Janey's News

November 13, 2006

Friends living in Europe sent interesting responses to my last blog: They understand my viewpoint. Last week I had the joy of watching the Country MUSIC Awards on TV. Wow, loved it. Of course, the music was superb, but beyond excellence was again that God-element that is so prevalent in America. And I mean God, not god, not Budda or Allah or some other such counterfeit. I’m not saying that all the songs that mentioned God refer to the God of the Bible (although I’d like to believe that) but clearly some do. And while many people who received rewards thanked God (which could be abstract), some thanked Jesus. But whatever way you look at it, God had a place in this special music event. And as a Europer, I wept with gratitude for America.

Think about it! If it had been a secular rock concert (as opposed to Christian rock, obviously), would we have heard people thanking God? Doubt it. Some might even have thanked the devil. Or if this had been a European concert, it’s very unlikely you’d hear God mentioned.

I loved many of the songs including “Anyway” sung by Martina McBride, “Jesus Take The Wheel” interpreted by Carrie Underwood, & a super lovely song sung by Vince Gill (husband of Amy Grant) & Sheryl Crow about giving (I forget the exact name but wow, it was all about Heaven, eternity, choices, giving…LOADED with biblical content). LOVED IT. Let me know if you find the exact name.

Forgive me for harping on how wonderful America is. In future blurbs, I’ll tell you things I miss in Europe whether in France, Italy, England or wherever…But for now, I’d like to discuss CHILDREN’S FANTASY LITERATURE.

R.K.Mortenson’s third book in his Landon Snow fantasy series is a delight: Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum. The book is ideal for, say, 8 – 12-year-olds, and is rich in character, family values, and biblical backbone. It conjures up all the enchantment of a fantastical voyage filled with suspense and wonder without the ensorcelled content found in certain disturbing pop fantasies.

The plot is motored by the turning pages of an old Bible which steers the key characters into adventures or places paralleled by Bible stories such as Noah’s Ark. The Auctor—meaning author and, in this case, the Author of the Bible, God—uses the adventures to increase the children’s faith and combat evil as in Malus Quidam.

The amusing characters and animals in the book range from Epops the bird and Melech the horse and add another delightful dimension to this fantasy.

This action packed story would, in my opinion, appeal equally to boys and girls alike. The series provides a great read for fantasy-hungry young readers whose parents desire that their children’s minds be filled with reflections of what is pure, right, whole and true.

See other reviews here:
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Valerie Comer
Frank Creed
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Leathel Grody
Karen Hancock
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Karen and at Karen¹s myspace
Oliver King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Caleb Newell
John Otte
Cheryl Russel
Hannah Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Chris Walley
Daniel I. Weaver

I thank God for good Christian children’s writers. Another book series to look out for, and which I’ll be mentioning again in the future is the Mercy Force Adventure Series, beginning with The Secret of the Ancient Crowns by Herbert J. Kellner & Connie Penn.
More in the future. Meanwhile, I need a cuppa coffee…

Janey's News


Blog update Nov.3rd, 2006

For years we’ve been praying for more Christians to adopt, for more churches to be involved with helping suffering children, and for more children to find their forever families. When I say “we”, I mean “whoever” prays for these things, including me and all those who join me on the Orphans First Prayer Chain – www.orphansfirst.org Well, I see God moving. Of course, He always was moving in response to our prayers, but now I’m seeing it in accelerated motion.

This past week, there was a meeting in Colorado involving some main Christian groups who are launching a project to encourage churches to be involved in reaching out to orphans. Visit: http://www.voiceoftheorphan.org/Display.asp?Page=Home
I also discovered that Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena provides teaching about ministering to children at risk. My friend, Dr. Phyllis Kilbourn (one of Orphans First’s advisors) will be teaching there next week. Bravo Fuller. I’m so excited. God is moving in answer to our intercession.

This month, an article I wrote called Intercession with Suffering: The Secret of Releasing Heaven’s Power, appears in the Nov/Dec issue of Indeed mag. (published by WalkThruTheBible). This is “indeed” a wonderful magazine—not because they published my article, although that certainly shows it’s not a slushy, feelgood mag—but because they uphold high biblical teaching. Check the mag out -- http://www.walkthru.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5409

Anyway, I pray that God would use this article to help us turn our sufferings into a powerhouse of prayer. That’s why He allows them in the first place—to make us more like Him so we’ll co-labor with Him and then be more like Him again. Amazing God. As Chris Tomlin, one of my fave singers, sings so perfectly: “You are Amazing God” –
http://www.christomlin.com/index2.html

