"Quilted Picker Upper!"

This time, the Happy Mail Dance wasn't caused by a letter from our Compassion children.

But our Compassion children will be excited when we write to tell them that we're one step further in our preparations to welcome home our youngest daughter.

The bedding we ordered to "match" Big Sister's bedding has arrived.

Different brand & quilt, but beautiful combination.


Now, all we need is the other perfect match :o)

Hope Unfolding

Springtime takes my breath away.

Given the harshness of Canadian winters
and the knowledge
that these delicate plants
are subjected to the unforgiving elements all winter long...

It isn't lost on me that come Easter, like HOPE unfolding,

they rise in worship to the One who has risen to give us hope.

May our harshest seasons never discourage us from seeing HOPE unfolding.

Evidence Of Love

Although Africa has taken a front row center seat in our lives lately, it's certainly not the only adventure our family has embarked upon. As we shared in a handful of recent posts, we're smack-dab in the middle of the adoption process. At the moment, we're finishing up the home study in anticipation of the matching process. We are eager for the day that we'll be welcoming a little girl into our family.

I remember first considering adoption at the age of four, and being sure even then that I'd be an adoptive mom someday. That never changed.

It hasn't been easy. Adoption rarely is.

When we began this process 4 years ago, we realized it wasn't yet time, so we put our plans to adopt on hold, not knowing if the time would ever come.

That time did come last summer when we learned of a little girl in our community who was available for adoption. "M" was our daughter's best friend's little sister. We were familiar with her, she'd been to our house a handful of times, and we loved her very, very much. We were hopeful that we would be a great match for her, so we re-opened our file and threw ourselves into the process in hopes of having a chance to be matched.


While it can normally take a year or two to get a spot in the mandatory adoption classes since they only hold it once or twice a year and it's normally at max capacity, we were blessed to have grabbed a spot at the last minute. While we waited for the course to begin, we worked hard to complete all the necessary paperwork. We knew it was normally not required until after the course, but time was of the essence, we were fighting against time for this little girl.


We began the course in November.

Finished the course in December.

All our paperwork was finished in early January.

By the end of January, our file was declared "officially complete".

By the first week of February, we were on a waiting list for adoption case workers.



Although we've heard that the average time to be assigned a case worker was 8-9 months followed by another 2-3 months for appointments to begin for the home study, once again, things were in our favor.


In spite of a case worker shortage, we were assigned a case worker on March 14th. She contacted us on March 29th and two days later, she was in our living-room beginning our first home study interview.


Although we rejoiced in having gone through much of the process so quickly, the joy was bittersweet -- it was already too late for "M". We had learned earlier that week that "M" had been matched to another family before we had a chance to be considered, even though they knew that we were really hoping to adopt her.


We always knew there was a possibility that would happen, but it was still very difficult to hear. There were some raw emotions that week as we processed the news. While it hit me hard at first, I quickly began to focus on the positives.

All along, we had prayed for a family for "M". Yes, our hearts very much desired for our family to be hers, but in the end, our prayers were answered -- "M" had been blessed with a family.

I only had to consider was how "M"'s new parents felt at the news they'd be bringing her home, how blessed they were, and I couldn't help but celebrate alongside of them. We could understand how long and how hard the waiting period can be, and they had been well rewarded. In His time, our turn would come as well.


We believe that we would have been a great match for "M", and we love her so much... but as a mother with an intense mother's love for this child, I couldn't help but question the love I had for this child if I was so "easily" able to let her go. Don't get me wrong, my heart hurts, but my heart also rejoices, and the joy far outweighs the hurt. How is that possible?


Then, I remembered something I had read long ago...

There once were two women who both claimed one baby to be theirs. King Solomon, after praying for wisdom, told the women he had a solution: He would cut the baby in half, and they could each have half the child.

One woman accepted. The other woman immediately refused, relinquishing all rights to the child.

The act of giving up her child even in the face of difficult circumstances was evidence of the love she had for that child.


And so it is with "M".



Further evidence of love -- God gave up His only Son for us. His sacrifice in no way meant that He loved Jesus any less or that this didn't grieve Him. He can't love any less, He IS love, and we are to reflect His love in our lives.



We have since met with our case worker twice, and we're meeting with her again this week. Within the next week or two, these meetings will be over, and we will await the news that a child has been matched to our family.

