Today was such an exciting day! We have been planning for quite awhile, and today we officially launched our Orphan's Ministry- Passion117- at church. The service was incredible! The worship songs, videos, sermon, etc... all focused on orphan care. We showed Eric Ludy's Depraved Indifference video. Such an incredible video!!! We are in the middle of a sermon series on The Parables, and this week's- The Parable of the Good Samaritan- fit perfectly! "Go and do likewise" was our call today. So many of us are like the priest and the Levite- crossing the road to avoid the needy; turning a blind eye to the suffering. But, Jesus calls us to be a neighbor. Instead of spending our time trying to define who our neighbor is, we just need to be a neighbor to whoever is in need- whether they are next door or across the world."So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?" And he said, "He who showed mercy on him." Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise." Luke 10:36-37
Link to the sermon (AMAZING!): The Parable of the Good Samaritan
After the sermon, my husband went up and spoke about our journey through adoption. It was quite emotional! At the end, he said that he's blessed that God has given so many woman compassion for children- the orphan. But, Orphan Ministry is not just for women! The men need to rise up and lead as well.
Here is a video of him speaking. (I had to split it into two parts- it's 15 min. and youtube only allows 10 min. videos. )
Mike's talk- part 1
Mike's talk- part 2
The service ended with a presentation of the World Orphans church to church partnership program. I had spent a lot of time researching MANY "orphan care" organizations. There are so many wonderful programs already established. I just really fell led towards World Orphans and the work they do and our church leaders liked them too. We are hoping to partner with a church in Ethiopia. Our church body received pledge cards today and in the next week or so, we will see if we have enough monthly pledges to go forward with a church partnership with World Orphans.
Overall, today's church service was absolutely incredible! It's easy to get absorbed into the incredible adoption community, go to the conferences, read the blogs and stories of the amazing work so many are doing, etc. But, to be able to present this model to our church-- so many really hearing about it for the first time, being moved, etc.... was the biggest blessing ever. What a HUGE God we serve!!
Some of the info that was out today......