Speaking of fave singers, I often wonder if American Christians realize how fortunate they are. You have so many amazing Christian musicians & Christian radio stations. I say this because as a Brit who lived most of my life in Europe--half in France--& have now lived in America for 3 years, I cannot get over how wonderful America is. We don’t have this stuff in Europe, and especially not France. I know, some of you just don’t get it. What’s wonderful?, you say. Because you see the bad, the removed privileges, the junk, the sleaze (TV, yuk, yuk & yuk!!!). I understand. But trust me, Europe’s worse. Way worse. So to me living in America, in S. Cal which is the modern Bible belt, I see the freedom, the churches that DO preach Christ, the churches that do reach the poor, that do sing His praise (without promoting man’s glory), and I see those that DO back up the troops in prayer and by giving… On and on it goes. I see a beautiful America which is fast following the downfall of Europe but not there yet.
May we all take heed to let our light shine where it should and be involved where we should so that the salt doesn’t lose its savor.

Again, speaking of music, The Kry just released an album in French -- Peut Etre. It’s awesome & I highly recommend it. Check it out: http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/artists/The_Kry/6231/
Profitez-en les français. On y go.

I loooooooooove ze music. Thank you The Kry. Not only are you guys friends but also great musicians. Thank God for Christian musicians such as Casting Crowns, Chris Tomlin, Jeremy Camp, Michael Card, Mercy Me, Newsboys, Nicole Mullen & many, many others I’ll share in the future on this blog. For now, I’m enjoying the music, letting it touch my soul so that I indeed will be drawn more into the presence of our most High King.

Janey's News

Blog «after the wedding» -- Oct. 19th, 06

Thanks to all of you who prayed for our daughter’s wedding last Saturday. It was a glorious event—one we will never forget & will always relive in our minds. First, it rained—for 2 days defying that old Carpenter’s song “It Never Rains In Southern California”. Truth it, is doesn’t. But then it begun to pour for a few days and the wedding was outside. Just as it was looking hopeless, the skies stopped throwing out bucket-loads and the ground miraculously dried up. But it doesn’t end there. When our beautiful daughter walked up the aisle with her handsome Dad, the sun beamed on her creating like a golden aura and dazzling light which continued dancing on the waves in the background of Del Mar beach. This opening of Heaven took my breath away and reminding me that the Lord is making his bride ready—and it will be for soon.

The couple was beautiful beyond description. They looked like a prince & princess. Rachele was radiant & Jastin so handsome in his marine uniform. The bridal party were stunning in various shades of blues with yellow flowers and then the three little flower girls in yellow princess dresses -- so cute. And Jastin's two younger brothers were handsome ring bearers. Of course, among the groomsmen was our son, Francesco, & among the bridesmaids was his cousin Kristin (they walked together in the processional, & my son previously walked me to my seat).

The vows were deeply moving & honored God. The ceremony was just glorious -- with Louis' preaching & also a message by Pastor Gary Nelson. Did we cry? Yes -- all three of us -- Louis, myself and even our son. I sang "You Are Still Holy" for the couple's communion ceremony, and Aveana, Jastin's mom, sang at the end. Later Louis danced with Rachele -- both crying & laughing together. The music by Raw Silk was awesome (a wonderful band with diverse talent). Food was Italian, of course, & delizioso.

The location was gorgeous -- at the Del Mar Surf Station -- decorated in blues & yellows with the nature's own backdrop of sun-kissed blue waves. At the end of the ceremony, the couple were lifted up on a blue surfboard and carried out before the photo shots on the beach (Thanks to Tom of Sand Castle Photography). The newlyweds then rode in a "woody" -- true surf style. I hope to place some photos on this website – probably not till the kids return from their honeymoon at the end of October. (They will be honeymooning in Italy, Sardinia, Corsica & France -- thus Jastin will have a chance to meet Rachele's roots).

Another gift from God: We'd encouraged the newlyweds to ask to be upgraded to business class on their European flight as honeymooners. Against all odds, Air France agreed. Rachele then called us from Paris before getting the plane to Rome thrilled to have had a restful & fun flight. God is faithful -- to the detail. There is much more I could say, but the short of it is this: to God be all the glory forever and ever Amen!
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Meanwhile, on greater world subjects, here’s a great article I read that helps us see where we’re heading and how to pray:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=madder_than_ever&ns=AlanSears&dt=10/11/2006&page=full&comments=true

And for those wanting to pray for the suffering children, please check out the latest prayer requests on my site – www.orphansfirst.org

Janey's News
October 4th, 2006

Countdown to my beautiful daughter’s wedding – Oct.14th. Obviously this is why I’m not blogging very often (after the wedding, I’ll invent a new excuse). Actually, there are a lot of things I’m not doing often enough – except eating. I always eat more when I’m nervous, and believe me there’re still lots of details. Thank God though that my baby girl is so organized and has taken care of so much already. Amazing how those babies grow up and get so organized (it makes up for the messy room all those years). Does this mean there’s hope for my son? There is because God is faithful.