Even though I realize that this can take years, I can't help but be filled with hope that not only will it not take years, but better yet, it will be a match beyond what we could possibly have asked for or imagined. That's simply how God works, after all! If our family seemed to be such a wonderful match for "M" but another family was matched to her, I can't even begin to imagine what God has in store for us.



"God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." Psalm 68:6

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us. " Eph 3:30, The Message

Walk Run By Faith

Although I had planned to run early that morning, it was well past 1pm and I was beginning to lose my early morning steam. Would I get to run before I ran out of energy?

So eager to start my run, restless and excited, yet I knew that stopping by the store to pick up headphones first would be worth it. There's just something about having to hold headphones in your ears to keep them from falling out that just doesn't go well with running, you know? On the bright side, the brisk walk back to the car after picking up the headphones could act as a mini warm-up, gearing me up for a great run.

I got to the running trail only to discover my mp3 battery was completely dead. Nice! So that's the kind of run it was going to be, with satan obviously also warming up for the challenge, but I refused to give in before the running began. Undeterred, I drove to the nearest convenience store and after paying a king's ransom for 2 AA batteries, I returned to the beginning of the running trail and began to pray.

Minutes before 2pm, I locked the car, clipped my keys to my water bottle, and went to the starting point.

Right at 2pm, with Chris Tomlin's "Exhalted" pouring in through my new headphones, I began my first attempt at a 10K run.

_____________________________________________

The most unnatural thing about running for me is how natural it feels. Until early last fall, my body and my health were losing a battle that had lasted months and left me struggling day to day, barely able to walk without being wracked with pain and exhaustion. Over 50lbs lost, and no answers to be found.

When all else failed and the tests still showed abnormal results without further answers, we considered the possibility of a spiritual attack. I weighed the possibility and told myself that I had nothing left to lose by trying to counteract such an attack. A plan began: I would begin to walk around the neighborhood each night, an act of defiant faith that would send a clear message to satan that I wasn't going to let him win.

It might have not seemed like much, but given the condition my body was in, it would be an uphill battle. I was determined to outrun these attacks with everything I had in me, figuring that whatever I didn't have, God would simply have to provide.


Armed with a photo of my best friend Tia running on our vacation last summer, I started walking late at night on September 14th, 2010. At the end of the first stretch, when it was time to turn the corner and walk in the other direction, my feet began to jog. It was an involuntary and unintentional decision on my body's part. When I realized my feet were jogging, I kept looking down at them, and trying to understand what was happening. All I could do was laugh incredulously... jogging? How was that even possible? Talk about feeling like I was really losing my ever lovin' mind...

I walked the next block, and then considered jogging the next stretch. It seemed daunting. I wanted to, so badly, but it seemed so utterly impossible. I could barely breathe, everything hurt. What was I thinking trying this anyway?!

In the end, I envisioned Tia waiting for me at the corner, cheering me on, and somehow, God gave my body what it needed to do it. I jogged that block and a half, and walked the rest of the way home. I couldn't wait to call her to share what had just happened.


That first walk was not quite a mile.


Somehow, within a week, I began doing a 3.8 mile loop through the neighborhood. It still felt surreal. I considered the first 3.8 loop a huge success and celebrated when I finished at 1h 20 minutes.

Encouraged, I challenged myself to try to beat it. Armed with some worship music and the darkness and coolness of night, I worked hard at it several times a week, increasing the jogging to walking ratio as much as I could as my body became stronger.

Not long after I had started, my health hit a brick wall again, and I came home from work one night barely able to make it up the front steps. I crawled into bed, not even taking my shoes off, and I called Tia to let her know I didn't have it in me to run that night. I told her how awful I felt and it was then that she said something that I'd never forget... "Now that you're sick again, how will you respond, and what will you choose to believe?"

I got up, got ready to run, and bolted out the door. I made it home from the 3.8 loop in record time.


Within another month or so, I had succeeded in doing the loop in under an hour. Initially not imagining that I'd ever do this long term (I still struggled to understand that I was doing this at all!), I was running in the only pair of sneakers I had... a basic pair of Sketchers. Tia tried to convince me to buy two pairs of "real running shoes".

I knew what she was saying made sense, but I struggled with the thought of paying so much for a pair of shoes, never mind two. She insisted. I balked. She insisted some more. I rolled my eyes at her. When I found two pairs on eBay for less than half the price of one pair, I made her proud and gave her the satisfaction of saying "I told you so!" She really was right, running with running shoes makes all the difference.

