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Showing posts with label orphans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orphans. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Teaching School at API

Back on May 28th while the Go Team was still here we had the amazing privilege to teach the boys at A Perfect Injustice. These are boys who once lived on the streets of Kampala. Now they belong to a family, receive an education, and are shown the love of Jesus. They now have a hope and a future, and most importantly have the opportunity to be a part of God's family. It was amazing to go to the village where the boys live! It is a beautiful place with huge gardens, amazing homes, fun playgrounds, and beautiful views. The boys are home-schooled right on campus. The boys are all on different levels, some have never been to school, some have only been a few years when they arrive. So, in order to avoid embarrassment and shame from the other children in public schools the boys are taught everything here. There are also a few girls from the community that are enrolled in the school, because their families are not able to afford school fees. 

The classrooms are under these gazebo's that a past IVO team provided.  


Our team of 8 divided up into pairs and taught the children different subjects. This was actually considered a fun day for the children and the teachers were able to get a much needed break. We taught health/anatomy, agriculture, art/geography, and dance! The children were so excited to have us come teach them and they were so eager to learn. They were all so smart and worked hard. 

Theresa and I taught art/geography, where we drew a map of the world. It was so interesting seeing what each grade level knew about the world. We were impressed with their knowledge! I feel like some of them knew more than me! 





After a few hours of teaching it was time for fun! Theresa, who is a Zumba teacher in America, taught us different dances from around the world. The kids were so thrilled to learn these dances. I'm pretty sure dancing is any Ugandan's favorite thing to do! Of course, they wanted to teach us their local dances at the end.








Saturday, April 19, 2014

Getting Involved



I leave for Uganda in 34 days! 
I'll be staying for the whole summer serving with 3 different organizations that work with orphans/children-at-risk in the capital city of Kampala. I do still need to rise a good amount of money before I leave. If you would, please prayerfully consider donating, I can guarantee you will not regret it! It will not only be a blessing to the people of Uganda and me, you will also be blessed through it! Your support will play a part in sending me to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the children of Uganda! 


Here are the things you would be providing for through your donation:



  • Building a playground for special needs children! 


  • Showing God's love and providing food to children who live on the streets!


  • Taking care of abandoned babies who need love and attention!


  • And loving on orphans of all ages!


Would you like to make an eternal difference in the lives of beautiful children just like these?

Than, please consider donating! 
No amount is too small!

There are currently 3 ways to give:

1).  Make a donation of any amount, 
on my online fundraiser:

or through paypal:

2).  Purchase something from my online store, here is the link:


    3).  Send items for me to bring to Uganda to give to the organizations I will be working with. (Items like baby blankets, clothing, shoes, craft supplies, small toys for children). Please email me if you are interested in sending me anything and I will send you an updated list of supplies they need. 



                               Thank you so much!! 


(An awesome video from last year with my team from YWAM Madison. This is a great example of what it looks like to give to children in need! The joy on their faces is priceless!)

Monday, April 7, 2014

Heading to Uganda in 46 days!!

(Photos by Dwight Saunders). 

Booked my flights to Uganda today!! My sister-in-law and I leave on May 22nd! I am beyond excited to join International Voice of the Orphan for the first 9 days of my summer!

We will be building a playground for a special needs orphanage, loving on babies, visiting many orphanages in the area, and working with street kids. 


Please join me in praying that the rest of the funds come in soon. 

If you would like to donate towards my trip you can do so here:

http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/help-send-sharon/150423 

Thanks so much!


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Announcing...

I'm still in the beginning stages of planning 

this, but it looks like I'll be returning to 

Uganda next summer!! I am so excited and

so blessed!







 Anyone want to join me?

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Giveaway for Adoption!

THIS is one of the necklaces you could win by entering Kanani's giveaway!




 

3 easy ways to enter..

-Donate $10 (or more!) to Kanani's grant fund here (1 entry)

-Share this post on facebook (1 entry)


-Blog about this giveaway (1 entry)


Check it out!! 


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Next Year...

