty, with barely one meal a day. The more we researched, the more we found misionaries and ministries in the Assemblies of God reaching children around the world, but needing funds for many of the projects. Projects such as: feeding hundreds of children, providing winter coats for those with none, giving scholarships for children to go to school or providing funds for medical needs for children who cannot afford medical care.  There are many churches and people who would be willing to help with these projects if they only knew the desperate needs. We also discovered that many people in the Assemblies of God would be interested in adopting, but our Fellowship has no formal place to find information on adoption. From this discovery, along with lots of prayer and discussion with several others in our church, an idea was formed in our hearts. We call it Mission 1:27, based on the Scripture James 1:27.

Our mission is twofold: to encourage churches or individuals to become involved with orphan care ministry by partnering with our missionaries throughout the world to reach the children in need and also to provide adoption information and resources for those interested in adoption.

God cares for the children of the world. He sees their hunger and feels their pain. He wants us to do the same. God has blessed us for more than our own pleasure. He has blessed us so we can use our resources to help others. So think about it and do something to help. Start an orphan care ministry in your church. Adopt a child through Latin American Child Care. (It's only about $30 per month!)  Give to Mission 1:27. Do something to change this world. Show God's love by changing a child's life. If you want more information on Mission 1:27, please contact me or my husband at info@mission127.com. We have a passion and a desire to help children throughout the world through this ministry, but we need your help.