~Picture to the Stories~

For years I had heard about poverty. For years I have hugged the necks of people who live or have lived in poverty. I have tried to release children from poverty in JESUS name. I had heard the stories. I hadn't seen it. . .

My youth group had the chance to go to Atlanta and work with 7Bridges ministries to hand out lunches to the homeless under the bridges.

I LOVE these people!! Gracepointe Church Students. 

 We walked the street and saw people with all they had within five feet around them. I saw them lying on the rock covered ground with only a thin blanket between them and the cold earth. Do you know what else I saw?

I saw smiles! I saw joy that only Jesus can give. I went expecting to spread the love of Jesus, but in more than one case I found myself listening to people sitting on the ground, under a bridge, where they LIVE tell me how good God is and how I should stay strong in Him! It has broke me.

One of the ladies I went with said "I could describe it to you all day, but it will never be what you expect". That is the truth. I knew there were homeless. I knew there was poverty but when I saw it, when I saw the homeless, it was different then I ever expected. By the end of the day I found myself telling people I hardly even knew that I loved them, because I did. It was JESUS; NOT me! A spark was lit in side me to do more! I realize that I could be those people! I could be on the street! Jesus saved me in EVERY since of that word so why would I not want to show his love?

For the last few months I had felt my longing to help the the needy kind of die down. I LOVE Jesus but my excitement to spread His word had leveled out. I was strong in Jesus and that was all that mattered. God has called us to more than that. God's plan is to reconcile the whole world to Himself and calls us to a spirit of reconciliation. He reconciles to reconcile.

 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 1 Cor. 5:18-19

When we do not spread the love of Christ and share God's message of reconciliation we do not experience the full JOY of the gospel. This is what we were made to do. We were made to SHINE for His glory! We were made to experienced His glory. It was all messed up in the fall but has been REDEEMED through the finished work of JESUS! Christ has payed and the world will be made right! It will all be made right! That is the gospel! We can be made right! 
By HIS GRACE and through our faith in Christ and His finished work we will be made perfect. We ARE made perfect! ALL JESUS!! 

Happy Easter!!!! Jesus is alive!!!!! 

All for Him,

~My African Sisters~

I have put this blog post off for a long time now. Part of it was because I was lazy, but for the most part it is just hard for me to put into words all that has happened since the beginning of the year. . .

     A very sassy African that I call my sister was able to fly to the states, and I was finally able to meet her face-to-face! Meeting Maureen was more amazing than I could have ever imagine! The love and Joy she has in Jesus is contagious! 

            We drove up from our home in Georgia to meet her in South Carolina. She came to the states to speak on behalf of the Mercy House, the maternity home in Kenya. She is the executive director. We met her at the house she was staying at in South Carolina. She was SO happy! I was SO happy! She hugged my mom and said "I can't believe I am hugging you!" We were all SO thankful God allowed us to meet! It felt so good to finally hug her and hold her hand! She means so much to our family! 

                            We were able to hear her speak at church on Sunday morning. She was so real and eye opening about poverty. . the poverty she lived in before Compassion International stepped in. One of the things that she said was " I am thankful for my poverty, because if it was not for my poverty I might not have come to know Jesus". Wow, right!? She is a living example of How the GRACE of God can save! We are all living examples of how the GRACE of God can save! If you are in Christ, He has saved you, cleansed you, and freed you from you chains! I serve and AWESOME God, you guys! 

                            It was SO hard to say goodbye! We cried and hugged again and again! That would not be the last time I would say goodbye to an African this year. . .

My mom and I were sitting in a place to eat in town when Compassion called. .  My heart dropped. Compassion has never called us and I knew when Compassion calls it is most of the time not good news. Sometimes they call and say your child has moved to an area without a project. Sometimes they call to tell you the tragic news your child has past away. Fortunately this has never happened to us. Compassion was calling to tell me Aster's sponsor has decided to stop supporting Aster. If I could not sponsor her I would not be able to write her anymore. We asked if they could hold her and not put her up for sponsorship yet. We wanted a chance to find her a sponsor that we could know. 

