DELAYED...

I'll share something some of you may find odd.  I'm not really an adventurous person.  Seriously, I like my adventures best read in books in the comfort of my own home.  The only reason I would say, "yes" to following Jesus into orphanages in China is sheer obedience to my king, and a deep thankfulness.  Thankfulness for the child that is now mine that was once dependent on the kindness of those who were strangers to me.

So this non adventurous person set off this weekend by myself heading towards a visiting orphans conference in Nashville, TN.  My prayer, "don't send me from here (home) unless you go with me and bless me to be a blessing".

Travel didn't exactly go as planned.  (Rule number 1.  Be flexible). My first flight was delayed.  It was so delayed that I was going to miss my connecting flight, so I rescheduled my whole itinerary.  

I made it to the airport extra early and found a comfy spot by a window.  Within a few minutes I was joined by an older man who sighed as he sat down and made a joke about sharing my chips.  I laughed and offered him some but of course he wouldn't take any.  With plenty of time to visit, we started to chat.  I found out he was a radiochemist and although he had been in the US for almost 30 years,   he was originally from Ghana and he was on his way back to Ghana to see family.  He had gotten a phone call that left him unclear to whether his 96 year old mother was dead or seriously ill.  He didn't know what was waiting for him.  I asked him if he was a believer, if he knew Jesus, and he immediately said "Yes!  Hallelujah!".  We shared that moment of recognition.  A moment of mini worship staring out the airport window, and the shared understanding that 

ALL things, all THINGS are under His Feet.

He asked me where I was going and why, and so I told him about VO and about going to my daughter's orphanage last summer and my commitment to go and lead teams into other orphanages if God willed.  He asked me, "do you like it"?  (Not a simple answer to that).  I said, "I love China.  I love the people.  I'm thankful for the opportunity, but....it's hard.". He asked me what was hard, and I struggled to put it into words.  I said, " well....kids just belong in families that love them.  They just do better there.  I'm sure there are things about Ghana that are hard?". He took his glasses off and looked me in the eyes.  "I want to tell you a story".  He proceeded to tell me a story of being born with a white spot on his cornea and of younger years being held down by his uncles while they tried to treat his eye to get rid of the spot.  He told me how scary it was, how painful it was.  With tears in his eyes he told me, "I was lucky.  Do you know what they do with babies in Ghana that are born with physical imperfections?  They kill them.  They don't kill them themselves.  They get someone else to come and kill them.  Even if they are just missing a finger.  They KILL them.  You don't even KNOW what that child had the potential to be".  He got quiet and he told me, "you need to keep going to China".

All things are under his feet.  All things.

As my plane finally started to board,  he said, "we may not cross paths again in this life, but I think we will meet again in heaven".  I grasped both his hands and said, "I think we will."

All things are under his feet.  All things.

I won't talk about the second DELAY and the cocky flyboy I had to crawl over because he had stolen my aisle seat.  (He ended up being a nice guy). I also got my sweet revenge by parting ways with him thinking about adoption.  I imagine his wife and mother of their four beautiful kids might not thank me.  (Rule number 2:  maintain your sense of humor).  Evidently the Lord had a use for the extra hour we spent on that plane before it ever left the ground.

I was originally scheduled to get to Nashville around 5 pm.  I arrived at 11 pm.

All things are under his feet.  

From Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22

Glory to God

When I was growing up I heard about China's policy on having no more than one child.  It was in the early 80's and I had seen a documentary on how baby girls were being abandoned.  I was absolutely heart-broken even at about age 11 for these children crowded in an orphanage.  The thought that they would forever never know what it meant to be read to before bed.  Or what it meant to have a bedroom, or grandparents, or being held, or being able to grow up and know that you had a family that loved you and you could always come home to, or a bath, or a home-cooked meal, or new clothes that were just yours, or a birthday party, or a vacation to see the mountains or the beach.  What does it mean for a child to grow up in an orphanage?  As a child I just couldn't imagine what it would be like to NOT have a family.  And how on earth can anyone stand by and do nothing.

