Today, as we pray for foster children and orphans, I’m also praying for a teen boy whose world just fell apart—a precious young man who unexpectedly became a key player in a family tragedy that is shaking the world.
The young man, son of adoption advocate, and award-winning Christian singer/songwriter, Steven Curtis Chapman, ran into his youngest sister, five-year-old Maria, when driving his car in the family’s driveway. Maria later died.
Little Maria Sue was adopted from China, as were two of her sisters, also adopted by the Chapmans. The Chapmans' heart for adoption is depicted by the work of their nonprofit organization, Shaohannah's Hope, which serves to help Christian families to adopt by offering financial aid.
Read the entire story in the Nashville Tennessean.
Or read it on FOXNews.com."
See this moving video of Steven with two of his adopted daughter-—including little Maria-here.
url - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-eXJM4vVmQ
Ironic that this tragedy took place the same exact week that has been dedicated to praying to foster children? (See www.FamilyLife.com.) No, not ironic. Perhaps God will use this tragedy to make our prayers more powerful, to wake up the sleeping giant—the church—to grab hold of her responsibilities and reach out to orphans. Perhaps God will use this to raise up families to adopt and foster.
Yes, this tragedy will shake the world. But let’s pray that it will also wake it up. Let’s pray the world will be stirred so that the tears of a young man crying over the loss of his sister—tears mingled with sorrow, confusion, perhaps senseless all-too-human guilt—are not in vain. And let’s pray for this boy also.
May God use this calamity to open our eyes to those in need, to the beauty of adoption, and may He probe our hearts constantly so that we all do our part in helping the fatherless.
Janey L. DeMeo, MA © May 2008
Showing posts with label suffering children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suffering children. Show all posts
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Something's wrong here -- but we can change it.
Something's wrong with this picture -- but we can change it.
No time to explain why I’ve not been blogging. (If I had time to explain, I would have had time to blog.) Briefly, I’ve been working on the Orphans First Christmas Project, trying to provide gifts for many poor children. For more info, see the O.F. website – www.orphansfirst.org where you can also download the Christmas Project flyer.
Meanwhile, while we try to help children all over the world, there are thousands of orphans and foster children here in America. Our prisons and homeless shelters are filled with foster children who’ve aged out of the system—and never connected with a good family. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change that—one by one!
Please—I know you’re busy at Christmas—but please read this and pass on to other. True CHRISTmas is to help those who are needy (James 1:27). Read on.
--------------------
The following is posted by permission.
In a message dated 12/18/07 9:10:35 PM, writes:
Hi,
As God's people, we are called to care for orphans, and we are also
called to seek the prosperity of the City in which God has placed
us. If we take care of the children living in foster care, we have
the opportunity to do both.
For those of you who are not familiar with Project 1.27, the church
and the state of Colorado are working closely together in getting the
kids in the Colorado foster system adopted into Christian homes.
What is happening there is unprecedented and can be read about here:
www.project127.com .
A lot of folks wonder if what is happening there can happen
elsewhere. I'm happy to say that yes, it can, and it will. The
Project 1.27 model is being replicated elsewhere and now, at a mini-
Conference coming up in January, others can learn firsthand how
they've done what they've done.
There are many churches in Southern California that are starting to
ask what they can do to serve orphans overseas and in our nation's
foster care system. This conference might answer some of those
answers (at least in relation to the children in foster care).
To all of you, I'm asking you to dream for a moment what could happen
if we, as God's people, began to really work together to help the
nearly 1000 children waiting for homes in L.A. County (not to mention
those in neighboring counties) find permanent, loving homes in
Christian families?
There is an incredible opportunity here...to not just impact the
lives of 1000 kids, but to impact society for the glory of God. Los
Angeles County is home to the largest foster system in the world.
