At AABC we believe that adoption is a community project.  Our adoption ministry is not a segmented group of people who have the ‘adoption process’ in common.  All who are trusting in Christ alone have been adopted by God.  Therefore, we all have adoption in common. As a church body we must work together to rescue spiritual orphans, who have never heard and believed in Jesus, with the gospel. We must also work together to rescue the 145 million abandoned and vunerable children around the world through adoption.  This is why at AABC adoption and orphan care are both woven into our commitment to the Great Commission.

One of the ways we will be fleshing out this church centered vision for adoption in 2010 is through our ABBA Forum.   On January 15, 2010 we will have our first ABBA Forum beginning at 6:30p.m. ABBA Forum is for anyone who has questions about adoption. It is for families considering adoption but also for church members who simply want to encourage and support those families who have and will adopt.

ABBA Forum will be hosted on the 1st Friday of each month at David and Jessica Evan’s home.  The Evan’s recently brought their daughter Lilly home from China.  They cannot wait to share their story and help encourage our church family in the mission of adoption.  For more information you can call or email the church office (8594558244).

This December has been quite a month for Austin New Church. We’ve been involved in a series of messages called “Advent Conspiracy” in which we are attempting to “Take back the story of Christmas” through (1) Worshipping Fully, (2) Spending Less, so that we can (3) Give more, and ultimately (4) Love All.

Not only have we committed every dollar (and then some) given to ANC in December to Mission in 2010, we’ve also spent a week in scripture, prayer, and fasting as a church, and closed it out with 24 hours of prayer asking for God’s answer to the following questions:

What would it look like if we gave of ourselves sacrificially? Both personally and corporately? What would it look like if our church not only attempted to live like Jesus lived, but we gave as Jesus gave?

Last Sunday, more than 70 people (that we know of) made commitments to “Give More” this Christmas.

• 18 people made faith related commitments.
• 14 made a commitment to lead a “ministry to the least”.
• 8 families committed to adopt 10 orphans.
• 3 commitments were made to pursue foster parenting.
• 3 commitments were made to sponsor children overseas.
• 3 families committed to financially help those wanting to adopt.
• 10 commitments were made to give more financially.
• 13 committed to give more (time, effort, etc…) to their family or marriage.

So what does it look like? I think it looks like the list above. And that’s Good News. For the sake of the Gospel, sacrifices are being made. For the sake of His Kingdom, lives are being transformed. I can’t wait to see it all play out in the coming year.

One year ago I clicked on an email attachment and saw these two faces.  My wife and I had just committed to adopting them.  As this picture came up on my computer screen, I knew very little about them.  The feelings of contentment I now have when I hear their infectious laughter reverberate in our home I had never felt.  I had no idea how prideful I would be when noticing looks on the faces of strangers in public when they hear them call me daddy.

While I was clicking on a picture, thinking I was beginning a journey to know as father two boys thousands of miles away, God was taking me on a journey to know Him as Father in ways I never thought possible.

I know better the love my Father set upon me before the foundation of the world.  I am more amazed of my Father’s devotion to rescue me before I wanted to be rescued.  I am more confident in the truth of my own adoption and acceptance as a son in the Son.

One year ago, all I thought was that there were two little boys who had been left at an orphanage in Ethiopia and they needed us.  I never knew how much I needed them. I never knew how they would be used to teach me of a my Father’s love. But my Father knew!

FAT BIDIN PRESENTS…
THE LIFE & TIMES OF AN ISLAMIC INSURGENCY
Part 8 of 15
Muallafs in Thailand!

Short synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malay Muslim documentary filmmaker from Malaysia, travels to Pattani in Southern Thailand to see the violent Islamic insurgency there. He feels somewhat a kin to them since the locals are Thai-Malays and Muslim too. This film is banned from broadcast in Malaysia by the Prime Minister’s Office.

FAT BIDIN PRESENTS is a series which will host long form documentaries. Click here to see all the episodes.

Yesterday, we enjoyed our first free weekend afternoon in December by heading to the theater to see “The Blind Side.”  In case you are unfamiliar with the story, as I was before yesterday, here’s the summary from the movie’s website:

Teenager Michael Oher is surviving on his own, virtually homeless, when he is spotted on the street by Leigh Anne Tuohy.  Learning that the young man is one of her daughter’s classmates, Leigh Anne insists that Michael–wearing shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter–come out of the cold.  Without a moment’s hesitation, she invites him to stay at the Tuohy home for the night.  What starts out as a gesture of kindness turns into something more as Michael becomes part of the Tuohy family despite the differences in their backgrounds.