Next year (Jan 2013) I will be going overseas for my YWAM outreach! Not exactly sure which country I am going to, but we get to choose in September, once we have started our Children at Risk training and have seen a presentation on each country that our teams will be going to. So I will just have to see where God wants me! I am thinking Asia (Thailand or India), but it may just be my desires, not sure yet. I do not want this to be my decision! I only want it to be God's! For it's He that is sending me and giving me the strength, wisdom, and comfort to even do this at all. I don't want any part of this missionary training to be about me! Wow, that's good stuff, haha, I need to say that next time the Devil tries to discourage me with thoughts about things like: "Am I really doing this?", "Why am I leaving my awesome job, my awesome church, and my awesome family and friends?", "What have I gotten myself into?", "I'm going to miss my life too much", "This is going to be so uncomfortable", "I don't know anyone that I'm going to be spending 6 months with!", "There's no way I will get all that money!".... etc. 

Well, guess what? IT'S NOT ABOUT ME! 

It's about bringing glory to God, and being His hands and Feet, and showing His love to the world, and telling others about Him and how they can know Him. Period. 

This scripture is on my wall and I think of it often when I ask myself: "Why me?" or "I can't do this!" 

1 Timothy 1:12
"I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service."
 
And this one: 

1 Thessalonians 5:24
"The One who calls you is faithful and HE will do it."

See, IT'S NOT ABOUT ME!

OK so now that I'm done preaching to myself, here is an amazing video that the past Children at Risk outreach teams put together showing the faces of risk around the world. This video really touched me, because this is where I will be next year! Please watch! Ahhhhh, I'm so excited!!!

Friday, April 6, 2012

Luke's Easter (and more)


These pictures were taken today in China (well really last night) from Luke's home, Shepherd's Field Children's Village.

Isn't Luke getting more and more handsome as the days go by? Still praying for a miracle to happen with his adoption paperwork and his heart.

Jesus died and rose again 3 days later! (What other God has done that? None!!!)

So I think (NO I know) I can trust in Him to do this!!!

I'm praying and believing something will happen by September! That's 5 months away! Either Luke's paperwork will be completed and he will be adoptable, his heart is healed, and/or both!!!

Once I leave for Wisconsin in September I am not sure if I'll be able to continue the sponsorship payments for Luke. If God provides, or course I will still sponsor him, but if that doesn't happen, I am hoping that someone will take over that for me. If anyone is interested, please let me know!



Tuesday, February 28, 2012

YWAM "Spoil The Orphans" Event

Kids need love and that's just what they got from the current YWAM Children at Risk DTS teams! And next year I will get to witness the children's joy myself! I will be a DTS student and will be traveling to another country (not sure where yet) to love on needy kids. 


Stay tuned for ways you can donate to "Spoil The Orphans" event coming up soon! 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Prayers Needed!

I've known for a little while now that the situation with my sponsor child, Luke (at SFCV) was serious. He will be 5 next month, his orphanage is not willing to do his adoption paperwork, therefore he is not available for adoption. He is in need of a heart surgery very soon, (he has a SV) but will not be able to get it done in China.




But today I heard from an adoptive mom, that just got back from adopting a little boy (Zachariah) at SFCV, that Luke did not look good. His lips were very blue, and she was talking to the doctor there about his need for surgery. She said that her son has the same heart problem and knows that they are hard to place in families. It hurt her to see Luke there without a family.

This really breaks my heart!!!! If it were possible, I'd fly there now and bring little Luke home with me, and get him the surgery he needed! But in this imperfect world, that is not possible, for many reasons!

What is possible though is OUR GOD!! With Him all things are possible!!





Please, please, please join me in praying for Luke!

Pray that:

1.) His orphanage will have a change of heart and see the best interest of the children to sign the needed papers and allow Luke to be adopted (after his family finds him, of course).

{*this is the best case scenario, which will allow him to have a forever family, and get his much needed heart surgery in another part of the world.}

Or...

2.) That the opportunity will come up for Luke to have surgery in China. (I'm not sure what that would involve, maybe, the right surgeon or the medical funds?)

Or...

3.) That God will heal Luke's heart!



I know God can do any or ALL of these things!! I have no doubt!!

Please join me in praying and spreading the word about sweet Luke!

Thank you!

Here's a short video clip of Luke and his housemates. Luke is the one in the red sweater. :)




Friday, February 3, 2012

An Eric Ludy Sermon


‎"Christianity, by nature is NOT convenient. Christianity invades your selfish existence and turns it on its head!" - Eric Ludy
(Eric Ludy's "Deprived Indifference" video a part of this sermon! That should tell you how good it is!)



Eric Ludy - The Band of Rescuers from Ellerslie Mission Society on Vimeo.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Video From Shepard's Field

This one of my favorite video's from Shepard's Field! I love how it tells sort of the "whole story" of how it started and what they are doing now. And the clips of the kids are so precious! 