What kind of an impact would it have on other foster care systems if
the church here worked together to find adoptive homes for all of our
waiting children? What kind of an impact would it have on those 1000
kids? Their natural families? Their children one day? Their
grandchildren? What kind of an impact would it have on society, in
light of statistics that paint a grim picture of the lives of foster
youth who age out without permanent families? Two stark statistics
tell the story: 45% of the homeless in California are ex-foster
kids; and about 3/4 of the inmates at San Quentin are ex-foster kids. Indeed, ex-foster kids fill our prisons, our homeless shelters, our skid rows, our abortion clinics, our rehab clinics, and even our cemeteries. Taking care of our foster youth today and getting them into loving, Christian homes where they will meet God and find love, acceptance and healing, will substantially help to empty our prisons, homeless shelters, skid rows, abortion clinics, rehab clinics,
etc... tomorrow. Yes, it's that simple. And...besides it being
simple, it is a matter of obedience to God's will for us to care for
the least among us.
I am attaching an invitation to the Project 1.27 Conference. Please
consider joining other church leaders for three days in Colorado, to
begin exploring how God might use us to meet the needs of foster kids
in our city.
God bless...
Johnston Moore
johmo@earthlink.net
562.595.6209
www.orphansandthechurch.blogspot.com/
www.myccm.org/tarheelincali
Let’s join this endeavor. Janey DeMeo
No time to explain why I’ve not been blogging. (If I had time to explain, I would have had time to blog.) Briefly, I’ve been working on the Orphans First Christmas Project, trying to provide gifts for many poor children. For more info, see the O.F. website – www.orphansfirst.org where you can also download the Christmas Project flyer.
Meanwhile, while we try to help children all over the world, there are thousands of orphans and foster children here in America. Our prisons and homeless shelters are filled with foster children who’ve aged out of the system—and never connected with a good family. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can change that—one by one!
Please—I know you’re busy at Christmas—but please read this and pass on to other. True CHRISTmas is to help those who are needy (James 1:27). Read on.
--------------------
The following is posted by permission.
In a message dated 12/18/07 9:10:35 PM, writes:
Hi,
As God's people, we are called to care for orphans, and we are also
called to seek the prosperity of the City in which God has placed
us. If we take care of the children living in foster care, we have
the opportunity to do both.
For those of you who are not familiar with Project 1.27, the church
and the state of Colorado are working closely together in getting the
kids in the Colorado foster system adopted into Christian homes.
What is happening there is unprecedented and can be read about here:
www.project127.com .
A lot of folks wonder if what is happening there can happen
elsewhere. I'm happy to say that yes, it can, and it will. The
Project 1.27 model is being replicated elsewhere and now, at a mini-
Conference coming up in January, others can learn firsthand how
they've done what they've done.
There are many churches in Southern California that are starting to
ask what they can do to serve orphans overseas and in our nation's
foster care system. This conference might answer some of those
answers (at least in relation to the children in foster care).
To all of you, I'm asking you to dream for a moment what could happen
if we, as God's people, began to really work together to help the
nearly 1000 children waiting for homes in L.A. County (not to mention
those in neighboring counties) find permanent, loving homes in
Christian families?
There is an incredible opportunity here...to not just impact the
lives of 1000 kids, but to impact society for the glory of God. Los
Angeles County is home to the largest foster system in the world.
What kind of an impact would it have on other foster care systems if
the church here worked together to find adoptive homes for all of our
waiting children? What kind of an impact would it have on those 1000
kids? Their natural families? Their children one day? Their
grandchildren? What kind of an impact would it have on society, in
light of statistics that paint a grim picture of the lives of foster
youth who age out without permanent families? Two stark statistics
tell the story: 45% of the homeless in California are ex-foster
kids; and about 3/4 of the inmates at San Quentin are ex-foster kids. Indeed, ex-foster kids fill our prisons, our homeless shelters, our skid rows, our abortion clinics, our rehab clinics, and even our cemeteries. Taking care of our foster youth today and getting them into loving, Christian homes where they will meet God and find love, acceptance and healing, will substantially help to empty our prisons, homeless shelters, skid rows, abortion clinics, rehab clinics,
etc... tomorrow. Yes, it's that simple. And...besides it being
simple, it is a matter of obedience to God's will for us to care for
the least among us.
I am attaching an invitation to the Project 1.27 Conference. Please
consider joining other church leaders for three days in Colorado, to
begin exploring how God might use us to meet the needs of foster kids
in our city.
God bless...