Through the course of the story (i.e., Oher’s real life), Michael journeys from a violent, drug-wracked upbringing — where he was in-and-out of the foster care system, attended eleven different schools in nine years, and entered his sophomore year of high school with a 0.6 GPA — to an All-American college football player for Ole Miss and a 2009 NFL first-round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens.

Perhaps the best short summary is the movie’s trailer itself:

As I sat there in the dark, one hand holding the hand of my 13 year-old daughter and the other holding my 5 year-old son in my lap, the impact of this movie hit home like a freight train…in two ways.

For starters, our daughter has no real grasp of the reality behind the drug and poverty-related violence and lifestyle portrayed in Oher’s upbringing.  Talking about the movie afterward, I realized she had no idea that people lived in very similar circumstances only a few miles from our home.  While she knows intellectually about such things, she has (fortunately) never experienced them first-hand and didn’t really understand how physically close to home such suffering, pain, and hardship really exists.

In addition to my daughter’s epiphany, seeing the violence toward the end of the movie where many of Oher’s acquaintances are gunned down in various drug-related shootings made me hold on to my son even tighter.  In case you didn’t know, we adopted our son from Ukraine in 2007, just over two years ago.  Statistically speaking, like Michael Oher, if our son had stayed where he was, he didn’t stand a chance.  To put it into perspective, here are the statistics (from here):

• Ukrainian orphans typically grow up in large state-run homes, which may house over 200 children.
• Many children run away from these homes, preferring to live on the street.
• Children usually graduate from these institutions between 15 and 16 years old and are turned out, unprepared for life outside the home.
• About 10% of them will commit suicide after leaving the orphanage before their 18th birthday.
• 60% of the girls will end up in prostitution. Those who run prostitution rings target orphaned girls, who are especially vulnerable due to their lack of options and lack of people who care what happens to them. Though promised good jobs, they end up on the streets and brothels of cities across Europe.
• 70% of the boys will enter a life of crime. Many of these will die young of violence or end up in prison. Most inmates contract TB in prison.

The point of these statistics isn’t to pat ourselves on the back for doing something so noble as adopting, far from it.  The point is this:  there are hundreds of millions of children around the world just like Michael Oher and our son.  Some of them live five miles away, some of them live thousands of miles away.

How can we help them?  How could we possibly not?

(photo from https://www.4orphans.com)

: : : : : : : : : : :

A Brazilian toddler found with 42 sewing needles inside him has been airlifted for emergency surgery.

Doctors have rushed him to a specialist cardiac unit in Salvador after discovering two needles in the left ventricle of his heart.

Police earlier said his stepfather had confessed to sticking the needles into the two-year-old boy.

Roberto Carlos Magalhaes told them his mistress had told him ritually to kill the child to take revenge on his wife.

Doctors plan to extract the most dangerous of the needles – but removing them all will be too risky.

“We discovered that there seem to be two needles in the left ventricle,” said paediatric surgeon Fabio Contelle.

“This makes surgery a little more complicated… that’s why we opted to transfer the boy to a specialised centre,” he said.

The toddler was taken to hospital in the north-eastern Bahia state by his mother, complaining of stomach pains and vomiting.

X-rays showed scores of sewing needles inside his neck, torso and legs.

‘Revenge attack’

Police said Mr Magalhaes had broken down and confessed after being arrested.

“He did that for revenge, to get back at his wife,” the police chief in the town of Ibotirama, Helder Fernandes Santana, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

“His mistress told him to kill the child through a macabre ritual,” Mr Santana said.

The boy’s mother told police she suspected the child had been the victim of a black magic ritual after she found suspicious objects in the home she shared with Mr Magalhaes – her husband of six months – and her six children.

Doctors said there were no signs of wounds on the boy.

Reports say the boy is in a serious condition, but that he has shown some improvement since being admitted to hospital on Sunday.

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088117/

Apparently the PTA fought to keep this movie out of the theaters back in the 80’s. I guess a killer Santa Claus is just not meant for the kiddies. The holidays haven’t been the same. Billy sees a crazed man dressed as Santa kill his parents when he was just a boy. If that isn’t enough, his creepy dying grandpa taunts him as well. Cut ahead 10 years later, we find Billy at work. When he if forced to play Santa, he makes them pay, they all pay! Mwahahaha! Linnea Quigley makes a cameo with a fun death scene and there is a show down with nuns. 6.5/10

More than a Million innocent children are orphaned or abandoned to live on roads in Zimbabwe due to the devastating effects of HIV/ AIDS crisis. These kids have lost their both parents and all elders in family to the AIDS pandemic and experts fear that 1 out 5 children will become orphan by the end 2010 in Zimbabwe. 90 % of these children are raised through extended families and not in orphanage. Efforts to provide basic food, education and health facilities to these children are getting hampered because of the current political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

These children are facing triple threat of cholera, Influenza A H1N1 and measles outbreaks while Zimbabwe is having second highest monthly inflation rates in the History of Mankind. Every 1 of the 7 living in the age group o 15-40 years is suffering from AIDS in Zimbabwe. More than half of adolescents are in fear of getting infected with HIV virus in a few years of time.

Absence of social safety, parents or guardians, spiraling inflation, deteriorating physical infrastructure, erosion of livelihoods, food insecurity, rising malnutrition, inadequate fund to support education, the severe impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is having a dramatic impact on the overall well-being of the children in Zimbabwe. These orphans struggle for the basic necessities: food, clothing, education and medicine.

Around 120,000 children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe along with the most of the taxable population of the country. They are living on margins, mostly on the Food Aid. The School attendance has declined from 85 % in 2007 to less than 20% in 2009. The student turn-out is low as a majority of public schools have pegged school fees to match the running costs.

Consequently, a majority of Zimbabwean children can not afford to pay these fees, have stopped attending classes and access education; even if schools are open and teachers conduct lessons. These orphan children (and others infected by the virus) are particularly affected by the multiple traumas of chronically ill caregivers, orphan hood, lack of quality education and high food insecurity.

Many NGOs have come forward to address this issue along with UNICEF and other helping bodies. One such organization, Heart4Kids is working for the cause since 2003 in Zimbabwe.

Heart4Kids is a non-profit 501 3(C) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of children around the world whose lives are shattered by the HIV/AIDS virus. Heart4Kids seeks to protect these children by providing them with food, clothing, educational and medical assistance, and above all hope.

More information on how the organization is helping these children and bringing hope to them can be collected from their website http://heart4kids.org/

Author Bio: Sandra Denenga is the founder of Heart4Kids organization. Heart4Kids relies on donations from around the world to help Zimbabwe’s orphaned children. The tax-deductible online donation provides meals, clothing, school supplies, and medicine to Zimbabwe’s struggling orphan population.
http://heart4kids.org/

More than a Million innocent children are orphaned or abandoned to live on roads in Zimbabwe due to the devastating effects of HIV/ AIDS crisis. These kids have lost their both parents and all elders in family to the AIDS pandemic and experts fear that 1 out 5 children will become orphan by the end 2010 in Zimbabwe. 90 % of these children are raised through extended families and not in orphanage. Efforts to provide basic food, education and health facilities to these children are getting hampered because of the current political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

These children are facing triple threat of cholera, Influenza A H1N1 and measles outbreaks while Zimbabwe is having second highest monthly inflation rates in the History of Mankind. Every 1 of the 7 living in the age group o 15-40 years is suffering from AIDS in Zimbabwe. More than half of adolescents are in fear of getting infected with HIV virus in a few years of time.

Absence of social safety, parents or guardians, spiraling inflation, deteriorating physical infrastructure, erosion of livelihoods, food insecurity, rising malnutrition, inadequate fund to support education, the severe impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is having a dramatic impact on the overall well-being of the children in Zimbabwe. These orphans struggle for the basic necessities: food, clothing, education and medicine.

Around 120,000 children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe along with the most of the taxable population of the country. They are living on margins, mostly on the Food Aid. The School attendance has declined from 85 % in 2007 to less than 20% in 2009. The student turn-out is low as a majority of public schools have pegged school fees to match the running costs.

Consequently, a majority of Zimbabwean children can not afford to pay these fees, have stopped attending classes and access education; even if schools are open and teachers conduct lessons. These orphan children (and others infected by the virus) are particularly affected by the multiple traumas of chronically ill caregivers, orphan hood, lack of quality education and high food insecurity.

Many NGOs have come forward to address this issue along with UNICEF and other helping bodies. One such organization, Heart4Kids is working for the cause since 2003 in Zimbabwe.

Heart4Kids is a non-profit 501 3(C) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of children around the world whose lives are shattered by the HIV/AIDS virus. Heart4Kids seeks to protect these children by providing them with food, clothing, educational and medical assistance, and above all hope.

More information on how the organization is helping these children and bringing hope to them can be collected from their website http://heart4kids.org/

Author Bio: Sandra Denenga is the founder of Heart4Kids organization. Heart4Kids relies on donations from around the world to help Zimbabwe’s orphaned children. The tax-deductible online donation provides meals, clothing, school supplies, and medicine to Zimbabwe’s struggling orphan population
http://heart4kids.org/

What is it that really matters in our faith? That’s a great question to ask at Christmas. In fact, that’s a great question for any time. We like that question when we defend our religion. We don’t mind it when it comes to discussing the “way” we do church or the “style” we prefer in a church service.

But what about when we discuss what really matters and is considered “pure” in our personal faith walk? When we melt away all the impurities and additives, what do we have left? What is it that holds value? What does “Pure Religion” really look like?

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:27

This is a pretty direct verse. One that has given me mixed emotions most of my life, mostly because of my neglect or reasoning-away of what it’s really saying. But it’s one I cannot ignore any longer. I simply cannot see this scripture as something someone else should do or should fight for. And I believe this message is for more than just me.

So lets talk specifically about the orphan crisis in the world:

• It is estimated there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide (recent UNICEF report.)
• Every day 5,760 more children become orphans
• 2,102,400 more children become orphans every year in Africa alone
• Every 15 seconds, another child in Africa becomes an AIDS orphan
• There are an estimated 14 million AIDS orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa (a number higher than the total of every under-eighteen year old in Canada, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Ireland combined)
• Approximately 250,000 children are adopted annually, but…
• Each year 14,505,000 children grow up as orphans and age out of the system by age sixteen
• Each day 38,493 orphans age out. Every 2.2 seconds another orphan ages out with no family to belong to and no place to call home
• In Russia and the Ukraine, studies have shown that 10% – 15% of these children commit suicide before they reach age eighteen
• These studies also show that 60% of the girls become prostitutes and 70% of the boys become hardened criminals
• Another Russian study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 10% committed suicide, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years…

I honestly cannot think of a more significant and direct way to change a life… forever… than to become a loving family for a child without a loving family. To adopt an orphan. Or to help someone adopt.

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.  Deliver the weak and needy from the hand of the wicked.”  Psalm 82:3-4

Obviously, not all of you will adopt, nor will be called to adopt. But you can help. Today I hope this serves as a reminder to us all.

1. A reminder to pray: If anything, we should be praying. We should pray for what we can do. We can pray for God’s movement in our church for those He is calling out. You can pray for the little lives that you don’t even know their names…. Or have seen their faces… but you know their need.
2. A reminder to give: Maybe God is calling you to help another couple in our church adopt. It’s interesting to me that quite often God calls out couples who do not have the means to adopt. I think He does so that others in the body might share in their joy by giving sacrificially to see this happen.
3. A reminder to advocate: I pray that we are all advocates for orphans and adoption. That we are deeply concerned when we think about the need in the world. And I pray that we will do whatever we can do to be an advocate and fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.

So here’s the deal… I believe God has given me the number ten. I don’t know what that’s about really. And I’m not claiming to have heard a prophetic word from God. But I think that means there are at least either ten people or ten couples at Austin New Church who are being called out to adopt. Maybe it’s that through ANC we will adopt 10 orphans. I’m not sure. (Jen thinks the number is higher)

But what I do know is that Jen and I are praying our selves, and that we anticipate, unless God moves us another direction… that we will adopt. I think some of you are feeling the tug as well.

While there’s a lot more involved in living out a truly “Pure Religion”. My prayer today (and beyond) is that through each little life changed forever through adoption… moms, dads, families, relatives, and churches will be transformed as well. That’s my prayer for Austin New Church.

Please be praying too.

Father, Today I pray that you will show each of us our role in defending the fatherless. I pray that you will give clarity and direction for those who are to adopt. I pray that you will put it on the heart of others to help provide financially for those who cannot afford it. And I pray that you soften all of our hearts God. That you continue to humble us… as you show us how truly rich we are. Thank you for your Grace. Amen.“

(Sources: Human Rights Watch: “Abandoned to the State: Cruelty and Neglect in Russian Orphanages” November 1998 ; www.hfgf.org/statistics.pdf ; www.unaids.org/epi/2005 ; UNICEF’s Childhood Under Threat: the State of the World’s Children, 2005 ; www.unicef.org/uniteforchildren/  )

Title:  Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism

Author:  Georgia Byng

Paperback:  373 pages

ISBN:  0439567300

Orphan Molly Moon hates living in Hardwick House.  For starters, the orphanage is run by hairy-faced Miss Adderstone, who makes Molly clean the toilets with her toothbrush.  Mean Hazel Hackersly torments her, and to make matters worse, Molly’s best friend Rocky has just been adopted and is moving to New York City!

But when Molly stumbles upon a mysterious old book on hypnotism, her world is suddenly turned upside down.  With a dazzling flash of her bright green eyes, she discovers that she has the amazing power to make people do things — crazy things.  There’s nothing holding Molly back now, and what better place to begin her adventures than in spectacular New York City as a Broadway superstar?