Looking at them was strange, though, yet another reminder that this was real, that God has given me the strength to do this.

Two years ago, I only owned one pair of shoes in total. What a journey it's been!

________________________________________

Back on the running trail.... I'm still running, I don't know what time it is and I refuse to look. I only know that I've just reached the 4K mark on my 10K run.

One more kilometer, and I will have matched the distance I ran in Michigan. I was beginning to feel the physical challenge of the run, and satan knew it. He wasted no time whispering lies in my ears:

"You don't really want to do this, do you? Why are you doing this anyway? What does it matter? 10K? Have you looked at yourself? You're being ridiculous!"

"You'll never be a runner, much less look like one."

"Four kilometers is enough, it's taken so much of your time already, why don't you just pack it up and go home?"

"If you really want to know how long it takes to run 10K, just quit now and use basic math. It'll do."

"You'll get past 5K and you won't be able to finish, you really can't do this and you know it... you'll fail and feel worse in the end. Give up now."

The more he spewed his lies, the harder it was to tune him out. I defiantly cranked up the worship music and sprinted to the 5K mark, briefly weighing my options -- listen to him and quit, or believe in the God Who was breathing life in me?

As the 5K mark came into view, I increased my pace and grinned as I hit the granite marker with my hand in a "high 5" on the way by, Tia's words speaking louder and louder in my heart.

"How will you respond? What will you choose to believe?"

Looking down at the time, I realized that I had just beat my time in Michigan by a full 5 minutes.

I kept running.

With the wind pushing hard against me and my ears beginning to ache from the cold, I kept running along the harbour to the 6K marker, refusing to give in and give up. Even though it was increasingly harder with hills ahead that seemed to grow steeper and longer, every step defied his lies and spoke only of what He could do.


I kept running, at times hands raised in worship, passing by the 6K marker knowing how significant this next part would be... I had never ran more than 6km.

I. kept. running.

I ran on the slippery winter gravel covered sidewalk toward the steep hill leading up to the 7K marker. I couldn't see the marker from where I was running, but I could feel the force pulling me to it and I couldn't help but keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I barely remember running up that hill. It all seemed effortless.

Reaching the 7K marker not only meant that I got the fun of running DOWN that steep hill for a change (wheeeee!!), but also that I was on the home stretch with only 3K to go directly to the finish line.

As I reached the 8K marker and high 5'd it exuberantly on the way by, I realized something. I could no longer hear satan's attacks and lies -- nothing stood in the way of my faith in God, and more beautiful than that, I could sense God's encouragement.

"You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you."

"Doubt is the absence of belief -- by not accepting satan's lies, you are outrunning disbelief."

"Your heart beat whispers 'I love... I love... I love...' Your footsteps now have a song of their own too -- they sing 'I believe... I believe... I believe....!'"

"I can do immeasurably more than you could ever imagine or ask for. Remember this, always."


Feeling the wind at my back as I high 5'd the 9K mark, I considered again His promises of doing more than we could ever imagine or ask for, and I immediately thought of His plans to provide resources to release children from slavery in the Lake Volta region of Ghana...

"If He could breathe in me what it takes to run 10K, imagine how much more He'd do for these kids?"

In my heart, I could see the Lake Volta kids, their faces filled with hope as I rounded the corner to the last marker. I saw them with an understanding that the same God who made the unlikeliest of women run would use that same unlikely woman to provide for them. After all, the only thing He asked Moses at the Red Sea was to take a step forward in faith, and that's really all He was requiring of me as well. He would do the rest.

I kept running.

I reached the 10K marker and looked down at the time... and I immediately burst into joyous laughter -- "unlikely and impossible" was no match for God, indeed.

1 hour, 20 minutes.

In the same amount of time it took me to walk 3.8 miles last fall, I had run 6.2 miles. He shows us He loves us in such beautiful ways.



There was also something significant missing from the laughter -- disbelief -- and the absence of disbelief was just what I needed to register for the half marathon in October. It no longer seemed unlikely and impossible.

If I had walked away without finishing that run, I would have missed out on SO much. I truly believe that when we close our hand to what He asks of us, we also close our hand to what He wants to bless us with.

________________________________

Ghana: 7 Month Countdown!

