Thanks to Deanna Jones of Mother the World for making this video for us!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Praying for Children
Today is the halfway point in 40 days of prayer for the orphan. As a part of these 40 days, and as a part of our commitment to care for children in Uganda, we are praying for each child in the TOUCH program by name. We are also praying for their caregivers and siblings.
The method doesn't change. Each Wednesday, we pull out printed child profiles and spread them out across the altar at Lighthouse Worship Center. Then we spend the day picking each profile up, looking at that child's photo and reading his or her story. One by one, each and every child in this program will be prayed for by name.
I find in doing this, our prayers change. At first we see problems, and after a full day of story after story - father dead, mother very sick, there is no food in the house, we share a mattress and a blanket, rejected by family - it is exhausting. Thus year on the first day, we prayed for 36 children and 104 siblings, with 43 caregivers. Only three children still had both parents, and every one of those parents was "very sick" with AIDS. The task is overwhelming.
By week three, the stories hadn't changed, but we had. We had shifted our focus from the problems to the solution. Still praying for each individual child and his or her needs, we also prayed about our role. "Lord please show us how to encourage the children. Show us how to give them hope. Teach us to love as You love. Show us what to do about abuse and exploitation. Teach us the way to save children from disease. Lead us to sponsors, innovators, and mentors." And there is so much more...
Please continue to join us in prayer. You can download the 40 days prayer guide and follow that, or come by the church on Wednesdays, pray for the ministry, for solutions, for open doors. Pray for the children - good health, provision, family, their future, salvation, hope, caregivers, and education. Pray for Sara and her team at TOUCH and for the teachers who work with the children.
The method doesn't change. Each Wednesday, we pull out printed child profiles and spread them out across the altar at Lighthouse Worship Center. Then we spend the day picking each profile up, looking at that child's photo and reading his or her story. One by one, each and every child in this program will be prayed for by name.
I find in doing this, our prayers change. At first we see problems, and after a full day of story after story - father dead, mother very sick, there is no food in the house, we share a mattress and a blanket, rejected by family - it is exhausting. Thus year on the first day, we prayed for 36 children and 104 siblings, with 43 caregivers. Only three children still had both parents, and every one of those parents was "very sick" with AIDS. The task is overwhelming.
By week three, the stories hadn't changed, but we had. We had shifted our focus from the problems to the solution. Still praying for each individual child and his or her needs, we also prayed about our role. "Lord please show us how to encourage the children. Show us how to give them hope. Teach us to love as You love. Show us what to do about abuse and exploitation. Teach us the way to save children from disease. Lead us to sponsors, innovators, and mentors." And there is so much more...
Please continue to join us in prayer. You can download the 40 days prayer guide and follow that, or come by the church on Wednesdays, pray for the ministry, for solutions, for open doors. Pray for the children - good health, provision, family, their future, salvation, hope, caregivers, and education. Pray for Sara and her team at TOUCH and for the teachers who work with the children.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Loving Orphans IS the Gospel
I have a young friend who loves the Lord. She works in the world of television and media, and recently I had the chance to collaborate with her on a project to benefit orphans. The radio spot turned out great and I hope it will stir many hearts.
A few days later, my friend called me to say she had had a revelation after we left her production studios. She said she was listening to the script for our piece, and it HIT HER. “Jodi, I realized, loving orphans IS the Gospel!” That is correct my friend. That is the “ah ah” moment that some of us have had, and some of us have not yet had.
Loving orphans IS the gospel. We love them just as God loved us. We are the orphans He rescued. Without our adoption into His holy family, without His love and care, we would be nothing. We would be orphans…lost, hungry, naked and afraid.
But our Heavenly Father did not leave us abandoned…He rescued us. And so, my young friend has finally GOT IT. Loving orphans IS the Gospel.
Today’s prayer asks that Christians around the world would rise up to rescue the orphan. I say the orphan rescues me. How can I ever repay my Father for his love and care and good works? How can I ever even begin to try to emulate Him, His love, His heart. The orphan rescues me by providing me an opportunity to be like my Father. And in rescuing the orphan, I am rescued, rewarded, redeemed and rejoicing. Don’t rescue the orphan because she needs you…rescue her because you need her.
“Only in Heaven will we see the gift the poor are to us” – Mother Teresa
Jodi Jackson Tucker
National Coordinator
Orphan Sunday, www.orphansunday.org
www.christianalliancefororphans.org
A few days later, my friend called me to say she had had a revelation after we left her production studios. She said she was listening to the script for our piece, and it HIT HER. “Jodi, I realized, loving orphans IS the Gospel!” That is correct my friend. That is the “ah ah” moment that some of us have had, and some of us have not yet had.
Loving orphans IS the gospel. We love them just as God loved us. We are the orphans He rescued. Without our adoption into His holy family, without His love and care, we would be nothing. We would be orphans…lost, hungry, naked and afraid.
But our Heavenly Father did not leave us abandoned…He rescued us. And so, my young friend has finally GOT IT. Loving orphans IS the Gospel.
Today’s prayer asks that Christians around the world would rise up to rescue the orphan. I say the orphan rescues me. How can I ever repay my Father for his love and care and good works? How can I ever even begin to try to emulate Him, His love, His heart. The orphan rescues me by providing me an opportunity to be like my Father. And in rescuing the orphan, I am rescued, rewarded, redeemed and rejoicing. Don’t rescue the orphan because she needs you…rescue her because you need her.
“Only in Heaven will we see the gift the poor are to us” – Mother Teresa
Jodi Jackson Tucker
National Coordinator
Orphan Sunday, www.orphansunday.org
www.christianalliancefororphans.org
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