We put her picture on Facebook. We explained the situation and one of our long time friends has decided to sponsor this beautiful girl! Isn't God GREAT! I am sad I will not be able to write her anymore, but I know God loves sweet Aster more than I ever could! I am so excited for her and our friends and can't wait to see what God will do. 

All for Him,

                     

~My Word~

Since 2011 I have been choosing a word to focus on and learn from throughout the year. .

2011~ JOY
2012~ LOVE

God uses these words in such awesome ways. He makes them real!! I felt God's love in 2012 like I never have before!! It was amazing! I am so excited to see what God does with my new word. . . My new word. .

I had a few words in mind and was waiting for God to make it clear to me. I was thinking maybe "Embrace" or "Hope" .  .  . God said " Nahh, not those" .  :) My word for this year is . . .

My mom mentioned this word and I thought "wow" this is a good word that God has already used in a lot of ways in my life. I kept it in mind with the other two words and waited. .  I waited for God to show me which or any of these were my word. . .

Today in my devotional I read . . 

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17

AND

 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." ROMANS 8:1-4 .

                        Guys, God did like the same thinglast year with "LOVE"! You can read about it here! God is SO great!! It is AMAZING what He can do! Knowing what He has done with these words in the past I am SO excited to see what he is going to do with this one! 

                       I want to share the freedom there is in Christ, not the freedom to sin but the freedom to do right! The freedom to be yourself because Jesus loves you the way you are! I want to experience in a deeper level this freedom!!

                              

"Hallelujah! We are free to struggle, but we're not struggling to be free! Your blood bought and makes                     us children. Children drop your chains and sing!" 

Do you have a word? I would love to hear! :) 

All for Him,

Lysa

Just some Awesome stuff. . :)

I got a letter from my Filipino princess, and it is precious!!!

She made me a birthday card! It is so sweet! 

Oh, this girl! I love her! 

I have actually received a few letters and just haven't had the time to blog. . .  I feel so close to this precious girl

Compassion International is planning a sponsor tour to the Philippines in January of 2014. . .  :) 

I am praying about going . . I would LOVE to go.

 I have been saving a little every month for my Philippines trip whether it is next year or two or three years after that. Please pray that if it be God's will ( which I think it is) that he would provide the means for this trip. We know a friend who we met working Compassion tables who is going. . God is Sovereign. . . If he wants me to go I will. That is my hope. 

 So. . . Have you sponsored a child or received a letter? Is this your first time here? I would love to get a comment from you.

Will you show love by sponsoring a child?  Maybe you need to write your child. . .

1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.

All for Him,

For Real?!?

I knew it was coming! I knew it was almost time. I started checking my account on Compassion more. Then it was there!!!

Jazzy Rain in early 2011

Jazzy Rain in June 2012

She is SO beautiful!! 

I was SO excited . . . I still am!! 

This girl. . . I can't even explain what she means to me. The letters behind that beautiful girl are the sweetest letters ever! She is SO beautiful inside and out! I know God is going to do awesome things through her. . .  He already is! 

She is my little sister I have never hugged! I love her so much! 

Then it happened again!!! I wasn't expecting this! 

Aster in early 2011

Aster in Summer 2012!!!

Again, I am overwhelmed by this precious girl! She is Beautiful!! I hope I get to know her more, but she already feels like my little sister! 

These girls mean so much to me! I love them all so much! They help me never forget what is really important, showing God's love to the least of these. 

Sponsor a child. . .  Add a family member! :)

All for Him,

Lysa

WoW! God is Faithful!

My mom and I have been trying to think of things to do locally to show God's love. We feel His love so real in our lives we can't hold it in. . .  

So last Saturday ( 6th ) my friend Mary said our friend, Claire,  our youth Pastor's wife, Leah and her wanted to invite me to come and "chalk up the town for Jesus" with them. Her and Claire had done it earlier that day and said they wanted to get me to do it with them. . .  I was excited! I thought it was a great idea. 