Johnston Moore
johmo@earthlink.net
562.595.6209
www.orphansandthechurch.blogspot.com/
www.myccm.org/tarheelincali
Let’s join this endeavor. Janey DeMeo
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
No Beauty in Cruelty -- dogfighting, prayer, sin eater
Last night, my son and I watched The Last Sin Eater based on a Francine Rivers novel. Intriguing. It reminded me of our Savior’s mercy in freeing us from guilt’s heavy load —and how He continues to set us free as we look to Him.
Recent news exposed the depravity of Michael Vick and all those who, like him, brutally torture animals for their twisted, evil pleasure, electrocuting the losing dogs after they’ve lived in pain and agony perhaps for years. What they do to those animals is unthinkable. Monstrous! This sordid tragedy brings to thought many things. One is that this is a cruel world and we, the redeemed, are called to be salt and light in it. How can we be more salty and lighty? First, we can pray.
There is no doubt in my mind that prayer changes things. How, why, to what measure—those are deep theological issues and we may all bring to the table a different doctrinal slant. But prayer does change things. It is a privilege allowing us to collaborate with the divine, with God.
We can pray more for the suffering children of the world – that God delivers them, that He’d send forth laborers to release them from their plight, that He’d raise up Christians to adopt, and others to help financially…We are given the privilege to pray so let’s do it.
We can pray also for suffering animals. Why not? I didn’t say pray for them more than for humans, but we can add that to our prayers. There is no beauty in cruelty. It is not right that creatures suffer, especially from human inflictions and inhumanity. Let’s bring hope into these harsh situations by praying.
Of course, we can pray for souls, for people to come to Christ. That’s a given. What could be more important? We can also pray for nations, for ethnicities for governments, for troops, for those trapped in religion. We can pray for old people whose lives are close the end, for young people, for the wounded and needy, for the poor—and the rich who, according to Jesus, have the greatest difficulty coming to Him (perhaps because they don’t realize they need Him).
But there are other thoughts I have too. I’ve thought about the immeasurable sickness in man’s mind to perform such cruelties as dog fighting. I personally don’t understand it. But I do know this: Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. He can forgive, cleanse and give a new heart to each one who lets Him in. This is quite remarkable. The movie, The Last Sin Eater brings this out, and I recommend seeing it.
Janey L. DeMeo
Copyright©2007 (written July 31st 2007)
Recent news exposed the depravity of Michael Vick and all those who, like him, brutally torture animals for their twisted, evil pleasure, electrocuting the losing dogs after they’ve lived in pain and agony perhaps for years. What they do to those animals is unthinkable. Monstrous! This sordid tragedy brings to thought many things. One is that this is a cruel world and we, the redeemed, are called to be salt and light in it. How can we be more salty and lighty? First, we can pray.
There is no doubt in my mind that prayer changes things. How, why, to what measure—those are deep theological issues and we may all bring to the table a different doctrinal slant. But prayer does change things. It is a privilege allowing us to collaborate with the divine, with God.
We can pray more for the suffering children of the world – that God delivers them, that He’d send forth laborers to release them from their plight, that He’d raise up Christians to adopt, and others to help financially…We are given the privilege to pray so let’s do it.
We can pray also for suffering animals. Why not? I didn’t say pray for them more than for humans, but we can add that to our prayers. There is no beauty in cruelty. It is not right that creatures suffer, especially from human inflictions and inhumanity. Let’s bring hope into these harsh situations by praying.
Of course, we can pray for souls, for people to come to Christ. That’s a given. What could be more important? We can also pray for nations, for ethnicities for governments, for troops, for those trapped in religion. We can pray for old people whose lives are close the end, for young people, for the wounded and needy, for the poor—and the rich who, according to Jesus, have the greatest difficulty coming to Him (perhaps because they don’t realize they need Him).
But there are other thoughts I have too. I’ve thought about the immeasurable sickness in man’s mind to perform such cruelties as dog fighting. I personally don’t understand it. But I do know this: Jesus died for the sins of all mankind. He can forgive, cleanse and give a new heart to each one who lets Him in. This is quite remarkable. The movie, The Last Sin Eater brings this out, and I recommend seeing it.
Janey L. DeMeo
Copyright©2007 (written July 31st 2007)
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