Future World-changers

We just had the privilege of hearing Fred Markert of YWAM speak at our church. He has been involved with spreading the Gospel all over the world and his passion is inspiring future missionaries. We actually heard him speak two years ago at a conference in Colorado right before our first trip to Brazil. He talked about how physical circumstances are a reflection of the spiritual realm. I believe that those words were a precursor to what God had in store for us at CLM. Mike and I received prophetic words for the kids that would have seemed impossible because of their situation. One was for a 15-year-old boy who had been physically abused by his parents in his first few years of life. God said that he was a mighty warrior--how appropriate that God would speak strength and power into a boy who had known so much fear! The next day, that scared little boy asked Jesus into his heart!

As we have prayed about CLM and our role there over the past few months, I have said over and over that I believe the children at CLM are going to become missionaries themselves. When we spoke to Fred at the end of the service, I was elated by his words of confirmation about this very thing. I had mentioned that we had spent time in India and the Middle East and with the need for missionaries there so great, it seemed ironic that we would be called to Brazil (the second largest Christian country in the world!). He immediately said, "Oh no--not at all! You are going to be raising world-changers! People from Latin and South America are the best people to minister to Muslims. Those children are going to be missionaries!" Please pray for the future missionaries at CLM as you remember to pray for us.

Baruch

We've added some beautiful pictures of some of our "kids" along the sidebar. They are from our first trip in '04 and I can't believe how much they have changed. Valdecleia, Rosenilda, Franciele, Elielton, Lucilene, and Anderson are just a few of the children who captured our hearts. Our trips to CLM have shown me how much God adores the poor and the outcast--it felt like He was loving each of them directly through Mike and me. I also sensed God's pleasure and approval stronger than I had ever experienced before.

The word for blessing in Hebrew is "baruch." It literally means being hunted down and pursued by the favor of the Lord. I believe that God's favor was so evident at CLM because these precious children are so close to His heart! I pray that His favor will also find you as you seek His call for your life.

Fields of the Fatherless

My dear friend, Kendra, recently gave me the book, "Fields of the Fatherless," by C. Thomas Davis. Her youngest daughter, Lauren, was born in China and spent her first year of life in an orphanage. After opening their hearts and homes to this beautiful little girl, Steve and Kendra and their oldest daughter, Haley have been changed forever. They are now very actively involved with encouraging others to adopt because of the abundant joy and fulfillment they have experienced.

The book shared some startling statistics: "There are more than 70 million orphans in the world. At least 35,000 children under the age of five die every day as a result of malnutrition or starvation, and there are at least one million children currently suffering under the oppression of forced prostitution. At least 100 million children are involved in child labor, and 1.5 million children are currently affected by AIDS."

Did you know that Scripture mentions the importance of caring for these children more than 60 times? Much of what the author shares about his experience matches exactly how Mike and I felt during our time in Brazil. I look forward to sharing more about the book in my next post. Thanks Kendra for this special gift!

The Missions Festival

Last night was our missions festival at church--and we had such a wonderful time! Hundreds of people attended and by the looks of it, everyone enjoyed themselves. There were lots of booths with games and activities to call attention to the work God is doing around the world. (And, as always, the free homemade ice cream was a hit!) We were blessed by the number of people that stopped by our booth to ask about CLM and "our kids" in Brazil. The children had fun beading bracelets in the colors of the Brazilian flag--although we had a few mishaps while trying to tie some of them! We asked them to remember to pray specifically for salvation, restoration, and an abundance of hope to be poured out over each child in the CLM family.

A Divine Appointment

On October 18th, our church is having a missions festival to bring awareness to the various outreaches that we support. Mike and I thought it would be fun to have the children that visit our booth make bracelets with beads in the colors of the Brazilian flag. Each color would be a reminder of how they could pray for the children at CLM. Well, we were at Wal-mart today and another customer asked us what we were looking for. I told her that we were looking for some type of twine or elastic to make bracelets. She suggested that we try Pat Catan's, a local craft store. I went on to say that we were making prayer bracelets for our missions festival at church. She immediately said that she wanted to support our cause! She explained that she lost her 20-year-old daughter to congestive heart failure and each year tried to do something in her memory. We talked for the next 15 minutes about the orphanage in Brazil, the tragic losses that she had experienced, and the grace that Jesus gives us each day. She shared with me that she is on a donor list for a heart transplant. We exchanged hugs and email addresses, knowing that God's hand had brought us together. Please join with us as we pray for Nancy. May you also encounter God in a unique and surprising way today!

Thanks Aunt Mel!

Maggie and Mocha wanted to send a special thank you to their Aunt Mel for their bandanas! We had to take a trip to the vet today to remove Maggie's stitches and their surprise was in the mailbox when we returned. Melody said her company may even use our dogs for advertising the bandanas! Our "MDs" might be famous! Click on the flashing badge below on the right to check out our flickr page for more CUTE pics of our pups.