We believe choosing to follow Christ is more than a weekend visit to our church or a percentage of our income placed in an offering basket. We believe that our daily life is to be a reflection of our choice. We believe our actions are to bear witness to our choice. We believe there is only One True King, and His name is Jesus Christ.
It is this belief that moved us to travel to Ukraine and bring 3 teenagers into our family. Teenagers who had little hope of a future in their homeland. Teenagers who had been given no life skills and had no existing support system to speak of. Teenagers who needed a family.
We ARE a family.
We believe that all scripture is God breathed...
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2-е Тимофею 3:16-17
16 Каждый отрывок Писания, так как оно вдохновлено Богом, полезен при наставлении истины и убеждении грешников, а также для того, чтобы помочь людям стать на путь истинный и исправиться. 17 Благодаря Писанию человек Божий будет готов ко всему и сможет исполнять всё, что от него требуется для совершения добрых дел.
We believe that when God, through the Holy Spirit, brings us to an awareness, we have a responsibility to act, to do, to step out of our comfort zone and become closer to who He created us to be by meeting a needs of others.
We believe that God prepares and equips each of us for a calling. We believe our calling is parenting the fatherless.
This picture is our entire family, including 2 children who remain in Ukraine by choice. We are currently parenting them from afar by ensuring all their needs are met, remaining available to them for guidance, and praying for them daily.
James 1:27
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.
Walking out this calling we have added three children from Ukraine to our family through adoption in 2013.
Иакова 1:27
Истинное же благочестие, угодное Богу, ничем не запятнанное и чистое перед Богом и Отцом, выражается в заботе о сиротах и вдовах, нуждающихся в помощи, и в сохранении себя неосквернённым от мира.
This blog entry contains pictures from that journey. The amazing beauty of the country, and the
heartbreaking things we experienced as we walked among the beautiful people of Ukraine. Those
sights, sounds and smells have changed us. They have given us a love for the Ukrainian people. They have broken our hearts even greater for the orphan. They have left us in awe of our Great and Mighty Heavenly Father.
This.
This is what we saw, day in and day out as we visited orphanages with our missionary friends. Children desperate to be seen. Children desperate to be heard. Children desperate to be loved.
So many times, the children would walk with us to the bus and cling to us with an embraced that begged us not to forget them. and every time... every time, it broke our hearts. So many days we would cry as we prayed for them during the long bus rides back to where we were staying.
And we have taught our children to pray for them as well. Every child should know the security that comes with having a family.
We praise God for all He has done for our family. He invited us on a journey that allowed us to experience Him with great intimacy. He walked with us as we traversed deep valleys of darkness, guiding our feet, one step at a time. He never let us fall. All praise and honor and glory are His, the Lord Jesus Christ...FOREVER.
It was His hand that made this possible. It was His hand that provided. It was His call for us to go. And it was HE that continues to lead us on the narrow path that leads home to His Kingdom.
The Scroll and the Lamb Revelation 5
5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” 3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
No comments:
Post a Comment