The Seed of the Church

Some things are hard to process.

Before school my mom woke me to tell me that our friend and church member was martyred this morning. Jeremiah Small, a missionary in K*rdistan, taught highschool humanities, English, and Bible at the Classical School of the Med*s. He was a faithful witness to his students, part of our community, and servant of Jesus.

I have so much confusion and sadness mingled in my head right now, that I can't really say much more. We're grieving for his students and his family.

Our hearts our broken, but our hope is secure.

Just stopping by to say how excited I am for this family!!!!!

They're going back to Eastern Europe for their THIRD Reece's Rainbow adoption! Praise Jesus!!

Super Bowl Sunday

Happy Super Bowl Sunday.

I, like most of America, watched the game with friends and family.

I, like most of America, laughed heartily at some of the commercials of covered my eyes at several of them.

I, like most of America, poked fun at Madonna and changed the channel to America's Funniest Home Videos.

I, like most of America, snacked to brink of explosion and gained about 100 pounds in one evening.

I, like most of America, was completely unaware of what this day means for the trafficked woman and children in the sex slave industry in Indianapolis.

Super Bowl Sunday is notoriously one of the biggest days for the prostitution industry. As this article says: "The Super Bowl is the most-watched program on TV every year. But many people don’t know about its dark underside: the Super Bowl, like other large sporting events, is a magnet for sex trafficking and child prostitution. It is possibly the largest sex trafficking event in the US. As more than 100,000 football fans descend on Indianapolis, sex traffickers and pimps will also arrive in droves to take advantage of the demand."

As we eat and fellowship and laugh and enjoy, lets remember to be in prayer and advocating for those who are in bondage today and everyday. For those trapped in an industry they cannot escape making their lives a living hell. Lets remember to be petitioning our Father to free the captives.

Thanks.

Fun and Swishy

Its been a while since a fun post, no? Some pictures from my first semester at college, all photo credits to my friend James Esmond, a second year and our faithful photographer.

Playing Ultimate Frisbee last fall. We did lots of this when the weather allowed. Can't wait for more.

My first year class (missing my friend Lisa) at the Yuletide feast before Christmas!

Almost all of us first and second years after going to a concert/mass requiem at a little church in our town for music class!


My dad led a 3 day hike in the Smoky Mountains over fall break with me and 6 of the other students. It was SO fun, beautiful, and hard! I loved it.

Alexandra, me, and Lesley getting ready to start hiking!

Other reason for writing this post: I ordered a couple of things from one of the fair trade sites I told you about and they came yesterday! Hooray!

I got the red one of these, the blue of these , and the black of this.

Overall I'm super happy, they're all so soft and well made and they delivered really quickly! The pants/capris are a little longer than I expected (yay) and a little bluer than I expected (not so yay. but alright). The tank is great except they run a little larger, so if you get one you might want to go a size down.

Basically, they're all swishy and lovely and I know that I know that slaves or children or desperate parents trying to provide for their families on next to nothing didn't make them. I know that these were made by reputable organizations doing their best to provide jobs and opportunity and hope in places that need it most. The tags on the clothes tell precisely where each article of clothing was made and I'm just happy as can be knowing that some mommy in India spent a morning making my pretty red skirt and then got to go home and feed her children.

I might just wear it everyday.

Moving Mountains

GUYS. I have some really, really, really incredible news. Reece's Rainbow has started a new project called Moving Mountains. Basically, combining the children's individual grants and other donations Reece's Rainbow has received, the financial barrier of adopting these children has been eliminated.

DID YOU HEAR ME? ELIMINATED. The entire process has been covered. NOTHING stands in the way of these children coming home except the right families finding them and committing to them.

I know that not everyone is in the position to adopt right now, but more than likely you know someone who is. Many families would love to have the blessing of adoption but have been inhibited by finances. If you want, share this news on your facebook, your twitter, your blog, word of mouth, wherever. And of course you can always pray for them when you think of it!

Do it for Sunny

Do it for Tim.

