Uganda Team Members Together Again!

(Left to Right: (Top:) Kirk, Eric, Jonathan, Bennett, Matt, Dane, Jonathan, Kayley, Hayley, (Bottom:) Rosie, Amy, Rachel, Ellie, Lauren, Me, Bradley, and Amanda)

This time we won't be in Uganda together, (sadly), but about half of us are meeting in Orlando, FL this weekend. Bradley and Kirk (both pictured above) are getting married on New Years Day! I am so happy for them, they are so amazing!! It's going to be so incredibly exciting to get to see everyone again that I got to travel across the world with 7 months ago! I know we will share many memories of our time in Uganda together, and I'm sure we will never forget all that it taught us! 

Lyric Friday (a little early)!

Since I haven't posted a Lyric Friday in a while (sorry) I decided to post this a little early. I would have to say this is one of my favorite Christmas songs.

The Night Before Christmas (Lyrics included in the video). Enjoy, and I hope it gets stuck in your head! That's what happened to me so it's only fair! :)

Something Worth Reading!

Another team was in Uganda this week and you will want to read about it! Wow, God is doing incredible things in the villages of Uganda (where I was just 6 months ago)! Reading about their experiences from this trip has me missing it more and more every day! Check it out here: 

http://www.safeworldnexus.com/blog/

10 More Giveaways!!

Don't miss out on this amazing 

"30 Days of Giveaways" 

over at Ni Hao Ya'll. 

There have been 20 

incredible prizes so far, 

and I can't wait to see the rest!!

Bring Me Hope

This video makes me long for the day when I can bring home some little asian children of my own! Only a couple more years, right? I hope.

The Call of Christ - Danita Estrella

"148 million orphans in the world, and Jesus said 'I will not leave you alone, I will come to you, I will not leave you orphans'. How is He going to come to them? Through you and through me. Through our lives, through our prayers, through our giving."

Go

"If the Gospel brought death to Jesus Christ why would we think that in preaching the gospel it would be any less for us?...He says: 'If anybody would be my desciple he must take up his cross and follow me'. If it killed Him to give life to us, and He invites us then to do the same, why would we expect that it would be any less?... So, why haven't people gone? Something to do with gaurding our lives and living a normal life so other people can go?... They are not going to hear about Him usless we go! So would you?... This is voluntary, this is not a sentence of death at all. We're not sentenced to death. We're just privalleged to answer His call."

We Suffer From Deprived Indifference

...But there is a solution to our disease. It's Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ will change a man into a man that feels what Jesus Christ is feeling. Do we care at the level God cares? I'm willing God, burden me!

Thankful...

I'm so thankful for everything I have this Thanksgiving! 


We are all so blessed! (If your having a hard time seeing that, here's a little reminder).

• We have running water in our houses that is clean and even safe to drink.

Well, some people don't: 

• We have plenty of food to eat, and never have to go hungry. 

Well, some people are lucky

 to get one meal a day,

or one a week, even:

• Most of us have a family.

Well, not everyone does. In fact,

there are 147 million children around 

the world that don't:

• Most of us have clothes to wear, and they are in good shape. 

Well, not everyone does:

• We all have a house to live in, and in most cases it's way bigger than we need it to be. 

Well, not everyone does:

I could go on and on and on. But, hopefully you get the point. We have so much as Americans, and we can still forget how blessed we are sometimes. 

God, help us to use what You have given us to bless others, instead of keeping it all to ourselves. 



"The thing that matters most is how we use what we've been given, not how much we make or do compared to someone else, what matters is how we spend ourselves." - Cray Love, Francis Chan

The Chapmans and Show Hope

Friday night we went to another "Night With the Chapmans Tour". This time closer to home. It was an amazing night! 

Caleb and Will Chapman (Photo by: Kayla)

Steven Curtis Chapman and band (Photo by: Kayla) 

Steven Curtis Chapman (Photo by: Kayla)

Since we'd gone once before, we were able to hear a lot of things twice, but also got a lot of other things out of it that we didn't before.  God is doing awesome things through the Chapman family and their ministry Show Hope! The show was sold out, so I'm sure there were a lot of new sponsors that signed up. You can really tell where this family's heart is, because most of the night was about orphans/orphan care/adoption. 

My new Show Hope sticker

It will be amazing to see what God does through Show Hope in the future, and see how many life's are changed forever! That doesn't even include all the life's that are changed just from hearing the stories and seeing the miracles happening. 


