One of the blessings of semi-homeschooling our Fab Four is the gift of time. There are many days that are a challenge for them and for me too, still God is here.
Our son in kindergarten has the assignment to draw a picture of a place that he'd like to travel to. He started to tell me about Zambia because it started with a Z-like his name also starts with a Z. We are not like other people-usually it was just being well strange, but now we are actively trying to live our faith with our children. That shouldn't be strange, but sadly for our children and many other Church families it is. Not a guilt trip, but fessing up to our sin and how God's grace has allowed us to act and think differently about the way we gift :) We also have some friends that we support and pray for that are doing incredible things through God in Zambia
(shameless plug for McB's) Then he surprised me when he mentioned about the boy walking with the stack of bricks on his head...then I knew he wasn't talking about precious Zambia, but another part of the world that is equally as precious to God's heart.
We had recently watched DVDs from Lifesong and Gospel for Asia...as well as our favorite DVD about our soon to be son Hudson that we re in process to adopt:)
There was a part of the DVD where we saw a young boy with a stack of bricks on his head. He was a Dalit and one of the hundreds that GfA is actively reaching out to with the transformative Hope of Christ. My son remembered what he saw on the DVD and he was moved to care. As a child of God and his mommy how could I do any less? I grabbed 2 bricks from the pile in the garage ( long story but let's just say the city frowns upon my definition of recyclable materials and I don't want to just haul them to the dump) Anyway, we took the bricks and went outside.
I had them put one brick on their heads and then I held another-too heavy for them to have both without supervision and didn't want to risk an emergency room visit as we were not wearing shoes.They were shocked at how heavy the bricks were and how scratchy they felt against their skin. It was really powerful for all of us to attempt to break the bricks into powder or ever smaller pieces. Again, with my help as they clapped the bricks together and broke of little pieces. My son told me" I didn't like it. Holding the bricks, got a scratch. We pray for him (the boy)."
Two bricks, four fab kiddos, and one incredible DVD make for a powerful lesson about God's heart for the Dalits. Thank you GfA, we can't unsee and now we will never forget our Father's heart for these precious ones.
CCBC has the incredible opportunity to sponsor 5 of the hundreds of precious little ones through GfA's Bridge of Hope. All that is needed is for CCBC families to act and commit to sponsor these children. They have an incredible letter writing opportunity for you to learn about the child you commit to sponsor as well as a precious pic of the child for you to put a fce to the name as a very real prayer card reminder of what you are doing wth your monthly commitment. We will have these sponsorships available this weekend-part of orphan care-but these children are not orphans, but they are in need of the support of the Church as GfA reaches out to them with the Hope of Christ.
Please see us at the table in the atrium with the Gift tables. We will have representatives there all morning. We'll be there at 9 and after 11 when we finish mix a meal with our family. Get a free copy of the book
No Longer a Slumdog...it will change the way you pray and think about global orphan/least of these care.
I recently heard about this ministry, and I am overwhelmed by what God has done through them in the past 30 years...and what He is going to do for the future. AMAZING!
Also, will add that they have a Christmas catalog that has many ways to give that are very affordable, meaningful to children as well as the gift recipients and oportunities to partner with others in your life to give as a group. The water buffalo- not everyone's got one, as the Veggie Tale song implies, but a few more families could get them:) Wonder what "Jesus brought us a water buffalo?!" sounds like in um, Hindi?
Can you imagine if your child put a waterbuffalo on his/her list for Christmas this year...for someone else?! What about the gift of rabbits and a pig, sponsoring a national missionary or buying a ricksaw...what about purchasing a live camel for someone else as the addition to your family's Christmas nativity?!
Seriously, you must tell me if you do buy a water buffalo-how amazing would it be to create a CCBC "living nativity" GfA style?! Oh yes, there is a generator and LCD Projector kit available to gift as well...God certainly is creative:)
