Do They Know???

It's Christmastime,
there's no need to be afraid
At Christmastime,
we let in light and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty
we can spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Christmastime

But say a prayer,
pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard,
but when you're having fun
There's a world outside your window,
and it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing
is the bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring there
are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you

And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life

Where nothing ever grows
No rain or rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Here's to you raise a glass for everyone
Here's to them underneath that burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

Feed the world
Feed the world
Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

Feed the world
Let them know it's Christmastime again

--Band Aid

REFERRAL-versay

11.25.09

will mark the one-year anniversary of Micah's referral. The first day we saw his face. This will be a very special day...for the rest of our lives. This year we'll commemorate our one-year referral-versay by joining Compassion International's Child Survivor Program for Ethiopia:

Tragically, nearly 26,000 children under age 5 die every day, mostly from preventable diseases.

Child Survival Program
Care before and after birth

Since infant mortality is extremely high in some parts of the world, the first priority in promoting effective child development is to ensure that children survive the early years when they are most vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. That means educating the mother or primary caregiver, before and after her child is born, about providing critical care during the earliest years. They are provided education in these areas:

Growth Monitoring — steady growth is a good sign of adequate nutrition
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) — restores fluids lost to diarrhea
Breast-feeding — promotes infant growth, facilitates bonding with the mother, and reduces incidence of illness
Immunization — an effective way to reduce or eliminate many diseases that cause childhood death and disability
Female Literacy — the mother's level of education is directly tied to child survival
Food — food or supplements fight off malnourishment
Family Planning — greater spacing between births allows the mother's body to be better prepared for the rigors of pregnancy and to provide greater attention to each child's needs
What's more, recent research in child development is clear: The first five years are a crucial period in the development of a child and this development directly affects the quality of adult life. Brain development is almost wholly completed by age 2 and malnutrition rates peak at around 24 months of age. This implies the need for early interventions concerning:

Health/nutrition
Fine/gross motor development
Cognitive stimulation
Socialization programs
Exposure to Christian teaching and the gospel
This research suggests that it is crucial for Compassion to affect the lives of younger children during this crucial two-year window of development. Our Child Survival Program works — and pays big dividends as a child grows older.

one gift : two blessings

Be intentional with your Christmas shopping.
Minister through fair-trade -- AND -- Educate about social injustices.
(thanks, Traci)

www.kingdom-ventures.com
various items
providing income for former prostitutes

www.handandcloth.org
blankets made from sari's
providing income for former prostitutes

www.saribari.com
blankets made from sari's sewn by former prostitutes in kolkata, india
providing income for former prostitutes

www.tradeasone.com/shop/
various items
fighting poverty

www.worldcraftsvillage.com
various items

www.blessingbasket.org
baskets from bangladesh, ghana, uganda
fighting poverty

www.tinyrockstar.com
shirts for babies, kids, adults
fighting for orphans living in extreme poverty

http://store.madebysurvivors.com
various items
products made by survivors of slavery and persons at risk of being trafficked into slavery

www.saintscoffee.com
coffee
feeding orphans

www.freesetbags.com
handbags
made by former prostitutes in india

www.punjammies.com
pajamas
made by former slaves in india

www.rahabministriesthailand.org
jewelry and cards
made by former prostitutes in thailand

www.cardsfromafrica.com
handmade cards
supports orphaned children in rwanda

www.banyanpaper.com
cards, journals, handbags
supports women and children around the world

Other fair trade websites - may or may not support a religious ministry BUT does support commerce that works for the people not against:

www.originalgood.com
various items

www.tenthousandvillages.com
various items

www.globalexchangestore.org
various items

www.choiceorganicteas.com
teas

www.serrv.org
various items

www.gearthatgives.com

what is MINGI??

In rural Ethiopia, parents are forced to kill some of their children due to tribal superstitions...

Drawn from Water rescues and provides homes for these children.
Please, click the link above to read more and find out how you can help.

Drawn from Water from Drawn From Water on Vimeo.

Where will you be???

Sunday : November 8 : 2009

Orphan Sunday is the designated Sunday of the year for churches around the world to join voices and forces, raising awareness regarding the need and number of orphans world-wide.

I hope you've found an event to attend in your city, if not click here to find one.

If you're in the Birmingham area, please stop by Hunter Street Baptist Church during the month of November -- you'll be able to see pictures and read stories of adoptive families in our church.


Hunter Street is also hosting this live event, via webcast, on Orphan Sunday at 4pm : featuring Steven Curtis Chapman! Anyone is welcome to join us for this free event!!

think God can't use you?

If so, let me side-track for just a moment and say that, that is a completely arrogant thought! God. Not able to use you. That would make you bigger than God...

But, here's what I really want to share. Encouragement. Not my dogmatism.

Have you heard about Katie?
If not, you NEED to meet her!!

Click here to read her blog.

Click here to find about how God is using her!

When your finished reading, click here, that God might use YOU to help her!

Adopting For Life : conference

When : Feb 26-27
Where : Southern Seminary, Louisville, KY

What : "You may be wondering whether this will be a conference about the doctrine of adoption or “real” adoption. Well, one of the things that we’ll be discussing is the fact that you can’t talk about the one without talking about the other. Also, it is not as though we master one aspect and then move to the other—from the vertical to the horizontal or the other way around. That’s not the picture God has embedded in his creation work.

The Bible tells us that human families are reflective of an eternal fatherhood (Eph. 3:14-15). We know, then, what human fatherhood ought to look like on the basis of how Father God behaves toward us. But the reverse is also true. We see something of the way our God is fatherly toward us through our relationships with human father. And so Jesus tells us that in our human father’s provision and discipline we get a glimpse of God’s active love for us (Matt. 7:9-11; cf. Heb. 12:5-7). The same is at work in adoption.

So we’ve invited a number of great speakers to “Adopting for Life” who will seek to equip us to create a culture of adoption in our families and churches. We’ll be answering questions such as, “What does adoption have to do with the Great Commission?”, “How can I pay for adoption?”, and “How can we start an adoption ministry in my church?”—along with so many others.

I would love to see you here in Louisville for the “Adopting for Life” conference, as we think together about how God might be leading us to be on mission with Christ for the sake of the orphans of the world."

--Dr. Russell Moore

What Else : And if you haven't read it yet, you need to pick-up a copy of Dr. Russ Moore's book Adopted For Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches.