An Incredible Church Adoption Service

On Sunday, February 20, our church (The Village Church of Irvine) held its' quarterly Missions Sunday service. We were humbled when our lead pastor asked Mike to give the message on "God's heart for adoption." It was an unforgettable morning with a very succesful blood drive (which raised over $1,000 for our new church adoption scholarship fund). We also held an adoption fair with 5 adoption agencies represented. Mike spent hours upon hours seeking God's heart for his sermon and He delivered a powerful message of how adoption is at the heart of the gospel. It was truly moving, compelling and heart warming to hear his personal adoption journey as well. To listen to the message, click on the following link:

God's Heart For Adoption

I was also blessed to be part of the service and read a children's "adoption fairy tale." After the story Aidan prayed for children around the world in need of families. At the end of the service our pastor commissioned our family as well as the Coleman family on our adoption journies. There are currently 8 families in our church who are considering or are already in the process of adoption or fostering children. We love our church's heart for "the least of these!" In the last week, we have been approached by more families who are now considering foster care, respite care or adoption as a result of the message. We are so honored and blessed to be part of how God is moving in our church body!

A Valentine's Dinner... on God!

Every year on February 14th I am reminded of how big our God is. I will never forget our first Valentine's Day celebration as a married couple. We had only been married for 3 months and were serving as missionaries with Youth With a Mission (YWAM) in Kona, HI. We had no money... just a few quarters that had to be saved for laundry. We had been praying and asking God for money so we could go out to dinner on Valentine's Day. As newlyweds, we didn't want to spend our Valentine's dinner with the team at the base. We wanted to celebrate somewhere special, but had no resources to do this. I thought that we might receive a gift from a friend or family member in the mail, but God had much bigger plans.

On the Sunday before Valentine's Day, we were worshipping at our church service. In the middle of one song, the lady who was sitting in front of us turned around and stared at us. I will never forget the words that came from her mouth. "God just told me to give you money so you can go out to dinner for Valentine's Day!" Then she opened her purse and handed us $40. Some people may argue that God is not real or that He does not perform miracles today, but I choose to differ. MY GOD IS REAL AND HE CARES ABOUT HIS CHILDREN! He cared about our Valentine's Day celebration! He answered our prayers in a very specific way. And we had an amazing dinner at The Chart House restaurant in Kona (with a waitress that we knew from YWAM)... on God!


This photo was taken that morning (Feb 14, 1995). Jennie Justine & I made a Valentine's Day breakfast for our hubbies at the YWAM base. We were the only married couples in the school and are still dear friends.

I wanted to share this memory on our adoption website since we are now trusting God for some big bucks... $30,000 to be specific. This time it's much more than dinner, it's an orphaned baby in Korea in need of a family. I can't wait to see how God provides for this one!

Sidenote...the Justines (who still serve with YWAM) are currently adopting a little girl from Ethiopia and just received a $5,000 grant! We can't wait to introduce our girls to each other one day!

The Truth About St. Valentini...

Every year millions of people around the world celebrate St. Valentine’s Day by giving candy, flowers and special gifts to those they love. But what is the real story behind the saint whose life inspired this holiday?

St. Valentine was a Christian who was persecuted by the Romans in the Third Century. Claudius II ordered the worship of twelve gods by all Romans. Those who chose not to worship the gods were to be put to death. Valentini was a strong believer and the threat of death could not keep him from worshipping his God. He was arrested, imprisoned and martyred for his actions.

While in prison, a guard discovered that Valentini was a man of learning. He asked Valentini to tutor his daughter, Julia, who was blind. Valentini tutored her in Roman history and arithmetic and also taught her about his God. She was a very good student and began to see the world through his eyes. She came to love and trust him as a dear mentor and friend. One day she asked him, “Does God really hear our prayers?” His answer was that God does what is best for us if we will only believe in Him. As they prayed together, she said, “You know what I want, Lord. I pray that I might see.” As they were praying, a bright light filled the cell and Julia screamed, “I can see! I can see!” Her life was forever changed.

On the eve of his death Valentini wrote to Julia urging her to stay close to God. He signed the letter, ‘From your Valentini.’ His death sentence was carried out the next day on February 14th, 269 AD, near a gate that was later named Porta Valentini. He was buried in the yard of the Church of Praxades in Rome.

