What if we had not been given that Living a Better Story Packet at our church from Cliff Wright? What if I hadn't pushed my family out of their comfort zone to consider adoption? What if I hadn't heard the Lord tell me to go all the way to Africa on a mission trip..and take my son? What if I hadn't seen sweet Mamo that 5th day at the Resurrection Orphanage...an orphanage we hadn't planned on visiting according to our itinerary. And what IF I had listened to my heart that was shutting down the night before when we went to bed... I had started thinking this was too much to see, to much to process, that to adopt would be TOO HARD to do... especially all the way to Africa...and then the next day we met Mamo.
WHAT IF?
A friend posted this on her facebook this week (read below).... Sweet Cherrie Cornish.. who is an AMAZING woman of God that seeks his glory ... and is living a live SERVING others in Africa..and in America....
"Orphans are easier to ignore before you know their names. They are easier to ignore before you see their faces. It is easier to pretend they're not real before you hold them in your arms. But once you do, everything changes." ~David Platt
And then I started thinking... If my son and I hadn't gone on the Mission trip with Ordinary Hero I wonder if we would have adopted... We were hearing the calling to do so, but I wonder if we really would have? I think many of you had also watched a movie, read a book or were inspired by someone or someones story to do more... maybe you heard a whisper to do something you were being called to do and you didn't... and felt a stirring in your heart to do more, give more,love more... I watched The Blind Side in December 2 years ago and had felt a stirring then to do more, but had not acted upon it...I balled like a baby... and it wasn't the regular cry but the kind that hurt my heart...I knew we were supposed to do more... As I watched that movie, I thought we could totally do what Sandra Bullocks character was doing for a child like this, yet I didn't...I just went on with our normal life activities..Now I did think about it a lot, but that was it. I just wonder how many of us miss those moments when GOD is truly speaking to us. Are we REALLY listening to him or all the other distractions in this world?
Fast forward 6 months....Going to Ethiopia and SEEING the NEED was very OVERWHELMING for my son and I, and one thing I can tell you is that once YOU see and FEEL NEED like that, it does make it harder to just go on about your day. I have blogged about it many times, but I truly LONG for Ethiopia. I miss it A LOT. So does my son. Philip does too. My daughter has been so influenced by what she has heard from us and seen in pictures, that she chose a Ministry in Africa to promote awareness though her school Service Project! People really need to see HOW THE REST OF THE WORLD LIVES... We are Blessed beyond measure to have what we have living in this GREAT country.
So if I could share ONE thing that I learned through this whole journey is that he has called us to all nations... to SEE, to LOVE, to HELP. Not just to wonder about the other Nations...but to GO SEE THEM...
A question I had when I started thinking about going on a Mission Trip was WHERE DO I START? Thanks to google, this is what I found! So how does one find out about mission opportunities? Well, some churches offer them... Ordinary Hero is going on another one this summer( (through Visiting Orphans) (their trip is full, but they have started a waiting list, and they just MIGHT open a second trip... so jump on their list). VISITING ORPHANS is an amazing ministry that offers Mission Trips and they go ALL OVER the WORLD! Haiti and Costa Rica are closer and may suit some of you....They also go to AFRICA and so many other places! There is soo much need, so check out their website and think about doing something different this summer! GO! GO! GO!It is an adventure for sure, and so worth it! You will see things that are unimaginable and you will feel love like you have never felt... That trip opened a new place in my heart and showed me a different type of love that I had never felt. Loving those who desperately NEED love and long for LOVE is one of the most beautiful types of loving I think that you can do. What you do with what you see upon your return trip may look differently than our journey, but it will be life changing I promise! I am telling you, going on one of these trips will CHANGE YOUR LIFE and your perspective of what you have and what you think you need! Change your heart for a child who LONGS to be played with, to be told that they are beautiful, that they are special and teach them about Jesus. Not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to love and to be charitable and to spread the Gospel. He tells us over and over in scripture to make disciples of all Nations... He tells us to go to other Nations so we can first hand see the NEED so that we may RESPOND to what we see that is not just....
Why not do something different this summer... ditch the beach trip and GO GIVE SOME LOVE to someone who DESPERATELY DESIRES it! You will change their life and you just might change YOURS!
There are 163+Million Orphans in this world that need to feel loved... GOT LOVE to share?
Click here for the Visiting Orphans Mission trips...check it out!
...and of the greatest of these is LOVE..
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