I love seeing what God is doing through Tim and Pam Baker for these amazing kids in China! I cannot wait to see what He does through them in the future! God has awesome plans for everyone of these children! 

I'm still hoping to visit this incredible place someday! 


(Look for Luke about at about minute: 5:30.)

Monday, December 19, 2011

Luke's Christmas

Even though Luke doesn't have his own family this Christmas he is living in China with an amazing group of people. Luke is very fortunate to be at Shepherd's Field Children's Village where the family style homes create a loving and caring environment for their 80+ children. 


This week Shepherd's Field has been celebrating Christmas with the children. Fun! 

Smiling for the camera while decorating the houses for Christmas.

Luke with the Samaritan's House residents.

Cute smile Luke! 



Luke with his best buddies Adrian and Shane.
(Aren't they cute!?)

Luke with his new housemates at Zachary House. 
(He was recently moved to another house on the compound 
to make room for new babies with heart problems). 

Luke with one of his Christmas presents. 
So excited to get a toy car!

Adrian, Luke, Kennedy and a staff member Sara
(Showing off their presents, new stuffed puppies and cars!) 

I absolutely love seeing the joy on Luke's face this Christmas! I am so happy that he is able to experience that joy and be with his precious friends in a warm loving home! 

However he still needs a family of his own! What child doesn't deserve the priceless love of a mother and father and siblings? 

I'm prying that next Christmas Luke will have a family!

Will you join me in prayer for Luke? 

This wouldn't be possible without the support of the child sponsors! Please consider sponsoring a child (or more than one) this Christmas! What a blessing they will be in your life! Please go here to sponsor a beautiful child at Shepherd's Field in China. There are at least 50 children who still need sponsors!

*pictures by Jamie, Sara Z., and Timothy Baker (Thank you!)



Sunday Snapshot

Thursday, December 1, 2011

November Is Over!?





November was National Adoption Awareness Month. If you read  this post you know that I (along with so many other people) participated in the "Pray Down the Number @ 1:47 pm" Event. And it was even more amazing that I thought it would be!! Each day I chose an orphan or an adoptive family (or anything to do with orphans around the world) and lifted them up to the Father. It wasn't hard at all to think of someone or something each day. Each day it seemed that God would put a child a family or a subject in my head and I went with that. It was an honor to pray for them during the whole month of November. The fact that I wasn't alone in praying each day was also a great encouragement. There are 176 people in the facebook group and even if all of them weren't actually praying at the same time it was still amazing to know that each one of them was lifting up orphans all over the world at some point each day. This was an awesome event and I can't wait to participate next year! God really moved, prayers were answered, and God showed up in these lives. 


Just for fun, here is the list I kept:  
(You may or may not recognize some of these names) :)

1st: Liberty and William
2nd: JJ and family
3rd: Will Perry and Ankerich family
4th: Blossom (SFCV)
5th: Luke (SFCV)
6th: Older orphans who struggle with depression
7th: Sharon (SFCV)
8th: Grady (SFCV)
9th: Ruby and Saunders family
10th: Kennedy (SFCV)
11th: Josiah's family (SFCV)
12th: Smith Family (and Derrick)
13th: Stella (Uganda)
14th: Jordyn and Rist Family
15th: Henry (Uganda)
16th: Kira LaTorre
17th: Brookie Leahy
18th: Kayley's sisters
19th: Josh and family (SFCV)
20th: Stoiber family
21st: Joseph (SFCV)
22nd: Phiona's work with orphans
23rd: Orphans in Uganda
24th: Orphans in China
25th: Orphans in Russia
26h: Orphans in India
27th: Orphans in USA
28th: Kiraboo Seeds
29th: Esther and Stonebrook family
30th: Older orphans left behind

*(SFCV)= Children from Shephard's Field Children's Village

Monday, November 28, 2011

Pure Love Giveaway

This Giveaway is absolutely amazing! There are 20 awesome prizes, nothing worth less than $10!! And the best part is every bit of the money raised goes to making 2 less orphans!! How great is that?? 

