A World Vision!

As a follower of Christ, I always have a desire to want to go out and do ministry and help others. My personality strives to help those who are hurting and are in need of help. It breaks my heart when I hear of precious souls who are starving, in need of clothes, or a place to sleep. Especially when it comes to sweet little children. I have gone to sleep many times crying over hearing about a child who has been hurt, or is starving, or in just a terrible situation. It makes me hold my children a little closer and give them an extra hug or kiss. I remind myself that God knows the needs and has His hands and plan over the lives of those who are suffering. He is an awesome God, and though we don't always see the "full" picture we don't understand why people have to go through horrific ordeals. My hubby explains it best. Long before we met, when he lived in High Point, NC he worked for a Oriental rug store. They were well known for their rug making and years later as a pastor he was able to relate God to the art of rugmaking.

In a particular sermon he preached about how we don't always understand why we go through trials and tribulations. (I will try to get this out right!) He said we don't always see the "full" picture like God does. He knows the plans he has for us! Jer 29:11 is one of my favorite verses, by the way. Hilton said it is kind of like rug making. He had the opportunity to watch the men that he worked for repair a very nice expensive rug one day that had this huge hole in it. He said that the men had all the material all pulled up and it was chaotic and very messy looking. He was thinking how in the world can this rug be fixed. It is an ugly mess. The men cut and rethreaded, cut, mended, cut, and etc....He later returned to what he thought was still going to be a twisted knotted up MESS only to find that the rug had been restored back to a beautiful and wonderful rug again! Wow! That's how God works. Sometimes we don't understand why in the world people are hurting and suffering, or why we go through horrific situations ourselves. But, my faith tells me that God is up to making something beautiful out of the situation. Even when I go through a trial, there are times that I don't feel like praising Him, but He is still faithful.

Which brings me to my point about A World Vision! You see we love kids...if I could I would have a house of about 10! Ok, maybe...but anyway, back in May, we attended a Casting Crowns concert, and Mark Hall, the band leader, talked about World Vision....ok, so for those of you who don't know what World Vision is....Well. let me quote them.... "World Vision works in nearly 100 countries around the world in partnership with children, families, and communities in need to address the causes of poverty. We help people obtain sustainable acess to clean water, nourishing food, basic health care, educational opportunities, and economic development assistance as and expression of our faith and our desire to model the unconditional love of Jesus." Well my heart just immediately knew we were to sponsor a child. We really felt God was leading us to do this. We are sponsoring a little girl who is 10 that lives in Chile named Ana Elisabeth! She is beautiful. We give $30 a month and we automatically have it drafted form the account so I don't forget to send a monthly check. You see, when we are helping her, we are also helping the community she lives in. 87% of the money that is given to World Vision goes to benefit the children and families in need. Only 8% is is used for fundraising and 5% for management. The really neat thing is tha we have received a letter from our sweet Ana. We also have written her and we can send small little gifts to her. Another thing that we hope to do one day is we have the opportunity to go and visit her...of course, we have to get clearance and be approved from World Vision to make sure the children are protected. You know, to our family $35 is like going out to a restaurant and eating a meal. That is not a big deal to us. But to Ana and other children it makes a world of difference. In their chaotic mess that a lot of these children live in, God is doing wonderful things! People are getting their needs met, and children are able to be healed from disease and have clean water, and attend school, and they are meeting for the first time OUR SAVIOR, JESUS!I am very excited to be a part of this Kingdom Work....
So, if any of you are interested in learning more about World Vision, just let me know. I have been blessed in so many ways already by giving! P.S. I don't even miss the $30! We hope to be able to sponsor another child one day soon...we would like to sponsor one from Africa....hopefully maybe Capetown...that is where Hilton went last year and he has such a heart for the people there! I can tell he misses them....
I leave you with this verse: "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5