What Molly doesn’t know is that a sinister stranger is following her with dastardly plans of his own.

-from the first page of Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng

Okay, this was NOT the best book to pick right after reading The Glass Castle, a book about real child abuse and neglect.  I just couldn’t help thinking about the Walls children, and whether they would have appreciated life at Hardwick, or whether Molly would have preferred being a Walls.  Hard to say, both books had hard living for children as a central theme.  Whereas the Walls experience was an inescapable reality, Molly’s is an average child’s fantasy.  “Oh, how I wish I could get back at Mom for making me eat lima beans.  She knows I hate them, that’s why she gives it to me!”  The idea of being able to get revenge for being served vegetables they hate and being force-marched to bed at 9 o’clock makes Molly Moon a fun and silly read for the 8-12 crowd.

I also made the mistake of reading it by myself.  It was actually a restart.  Mags and I had started reading it last spring and had to set it aside when we were 1/3 the way through while she went to visit her dad.  We never picked it back up, and I figured it’d be a quick book to help me hit my 75-book goal (this one makes number 68, only 7 to go )  I remember we’d laughed and laughed until tears came into our eyes and my throat was hoarse from doing the voices and cackling so much.  Without her, however, I only chuckled a couple times and found myself wishing I was sharing it with her.  Children lend their magic to some books, a magic we adults seem to have lost.

I do plan on re-reading it with Mags, all the way through.  But as it stands now, I give Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng 3 out of 5.  I read someone’s review that said how Molly was an unlikeable character, but I disagree with that.  Molly is a fairly blank character, with as little of her own personality and quirks as could be gotten away with.  This isn’t a bad thing, in this case, because what she provides is a template for kids to put themselves in her shoes.  She’s not blank as in “underdeveloped”, rather like a costume has nothing inside.  Which makes me wonder what the reviewer didn’t like about her… hmm…

There is a voices,  which is coming from the one side of road, murmuring sound and in the high pitch, this is the moment , why are you avoiding at all ? Those are not from other planet , live it with you, take a breath in the same open nature , in the same land on this earth, You smell the taste of flowers , go to school, go for job, go for lunch , go for dinner, and for them one time food, why is it so ? who cares for them, who hug to them. Nobody, not anywhere. They cry a lot, they can’t do it anything, you can do it better then anybody else. you never go on the other side of road, they live , eat , sleep on the same way.

You like to go to garden, fairs, temple, movie. but they only enjoy on the other side of the road, try to feel the pain of them, emotion from them. You set your place good, why not for them,

Street children, the only part of this earth , who live life in the down side of line. Not for food also for shelter , they search road by road. Help them, educate them, teach them and make it yourself for this nation’s most incredible person.

Devil´s backbone (2001)

Original title: El espinazo del diablo (Spain)

Guillermo del Toro is a productive director, but I´ll focus here on the great coming of age flick “Devil´s backbone”, made in 2001. The story takes place in the end of the Spanish civil war where we´ll meet 10-year-old Carlos who is left in an isolated orphanage when Franco´s troops are defeating the left wing Republicans. Carlos own father has fallen during the war when fighting for the Republicans. The orphanage is run by a headmistress named Carmen and her lover, professor Casares, who are both sympathetic with the losing side in the war. On the premises there is also the nasty caretaker Jakinto, which everyone fears. At the orphanage there is a mystic building with a deep well inside. Jakinto is particularly careful that none of the boys are playing  inside that room. Late one night Carlos is forced by the other boys to go and check out the place. Everything goes well until the ghost Santi appears, a boy who used to live in the orphanage but supposedly drowned in the well. Santi and Carlos later form some kind of friendship where Santi is trying to warn Carlos for a future disaster. This is an interesting, though somewhat twisted ghost story. The photo is good and the boy who plays Carlos, Fernando Tielve, is doing a nice performance, and also won the “Young Artist Award” at the Young Artist Awards in 2002. The film has won the “Grand Prize of European Fantasy Film in Silver” at the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, the “International Critics Award”, the “Special Jury Prize” and the “Youth Jury Grand Prize” at the Gérardmer Film Festival and the “MTV Movie Award” at the MTV Movie Awards, Latin America.

The ministry of OFM is to provide ministry education in places where such education is hard to get.  The teaching has been completed for now here in Geita.  It was hard work for all concerned.  The class members thought that the whole Anglican Church believed, practiced and taught as they did.  They were wrong.  They discovered the need and desire to learn more in order to serve God and His people in the best way possible, now and in the future.  So they wanted to learn.  It was a huge challenge.