"Knowledge is power.
Information is liberating.
Education is the premise of progress,
in every society, in every family."
-- Kofi Annan (United Nations)

Kofi Annan is a native of Ghana -- I pray that his vision and wisdom on education will become a reality for the child slaves of Lake Volta.

___________________________________________________

Seven months from today, we will be flying over the Atlantic ocean on our way to Ghana, West Africa. How can time be flying by so fast already?! Seven months may seem like a long time, but it's not when you're facing a project of this size.

It's barely been two weeks since we launched our Ghana project, and what a two weeks it has been!!! It's been busy and wonderful -- the enthusiasm and support has been tremendous!! We're so blessed to have surpassed 1% of our fundraising goal for the school, and we are already approaching the 2% mark! We're very grateful and encouraged by your support and prayers. Every single dollar raised makes a difference, there is no amount too small, God will use it all!

Many of you have shared our project with friends and families on blogs, Facebook, Twitter... thank you!! An easy-to-remember URL has been created just for sharing -- www.tinyurl.com/Ghana2011 - feel free to use it to share about this project.


You have also asked about the possibility of doing monthly donations as well as donating toward the school supplies and expenses. We loved your suggestions, and have created a monthly donation option via Paypal. As of today, there are 7 months left until the trip, so this option will give you the choice of donating $5, $10 or $20 monthly for 7 months. If you'd like to subscribe for a different amount, let us know, and we will add it to the options.

Gift Options

$5 : $5.00USD - monthly $10 : $10.00USD - monthly $20 : $20.00USD - monthly

We have also begun our local fundraising initiatives for our travel expenses. You may have wondered exactly who is going to be traveling to Ghana in November, well, wonder no more!

I (JD) will be traveling to Ghana with my son Joshua, who will be 13 in May. We will be traveling from our home on the east coast of Canada. Joining us will be my best friend Tia from Michigan, and our friend Debra from Illinois. Tia, Debra and I met in 2009 while reading "Crazy Love" as part of Angie Smith and Jessica Turner's "Bloom Book Club". The "Bloom Book Club" has since been integrated into the (in)courage website, where we have been reading Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts".

Tia is no stranger to Africa, having been there twice and having written a book about her time in Africa. She and I both sponsor children in Africa, including in Ghana, which is one of the reasons we chose to contribute to a mission project in Ghana.

Debra made the decision to join our team when she read the blog post about the children sold into slavery -- she knew she needed to do something, and for her, this meant not only joining in the fundraising effort, but working alongside side of us in Ghana.


Our theme for April is "School 2 School". We are challenging teachers and parents of school aged children to hold penny drives, sports fundraisers, skip-a-thons, hat days or various other fundraisers at their schools in order to partner together to build the school in Ghana. What an amazing teaching opportunity for the kids! Homeschools are welcomed too! Compete with the schools in your area to see who can raise the most funds during the month of April, and share your successes with us! We'd love to feature your child's class or school here in an update post.


Last but not least, please pray as Joshua, Tia, Debra and I continue to prepare our hearts for this journey. It is a heavy responsibility, one we've been entrusted with and are passionate about, and your prayers and support will be crucial in the months to come. Thank you for sharing in this adventure with us!

Outlive Your Life (Max Lucado) -- Review

I'll be honest... the title intrigued me. "Outlive Your Life". What's that all about?


Then, the description came, and I jumped at the chance to read this book.

Remember when you thought you could change the world? You still can!

These are difficult days in our world's history. 1.75 billion people are desperately poor, natural disasters are gouging entire nations, and economic uncertainty still reigns across the globe. But you and I have been given an opportunity to make a big difference.

What if we did? What if we rocked the world with hope? Infiltrated all corners with God's love and life? We are created by a great God to do great works. He invites us to outlive our lives, not just in heaven, but here on earth.

It’s not enough to do well. We want to do good. We want our lives to matter. So, let's live our lives in such a way that the world will be glad we did.

Simply put, the description describes my lifesong and this season in my life. I live this every single day, and was eager to read a book not only because I enjoy hearing from others who feel this way, but in order to fuel and inspire me to do more... but in the end, it was as though I was sitting across from a friend who tried to convince me of something I already agreed on, and it left me hungry for more "meat". I didn't find it challenged me to the next level, it was more of a basic review of what I'm already experiencing and living. I finished the book because it was well delivered and I appreciated the stories and Biblical reference. Even though I had personal reasons for feeling this way about the book, Max Lucado is a gifted writer and I enjoyed his writing style. The only Lucado books I had read were children's books, and I would enjoy reading more adult Lucado books in the future.