Go and read this story about Jayne, a new member of the Chapman family. Mary Beth wrote about her new niece on her blog and it's just awesome to see how God worked out all the details perfectly to bring her home to her forever family! Another great example of how much God loves the orphans all around the world!!

Lyric Friday

I Will Follow
By: Chris Tomlin

The lyrics are in the video along with some pictures that I added in. This is a great song, and I hope I can live by these lyrics.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lyrics from: http://www.sweetslyrics.com/796970.Chris%20Tomlin%20-%20I%20Will%20Follow.html

Help Bring 2 little Girls Home From China

The first fundraiser I want to tell you about is: 

Scarlett is a little girl from the same orphanage as my sponsor child, and her family is hoping to travel soon to bring her home forever! Please consider participating in this great fundraiser. You buy an awesome shirt and they give money to help bring Scarlett home! Here are the details from the Jones' blog:

~Please help us bring home Scarlett ~

Ordinaryhero.org has partnered with us, through November 30, to help with our adoption. For every $20 - $25 shirt you purchase through them online, they will donate $10 to our adoption agency to help cover our adoption fees. Because we received our Letter of Acceptance a month earlier than we expected, we are now scrambling to get in the final funds to complete the adoption. We are anticipating traveling in late December.

 If you go to the below website, look to the right and there will be a link to purchase the shirts from. Please, please, please remember to put our name in the special instructions box "Kenlyn Jones" so we get credit for the purchase. You can also look to the right on my blog and click on the link there and it will take you to the website.

Also exciting is that they will match the amount given to the top three families who have the highest shirt sales! So let's say we sell 50 shirts, we get $500 toward the adoption and then if we fall under the top three, that will be doubled to $1,000. What a blessing that would be! So grab some shirts for Christmas presents!

         http://ordinaryheroblog.blogspot.com/

The second is a fundraiser/givaway: 

The Johnson family is fundraising to bring Kasidi Joy home and are doing a $500 Walmart gift card fundraiser/giveaway now through November 18th.  Go to this post to find out how to be entered. 

And take a look at their blog while you're at it. 

                                                        

30 Days of Giveaways!!!

Yes, that's right go here to find out how enter. Who doesn't love a giveaway (or 30)?!! You could win on any of these 30 days (Starting Thursday Nov. 10th). Sounds like the prizes are going to be great!

It's Orphan Sunday

Today is Orphan Sunday. Please join us in praying for the orphan today, and also for what each of us can do to follow God's command to care for the orphan.

In the time it takes you to read this, another child becomes an orphan (every 18 seconds)....there's 143 million of them. What will Christ's hands and feet do about it. If 7% of the people who claimed to be Christians in this world adopted an orphan, there would be no children without a family.

China

Uganda

Don't forget to watch "Answer the Cry" from Hope for Orphans today: http://premiere.flannel.org/

Also check out: http://www.cryoftheorphan.org/, showhope.org, and http://www.orphansunday.org/. 

Tristan Gets a Birthday Package!

I put together a little package for Tristan a little while ago and sent it off...

Then on his birthday he got to open it. It is always so amazing to open up the pictures and see such a happy little boy with the things I sent for him. This is the 3 package I have sent him over the years and each time it brings me such joy. When I opened the first picture I started to cry, just knowing all that he has been through and to see him now, happy, healthy, and so darn cute!!

I was told he absolutely loved the car (I had a feeling he would!), and he was so excited to get a package.

(Pictures by: Donna Z.)

Crazy Love Blog Series- Chapter 10 (Last Chapter)

Chapter 10
The Crux of the Matter

Here are the notes from chapter 8 of Crazy Love: 


By now your probably wondering: What in the world does this mean for me? 

We (usually) respond with words like "Amen", "convicting sermon", "great book", and then are paralyzed as we try to decipher what God wants of our lives.


Philipians 2:12


 Should you put your house on the market today and downsize? Maybe. Should you quit your job? Maybe. Or perhaps God wants you to work harder at your job and be His witness there. Does He want you to move to another city or another country? Maybe. Perhaps He wants you to stay put and open your eyes to the needs of your neighbors. Honestly it's hard enough for me to discern how God wants me to live my own life. My suggestion as you think, make decisions and discern how God would have you live life is to ask yourself: "Is this the most loving way to do life? Am I loving my neighbor and my God, by living where I live, by driving what I drive, by talking how I talk?" 


I urge you to consider and actually live as though each person you come into contact with is Christ. 