St. Valentine’s Day is celebrated around the world with messages of love and devotion. Let us remember and honor St. Valentini by loving all those that God has placed in our lives and living out our convictions with boldness.

Grateful for Amazing Family and Friends!

We have been so touched by our incredible family and friends throughout our crazy adoption journey! I have saved countless emails over the past few years filled with words of encouragement, hope and affirmations. Many of you have cried with us, listened to our unending stories and even traveled with us to El Salvador! I could fill this blog with story after story of support, but here are just a few...


Barbara shared at my 40th bday...

Barbara Lange has become a constant encourager and is always the first to respond to my email updates. Last year Barbara committed to praying for our adoption journey daily, and recently committed to monthly financial support for our adoption costs. Needless to say, this blew us away! Barbara has been an incredible blessing, especially in my the darkest moments. She had a profound vision of my life last year and I still carry her email of the vision in my purse (it's posted at the bottom of our blog). I love this photo of Barbara embracing me at my 40th... this pretty much sums up our relationship!

Krista Harris and I became prayer partners over a year ago. We try to pray together at 5:30 a.m. on Fridays (before our kids are up) and it has been so refreshing to watch God move in Krista's life! Her ever-growing faith and experience of God never ceases to amaze me. Lynn Cawley and I were blessed to help baptize Krista (in the rain!) two years ago. Krista recently offered to cut our boys' hair... and save us monthly hair cut costs. This was a huge blessing in light of the increased adoption fees in Korea. I'm so grateful for Krista's consistent prayers for our family, her friendship and her new haircutting services!


Lynn, me and Krista at Krista's baptism... a very memorable day!

Lynn Cawley and I share many deep passions for missions, counseling and inner healing. Mike and I have met with Lynn many times over the years for counseling and her widom has been priceless. Lynn and her husband Rex serve on our missions board and bring great insight and passion to our team. Lynn is one of the most deep people I know and she truly listens to God. Her prophetic words have encouraged me over and over again. Lynn recently spent time praying for me and God her a picture of me "parenting" orphans all over the world (through my trips). I am so grateful for her constant encouragement!

Heartbroken Yet Hopeful

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday with our family this year. There was so much to celebrate and so much to be grateful for. We celebrated Jesus' birthday with a birthday cake, as we do every year (and cake for breakfast is always fun!).

We have not purchased many items for our daughter during the waiting process, but decided to buy her Christmas stocking this year. It was so exciting to open the package from the mail and see our baby girl's first stocking! The print matches our boys' stockings, and we can't wait to embroider her name and make it "official!" My mind was filled with unending thoughts over the holidays about our little girl... "Is she born yet?" "Will she be here next Christmas?" "What will Christmas be like with a baby again?" I was filled with hope and anticipation!

















However, in early January we received very disappointing news from our adoption agency. We were told that Korea had announced increased wait times for referrals as well as increased adoption fees. We were also told that we are now on a "waiting list" of families (for home studies to be sent to Korea). Obviously this news was devastating and heartbreaking, especially after 3 1/2 years of delays in El Salvador. We were hoping to bring our little girl home this summer!

We cried out to God, confused and frustated. And God was so faithful to encourage our hearts. We received encouragement over and over again through His Word, through the wisdom of friends and through the blessing of our boys' nightly prayers for their sister. We were reminded that God is in control and that He has had our adoption plan in His hands since Creation.

I was reminded of a verse that my friend Misty gave me three years ago (to encourage us in our adoption journey)...

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day!" - Habakkuk 2:3

Indeed the news was hearbreaking, but we are still filled with hope and anticipation. So for now, the stocking sits and waits in storage. Only God knows if it will be filled with goodies for our daughter in 2011. We continue to wait and trust in His perfect and beautiful timing...

Blood Drive Fundraiser for Adoptions...

We are excited to announce that our church (The Village Church of Irvine) is hosting its first annual blood drive on Sun, Feb 20th to benefit adoptions! We are partnering with Blood For Missions and all donated blood will be used in hospitals in the So Cal area. Blood For Missions will give $20 per blood donor towards our new adoption scholarship program. We currently have 5 families in our church who are somewhere in the adoption process. So exciting!!! These families will be able to apply for scholarships through our new Adoption/Orphan Care ministry (called "Sprouts"). I love our church and our huge heart for adoption!!!

