Red Letters

For nearly 15 years, Woodmen Valley Chapel has supported the children of the Mstyora orphanage in Russia. One of the very first pioneering churches to get involved in orphan care ministry, they truly understand how to walk alongside local leadership and empower children to overcome poverty, abandonment, and violence.

Their involvement spread from the orphanage of Mstyora to older orphans sent to technical schools and unfamiliar cities. They established transitional living programs and help launch our Vladimir Ministry Center for older children.

I would say thousands of children have been impacted by their work.

They did this as partners who came to serve local Russian leaders and organizations. They took the time to build relationships with the people who are closest to the children in the orphanage. They even stay with local families in the village of Mstyora–forgoing more comfortable lodging in a hotel. In the time they have supported the Mstyora orphanage, they have taken dozens of trips, and sent hundreds of short-term volunteers to help.

Many of those long-term sponsors have developed lasting bonds of friendship, as they have watched and supported so many orphans as they journey from abandonment to full independence.

Next week, Woodmen Valley Chapel’s senior pastor, Matt Heard, will come on a journey to see all of what his church and its members have accomplished this past decade. 

I’d like you to come along with us. Please subscribe to the blog or follow me on Twitter to get the latest updates from our trip. Also, I wanted to offer you the opportunity to get a FREE download of the first chapters of my books Priceless and Scared. You can see the trailer for Priceless below. Click the book cover at the top of the post to get your free downloads.

Click here to subscribe to the Red Letters blog and Click here to follow me on Twitter.

Today’s post comes from Caleb David, founder and executive director of One Child Campaign. One Child Campaign is a partner ministry of Children’s HopeChest. Thank you Caleb! At the end of this post, you’ll have an opportunity to join Caleb on a trip to Moldova and Russia. It’s in partnership with Man Up for Orphans and One Child Campaign.

Men and women are welcome to join and we encourage you to get more information today about joining.

Turning the hearts of the fathers…breaking the orphan spirit

by Caleb David, One Child Campaign

“And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” Malachi 4:6 (NKJV)

Photo Courtesy of Jon Morton Photography

It was in the middle of the Ethiopian countryside as our van ate up the ground, while our eyes took in the beauty, that the course of my life was about to change.

Though I had been on many mission trips and literally led thousands of people on them I knew something was different about this one. After bringing our adopted daughter back from Ethiopia in 2008, there was a gnawing and unsettledness inside of me, so when a friend invited me to go back to Ethiopia with Children’s Hopechest – I simply said “yes.”

It wasn’t until towards the end of the trip, when we were driving a 12-hour trek back from Kombolcha to Addis Ababa, that I knew why I was there.

“I want you to quit your jobs and I want you to give your life for the cause of the orphan.”

These were the almost audible, soul-shaking, words I heard from God.  I stared out the window and I knew I had to obey. Though we had launched One Child a couple years earlier, God used those words and that trip to sharpen our focus into a more holistic, sustaining form of missions and a call to arms. Not everyone is called to start their own nonprofit ministry, but we are all called to man up for orphans.

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.” Psalm 68:5 (NKJV)

We must stop viewing orphans as those poor, needy kids that we see on television, merely a statistic. Each one is a child of God – with a calling and a destiny to fulfill. Just like us. This is why we are so passionate about short-term trips that focus on connecting people firsthand to see that each child has a name, a face, and desires hope and a future. We need them just as badly as they need us.

It took the sacrifice of Jesus to reconcile us back to God the Father. Being fatherless is a curse – spiritually and physically. Being under this curse brings much more vulnerability without the Godly leadership of a father. The root of the orphan spirit expresses its fruit through hopelessness, disease, hunger, lack of education, oppression and exploitation.

What if we turned our efforts into breaking the orphan spirit? Men (and women), this is the essence of our salvation! However, if we do not understand that we were once orphans ourselves, how can we see that spirit of hopelessness in others in our own families, communities and across the world? Why does the enemy try to stop leaders from seeing the orphan crisis?

It’s because when we see a physical manifestation of our former spiritual state, and understand our redemption – we become dangerous! It is our job as men to lead the charge to break the cycle of fatherlessness. To protect and to love is in our DNA but it has been under attack and at the core, it is an issue of identity. We look at life and the world through our own wrong belief systems – the way we look at ourselves. I believe that if we don’t look deeply into the perfect law of liberty as James admonishes us to, it’s easier to ignore the responsibility.