 ... There is another path, an alternative to the individualism, selfishness, and materialism of the American Dream, even the so called "Christian version"... God works in a vast number of ways, and that He has more in store for you then you can really imagine right now.


Have you ever said: "I was made for this moment"? Do you believe you were crafted for specific good works, things that God knew even before you even existed? Or do you compare you life to others and lament what you've been given? 


I wrote this book because much of our talk doesn't match our lives. We say things like: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me", and "Trust in the Lord with all your heart". Then we live and plan like we don't believe God even exists. We try to set up our lives so everything will be fine, even if God doesn't come through. But true faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His promises. 


Most of us use: "I'm waiting for God to reveal his calling on my life" as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or to exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. 


Jesus said: "If you love me you will obay what I command". - John 14:15 Jesus did not say: "If you love me you will obey me when you feel called or good about doing so". If we love than we obey, period. 


And so we're at the end of this book... what will people say about your life in heaven? Will people speak of God's work and glory through you? And even more important, how will you answer the King when He says: "What did you do with what I gave you"? 

For more on the book visit: www.crazylovebook.com

*Quotes from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Lyric Friday

You Can Have Me 
By: Sidewalk Prophets


If I saw You on the street 
And You said come and follow me 
But I had to give up everything 
All I once held dear and all of my dreams 
Would I love You enough to let go 
Or would my love run dry 
When You asked for my life 
When did love become unmoving? 
When did love become unconsuming? 
Forgetting what the world has told me 
Father of love, You can have me 
You can have me 
If You’re all You claim to be 
Then I’m not losing anything 
So I will crawl upon my knees 
Just to know the joy of suffering 
I will love You enough to let go 
Lord, I give you my life 
I give you my life 
When did love become unmoving? 
When did love become unconsuming? 
Forgetting what the world has told me 
Father of love, You can have me 
You can have me 
I want to be where You are 
I’m running into Your arms 
And I will never look back 
So Jesus, here is my heart 
When did love become unmoving? 
When did love become unconsuming? 
Forgetting what the world has told me 
Father of love, You can have me 
You can have me 
When did love become unmoving? 
When did love become unconsuming? 
Forgetting what the world has told me 
Father of love, You can have me 
My Father, my love 
You can have me


lyrics from: http://lyrics.url.com/show/9258/sidewalk-prophets/you-can-have-me-lyrics

Crazy Love Blog Series- Chapter 9

Chapter 9
Who Really Lives That Way? 


Here are the notes from chapter 9 of Crazy Love: 


1 Corinthians 11:1


The stories that follow are true. They tell of people who sought to live their lives fully surrendered to God. Some are still alive others have finished their race. Their examples differ vastly from one another, but each bares the mark of a person distinctly transformed by the beauty and reality of God's love, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 


Nathan Barlow- A medical doctor who chose to utilize his skills in Ethiopia for more than 60 years. Nathan dedicated his life to helping people with Mossy Foot. It surprised me that such a man of God would faithfully serve for so many years despite minimal recognition. The work Nathan started continues through his website:
http://www.mossyfoot.com/index.html#/home/


Jamie Lane- When Jamie was 23 years old she flew from the United States to Tanzania with 2,000 dollars from her savings account. She planned to stay until she ran out of money, at which point she would come home. Jamie was overwhelmed by all the need that she encountered so she started praying that God would allow her to make a radical difference in one person's life. After about 6 months she met an 8 year old girl... who was carrying a baby on her back. Jamie learned that the baby's mother was ding from AIDS... Jamie began to buy formula for the little boy, Junio... Jamie fell in love with baby Junio... Because she had lived there for over 6 months she could establish residency (and be allowed to adopt Junio). When she finally came home (with Junio) she had been gone for a year and a half. Junio is now 5 years old, totally healthy, and HIV negative. Since adopting Junio Jamie has gotten married, had a little girl, and is moving back to Tanzania with her family...


George Muller- (George's) life was transformed when he came to know Christ. He finished school and left for England to be a preacher. He and his British wife eventually settled in Bristol, England where they saw many orphans roaming the streets. Uncared for, unfed, often sick, and virtually guarantied death at a young age... George and his wife decided to start an orphanage that would be entirely free of charge, and for which they would never ask any money or support. When they had needs they would go to God alone, trusting that He would give them everything they needed... By the time George died in 1898 over 10,000 orphans had been housed and cared for in 5 orphan houses they built... After his death a British paper wrote of George that he robbed the cruel streets of thousands of victims, the jails of thousands of felons... Another newspaper noted that it'd all been accomplished by prayer alone. 