Do it for my precious Sergei-boy, who you all helped raise money for a year and a half ago and whose picture(s) have been on my fridge all this time. God is doing a mighty work in Sergei. The healing of his body from his baby pictures to this is absolutely astonishing.

Do it for Mark.

Do it for handsome little Morgan, with his giant brown eyes.


Do it for suffering little Owen who can't go much longer without medical attention but would blossom inconceivably from the benefits and corrective surgery and the unconditional love of a family.

Do it for Evie.

Do it for Brigita.

God is faithful for the orphan. He is faithful to the last dollar. Faithful to the last tear. Faithful to the last lonely one. Blessed be His name in all the earth.

Fair Trade

Hey guys. I've been thinking about writing the post for a while now and wasn't quite sure how to start. Still not quite sure. :)

About a month ago I made a quick run to Old N*vy. I'd ripped a hole in my only good pair of jeans and I needed* a couple of long sleeve shirts. I completed the whole trip spending only $25. Good day! 2 shirts and 1 pair of jeans for 25$? That's pretty good! When I came home I held up one of the shirts I bought a looked at it before putting it in my drawer.

*no, I did not need them

Made in Veitnam said the tag. As I read the it I heard the Lord say, "Slaves made that shirt." I rarely hear God's voice in that direct, definite way.

That hit me like a load of bricks. Not kidding, I actually fell on the floor. Its not like I hadn't heard about human trafficking and sweatshops before. Of I had. One of my dearest friends in the world has been passionate and vocal about modern day slavery for a long time (and is currently finishing up writing a killer paper about it), but for some reason I never caught the bug the same way she did. I chose to look the other way. I chose to ignore what was gradually becoming a bigger and bigger pattern. I chose what was easier, cheaper, and more convenient for me than even being willing to look into other options. Even when reading these posts I didn't listen.

But that night (when I was supposed to be working on Greek homework) I was totally overwhelmed. It suddenly struck me that by continuing to buy clothes made in sweatshops and by slaves, I was enabling them, I was, in a strange sense, a slave owner.

Maybe the shirt I bought was made by a child who should have been in school but instead had been up since 4:00 in the morning around dangerous machinery in inhumane work conditions so that I could buy a $4 shirt. Maybe a father was walking home after a seemingly endless week but had nothing to bring back to his family. Maybe he stopped and got drunk instead of facing the situation he was too entangled to fix. Maybe an HIV positive mother held her 3 year old to her breast after making my shirt, giving him the only food she could afford-- exposing him to contracting the same disease. Maybe that's where my shirt was made.

I know this all sounds pretty hopeless, but that's what I was thinking! Thankfully, there is good news to come! I've started looking into fair trade, ministry-minded companies that make beautiful clothing, and I'm here to share them with you!



SoleRebels shoes are made in Ethiopia by whole communities working together and using the resources and the artisanship that they already have. They make about a million different varieties and are a great example of entreprenuering. Can't wait to buy my first pair.


The Hungersite has a bunch of super cute stuff and a lot of it is fair trade and gives back to the community! And, its about equivalent to T*rget prices-- so great!

Marketplace Handwork of India has a ton of coats, skits, dresses, and shirts made by women in India and sold all over the world. They are a non-profit business and employ and empower nearly 500 Indian women!

Global Mamas has clothes made by mamas in Africa for mamas (and everyone) everywhere! Isn't that an awesome name? They pretty much manage their own business and, the super cool thing is, you can find out the name and the story of the women who made your specific purchase!

So cool, right? Knowing the names and the stories of life and progress and opportunity, rather than guessing at the nameless millions being forced or coerced into working in hidden sweatshops.

Thanks for bearing with me, this is just whats on my mind right now and I was super excited to find out how many ministries and businesses there were available. Happy Saturday!

Again

This is my friend Chelsea's little warrior girl, Maya. She's been working so diligently to raise funds and awareness for Maya and yesterday got the news that this sweet girl has a family committed to her! We're all pretty excited. Check out Chelsea's blog to read more about advocating for Maya. Can't wait to find out more about her family.

