Running for Wholeness

Early this fall my hubby set out on a personal mission: complete his first half marathon. Instead of running just for a fit body [which he already has] or personal accomplishment, he's running for Team World Vision to raise money for our friends in Nkhoma and Chilenje, Malawi. His goal is to raise $1000 and he's currently raised $738.21.

This Sunday, Brian will be running his first half marathon but not without some drama. This is what Brian posted this morning:

"So, last Thursday I rolled my ankle avoiding a lady walking her dog on the sidewalk. Mind you, that was 10 days before my half marathon that is coming up this Sunday! [The pic was taken this morning after 3 full days of rest.] Thankfully, I'm on the mend, and I'm still as motivated as ever to complete the run! Please consider donating to my World Vision run. The money goes to a great cause - building wells for folks in Africa who do not have access to one of the biggest things we take for granted, clean water. Any amount will help. I hope to have your support. Click on THIS LINK. Thanks!

Oh, by the way, I did run this morning with almost no pain! So I will be running for your $$$!"

Sunday also marks 1 year since we landed at LAX with our little Ethiopians and began life together as a family. I can't think of a better way to celebrate our 1 year together than for Brian to run for other orphans in Malawi.


Proud of my man! Could you support him?

Psalm 147

Last Sunday I woke up feeling especially tender toward our adoption. I just felt homesick for our babies. No reasons. Just a deep sense of missing these babies I've never laid eyes on. Then at Newsong we meditated on this Scripture [below] as a worship response. It was timely for me as the service was filled with orphan and baby talk. I spoke to our congregation about the good news of 1,104 children being sponsored from Malawi. I led our infant dedication part of the service. Dave Gibbons talked about the "maturity of a church is measured by how we care for widows and orphans". And a Newsong couple shared their miraculous adoption story. It was pretty emotionally intense, but this passage nourished me...

Psalm 147

¹ Praise the LORD.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

² The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

³ He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.

⁴ He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.

⁵ Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.

⁶ The LORD sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
make music to our God on the harp.

⁸ He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.

⁹ He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.

¹⁰ His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of a man;

¹¹ the LORD delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Child Sponsorship Matters!

Yesterday was an epic day for our church! In the span of about 3 hours, 1104 children were sponsored through World Vision in Nkhoma, Malawi!!! Yes, read that again. Slowly. Outloud. Let that sink in. It's unreal.
We've made a 10-15 year commitment to Malawi through doing sustainable development in Nkhoma, a community in Malawi. We are doing this through a ground breaking partnership with World Vision and Y-Malawi. I couldn't recommend these 2 organizations more!

Here are some highlights to move you to worship…

▪ Countless people took 3, 4, 5 kids to sponsor – one for every member of their family or matching the birth dates of their biological children or adding to their existing partnership with World Vision.

▪ We had 3 separate individuals say they were going to sponsor 100 kids – that’s $3500/month!!!! Unreal.

▪ Last night I was talking to a young adult at dinner who had never considered sponsoring a child. He sponsored one child yesterday.

▪ Others [like Brian & I] decided before yesterday they were sponsoring “enough” children already, but were moved into action to sponsor another one. Actually, some of our friends were one of those families, and ended up sponsoring 3 more kids – they had their kids pick them out.

▪ James Sanchez, our World Vision Rep, said in 18 years of doing this he’s NEVER seen a community respond like this.

▪ Two college girls sponsored a child together. It was so amazing to watch them choose a child together and fill out the packet together. They were all smiles.

The stories are endless. I literally had envelopes thrust into my hands by the handful. I could hardly keep up. I can only imagine where this goes from here. Newsong’s heart has been captured by Africa!!!! Personally, it’s a dream come true. A prayer 5 years in the making coming true! The best is yet to come…

I love our church – our people – more than ever. What an example of what the church is called to do and be - caring for widows and orphans. Today is a day to be celebrated. What’s next!?!?!

In 2 weeks, we are doing another sponsorship drive and we're going to try to get another couple hundred sponsored. Child sponsorship matters. Poverty isn't a statistic; it's personal (Rich Stearns). And for 1104 children, their lives were changed yesterday. And our lives were changed, as well. Nkhoma has more hope than ever before!