That documentary forever changed my life.  Adoption was something I had always had in the back of my mind.  I'm so grateful to God that HE put that desire in my heart all those years ago, and that HE took us to China to find our daughter and bring her home.  She is one less, and she fits perfectly.  HE planted a seed in my heart for China that will forever grow.  I fell in love with China - the people, the history, the culture, the smells (and believe me there are some interesting smells), the beauty, the language.  My path will forever cross with China.

So, here I am, less than four years from bringing our daughter home, and I get to go back.  How good is our God?  I get to go back!  It seems so unbelievable.  But as I get to know our God better and better every day I see how much He loves His children, how much He loves the fatherless here on this earth,  how much He wants to fulfill the desires of our hearts, how much He funds what He favors.

Glory to God.
GLORY to God.

~ Lori

Show me your glory

I have prayed about being a member of this team for some time. I have had such a desire to go, but I didn't want to go without knowing the Lord had called. I hadn't felt a clear answer from the Lord, and I had resolved myself to being a prayer partner for those who will travel. Then, the Lord showed up!! He didn't whisper that I should go. My heart felt Him tell me quite clearly that I should GO. Thankfully, as my husband and I prayed about the trip, he heard the same call. Not for himself but for me and our preteen daughter. I tentatively told my praying friends that I was going to sign on for the trip. My heart was sure I was going. My head? Not so much... I went and spoke with my pastor. I had my husband's support of my plans, I felt I needed my pastor's support also. With each step, each conversation, the Lord confirmed his plans.

 

Problem is, our family budget has no cushion to fund a trip to China for me or our daughter, much less both of us. I didn't even have the funds needed for our initial fee as we signed up. My heart trusted our place would remain open for us if this was truly God's will. Even with my heart trusting, I seemed to be hearing the voice of doubt and defeat more than I cared to admit.

 

I started a fundraiser. Friends began purchasing my items almost immediately, but those funds wouldn't be available for a month. A paycheck was soon coming, but it held no extra funds to sign up. Friends began sending messages that money was on its way. A check was given at church with the notation it was for our trip. Another friend called her out-of-state family and friends and raised enough to get us signed up for the trip. Huge sigh of relief and thankful tears. The Lord was confirming again and again that I was following His desires for my summer.

 

As I was praising Him for provision and thanking Him for confirming His call on my plans, I was also asking Him to provide the remaining funds. Look what He had already done. How could I possibly doubt that He would provide? And then He showed up again!! He didn't have to. My heart was trying to trust. He had provided what we needed for the first step, I was sure He would continue...

 

I got a call from a friend. "Could you come by this afternoon, I need to talk to you." I went by for a talk and left with a sizable sum donated for our trip. The amount was large enough, it was difficult to accept. I arrived home and had a card in the mail from another friend. It included funds to MATCH the other huge gift of the day! Tears of gratitude flowed. I tried for some time to wrap my mind around what had just happened. Less than 2 weeks after I accepted the call to travel with Visiting Orphans this summer, the Lord, through His faithful followers, has provided over 1/4 of the funds needed for this trip. Awestruck wonder. My amazing God has called me and my daughter to travel to China to be His hands and feet, to show His love to some children living in an orphanage in China. I am humbled. I am amazed, in awe, and had a difficult time finding words to describe this experience. Then, he reminded me of this ---

 

Exodus 33:20-23 "But He said, "You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live." And the LORD said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen."

 

I didn't see His face, but His glory passed by. I suspect I will never be the same. ---Kim

Because LOVE Compels Us

Why would we leave our families and travel to the other side of the world?  Love compels us.  For ten days, we will leave what is familiar and travel to Liaoning Province in northern China.  We will be going to a special needs orphanage, Chaoyang, along with a team from Visiting Orphans.  We are very ordinary women who have been blessed in extraordinary ways.

Lori
Gael
Kim
Toni D.