As I've been launching myself back into bloggy and orphan-advocating, I've been reminded by Maya's story again of God's faithfulness to be who He says He is, to be a Father to the fatherfless. He has shown Himself mighty to save. Again. Praising His faithfulness and mercy today.

Sweetest Video Ever!

Hey- I know its been a million years. I promise nothing crazy has happened, school is just super busy! I'm hoping to get back into it though- starting with this video I found via a Reece's Rainbow family's blog. This is the joy of the lost coin being found and the lost sheep rescued!

The Best of News.

I have news. My precious Heidi has a family. Meet the Petersons.

This sweet family has committed to adopting Heidi, and they're working their tails off with fundraising, paperwork, and getting everything ready for their girl to come home! I'm so inspired by their faith in the Father's provision as they set forth on this adventure and am honored to be walking alongside them and considered a part of Heidi's team. Hop on over to their blog to read more about their story and donate towards their adoption fund!

Guys, people say that miracles don't happen any more. People say that hope is nonsense and prayer is useless.

Heidi was abandoned. Forsaken. Without value. Without hope. But now, love has intervened. Magic has transformed her future. She has hope.

Kind of like us, right? Lost, helpless, trapped by sin. Completely enslaved to death without the intervening love of Christ on our behalf. His magic reversed our doom, like death working backward and cracking the Stone Table in half in The Chronicles of Narnia.

This is the best of news. This is the Gospel.

I'm overwhelmed by His goodness and His beautiful plan for Heidi's life. At school we begin each day with a short chapel time during which we recite The Gloria. It reads:

"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of goodwill.
We praise You.
We bless You.
We adore You.
We glorify You.
We give thanks to You for Your great glory."

Ever since I heard the Peterson's news, I've been repeating and repeating the Gloria in my head, as well as the Scripture verse that I chose for Heidi when I first became her warrior:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
~Matthew 5:8~

Thank you for celebrating with me.

Vacation

Just got home from a lovely vacation at the Dauphin Island beach. My dear friend Lizzie and I were nannying for three darling families in our church who invited us along. Beach vacation in exchange for snuggling cute babies. Deal.

Me and Augustine, one of the 2 other Ethiopia babies besides the twins in our parish.

Lizzie saving childen from falling of the cannon stand at Fort Gaines. She's a nanny wonderwoman.

We made friends like these. Scratch that. We ran screaming from live jellys in the water.

Looking through the window at the balcksmith at Fort Gaines. Moses may or may not be eating an ancient, filth-covered window bar. We're on it.

Me and Raechel on the beach on the last evening. News: I'm excited to announce that when school starts I'll move out of my own lovely home and board with Raechel and her awesome husband and precious son and daughter in their lovely home. I'm so blessed and excited. She also gets sole credit for all of these beautiful photos.

With vacation over there is nothing standing between me and the reality of being about to start college.

I came home to see this on my (own!) bed:

Beautiful. Exciting. Going to run away crying in fear.

Truth Pandemic - Get the facts about HIV/AIDS and Adoption

What more is there to say?

The truth will set us free.

Fleece Blanket Project

I'm still working to raise a fuss over my girl, Heidi.

And so is my friend Chelsea for her girl, Robyn.

Remember my attempt at raising money for Heidi by making necklaces? Well, I had a couple of requests but not much interest. The fact is, one of my lovely little siblings, who shall remain nameless, took it into his or her head that after I had spent three hours braiding enough silver thread to make two necklaces the best possible plan would be to sneak in with his or her scissors and cut them to pieces.

We all recovered.

However, my desire to complete that particular project was rather squashed. Thankfully, my friend Chelsea still had as much drive as ever, and we got together to brainstorm fundraisers for both of our Reece's Rainbow beauties. We decided on making fleece tie blankets, and we have these two above as examples. You can either order one just like one of these two or you can place a request for color/pattern combination and we'll do all we can to make it happen! Just leave a comment or email me at ama2@bellsouth.net to place and order.