My only other issue was the emphasis on World Vision. While I appreciate the work that World Vision does, I wasn't expecting this book to feel like an infomercial for WV. I sponsor 12+ kids through Compassion based on much research and personal conviction, and so much emphasis on WV made it awkward and uncomfortable for me.


In the end, I give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars, and recommend it for anyone who is at the beginning of this journey or in need of renewing the fire within.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Africa 2011: Child Slavery Rescue

Preface:

In 2009, I joined the Bloom Book Club, where I met Tia. She and I had a lot in common, including our love of God, Africa, and our sponsored children. We soon became best friends. Tia had served in Africa twice, and when one of our Compassion children learned this, he began to pray that we would serve in his country of Ghana.

When we began to research the possibility, we were shocked by what we learned. We knew our lives would never be the same. When we announced where we would go in November of 2011 and why, another Bloom member decided to join us, as did my 13 year old son.

Never would I have imagined that God would have combined a book club, a Compassion child, and modern day slavery to turn three women and a 13 year old boy into abolitionists.

As you read the rest of this post, you too may decide to join us.

Welcome to Lake Volta, located in eastern Ghana, West Africa.

Hope begins on Lake Volta, but at first glance, the hope is hard to see. Lake Volta is home to a very lucrative fishing industry, but the fishing industry has a very dark and dangerous side.

There are no employees in the Lake Volta fishing industry. Only slave masters, and slaves.

Child slaves.

With false promises of an education and a future, something so many families feel no hope of reaching in Ghana, children as young as 4 years old are unwittingly sold by their parents to cunning slave masters, and then forced to work under cruel and inhumane conditions.

Imagine poverty so desperate that selling your child might be the only choice you feel you have?

Which of your children would you sell in hopes of giving them a future?

In some cases, it's an "easy" choice of which children are sold. Many of these children were orphaned and left in the care of relatives, who struggled to provide for them and opted out at the first "opportunity". Imagine the rejection these orphans experience? Do they even know that God commands us to care for the orphans and protect them? Do they even know how much God loves them, especially them?

The boys are used as slaves in the fishing industry, their childhood vanishing as they spend their days trapped on the lake, endlessly fishing, hauling and mending nets, and diving to the bottom of the lake when nets become tangled. If they refuse, the slave masters may chose not to beat them, but instead force the other child slaves to beat them into submission.

The visible scars they bear are horrific; one can barely fathom the seemingly invisible scars that shred the heart of these precious children. It only takes a look into their eyes, and the scars on their souls can be seen.

The days are long and dangerous. Working up to 18 hours a day, sometimes getting one meal, sometimes not... these young boys are not only facing cruelty, hunger and exhaustion, but environmental dangers such as drowning, crocodiles and electric eels. Children who die are buried by their fellow child slaves on the shores of the Lake Volta islands without their parents ever learning their fate.

Even though the boys are used in the fishing industry, young girls aren’t spared. The girls are initially used as slave servants for the slave masters’ families. The slave master’s own children go to school while the slave children are denied an education as they are made to do all the domestic labor as well as cleaning and preparing the fish caught that day. The work is literally endless.

As they get older, the girls’ future becomes even more desperate. The girls are eventually used as sex slaves, often ending up pregnant before reaching their teenage years.

Escapes are rare. These islands are isolated, with few opportunities for the children to flee. Fear and terror is enough to keep them from attempting an escape.

While it would seem as though these children have lost all hope, God knows each of them by name, and so does the man God has sent to rescue them.

His name is George Achibra Sr, a modern day Moses living on the shores of Lake Volta in Ghana. George has dedicated his life to negotiating for the release of these child slaves and has rescued several hundred of these children from slavery on Lake Volta.

One by one.

George demonstrates a capacity to love that is rare, refreshing, and breathtakingly beautiful. I see evidence of Jesus in his heart not only in how he devotes his life to these children, but also in the way he has compassion and concern for the slave masters. It’s not enough to rescue the children peacefully and respectfully, George loves God enough to provide alternate means for the slave masters to earn incomes that do not rely on these children. His goal is not only to give the children a better future; he strives to do the same for the men who enslave them. He builds a relationship with them, treats them with respect, and works hard to change their future and their hearts.