Susan Diego- When Susan was young she told God that she would do anything He asked her to, but that she hated speaking in front of people... However recently Susan felt like God was moving her to speak, and that she needed to say "yes" if an opportunity came up. It did... Susan, her husband, and her 2 youngest children went to Uganda. There Susan was in charge of leading a conference for the women... She has said "yes" to God, to the one thing she hoped she'd never do. 

* To read more of the stories found in Chapter 9 of Crazy Love, you'll have to get the book. :)


I hope these life stories have done more than encourage you, I hope they have eliminated every excuse for not living a radical- love-motivated-life. I hope they have challenged the multitudes who feel called to the rich and ignore the poor. If biblical examples seem unattainable, hopefully these average everyday people will give you hope that you too can live a life worth writing about. 

For more on the book visit: www.crazylovebook.com

*Quotes from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

*Photo by me

Crazy Love Blog Series- Chapter 8

Chapter  8
Profile of the Obsessed


Here are the notes from chapter 8 of Crazy Love: 

Obsessed: to have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic.


There has to be more to our faith than friendliness, politeness, and even kindness. 


Luke 6:32-36
Luke 14:12-14


Do you give to those who cannot repay you, to those who would do  you harm if they could, to those who have already done you harm, this is Christ's love. He gave us something for which we can never repay Him, and then He asks us to keep giving like He gives. 


People who are obsessed with Jesus give freely and openly without censure. Obsessed people love those who hate them, and who can never love them back. 


Risk-takers


Haven't we all prayed the following prayer? "Lord we pray for safety as we travel. We ask that no one gets hurt on this trip. Please keep everyone safe until we return, and bring us back safely. In Jesus name we pray, Amen." 


We are consumed by safety. Obsessed with it actually. Now I'm not saying it's wrong to pray for God's protection, but I am questioning how we've made safety our highest priority. We've elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God's best is. Whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purpose in our lives and in the world. 


Would you be willing to pray this prayer? "God, bring me closer to you during this trip, whatever it takes."


People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress. 


Friends of All


People who are obsessed with Jesus live lives that connect them with the poor in some way or another. Obsessed people believe that Jesus talked about money and the poor so often, because it was really important to Him. 

Crazy Ones


When people gladly sacrifice their time, their comfort, their home it is obvious that they trust in the promises of God. Why is it that the story of someone who's actually done what Jesus commands resinates deeply with us, but then we assume we could never do anything so radical or intense? Or why do we call it radical, when to Jesus it is simply the way it is, the way it should be?


Obsessed people are more concerned with obeying God than doing what is expected or fulfilling to status-quo. A person who's obsessed with Jesus will do things that don't always make sense in terms of success or wealth on this earth. 


Givers


Tears come to my eyes when I think about some of God's people I've had the privilege to meet in the past few years. These are people with families, with dreams, people who are made in God's image as much as you and I are. And these people are suffering. Many of them are sick, some even dying, as they live out their lives in dwellings that we would not consider good enough for our household pets. I'm not exaggerating. 

Much of their daily hardship and suffering could be relieved with access to food, clean water, clothing, adequate shelter, or basic medical attention. 

Photo by: Rosie

I believe that God wants His people, His church, to meet these needs. The scriptures are filled with commands and references about caring for the poor, for those who cannot help themselves. 


The crazy part about God's heart is that he doesn't just ask us to give, He desires that we love those in need as much as we love ourselves! That is the core of the second greatest command "to love your neighbor as yourself" - Matthew 22:39. He is asking you to love as you would want to be loved if it were your child who was blind from drinking contaminated water...

... to love the way you would want to be loved. If you were the homeless woman sitting outside the cafe...

... to love as though it were your family living in the shacks slapped together from cardboard and scrap metal.

Non church-goers seem to see Christians as takers rather than givers. When Christians sacrifice and give wildly to the poor that is truly a light that glimmers. The bible teaches that the Church is to be that light, that sign of hope in an increasingly dark and hopeless world. 


Matthew 5:16


People who are obsessed with God are known as givers, not takers.
Obsessed people genuinely think that others matter as much as they do, and they are particularly aware of those who are poor around the world. 

While these descriptions combined don't necessarily answer the question of what it looks like to be holy surrendered to God, they represent important pieces of the puzzle. Hopefully your beginning to imagine and pray about what this looks like in your own life. 

For more on the book visit: www.crazylovebook.com

*Quotes from Crazy Love by Francis Chan

*Photos by me, unless stated otherwise.