Well it turned out to be a lot more then just us four! In all there was about ten girls writing messages all over the sidewalks of our town. 

We wrote things like " Jesus's love covers you" and "Romans 8:1". 

About half way through the day we were all together talking on the side of the road. We were talking about how we have to show love and not just say love. .  How we show love because we have been loved! 

About that time a lady walked up. She asked if we were the ones who wrote on the sidewalks last week and we told her yes. .  That was Mary and Claire! She told us she walked out of her store last week and saw " Romans 8:1 For there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ" written on the sidewalk. She started to tear up. She told us she had thought about it all week and tried to find us to tell us how it had touched her. WoW! 

Another time ( I didn't see this. They told me) a guy drove up to a green light and STOPPED to ask if they were the ones who wrote on the sidewalks last week. They told him "yes" . He told them " I love God a lot but sometimes I wonder if He loves me. When I looked down and saw it written on the sidewalk. .  It touched me. Thank you."  WoW again!! 

God is FAITHFUL! 

This is what I had been praying for! This is what God had in mind. This is how I was to show His LOVE!!

I am not trying to say " I am awesome and show God's love everyday". No. .  I fail a lot! What I am trying to say is even little acts of love can make a huge difference for Christ! We just have to be open to what God has for us! 

This is what it is all about. . .  Showing God's love for HIS glory, even in the little ways! 

All for Him,

I Have A Bible.

 Hi my name is Maimouna. I am 5 yrs old. I have a Bible! 

See. . .  when I was little I was hungry a lot. My father and mother would worry all the time for me and my brother and sister. She mother would cry and I wouldn't know why. I would wonder if it was because of me. 

I didn't go to school. I would help with my baby brother at home. One day when I was going to the market for my mom a nice lady told me that there was a church that could help me. She said her daughter was going  to the church and received a  meal when she went. She said the nice people at the church would help her learn school and teach her about a man named Jesus. She said her daughters favorite part of all that the church did for her was give her letters from a person they called a sponsor.She loved her sponsor.

I ran home and told my mom all that the lady told me! I wanted to go to the church the next day! Mama thought is was a great idea too. The next day we went to the church and Mama answered some questions about me. They took a picture of me! It was the first time I had ever had my picture taken! 

I went to the church once a week. I made lots of new friends, and I learned a lot too! They told me about a man named Jesus. They told me He loves me! I liked that. It made me feel special.  

One day when I came into the project, that is what the church in called one of the ladies told me I had a sponsor!!

I was so excited! I was going to get letters like the other kids!! I learned I was sponsored by a family in America! I had heard about America but now I was going to get letters from America! 

I waited and wrote letters to them.  . . . I turned 7 and had never got a letter.  I wondered why. I wondered if I wasn't pretty enough. I smiled in the new picture, but still no letter. 

I had started to not care about letter days. I thought I would never get a letter. I was talking to my friend while the other kids had their names called to come get their letter on letter day. Then I thought I heard my , name! "Maimouna, you have a letter." I let out a shout! I ran to get my letter! I read it and read it! It was so special. I learned a lot about my sponsor! I learned they had three kids, and the youngest one had MY birthday! 

When I showed my Mom she was excited for me! Then I noticed something. My mom was not a sad anymore. She had not been as worried the past few weeks. I think it is because of my sponsor. 

My sponsors write me now! I wonder why they waited so long. I think they started writing because of Jesus! I know He loves me when I get letters. 

The project gave me a bible! It is my families only bible.  My family and I read it every night. I like my bible because I can bring it home and let my family read about what I learn about at the project. I love my sponsor. . . and I love my bible. 

...........................................................................................................

This story is only half true. There is 5 yr old girl in Burkina Faso.

Her name is Maimouna. 

The only thing is she hasn't got a sponsor yet. She hasn't received a letter. She is still watching children get letters while she waits. She has waited. . . and waited. . . She has waited almost a year now. Will you end her wait? Will you show her His love? I believe you will NEVER regret it! 

To learn more about or sponsor Maimouna please click here. To look at other children click here.

All for Him,