Spring Mission 2012’ Part 1

Last week we had some friends of ours (the Berkleys) and a group of students from Crossroads Church here with us (both of the groups are from Georgia, USA). We were on-the-go all week and there was no time at all to blog. Usually on these mission trips I have the luxury of having some down time at night to write, but last week I was a driver as well. So, that meant that I had to drive the group everywhere, then drive home to the mountain every night. No time to write, barely time to sleep.
But just to catch you up on what you’ve missed, here’s a brief re-cap (we’ll post a little bit each day this week, too):

Saturday Night we were suppose to be at Pastor Bart’s church in Villa Zumbi at their youth service. We were suppose to be there as participants ONLY, because they were having a combined youth service with 3 other churches and all the churches had responsibilities already divvied out between everyone. But about 2 hrs before service I got a call and they asked if we could “do” the service rather than just participate so we said, “no” because we don’t operate that way... last minute stuff isn’t the way we roll! haha! jk. Of course we said, “yes” and did it. We had a great time worshipping with them and seeing students respond in the altar at the end of service.

Monday morning we went to a school in Villa Zumbi to minister to their pre-schoolers and their elementary aged students. When we arrived they told us the teachers had just gone on strike so only half the students were there. So we ministered to about 200 kids and had lunch with them. It was a great way to start off the week. the kids were super cute and they were very excited about us being there.

Then on Monday Night we went to the orphanage that MJ and I had adopted our kids from 5 years ago. There were still a few kids there that were there when we adopted ours. In the past, when we’ve visited, there was snot flyin’, tears flowin’, and so much emotion... it was so crazy. But this time it was different. There was emotion, but it wasn’t like before. Me and MJ didn’t even cry when we rolled away at the end of the night (like we normally did). And the reason why ( I think) is because now that we live here I believe we can do something about it. Rather than just having compassion on these kids and praying that God would provide parents for them, we can actually do something. We’re praying and seeking God on what that actually looks like, but we know that we have to do something. We already have an idea of what that will be and, as soon as we feel like the direction is clearer (with a timetable), we’ll let you know.

There’s one girl in particular, her name is Stephanie. She’s been there in the orphanage ever since we adopted our kids 4 years ago. She’s 15 years old and has 4 brothers. Every year we’ve seen her, we’ve been feeling like God wanted us to do something about her but we didn’t know what. The orphanage didn’t want to separate the group (her and her 4 brothers). We knew that there was no way that we could adopt another sibling group of 5. Well, we could, but we would probably end up in an insane asylum or prison (for killing somebody)! lol! jk. To think of it though, some days I think we belong in an asylum : ) but that’s another story... anyway, when we got to the orphanage we saw all the kids and then we saw Stephanie. She was so happy to see us. When we started talking to the director about her, the director told us that her brothers had been adopted by someone from another country and that she was all alone now. Talk about heartbreaking. To be a child in an orphanage, to wait so long to be adopted as a sibling group, only to have the rest of your family adopted and you’re abandoned once again. That’s a bunch of crap if you ask me. So rather than just praying that God would intervene and provide someone for her, we’re gonna do something. We’ve got to. How can you see a problem over and over (a child being abandoned more than once is a definite problem) and not do something about it? There’s no way to ignore it any longer. So we’ve got to do something. We’ll let you know when we have more details, but please pray for us.

What about you? Is there an issue or someone in need that you keep encountering over and over? Maybe you’re suppose to be the solution. Or maybe you’re the one God wants to use to be a catalyst for changing that particular situation. As Christ Followers we’re not suppose to just feel empathy for people and pray. Sure, we do those things, but it’s more than that. It’s got to be. Jesus was our example and He not only had compassion on people, He actually met needs as well (as the Father directed). So what is God directing you to do? It’s definitely NOT to just do nothing. Just something to think about.

Love Ya,
Jim and MJ


PS - The pics up top are of us in Villa Zumbi Church and with the kids at the school in Zumbi. We can’t show pictures of the kids at the orphanage, for their safety, but they were amazing... trust me: )
We’ll post part 2 of the Spring 2012’ Mission Trip tomorrow.