I recently considered 1 Cor.11:31 and the beautiful opportunity God gives us to examine ourselves. By so doing, we can prevent pitfalls whereby we bring judgment upon ourselves. In other words, if we examine our own hearts -- “sonder le coeur” in French – then we give God’s Spirit an opportunity to show us areas in our lives that oppose the ways of God. These may be areas of selfishness or just blind spots. They might be caused by willfulness or just DNA “pass-ons”. Either way, we have the privilege of bringing them before the Maker, recognizing that these areas don’t please God and then asking Him to root them out. He then does. Not by waving a magic wand but by a process which is sometimes painful. But what freedom when the root is removed. And all because we began examining ourselves asking God to shine His light into our dark spots.

I suppose it’s like doing a breast exam each month. If you catch something wrong early enough, you can likely root out a whole ton of misery & perhaps prevent eventually losing a breast. I guess this is what it means to pluck out your eye, or cut of your hand, if it offends you. Just deal with it. And the earlier the better because the sooner it’s dealt with, the happier we’ll be. And so will those who might be victims of our blind spots or whatever it is we have that wounds people because we haven’t died to self. Letting God root stuff hurts at first, but we feel better after. Most of all, it helps others in multiple ways. It helps them because we become more Christlike and that helps the whole world because more of Christ in a dark planet is good. I like that.

I love Mercy Me’s song Goodbye Self. Wow. Awesome. Says it all in a fun way and with a great melody.

I have a couple of chapters on this subject in my book, Heaven Help Me Raise These Children! -- Biblical Answers for Practical Parenting Issues! Thanks for recommending it. The book now has an accompanying CD I recorded to go with the book and can be ordered here: www.carepointministry.com/heavenhelp.html.
For those who want to pray for the suffering children, please check out the recent prayer requests on my website: www.orphansfirst.org

A bientôt, (later)…

Janey's News

Last time I blogged was over three weeks ago. What happened? Well, for one thing I moved – again. Seems like since we left the missionfield a few years back, we’ve moved a million times. I hate moving but that’s another story. But the good news is that we love the new rental home we are now living in. Everyone who has seen it says it looks as if it was made for us (Still praying to own a home some day…).

All this moving makes me think again of the many foster children who are often traipsed from home to home – always scared of what the new foster parents will be like, always sad and lonely as they have to make new friends and find their place again in a school or family. Forever wondering why they don’t have a real mom & dad. Or what about the children in orphanages dreaming about some day being adopted? Their lives are sometimes a daily effort to survive without crying in a corner somewhere. Or what about children on the streets? There are millions. In Moscow, we help the street children and their lives would be bleaker than bleak without our help – www.orphansfirst.org. But in spite of our help and the covers we give, Russian winter in the streets is no fun. And winter will soon come.

Then there are the stray animals. I often wonder what will happen to them – and indeed all animals – once the Rapture comes. I’m glad to say we found homes for all the stray kittens. Hopefully, parent cats Milo & Mya, are in new homes since we gave them into an animal shelter (as we were moving and have our own cats we knew we had to do something so they wouldn’t starve, be mistreated or propagate). I think Heaven’s going to be an awesome place – of course seeing Jesus first but also seeing the suffering children in glory and, hopefully, lots of animals.

I think that’s all for now. Too much to organize. Too many details to take care of since the move. And my daughter’s wedding coming up. Yikes. So much to do. Oh, I forgot, Louis & I just celebrated 25 years of marriage. Now that’s a miracle nowadays. Only God can do that. And He did!

Janey's News

August 25th, 2006

I’m writing this blog watching the Harvest Crusade 2006 on TV (I’m actually watching the Sun. night concert & preaching which I attended with my family as we also attended Friday night). Watching Mercy Me & Newsboys – two very cool & godly bands – I’m again reminded of the call. The Great Call. The call to serve the Great King & to reach the lost & dying world in every way we can.

Although our lives (my husband & I) have been wrapped in this purpose for 30 years now, these last few years have been challenging for many reasons: coming off the missionfield after 22 years serving God & people in a country where the true God is unknown—in France. It’s been difficult adjusting to abundant America while being so stringently aware that most of the world is desperately poor, even starving. It’s been hard making sense of America’s deep superficiality—now that’s a great oxymoron—and yet it’s been wonderful living in this Christian country and particularly in California, the Bible belt of this generation. You don’t know how lucky you are to live in America until you live somewhere else. I lived my entire life in Europe, half of it in France, and I’m convinced that Americans are very, very, very fortunate. Christ is preached here, in spite of all the other garbage we see.

