One Life Can Make a Huge Difference
If what I’m about to share with you breeds any guilt in your heart that you are not doing something similar, then stop reading immediately and go on with your day. There is nothing that guilt would lead you to do that would have any value whatsoever in his kingdom or his work in your life. Fair enough? Please hear in these emails the complete joy these people are finding in what Father has invited them into. If you don’t know what that means for the moment, keep leaning into his love. He’ll show you when the time is right and the opportunity is present.
But if these stories inspire you like the did me to realize how much a simple individual can accomplish that merely responds to the nudging of the Spirit in their heart, then run with that as far as his Spirit might carry you!
Street Kids in Mongolia:
I have listened to you guys on The God Journey for a couple of years and always wondered when I would contact you, here goes. I have been in the US Navy for nearly 20 years and just came off my last deployment. I have suffered through some PTSD. We came to the Lord 12 years ago. Five Years ago, the Lord gave my wife and I James 1:27. This verse came to life and He truly gave it to us to give away. We started taking out the widows trash next door, feeding the homeless and even adopted two children from Mongolia. Three years ago, God laid on our hearts the need of all the children that were left behind in Mongolia, so we acted. We started by sponsoring children from one orphanage. 21 kids the first year. As we speak, my wife and 13 year old daughter are on our third journey with over 60 children sponsored, 4 orphanages visited and blessed, plus multiple street children loved, clothed, fed and connected. When God put Mongolia on our heart we would have never seen ourselves riding this humbling and amazing wave. This latest trip allowed Stacy to love on street kids and meet with the First Lady of Mongolia. To see so many barriers fall and doors open all because the “crazy round eyes” keep coming back. We received a letter from the government thanking us for being the first adoptive family to ever come back and love on those left behind. This is the heart that God gave us so many years ago we thank you for sharing a snapshot of what we are blessed to be a part of. I would love for you to read the post on her blog from 30 November 2010. Your willingness to be two goof balls loving on the rest of us goof balls, has directly attributed to our drive to just go. To go 13,000 miles to below freezing temperatures and watch God fund nearly every dime and my wife get paid for the week on top of it. I mostly wanted to share this story on the blog. It is simply a story of LOVE. Thanks Guys, see you out there loving on people.
Dolls for Orphans:
(Note: This started over the weekend as a little Facebook phenomenon. Faith is a fifteen-year-old girl that I first met over 10 years ago staying in her parents’ home. She wanted to do something to help raise money to move the orphanage in Kenya out of the slums and onto a safer locale. She started making these dolls and wanted to sell them for $20.00 each and she is donating all the proceeds to the orphans in Kenya. I watched as people started ordering dolls, and then some wanted to pay for a few dolls and donate the dolls as toys for the children in Kenya as well. Soon she was overwhelmed with orders. Here are some of her thoughts as we have discussed this together:)
“Hello Wayne, I just wanted to talk to you about some of the Orphan Dolls I sold. Yesterday I sold four on the internet and today I sold 17 at the salon, and my grandma wants two! We added the numbers up and it was $765 dollars and Uncle Kent said someone was matching everything we make, so it’s really $1,530! One of Uncle Kent’s clients already said she would pay to ship the dolls out for us. I was really excited, so I though I’d tell you. Faith”
How cool is that? Her orphan dolls are all hand-made. Each doll costs $20 dollars and 100% of the profits go to Orphans in Africa. I’d put a link here so you could order some if you want, but she wrote me this yesterday, “Hold off for a little while on the blog post! My mother and I need to get some more made for this Sunday, because there’s a big Christmas party on Sunday at the salon and we’re going to sell some, and I have a few orders to fill. But I’ll let you know when we’re ready because we want to sell as many as possible!”
So right now Faith is doing all she can. If she needs more orders up the road, I’ll let you know here.
It is so much fun to watch people work alongside Jesus when he has put a vision and a passion in their heart. I was deeply touched by both of these stories. Too many times I hear that we need to have large organizations to make an impact in the world. The reality is any one can have a profound impact on the world by simply following what God puts on their heart. So cool!