The blankets are double layered fleece made made from 1 1/2 yard of material, and they cost 25$ a piece. It is for our girls, remember.

Unfortunately/fortunately I'm a fan of old school snail mail as far as paying goes (read: I have no idea how to implement one of those chip-in things). So, either send your check via envelope, owl post, whatever, or you can donate the amount directly to Reece's Rainbow and just tell me that you did. I trust you.

So, feeling sweaty? Loving this humid, summer weather? Spending time at the beach? Still in the month of July with the rest of the Western Hemisphere? What you need is definitely a double layered fleece throw blanket. Duh.

Thanks guys. :)

EB

I haven't posted about EB because it is just petrifingly scary and indescribably painful. But it's on my heart, so here I am.

This disease effects the skin, and in most cases makes every single function of normal life agonizing, until the patient either looses the will to live, or his or her body simply can not go on trying to constantly repair the broken skin.

This is on mind for a couple of reasons, I have a minor (comparitively VERY minor) skin defect called eczema, which has caused enough trouble in my life to tune my heart to far, far greater suffereing. Secondly, some of our beloved Reece's Rainbow orphans have it (these precious ones are about to be orphaned no more, praise Jesus!) And the third reason is because of this sweet family. I'm begging you to join me on your knees on behalf of their beautiful son, Tripp, as well as the other families who have been effected by EB.

Thank you.

My Girl

I can't even tell me how much I've had this girl on my heart lately.

Look at her, are you melting? I'm in love.

This little lady has been transferred. An adoptive family from Reece's Rainbow visited her this month and took this drop-dead-gorgeous picture. They wrote:

"Little Heidi was the meekest of the group, she is the smallest girl and stayed close to the caregivers, all the while looking on with great curiosity and smiling at me, melting my heart for sure."

Thats my girl. Update about fundraisers for Heidi in my next post!

Jar Fundraiser for Heidi

First of all, sorry for the extremely blurry picture.

I've had a jar sitting out for my beautiful Heidi-lady since I became her 2011 warrior a couple of months ago. Tonight I turned on a movie and sat down to count out what we'd collected so far. The grand total came out to be $37.72!

This is truly the easiest fundraiser in the world and it sparks conversation when guests see the jar with his/her on your counter.

Set out a jar for your RR baby or your sponsor baby. Just do it.

I love you, Heidi.

Heidi Update

My girl. I love her.

Thank you, Father, for growth, new pictures, and sunflower pig tails.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

A little more B*ntu camp!

The feast on the last day.

Me and the littlest baby in my group, N*rto.

My brother Joseph helping out in the little boys group. He was awesome this week, its the first year he's been old enough to do it and I was so proud of how gently and appropriately he handled those rambunctious little guys.

Water slide!

Dragon-slaying party at the end of the week.

Dancing at the feast. :)

Eating some cotton candy one day.

Beauty.

Some precious little ladies with some seriously silly attitude.

B*ntu Camp

This week was B* camp for me and my classmates. Its the third annual camp we've done with the B*ntu refugees. They are a severely oppressed, under priviledge, Muslim people group here in Nashville.

I have such an incredible time there every year, and I love following up with the kids throughout the year through in little one-day activites and stuff. I have several special relationships with certain kids and the trust level between the kids and our volunteers has grown so much. Jesus be praised. We are continuing to break down barriers in the hope that one day soon we will be able to speak openly about our faith and be heard by receptive little ears and without the danger of the kids being persecuted/banned from seeing us by their families.

More to come, hopefully.

Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl

Just read this book, given to me by a friend for my graduation. Oh. My. Word.

Can you say beautiful?
How about fascinating?
Brilliant?
Life-changing?
Hilarious?
Thought-provoking?
All around full of wonder?


Whether or not you can say those things, read it. Readitreaditreaditreadit. I'm hoping to read it atleast once a year.