Learning was not easy.  The need to translate all instruction into Swahili slowed the process down.  The interpreter was an 18-year-old recent high school graduate whose Swahili vocabulary did not extend into church matters. So many words were a struggle. The students worked so hard at writing down everything that was said, that I often had to tell them put your pens down and listen.  Students with a seventh grade education were learning college level material.

Some things they caught at the first mention.  They understood that Moses himself did not personally write the first five books of the Bible.  They understood that others wrote in the spirit of Moses and God was all the greater for working through many people rather than one.  They spontaneously applauded God when they realized that.  It was a Holy Spirit moment.

They struggled to comprehend that the ministry of the prophet was to announce God’s Word, not to predict the future as they always had been taught.  But they learned that and accepted that.  Thank you Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

What was hardest for them to comprehend was not really important, the concept of dating events in Scripture, B.C. and A.D.  Their Swahili Bibles listed such dates in a routine manner.  They asked what it meant.  It took me a half hour to repeatedly explain the meaning and I do not think that most understood completely. Why is it that for B.C., the numbers get smaller as the dates get closer to the birth of Jesus and for A.D., the dates get larger as you get farther away from the birth of Jesus? There was no answer to that question.

They finished proudly.  They looked good for the class picture. Note in the picture below how some proudly displayed their Bibles.  Each student was thrilled to receive a copy of the class picture.  Remember that they lived at the church for three weeks, sleeping on mats on the floor, having to cook their own food, and having to clean the church.

On the last class day, one by one, they proudly came forward and received their Certificates of Ministry Education, from the area Anglican coordinator, Fr Mathias.  Guests and other Anglican pastors came.  Speeches were made.  The students will put their certificates in a frame and display them proudly in the sitting room of their huts.

They went home different than they came.  What they knew before had been significantly supplemented.  They went home with a new determination to do the best for God and his people and had faith that they could now do such things better.  They went home with a desire to continue to learn.  They were all pressuring Father Mathias for more training and more education.  The seeds that had been planted and nurtured were now sprouting.  New knowledge, new attitudes, new confidence.

Geita is a place of contrasts – contemporary and ancient.  I saw large Mercedes cargo trucks for the gold mines and followed by donkey carts for firewood.  There was electric power but it failed almost every day, sometimes for several days at a time. There were crowded roads with buses, trucks, and cars, but mostly there were bicycles – even bicycle taxis.  The battle between progress and traditional ways is happening.  For the pastors, they must learn much more in order to serve God and his people of the next 25 years.

Every Sunday in Africa, I preached at the liturgy in a local church.  So the people in several churches here in Africa heard about the Missionary Society of St John, Bishop Fick, and your support of ministry education in Africa.  I assisted Fr Mathias, the pastor.

Your prayers and donations made a big difference here.  These twenty pastors will change the nature of church in these rural areas.  They will become seed for sowing in God’s kingdom here in Tanzania.  Thank you God.  Thank you people of God.  Your prayers and financial support are bearing great fruit here in East Africa.  The teachers of God’s people are being taught.  Without you, all this does not happen.  We are grateful for those who supported this trip and we are grateful to the monthly donors who keep this ministry alive.  This ministry, the students in Africa, and the rural church in Africa, all rely on you and all thank you. Without such support from you, this ministry dies.

Asante sana!  (Thank you!)

Fr Francis Wardega MSJ

Mission Station Geita, Republic of Tanzania

Missy & I have decided to pursue another adoption – this time a little boy from China. This will bring the total number of kids in our house to 5. Undoubtedly we are going to get the “why” question. So, I figured a small preemptive strike might be helpful for two reasons: (1) it will force me to crystallize my thoughts in a way that is easy to explain & (2) it will allow me to point people to the blog thereby relieving me of having to speak more words throughout my day (cf. Prov. 10:19)

So – in honor of our pursuit of a 5^th child I offer the following 5 reasons (in no particular order) for why we are adopting again:

1. We love kids. Yes, they require a lot of work & resources. Yes, they cause stress & they make a mess. Yes, the add chaos to an already chaotic world. But despite all that the reality is that kids are a gift from God – whether they come through Missy’s womb or through adoption. How do I know this? Two ways: (1) Because God tells me so…if you don’t believe me click HERE & (2) Because I have experienced the blessing that comes from having kids. This might be hard to properly describe but I can say unequivocally that my life is better (in many, many areas) because God has allowed me the privilege of being a dad.
2. Our lives are already chaotic. When you have four kids the truth is that there is always a level of chaos in the house. Some days it’s minor….other days it’s major, but the chaos is always there. What I’ve learned (at least for us) is that as our family has gotten bigger the “chaos impact” of our 2^nd & then our 3^rd & then our 4^th has diminished. It becomes an incremental increase in chaos rather than monumental increase in chaos. And here’s the rub – I’ve looked really hard (trust me…I’ve looked) & I can’t seem to find a single place in Scripture that tells me that God’s plan for my life centers around my comfort. I don’t see where the goal of my life is to try and create a life where I have control over every detail…where no faith is required….where I can manage my days without God. Rather, what I see is God calling me into the chaos to be a light in the darkness. God calls me to be a voice for those who have no voice which leads me to my next reason.
3. Where there is a child without parents then that child is a priority. This might be the biggest reason for me personally. UNICEF estimates that there are 143 million orphans in the world. UNICEF defines an orphan as a child who has lost one or both parents. Within that huge figure is a subset that includes kids who have lost both parents – some estimate it to be 10% – 20% or more of the 143 million figure. Irrespective of what number you land on one thing is true – there are kids out there….lots & lots of kids who have no one to speak up for them, no one to love them, no one to read them books at night, no one to feed them a hot meal, no one to cheer them on, no one to be an advocate, no one to bathe them, no one to hold them when they wake up in the middle of the night because of the thunder, no one to bandage up their wounds, no one to stand up for them when the wicked prey on them & no one to teach them about the beauty of Christ & the glory of the gospel. And though Missy & I cannot personally adopt all of them – we can adopt some of them. And I’d rather move the needle a little than not at all because where there is a child without parents that child is a priority.
4. Adoption is a wonderful way to teach our kids about God’s heart. This is more of a really good side benefit to adoption & not really a primary driver for why we are adopting. There is nothing in life like an object lesson to pull our nose out of a book & allow us to see with our own eyes the truth of something. Adoption is like that for us. We want our kids to know from their earliest memories that being in God’s family means taking care of those who are unable to take care of themselves. We want them to know that people, made in the image of God, have indescribable value – no matter their zip code, the color of their skin, their background or their ability to contribute. Adoption is one of those things that help us teach our kids these realities…it’s not the only way to do this – but it’s one way.
5. We’ve not found a compelling reason to not adopt again. We have room in our house, room in our hearts & a couple of gallons of milk….so if I believe what I said in point 1, 2, 3 & 4 then why wouldn’t we adopt again. And so, will our retirement accounts be smaller than a financial planner might suggest? Will our vacations look different than they used to? Will our resources be furthered diminished through the normal cost of raising another child? Yes, yes & yes…but for us those aren’t reasons to not move forward.

So there you have it. We’d love for you to join us in prayer as we move through this long & arduous process. I’d write more but I’m sure there is some paperwork I should be trying to collect for our dossier!

Angels & Demons | Ron Howard, 2009

I liked The DaVinci Code, so I was mildly interested in this one. I finally watched it and I will say that I was entertained. I found the plot to be interesting despite the fact that the screenplay sucked. Ron Howard, although he is not a visually interesting director, is able to make the best out of the crappy screenplay he is working with and manages to make an entertaining and sometimes thrilling movie. I do, however, question some of his casting choices because based on that I was able to know the twist just by looking at the cover of the DVD. Tom Hanks gives a better performance here than in DaVinci.

Orphan | Jaume Collet-Serra, 2009

I did not have any expectations for this based on the premise and the fact that it was not promoted that much. Plus, I already knew the twist and that one was one of the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. However, it surprised me. It fun and thrilling and it has some good performances and a great one.

Vera Farmiga and Peter Saarsgard are good in their roles, but Isabelle Furhman steals the movie as Esther, the evil little girl that wants to ruin their family. She pretty much makes the movie rise above mediocrity and her performance makes eveyrything so much fun.

Silent Hill has enough dark secrets for 20 small towns. : killing of Native Americans in an inquisition, witch burning, plague, torture, secret prisons, child abuse, rape, drug dealing, demons, ghosts, kidnapping, orphans, child sacrifices, cults, tons of murders, serial killers, multiple conspiracies, animal abuse, two evil parallel dimensions, and at least three dark gods – one of which supposedly used to be nice before all of the above drove it nuts

I’ve been feeling guilty about my portrayal of  my aunt and uncle.  That maybe, maybe I blew things out of proportion.  So I dug out my journals, but I was horrible about keeping a routine of writing.  When I did remember to my references of incidents were vague.  Maybe I wasn’t as “whiny” as she said, maybe I feared she’d read it.  The most I usually wrote was “we fought today.”  The search wasn’t a total loss, I found 1 instance where my uncle lectured my boss for taking me home on a snowy night.  The roads were extremely bad and my boss didn’t want me to drive so he took me home.  I guess the charity was unwanted because he told me that my uncle had yelled at him for doing it.

