I have been thinking about the Benefit Concert for some orphans in Sierra Leone hosted by the FiXX on Sunday. The night was AMAZING! God was glorified and lifted high! This was our greatest desire!
I want to start by saying THANK YOU! 30 kids were sponsored, $2900 was raised. (The total amount raised including pre and post concert giving is $4240!) We were praying for $3,000 and 25 orphans to be sponsored. God is MORE than enough!
One of my FAVORITE parts is that 7 people gave their lives to Christ!!!
We prayed more than anything that He would be fully worshipped by the band and each of us there. AND HE WAS…through our singing and our giving!
At one point during a worship song I looked up and saw pictures of the children on the screen and started crying. I want to be honest, at that point I hadn’t thought of the kids…my thoughts had been about God. The emotion was because of a number of things. I love these children deeply, with a supernatural love given to me by the Lord. In fact, some of them are now our children even though they will likely never step foot on American soil. And as much as I love them, God loves them more. He knows each of them by name. He rescued them one by one. So here is where the tears came from. WHO AM I that He would even give me the strength to fight for those who are precious to Him? WHO AM I that He would use my life in ANY way? WHO AM I???? I am weak, powerless, messy, scattered, disorganized and have very little influence in this world. But yet the God of the universe asked me to join Him in loving these children.
As I looked at their pictures during worship I thought back to when they were each just a name on a spread sheet. I thought of how God burdened my heart to write them, then visit them. I thought about how I fought with Him in these things. I never knew that He would make some of them my own children, that He would call me to keep my commitment to them no matter what the cost or how strong the battle.
Last night, He reminded me of the honor He has given me to suffer with Him! He reminded me how precious PEOPLE are to Him. Me and you, we are precious to Him. Those beautiful ones we celebrated Sunday night, they are precious to Him. When we invest in the lives of people for His sake, and not just when it’s easy, we are investing in eternity, we are advancing the gospel!
Most of these children were taken in at a very young age by an African Pastor. They were taught when they had very little provisions to thank Him for what they did have. They were taught to set their heart on seeking and worshipping Him. They have been taught from the beginning that God wants to use them to change their nation. As most of them are now teenagers those dreams are needing to come to fruition.
Right now a team is on the ground with some Agricultural professors and students from OSU teaching them how they can use the land and resources God has given them to change their nation for generations after you and I are gone. They are seeing how God REALLY has had a plan for them all along! They are filled with the hope and joy of the Lord! This all started because one man agreed to take one child in, provide for him and raise him in the Lord. Now a generation of children who love the Lord are being prepared for the good works God has planned for them to do in His name!
We each are one person, but we too can invest in the life of one child and make an eternal difference.
I got an email from World Vision today. It showed a picture of a child who was VERY malnutritioned. It talked of the 1.5 children at risk of starvation in Niger, West Africa. I thought to myself, the needs are overwhelming!
BUT, by the grace of God I can invest in the lives of the orphaned children He has called me to and be a part of changing an entire nation through their lives.
By loving and empowering these children, they can carry out their callings.
You all have been loving and empowering us to carry out our callings...some of you for years and in various ways.
Last night Jerome and I were marveling at how each person who invested in us along the way has helped bring us to the point we are now, in Christ. We desperately need each other! God has set it up this way and I am so glad He does.
So please hear my heart….WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH! We are VERY thankful for each of you! We do not deserve to be so lavishly loved by you. You are the source of so much of our joy in the Lord.
Thank you for partnering with us to love 94 orphans on the coast of West Africa. Thank you for helping us reach out to the lost here in America. All of this is as much worship as the songs we sing to Him!!!! Thank you for helping us lift HIGH His name all over the earth in all kinds of ways!
As the body of Christ, may we continue to be a display of His splendor to the world. May we continue to glorify Him through every act of worship!
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