“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth]. For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror; For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).” James 1:22-25 (Amplified)

When you go on a trip, you will see yourself when you stare into the eyes of an orphan boy in Ethiopia or the hollow soul of a little girl in Russia trapped in the sex trade. It’s not pretty. But that’s exactly where God wants his men and his leaders – staring into the face of the Curse and bringing His light to push back the darkness. Justice is costly, what if Jesus chose not to drink the cup of sorrow in those agonizing hours in the garden? If He is our example of the heart of the Father, why are we continuing to drink from the chalice of indifference?

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

Jesus knew that we needed a Comforter and one of the last promises He made before leaving earth was that He would not leave us without the Holy Spirit.

To care for the orphan and stand in the gap means allowing the Holy Spirit to use us to care for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of one who lives with the orphan spirit. We may not see immediate spiritual fruit, but in the obedience of meeting the physical needs of an orphan, the long-term change begins. You don’t have to change the world – you just have to be obedient to what God speaks to you. The cycle of poverty is not just a socio-economic problem. At the core it’s the need for God’s redemptive power and His Kingdom to come on the earth and for true identity to be renewed and it must be done through breaking the orphan spirit.

Redemptive love never leaves a person the same way, it seeks to listen, correct, build and repair. It is our God-given calling, every one of us, to be Repairers of the Breach and Restorers of Streets to Dwell in.

If you are ready to man up, consider joining Man Up for Orphans, Children’s Hopechest and One Child Campaign on a vision trip or visit their websites to find your connection.  In addition, for the first 5 people that mention this post and apply to join the Man Up Against Sex Trafficking: Russia/Moldova trip, we will give away a copy of Tom Davis’ book, “Priceless”. Space is limited so sign up for the trip today, by contacting Leah Wade  for more details and an application.

Compassion and Justice for the Orphan,
CALEB DAVID | One Child Campaign

Photo courtesy of Breath of Life Photography.

With Mother’s Day just 2 weeks from now, there’s a mom who is selling beautiful Mother’s Day cards that will help hundreds of orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia. You’re going to buy a card anyway, check these out and pick up a few for the moms in your life.

Buy Mother’s Day cards that do something.

I’ve also been thinking about Mother’s Day because any day now, my daughter Lena will give birth to her first child. (And believe it or not this is my second grandchild and I’m barely 40!)

Lena and I met years ago when she was a student enrolled in one of HopeChest’s programs. She grew up in an orphanage, and despite the odds against all orphaned children, Lena learned English and pursued a fulfilling career.

More than anything she wanted to study in America.

Too old for Emily and I to officially “adopt,” Lena has been our daughter despite what any judge or government has decreed. Family is more than names on a birth certificate.

In 2007, she came to the United States to live with us and work at Children’s HopeChest. There she met her husband. And I had the dual honor of giving her away at her wedding AND performing the ceremony. The room was filled with friends and family from across the country. Some had met Lena when she was a young girl in Russia. Others had only known her for a short time since she moved to the U.S.

Very soon, she’ll give birth to her first baby…something that could happen literally any minute now (and may have happened by the time you read this post).

Lena’s story is remarkable, and I am humbled to have played any part in how God has transformed this young woman’s life into something so beautiful.

In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”

The first chapters of Lena’s story, much like millions of other children, was filled with those themes. Yet today her life looks nothing like those early pages. Her true story is much more fabulous…it is “God-authored.”

Orphans and vulnerable children are robbed not just of a basic human right to family. No, it is much, much deeper than that.

They are robbed of their God-given design. Childhood’s are stolen from them by poverty or AIDS or alcoholism or crime. They were designed to live as children with the protection of a mother and father.

But too many children have been robbed of that essential nature of what it means to be a child. Instead of protected they are hunted by predators both physical and spiritual. Instead of loved they are despised as unlucky or cursed. Instead of valued, they are taken advantage of by the world. Whether they are swindled by an unethical landlord or boss, tricked into becoming a prostitute, trapped as a child laborer or slave–the story is essentially the same.

The thief steals their family, then destroys them.

But it does not end there.

There is an army of thousands of people–maybe tens to hundreds of thousands–who have taken up the cause of these children. They have embarked upon a daring and dangerous mission to put back what the enemy has taken from these kids. They stand on the other half of John 10:10:

“I have come that they may have life,and have it to the full.”

To the full. Not halfway, or almost there. Jesus comes to bring life to the fullest. So full it looks like it’s going to spill any minute.

