…that is the title of an article i read a few months ago…
It talked briefly about the influences Greek scholars and Socratic thinking had on the 3rd and 4th century churches have affected the way we relate to God.
These influences encouraged focus on the intellectual and have became so deep-rooted in our basic thinking that it has also swayed our relationship with God from one of intimacy and power to one where mere knowledge plays a bigger role. It has shifted our priorities, causing us to neglect the building of close relationship which can change lives.
The concluding lines of that article (read full article here) states
We must listen and respond with the heart. Whatever service we give to God should be a result of our relationship with our heavenly Father, not an end unto itself.
And one form of service i have been actively involved in is advocating for orphans with special needs (please click here for more posts on these orphans).
Today is Teamwork Tuesday where we, advocates, shout out about one particular child, in hopes that such concerted efforts would bring the child more notice and help find their forever family.
3-year R.J. waits for his forever family to come for him.
He is such a handsome little guy. See those wonderfully soulful eyes. He is 3 years old and we have been told that he would be transferred to an adult mental institution quite soon. After transfer, his chances of getting adopted would diminish, it may even disappear all together.
Reece’s Rainbow (an advocate website) wasn’t even given enough information to be able to start an adoption grant for him (no donation button). Once he is transferred, information would be even harder to get.
Please don’t let R.J. disappear. Please pray for him and share his story so his family can find him today. Click on his name or picture to see his profile on Reece’s Rainbow.
That’s right – our target was met – prayers answered!
What prayers? What target?
11 year old Heath, is a cutie who needs his family asap.10 year old Heather, is a sweetie who needs a family asap.
Well, our church (International Church of Luzern) Youth’s fundraising project called Angels for Orphans had a target of CHF700. And it was met!
i proposed this project to our church Youth Leaders a couple of months back, when i felt led to do something more than pray for my little Heath and my lovely Heather. i had initially decided to do the fundraising by myself, but God prompted me to ask if this would be a project for the Youths. They said yes! So planning started; ideas and materials were gathered and tested. i settled on making a few simple crafts and baking cookies.
i had also wanted the Youths to come to know the power of prayer, the joy and the blessings of praying for others (even for people we didn’t know personally) and that our Lord God is mighty in answering prayers. This was something i wished i had as a youth and i wish for them to have it in their lives now – knowing this, truly, deeply knowing this would just make their uncharted journey through life a little easier.
So with that in mind, the Youth Coordinator and myself planned for the Angels for Orphans project to be introduced during a session where the Youths were studying about prayer. i was really nervous but survived (Thank God!) the rather time-constrained presentation (i could only present the project after they finished their session, which took most of the time). After which, i followed it up with 3 weeks of handouts, about Heath and Heather, about Reece’s Rainbow, about why God would want us to help the orphans, including also prayer pointers and websites of other teens who are doing their bit for these precious ones.
Then we had a Sunday morning of making the crafts. It went slower than expected but the teachers were supportive and the youths were happy to do the work. Some took home materials to work on as we didn’t get enough done that day. The following Sunday morning was focused on putting finishing touches and baking cookies. A couple of hours after that, it was Sale Time!
The cookies went the fastest! In the picture you only see one type of cookie, the other chocolate one was gone before i could even pull out the camera. The Angel Cards were also very popular. The Finger Puppet Angels were mainly bought by mothers or grandmothers for the kids. The Bell Angels (the little cardboard angels with bells in them) were harder to sell as people didn’t think them too practical (something to consider for the next project).
We are not a huge church, we are but a small family church; still, we managed to raise CHF415 🙂 Then we had a very generous offer – a couple said they would buy up all the remaining items and give a little above that, which allowed us to hit our target of CHF700! Praise the Lord!
Below are pictures of the table display and close-ups of all the items made and sold:
Table laden with goodies to sell…All the items we sold…
We (myself and the Youths) would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this fundraising project, whether in buying something or in helping to make the crafts/cookies. We will carry on praying for little Heath and lovely Heather, praying that this small amount we raised will help the family who finds them to reach them faster.
A rainbow always reminds me of how much God loves us.
i wondered about this question a fairly bit – at least when i was a child growing up, even more as a teenager trying to define herself. i have not asked this question of myself for quite a while now but the other day, it popped into my mind again. It caused me to look at myself today and myself maybe 20 years earlier (showing my age, huh?)
So who am i? i am a mother, a wife, a daughter, a friend, a sister, a godmother, a sister-in-christ, a writer, a blogger (yes there is a difference between the two), a photographer (not professionally, but passionately), and most importantly, i am a child of God.
Does any one role define me? Can any one role tell you about the whole me? No, i believe i am all of that and, prayerfully, i hope i am also much more than my roles.
i love being a wife and a mother – a home manager in essence. i enjoy being a friend and a sister-in-christ. i wish i could be a better daughter and godmother. i hope that my passion in life would be revealed through my writing and blogging. i want to be a professional photographer (maybe some time in the future i will be).
But the one role that possibly tells you more about me than any of the others is – i am a child of God. i believe, 100 and 1 percent, that i am God’s creation and i am here to fulfill His purposes.
Is that too simplistic a way to think? Maybe. But life is complicate enough as it is, i don’t need to make it even harder.
However, being God’s child does not mean that all my other roles take a backseat. In fact, it gives them more direction. When i am with my son, i am a mother to him and i pray i will be able to mirror God to him. Love him as God loves me. When i am with my husband, i am a wife and again God speaks very clearly about this in the Bible (see here). When i am with my parents/parents-in-law, i aim to be as loving and filial a daughter/daughter-in-law as i can be because God says to honour my parents.
You see there is no question as to what i should be doing in each situation because if you look at the Bible, truly look at God’s word, it is all there.
Now TODAY, right now, i want to bring my role as a prayer warrior and advocate of special needs orphans to the forefront. Most of you would know that i have been a prayer warrior with Reece’s Rainbow for more than 2 months now. You have read about my little Heath and my lovely Heather. And i thank you for your kind attention.
10 year old Heather, is a healthy sweetie who needs a family asap.
i still pray for them both but TODAY i want to highlight Heather. She is an adorable little girl who has Down Syndrome. But because of that one little extra chromosome, she is an orphan. She will be turning 11 in a few months and have had no one care about that for all those long years. We have very little information about her and that does not bear well, because we have no real knowledge of her actual condition and the circumstances she lives in. What we do know is that she is a child who needs a loving family to care for her, to choose her to be part of their family so that she can excel in life. Could you be her family? Would you join me in prayer for her?
i feel that Heather seems to be overlooked and the reason being there is so little known about her. But as i have said before, this does not make her need less, it makes her need more. The way i see it, she is more neglected in a way than little Heath who has had a little bit more exposure (this is only because a family managed to spot him – no interaction was allowed – when they went to pick up their adopted son from the same institute).
So please don’t let her be pushed to the side any longer. Share her story, donate to her adoption grant (click here) – a large increase in her grant would get her more notice and make it easier for a family to reach her, pray that her family comes for her. Thank you.
trippingdifferently 