They constantly compared me to their children, I played the flute, if you would call it playing.  I wanted to be a majorette, but you had to be in band first.  They didn’t have majorettes in my new school, so I was stuck with my flute.  My aunt wouldn’t let me quit band, so I played poorly.  Hey, I even went to contests with the goal of sucking.  She’d remind me that my mom spent money on my flute, while I’d remind her that Mom also spent money on baton lessons.  So my aunt tried lessons, then she threatened to stop paying for the lessons (with my money) if I didn’t practice.  I practiced twirling my flute.  I didn’t want to play that stupid thing.  She told me that ALL of her children could play more than one instrument.  What in the world was wrong with me?  I couldn’t even play one.  I ignored her as usual, but stayed in band.  I sat in last chair and trilled everything.  Maybe I played every 4 or 5 notes.  Trilling was awesomely fun, but I think I frustrated the band director, who gave me special lessons once a week.  The problem was that I couldn’t practice at home, my uncle would complain about how horrible I was.  How their children ever became good at 2 or 3 instruments is beyond me.

So I was on a quest – what made life with them so horrible.  I’ve already mentioned giving away my stuff and putting a time limit on packing up my house.  My aunt and uncle telling me how horrible my father was and burying my parents.  Picking on me for my acne and tearing apart my word choices and trying to snuff out my dreams as mere shit.  What else could I want?   The times they called me fat or stupid?  Then it came to me in the form of my Social Security benefits.  Yes, they harassed me for being an orphan.  Apparently my $500 a month since Dad’s death was the culprit of Social Security being broke.  So world I will say this proudly I alone bankrupted Social Security.  At least according to my uncle who said that I took all of the money and was mooching off of the government my whole life.  Because of me he would not get his social security.  That’s right folks, my meager $500/ month is the SOLE reason for it’s loss of liquidity.  I took it all there’s none for you – sorry.  Thanks though, I did enjoy eating for 18 years, especially the last 3; because I didn’t have any parents.  But the government didn’t intend survivor’s benefits to actually support children, now why would they do that?  I mean if they didn’t feed the orphans then the genocide will create room for more non-mooching people, like my uncle who earned his retirement.  Or maybe I was supposed to just not use it.  Because it’s just there as a show piece, not to be really used.  At three weeks I could have and should have told my mom that I didn’t want the ridicule, that I really didn’t like food and eating was overrated.

Maybe that wasn’t it , maybe it was that I was really truly stupid.  My aunt told me so.  I was constantly told that I wasn’t as smart as her kids.  They got A’s and I got B’s – and a letter totally equates intelligence.  I got B’s despite not caring and not doing my homework and always fighting at home, when I went home.  I got B’s after loosing my mom and home, and being sick and homeschooled for 3 years.  Her daughter wore suits on test days, while I was lucky to be awake.  In the end this unintelligent person has a master’s degree, while two of her kids dropped out of college and one never went.  But degree attainment does not equate intelligence, it does prove that I am not the idiot that she said I was.

I let this sit overnight and in the morning I remembered one more.  I have sever TMJ dysfunction, though at the time I didn’t know it.  I’d awaken in the morning to a mouth that wouldn’t open.  I’d simply be able to mumble and despite telling my aunt this she didn’t believe it.  She’d stand in front of me and shout “good morning” while getting very angry when she couldn’t hear my mumbles.  She’d badger me for a bit, then get mad and stomp back to her chair.  It would take several hours for my jaw to limber up enough to effectively communicate with the world.  I have since discovered that I have arthritis that has worn the TMJ to levels that astonish my doctors.  My mouth doesn’t work in the morning and that is just a fact.

The Christmas Hope
Lifetime
December 12

The Christmas Hope is a rather predictable story based on the third book in the best-selling Christmas trilogy by Donna VanLiere. The Christmas Hope follows Patti [Madeline Stowe] and Mark Addison [James Remar], a couple in a troubled marriage, due to the death of their only son several years before. Patti is a social worker and at Christmas she finds she needs to bring home a foster child, Emily [Tori Barban], who has no where else to go. This child ends up bringing Patti and her husband Mark closer together and also healing some of their long buried wounds.

I have to say it’s the typical Lifetime movie: a couple who is having “issues”; a child who brings them together; a child who has no home and needs a family; a broken couple who opens their hearts and home to a girl who recently lost her mother; and the couple manages to settle their differences in time for the holiday.

GRADE: C-

Screener provided to me by Lifetime Publicity Dept.