How do you think a child like Lena or any child can overcome poverty, abandonment, or violence?

You. 

Yes, you. Not a government or agency. People are changed by other people. People are rescued by the hope of Jesus Christ made real to them in the form of another human being. This is how the Gospel spread in the first century…by the actions and the words of the apostles and early believers.

We can’t outsource it, we can’t delegate it. It’s our heritage and legacy to be the complete Gospel, in human form, delivered to those in need.

This is how Jesus’ promise of “life to the full” is fulfilled.

Mother’s Day is a mere three weeks away. Many of you will be looking for the perfect gift this year. And if you are, DO NOT buy anything on this list of the top 10 WORST Mother’s Day gifts. (Disclaimer: Moms, there’s no shame in liking or wanting anything on this list. Just be very clear that you do like it!)

1. Weight Loss Books or Videos
Nothing says, “I love you, but I wish you were thinner,” like the latest fad-diet or exercise video.

2. Lotions & Potions from Bath & Body Works
Yes, they smell nice. But lotions, soaps, and bubble baths are what you buy if you’ve run out of time (or creativity).

 3. Anything with the words, “#1,” “Best,” or “World’s”
You may think your mom is the World’s #1 Best Mom, but  she doesn’t need (or want) the T-shirt to prove it. Resist the urge to be sucked into the marketing machine that will sell you a matching shirt, mug, and necklace declaring your mom as “the best.”

 4. Father’s Day Gifts
Some of the worst Mother’s Day gifts are actually FATHER’S DAY gifts. You know, like a new golf club, a backyard grill, a new power drill. If it’s something you’ve got your eye on for yourself…RUN!

5. Cleaning, Cooking, or Kitchen
With the exception of moms who are dying for a new “kitchen power tool,” it is generally good advice to stay away from anything that screams, “household chores.” Mother’s day should not evoke “work.” No vacuums, blenders, or the like.

6. As Seen On TV!
It’s like buying TWO of the worst Mother’s Day gifts for the price of one. Examples: the Ab Circle (#1), the Steam Shark (#5), the Flavor Wave Oven (#5), the Shake Weight (#1), the Snuggie (#9), do I need to go further? If you saw it on TV, you should NOT see it on Mother’s Day.

7. Pets
Enough said. Pets = work. See #5.

8. The Wrong Size Clothing
That’s just embarrassing for everyone. Too big or too small, she’ll think YOU think she’s the “wrong size.” And no mom should feel “wrong” on Mother’s day.

9. Baggy Sweat Pants
Oprah coined the term “shlumpadinka” to describe women who look like they are wearing the sweat pants they wore yesterday (and slept in). No sweat pants or over-sized sweatshirts.

10. A Homemade Coupon Book
Unless you are under 13, a homemade coupon book is NOT as adorable and thoughtful as you think. You know you’re hoping she never redeems them. And unless you are telepathic, you probably don’t know what kind of coupons she’d want anyway.

This guide should help you avoid the worst of the worst. Remember, the worst gift is buying nothing at all. If this post does nothing else but remind you to get your butt in gear and go shopping, then MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

So, if you can’t buy sweat pants for your wife or score a new pool table, what should you buy? I’ll let a mom answer that question. This post comes from Karen Wistrom, sponsorship coordinator for the Kind Hearts CarePoint in Ethiopia where they are about to undertake an enormous project to build a new school there. From Karen:

Today – Kind Hearts is serving almost 150 children (orphaned or from destitute homes) and our small 4-classroom building is literally overflowing with kids (150 kids squeezed into 4 small classrooms)!  In order to enroll more students in September and to continue to advance the older students, Kind Hearts will need a new school building!  With a new school building in place by September – we can continue to expand the CarePoint and eventually be able to serve up to 300 children!!!

Robyn Davidson sponsors a child at Kind Hearts and also had the opportunity to visit Kind Hearts when her family was in Ethiopia to adopt their son.  Robyn has generously offered to create Mother’s Day Cards and donate 100% of the funds raised to the new school building at Kind Hearts.  Robyn has created this beautiful Mother’s Day Card which she will personalize with your name(s) and your Mother’s name and mail it for you in time for Mother’s Day.

I’ve put a link to her post below so you can see the Mother’s Day cards they’ve made up for this year. . Thank you Karen!

For Mother’s Day – Help us Build a School in Ethiopia!