Sun, Feb 20 is also our quarterly Missions Sunday service and we will be focusing on God's heart for adoption. Mike will be giving the message on adoption and I will be reading a children's "adoption fairy tale" before the message. We're hosting an adoption fair (with 5 adoption agencies) after the service in addition to the blood drive. It's going to be an amazing morning, and I'm so proud of our church for its passion and commitment to orphans.

For more info on our church, you can go to the Village Church website at:

www.villagechurchirvine.com

Unparalleled church growth in Korea.... built on the prayers of the saints and the blood of the martyrs!

Loren Cunningham, the founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM) is one of my favorite authors. I love reading Loren's books to our kids because they are filled with powerful stories of how God is moving around the world. Recently we read through "The Book That Transforms Nations: The Power of the Bible to Change any Country." Chapter 9 (An Overnight Success Story: South Korea) details the incredible church explosion that has taken place in Korea over the past forty years. It is an unbelievable account of how God is moving in Korea. Here are a few excerpts:

"When I visited South Korea for the first time in 1971, poverty and military rule still plagued the nation. I'll never forget that visit. In Seoul, I spoke at Dr. David Yonggi Cho's church. I stood before these Korean believers and said what God had impressed upon me: Korea was going to become a great nation, sending missionaries all over the world. Afterward, several believers came up to me, greeting me with "Kahm sah ham nee tah," which means "thank you." Then they politely disagreed with my prediction. They were too poor to go out as missionaries. Besides, their government made it impossible for them to get passports for international travel.

South Korea was indeed poor. Since the moment of my arrival I saw the grip of poverty on the people. As I traveled around Seoul, I noticed it was filled with poorly constructed apartment buildings and garbage-filled alleyways. Very few people could own an automobile. In fact, I didn't see one car parked outside Dr. Cho's church. Dr. Cho himself had prayed and trusted God for a bicycle so that he could get around to his parishioners more easily. (page 75)

Thirty years later I returned to speak at Pastor Cho's church. As we drove into Seoul that evening, I looked about me, amazed at the changes. Koreans had a new problem, with thousands and thousands of Hyundais, Daewoos and Kias jostling in bumper-to-bumper traffic. High-rise buildings- layers of offices and luxury apartments for the new affluent- speared the sky. I looked closer and saw something that warmed my heart - neon blue crosses on the tops of countless churches on both sides of the freeway glowed in the pale light.

When it was time for me to speak at Dr. Cho's church, again I could scarcely believe the difference. Yoido Full Gospel Church now had more than seven hundred thousand members, making it the largest church in the world. And what about that unbelievable prediction the Lord compelled me to make from Dr. Cho's pulpit in 1971 - that Korea would send out many missionaries? With a population of just forty-eight million, South Korea now sends the second greatest number of missionaries overseas, only behind the United States. (page 76)

What happened? How could one country's fortunes change in less than thirty years? South Korea's economic growth came hand in hand with a rapid growth of the church - one of the greatest in the history of the world. The soil for Korea's dramatic church growth was watered by the blood of martyrs, many thousands in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. A story I'll never forget told of soldiers herding Korean believers into a church. The soldiers barred the doors and set the building on fire. The believers sang as they died, their hymns rising above the sounds of crackling fire and collapsing beams.

Korean followers of Jesus who survived persecution seemed girded with steel. Rising from these roots, Koreans gave themselves to prayer and Bible study in any unusual way. If you visit South Korea today, you'll find hundreds of thousands filling churches every morning at 5:00 am to pray and read their Bibles for two hours before heading to work. I have visited the Osanri Prayer Mountain outside Seoul, where thousands of Koreans spend time every weekend on their knees with their open Bibles. As a result of all this fervor, believers and churches have multiplied, quickly changing the spiritual landscape.

Ten of the eleven largest megachurches in the world are in Seoul. According to a recent Seoul Times article, South Korea now has more than twelve thousand missionaries abroad. Korean missionaries work in many nations, with a significant number in Middle Eastern countries. The South Korean church is also reaching into China, and even into North Korea." (page 77)

Wow! Needless to say, we have a lot to learn from the Korean church! I can't wait to visit Dr. Cho's church and meet these heroes of the faith. While the immense pressure on unwed mothers has created an orphan crisis in Korea, there are reports that this is beginning to change. I believe that the church is influencing this horrible Confucian cultural devaluation and most foster moms in Korea are believers. We feel honored that God has called our family to adopt from Korea and are excited to share these heroic stories with our daughter about her birthplace one day.