Does that not have the fingerprints of God all over it?

Our trip to Africa will be in support of George and his team at PACODEP. We will serve alongside of him while he tends to the child slaves on the islands of Lake Volta and negotiates rescues. Working with George, his team and these children will help us gain a better understanding of their situation so that we can in turn advocate for the release and freedom of these children.

On the mainland, we will work alongside of George and his team at the Village of Life, the campus built to accommodate the children who have been rescued. Love will be poured onto these children as they adjust to their new freedom and learn to read and write, learn the basics of hygiene, get proper nutrition and care… even as they learn to play. Although we will be teaching the children, it is likely us that will learn far greater from each and every one of them.

There is no need too small to fill,

and one need larger than the others.

George’s success in rescuing these precious children poses a challenge. The current three-classroom unit is at max capacity, and without more space, George’s team cannot accommodate and rehabilitate more rescued children. They currently have 51 children living at the Village of Life, and thousands still waiting to be rescued. The construction of a new classroom unit would enable them to bring in more children from the islands of Lake Volta.

Education is crucial at the Village of Life. The children’s rehabilitation and future depend on it… breaking the cycle of poverty and hopelessness depends on it…

...and George’s success depends on us.

In America, it would take hundreds of thousands of dollars to build a school. In Ghana, it’s considerably less. The cost of a three-classroom unit for the Village of Life is $30,000.

$30,000 that George does not have.

I’ll be honest, I don’t have $30,000. It's likely the neither of us have $30,000. So, to you and I, building the school may seem like an insurmountable challenge. What matters is that we serve a God for Whom nothing is impossible, a God who has gathered us together to make a difference for these children. What an amazing opportunity to make a difference!


Alone, we can't. Together, we can.

We will be spending the next 7 months working hard to raise the necessary funds for our trip expenses, the school construction, as well as collecting school and educational supplies, malaria nets, toys and treats for the children. Every penny counts, every bake sale and yard sale important, every donation precious and life changing. It may seem overwhelming through the world’s eyes, but if enough of us gather generously in His name, we CAN succeed in providing this gift to the children of Lake Volta.

We need people like George, who stand in the gap for these children… and George and these children need us to stand in the gap too.

Will you be the answer to this child's prayers?

Your prayers and your support are greatly needed and appreciated.

For updates on our work in Ghana, 

please check blog updates here:  November 2011

For tax deductible receipts in the U.S., please send donation to:

Interlink Ministries

P.O. Box 460

Apple Creek, Ohio

44606

USA

(Earmark all donations to "Ghana Child Slave Rescue")

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Micah 6:8

For more information or for Canadian Interac email fund transfers, please contact Africa@BeyondMeasure.me

For more information on George’s team, visit PACODEP’s website http://pacodep.com/index.php

Unforgettable video of the children of Lake Volta and the work that George and his team have devoted their lives to: http://www.touchalifekids.org/lake-volta-video

NY Times articles on the Lake Volta slavery: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/world/africa/29ghana.html?_r=1

Harvesting The Future

It is harvest season in Novet's small town, but it is also harvest season in her life. God is harvesting the next generation of leaders who WILL change the world in ways that glorify Christ, and Novet is a part of His harvest.

In his book, “Too Small To Ignore”, Compassion International President Wess Stafford makes it clear that the children are not the future, because if we wait until the future to develop their potential, it will already be too late. Children are the present, and like the meaning of the word “present”, they truly are a GIFT to the future.

Although Novet is only 14, God has long been preparing her for His harvest. He has gifted her with so many blessings – intelligence, initiative, strength and strong work ethics, a mother whose spiritual influence has been crucial in her life, and a Compassion team who loves her and recognizes the massive potential in this young woman.

She shared with us that she recognizes that she is well because the Lord is doing His work in her life. Her focus is always on Him, and she knows that each blessing in her life comes from the One who provides for her.

When she’s not working hard for her family by caring for her siblings, teaching, leading, fetching water or cooking, she can be found studying God’s Word or her schoolwork. Every letter she writes to us updates us on her school progress. As a student with above average grades, it is evident that she takes education very seriously. She always asks for prayers to keep improving from term to term, she works hard to put forth her very best.

