About 2 1/2 years ago Brodie and I attended our first CAFO Orphan Summit....we were in the waiting phase of our adoption with Kaylee Grace- had no idea who she was yet- but knew that God was stirring our hearts to something MORE. We were being called to do more through this time of waiting. So....we went to the Summit. Our lives were forever changed!
God spoke so clearly to Brodie using Proverbs 31:8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, for the rights of all those who are destitute." Brodie knew then and there that he would spend the rest of his life SPEAKING UP for orphans, the fatherless, the least, in one way or another.
Shortly after Orphan Summit, Speak Up Fresno was birthed....a city-wide event to draw our local community churches together to SPEAK UP for the vulnerable children in our community and worldwide. We strive to bring awareness and encourage the church to stand in the gap for these children. We believe that as Christ's Hands and Feet, we are all called to do SOMETHING to help orphans in their distress (James 1:27).
We hosted some AWESOME kids from His Little Feet International Orphan Choir and our lives were beautifully wrecked ;)
Our kids have been ALL-IN from that moment on....this is truly when we saw Jesus birth a heart for the orphan in each of their hearts! It was then that we knew in our hearts that we would most likely not just adopt one ...our kids began BEGGING us to adopt the girls we hosted, they began to pray for us to adopt from another country after China....their eyes were opened ~ and they will never be the same...praise Jesus!!
Btw, we have the DVD from His Little Feet's performance from this year and Kaylee watches it OVER and OVER in the car (being in the car is still hard/scary for her...HLF helps us drive from one place to another in PEACE!....and we all get to sing praises to Jesus as we drive ;). She thinks that when she is "bigger" she will travel and sing with HLF....right now that is her ultimate dream ;)
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| Gracia and Mahader....sweet girls who changed our lives! May the Lord continually bless you, sweet girls! |
We just had our 3rd annual Speak Up Fresno and we partnered with Show Hope and had "A Night For the Orphan"....what an awesome night it was! God graciously opened doors for Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to be our hosts for the evening...hearts were touched and lives were changed for ALL eternity! Glory to Jesus!!
***Don't you love Kolson's SERVANT shirt? Our kids designed them (Isaiah 6:8 is verse beneath) to raise money for their plane tickets for our upcoming Haiti trip to visit their new siblings!
Want one? CLICK HERE to order!
We just came home from a Safe Families meeting at church and as I looked across the room of BRAVE people stepping out of their neat and comfortable lives (and even saw those who have some REALLY TOUGH life situations stepping up!), I was so in AWE of God and His Heart for the least.
I saw our church becoming a gloriously beautiful masterpiece....
people who are saying YES to being a safe place for a child to live for a short time,
people saying YES to pulling up another chair at their dinner table for a child in need,
people saying YES to seeing God's Glory in a whole new way.
And I felt as if (by His Grace) we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg....
Because once these couples and families step out and others see, "hey, they did that Safe Families thing ~ and not only did they make it through, they're stronger for it", and once they hear these families testify that they saw God's Glory in AMAZING ways, then others will say YES, and more families will say YES to adoption....and step by step we will look a lot more like Jesus :) LOVE how He is gracious and patient to make us more like Him and not leave us as we are! It is His kindness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4) :)))