Fill Their Stockings


A few details on how our “Fill Their Stockings” event will run…
- Suggested donation is $5. More entries will be assigned based on size of donation. But if you don’t have $5 to donate, that’s okay too… An Orphan’s Wish will be blessed by any amount you would like to give. To enter without donating, leave your name, email and mailing address in a comment on this post.
- To donate, simply use the button below and you’ll be directed to AOW’s PayPal page. All donations go directly to An Orphan’s Wish.
- You must have a shipping address in the US to win.
- The Brave Love Necklace giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, November 29th. The winner will be chosen at random from all entries and announced shortly thereafter.
So be sure to check back soon – not only see if you’ve won, but to see what delicious donation is going to be featured next. New items will be posted here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday through December 23rd.
Go to Stephanie's blog to see the first prize: 



Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Who doesn't love a giveaway?

And one for an adoption is even better! 


Check out this blog and participate in this FREE giveaway. 

Here's the scoop:

"We need to broaden our blog readership in a big way.   So we want to reward you for helping us.  This package - 1 of our custom adoption t-shirts, 1 copy of Matt's book "When You Come Home" and one copy of "Lovesongs and Lullabyes" can be yours!  Here's how.

1 chance for simply becoming a follower on our blog
1 chance for doing a facebook post referencing our blog
2 chances for putting our blog button on your blog
2 chances for sharing on your blog

Please email us at mmeadors23@yahoo.com or send us a facebook message to let us know you've done these things so we can give you credit.
We will be randomly selecting a name on November 14.  Let's get this party started!"



*from M. Meadors blog

Monday, November 7, 2011

Changes Part 2

If you read my post Changes back in September, you know there is some big news I was waiting to share! WELL, Saturday I received the email I've been waiting for! 

I was out with my sister at the mall when I looked down at my phone and saw that I had a new email. After seeing the title I knew I didn't want to open it just yet. I wanted to wait until I got home and was by myself so that I could focus on it. 

When I lost my job (and also graduated college) back in August I really started to think about what was next for me. Even though losing my job was really hard, God was teaching me a lot through it. One of those things being I needed to focus on my next step for Him. Ever since I came back from Africa last year I knew I wanted to do more mission work. And I knew I wanted to do something more long term, because that's what I felt God leading me towards. So, as I was thinking about my next steps God suddenly put YWAM on my heart. I looked it up and got as much info as I could. I soon found a link to a "Children at Risk Discipleship Training School" that I really liked. So, after thinking it over for a couple days I decided to apply. 

As I said I got an email Saturday that confirmed that I was accepted! YAY! 

Next September is when I go! It is located in Madison, WI (which just happens to be very close to William and his family!). This is a 6 month program (3 months in Madison, 2 months overseas, and holiday breaks). 

Here's the breakdown: 

"The Children at Risk Discipleship Training School will focus on the needs of children around the world and the issues that put them at risk — sex trafficking, poverty, AIDS, abuse, child soldiers, and broken families. We will also focus on the heart of God who promises to be a “Father to the fatherless, who sets the lonely in families.” (Psalm 68:5,6)

For three months, we will examine strategies to help these kids and pursue ways to assist poor communities around the world. And then we will go, spending two months overseas. Past Children at Risk DTSes have gone to India,Thailand, Myanmar, Uganda and Kenya. On outreach, we will work with street kids, AIDS orphans, slum communities, sex slaves and refugees, as well as reach out to people of all ages through evangelism."


For more info visit these websites: 







Win an ipad 2!

Consider donating to this awesome giveaway for a family who is adopting a 5 year old girl from Eastern Europe (she has CP and is running out of time at the baby home).

Donate and share this blog with others and you will be entered into the giveaway for and ipad 2 and many other amazing prizes (artwork, a mini camera, etc.).

http://textgeorge.blogspot.com/2011/08/seeing-stars-first-huge-giveaway.html

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Cry of the Orphan 2011-Jim, Yolanda and Baby Jayne


Cry of the Orphan 2011 - Jim, Yolanda and Baby Jayne from Hope for Orphans on Vimeo.

Orphan Sunday Live Event Tonight!!

Looking for a good way to spend this Orphan Sunday night? You should totally watch this Live Webcast!! This is an annual event and I really look forward to it every year! Here are the details from the website:


"Join David Platt, Jedd Medefind, the Desperation Band’s Jon Egan, members of the IHOP team and Christian leaders from around the globe via LIVE from Kansas City! This one-hour webcast event will unite believers worldwide in GUIDED PRAYER for the fatherless and WORSHIP led by IHOP’s Jon Thurlow and Jon Egan. 
LIVE from Kansas City will be webcast live on this webpage on Orphan Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 6 PM Central Time."

So excited for this!! Starts in 15 minutes!! 

If you happen to miss it, I am sure it will be up online at some point after tonight. I'll post details for sure when I find out.