Anyway, before getting too off track, I just wanted to thank each person that reads this blog who is doing what they can to make a difference on this earth. Thanks for those praying for the suffering children.

Another thought struck a strong chord in my heart – there are some things we cannot control and sometimes those things seem to become our nightmare. My husband told me about a guy in his thirties who left the ways of the Lord in search of a partner. Why? Because he is lonely. Because he’s not yet found a wife. Because his faith is weak & he’s lost hope. My heart goes out to him. I remember being single & thinking God would never bring the “right” one to me. I know many singles in this situation. So hard. They cannot make it happen. They can only depend on God, & at times faith dwindles & hope drowns in despair. The same feeling is there when we desire for certain things to change in our lives: have a home, have financial security, see the orphans of the world in godly homes, whatever…it seems impossible. Imagine BEING an orphan waiting for a family. That must seem impossible. But still there is a truth that remains: with God all things ARE possible.

Are we the Christians instruments of impossibilities becoming possible—through our prayers and our participation? I believe so.

There are still thousands of children who need to be fostered, loved, adopted, loved, rescued, fed, loved, educated, loved, encouraged and loved. That’s fact. So what are we doing about their fate? Are we ignoring it? Or are we taking it on, bearing it in our hearts, grieving so we can pray.

I read this recently in The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen (Image Books, Doubleday, p. 129): “This kind of grieving is praying. There are so few mourners left in this world. But grief is the discipline of the heart that sees the sin of the world, and knows itself to be the sorrowful price of freedom without which love cannot bloom. I am beginning to see that much of praying is grieving.”
I agree. I think sometimes our deep grieving in empathy with mankind allows the Spirit to utter inexpressible words Heavenward. May we be available to grieve for others, to pray & intercede for those so much needier than ourselves.

For those interested in Heaven Help Me Raise These Children! (CarePoint Ministries), I have several chapters in that book reflecting this same subject.

Until soon…A bientôt.

Janey

Janey's News

Blog update – Aug.10, 2006-08-10

Wow . I couldn’t believe the news today. Just a week ago, I was at Heathrow Airport experiencing a strange sensation. I felt a spirit of terror hovering in the air. The place was packed with Muslims & looked totally like the third world with its dirty, dismal, dingy atmosphere.

Even on the plane, there was a sort of tension. I’d prayed for a good seat and sat next to 2 French girls who were no doubt encouraged to find someone who spoke their language fluently, and who understood their culture. God ordained? I think so…But nonetheless, there was a strange spirit on the plane.

When I arrived in LA, after a long trip, there was a bunch of people with flowers waiting for their “mother”, some Indian “guru-ess” from England. She’d traveled on my plane. No wonder there was tension. Gurus & Islamists. And then there was lil ol’ me—trying to be a light to some Frenchies, and thanking God I was returning to America.

Apart from that the trip to England went well. It was both bitter & sweet. Sweet to be together with each member of my existing family in England. And bitter because who knows when or if we’ll see one another again. Still half of my family are not saved. Thank you to those of you who prayed.

One thing that struck a violent chord in my heart while visiting my mother-land was its darkness. England is dark, almost like France. The educational system is now bringing in a new curriculum whereby they’ve decided to no longer teach wrong & right but rather to teach that each one needs to feel important and find their self-purpose. Basically—existentialism. Sickening. I am just so glad to be presently living in America, even though it seems this same spirit of anarchy is creeping in here too.

Like most Christians, I sense the time is short and I want more than ever to let every minute, every conversation, every activity count for Jesus. And I want to be extra fervent in prayer. I also want to pray for the hurting—especially the hurting children—more than ever. For recent prayer requests, check out my website: www.orphansfirst.org You can also subscribe to the Orphans First Prayer Chain to receive the requests directly.

Thanks to those of you who have sent kind remarks about my book, Heaven Help Me Raise These Children! I’m grateful it’s been a blessing thus far.

It was good to get home to the fam also. My daughter is moving fast with her wedding plans. Son & hubby didn’t starve while I was gone.

Oh, the feline friends. Well, I gave away Patch & Pixie, then Griggio & finally Tabby. They’re all doing fine. Now I have to find a home for the parent cats (brother & sis), Mya & Milo. Since they so love one another, I’d like to find a place where they can stay together. I don’t think I’ve ever seen cats love one another so much.

That’s all for now. May we remain faithful to our call.

Janey