The reason she works so hard isn’t simply to break the cycle of poverty for herself, it’s because she wants to help the people of Uganda break the cycle of poverty too. She is studying to become the Minister of Forestry and Agriculture in Uganda, and humbly adds “if it is God’s will for me.”

God has a plan for this Godly woman. He has been watching what she chooses to do with the gifts He’s blessed her with, including the gifts He has provided for her through us. When she received her birthday gift last summer, although she purchased the clothing she needed, her priority was making sure she tithed a portion of the birthday funds to her church.

Imagine a woman like Novet in the role of Minister of Forestry and Agriculture, or any part of the Uganda government? Imagine someone with Novet’s spiritual leadership and financial stewardship combined? Imagine someone in a leadership role in the government who honors God in all that they do, with every decision and ever y blessing given? Someone who puts Him first?

More and more, I see a glimpse of God’s harvest in these Compassion children. Look at Compassion Haiti’s Disaster Response Coordinator, Elissaint Jean Jacques - once a LDP student, now responsible for coordinating all the Compassion relief efforts in Haiti and succeeding beautifully! More recently, Margaret Makoha, from Uganda no less, a former Compassion child and LDP student who was elected to the Ugandan senate! There are so many more stories like these. Each Compassion child has a wonderful story and place in His harvest.

God is doing amazing things in the lives of Compassion children all over the world, we are only seeing a tiny glimpse of His harvest, but what an inspiring harvest it is. These children are a present to the future, and that future is unfolding before our eyes.

Letters: Behind The Scenes

There are likely as many ways of keeping the letter writing process organized as there are sponsors. At first, we just had one Compassion child and simply kept all the correspondence in a file folder.

This worked for the first few years, but as the number of letters increased, it became harder to keep things in order.

Add to that a touch of OCD, (CDO in alphabetical order, just the way it should be), as well as ten Compassion children to correspond with... something had to change.




We switched to the binder system a few years ago and it has proven to work quite well for us. The binders were bought on school supply clearance sales, and were filled with sheet protectors. We will eventually have one binder per child, but right now, a few of our Compassion children share a binder. Ato Sam is one example -- given that he writes lengthy letters quite frequently, he needed more space than Leo, from whom we've only received two letters.



In the first sheet protector, we keep all the labels and the blank stationery that Compassion sends for that child. The labels we prefer are the Avery 5267, with 80 labels per sheet. We create labels with our child's name and number, as well as our name and number.



We use these labels to label anything we send with the letters, such as small coloring books:




Or snack sized Ziploc bags full of stickers:




We do not need to label the letters, as we created a header with the necessary information. The header also mentions anything included with the letter, that way it's less likely that something will get forgotten or lost. It also makes it really easy to see what we've sent, so that we don't send duplicates of books or coloring books.



Since I normally print our letters on fun paper, the kids use the correspondence paper that Compassion provides to write to our Compassion kids on their own.

The letters we have received from our Compassion kids, along with a copy of each letter we've sent are placed in the sheet protectors in chronological order. This makes it easy to flip back to see what we've written and sent over time, and which letters they are responding to.



The page protectors do a great job of keeping the letters intact so that the kids can feel free to read them as often as they'd like. They love to show their friends the fascinating handwriting from Thailand!



Even though I type most of our letters to our Compassion kids, I do make a point to sign them and add little notes or drawings to them before I mail them to Compassion.


We also created a computer folder for each Compassion child containing copies of all the letters we've sent, as well as scans of letters, drawings and photos we've received over the years. If ever something were to happen to the binders, we'd have a backup copy of all the correspondence we've had.

Although everyone has their own way of doing all of this... this is what works for me!

Wrestling The Wind

I felt torn.

As a mother, my heart was created to love, nurture and protect my children., to create a home for them, raise them, teach them, lead them. It's one of the most difficult blessings, but that blessing becomes even more difficult when you're separated from your child.

Imagine for a moment that your child was in a foreign country, away from her family, and you've done all that you can do to bring her home, but the rest is up to someone else. Someone without a mother's heart for this child; someone not in tune to the urgency you feel.

An immigration specialist will be assigned to you to unite you with your child. You learn that there is a shortage on specialists, that they're doing all they can to clear the backlog of cases. Even though that's their job, it brings no comfort to you. In their hands, your child seems to become a statistic, a number among many.