More Summer Happenings

FISHES!

 Jordan and Slava love swimming.  This summer Slava has learned how to swim under water, without a life jacket or floaties!  He even jumps off the diving board!

Jordan & His I.V. Pole

 Jordy loves to cruise the halls at the hospital.  I steer his IV pole and try to keep up with him!  Albany Med is doing a major construction project, so looking out the windows is very entertaining for little boys who love cranes, construction equipment, and workers in hard hats!

My Drummer

 I was in the right place at the right time to catch Curtis playing his drums.  He's played for about 10 years now and is on the worship team at church.

Jordan on his "new" old bike.

 He found this old bike in the back shed.  It used to be Curt's when he was like 10.  Daddy fixed it up and now Jordan thinks he's going to do all those tricks the bmx guys do!  We'll have to ask Dr. Carl about that!

Orphan Ministry Stuff

Here are 500 Orphan Sunday post cards and 500 bulletin inserts that I'll be distributing to area churches who commit to doing Orphan Sunday.  I didn't realize how expensive this stuff can be and now I'm aware of the fact that a ministry needs money.  Hmmmm hadn't thought about raising support before.  Mary and I are meeting with 2 ladies from Bethany Christian Services for lunch next week.  We've met with them before and had such a wonderful time that they suggested meeting for lunch.  I've also been asked to do a 1 hour radio segment on a local Christian station....this is an exciting opportunity, but I'm also very nervous about it.  For more details about our ministry please scroll down to the post entitled "Orphan Ministry".

Jordan's Surgery

Jordan's surgery this morning went very well. He went into the OR around 8am. I always accompany him until he's under. I even get to wear scrubs, but I look more like a garbage man than a doctor! They let Jordy hold the mask over his own face. He asked them if they were ready, then he breathed deeply, and off to sleep he went. Wayne and I waited until Dr. Carl came for us an hour later. All went well, he lengthened about 9mm. We were out of post op and into his room by noon. Daddy went to work and both Jordan and I took a little nap. Gram & Poppy Ken stopped by for a visit and so did Wayne Jr. The Children's Hospital here at Albany Med is an excellent facility. We were visited by a puppy and Jordy got to do a craft. He hasn't complained of much pain which is better than our visit back in January. Staying the night helps too. They put a drain on him so fluid drains from the surgical site which helps prevent infection, and he also gets IV antibiotics. It's piece of mind for me since scar tissue is more prone to infection, and each time we do rod lengthening it's always the same site. He's more interested in the Tv (I confess he watched Cops earlier). He wants to be a policeman! But right now he's watching the Olympics (now he wants a speedo)! What joy this child brings to my life. My heart aches when I think of the life he would have had had we not adopted him. Since he had crossed eyes and a severely crooked spine, Jordan would have went from the baby orphanage to an institution for the disabled which in Ukraine would have been a nightmare & a death sentence for him. I praise God that He wrote us into Jordan's life story AND that we said YES! Recently Andrii shared his testimony in church. He shared on God's love. We didn't know what he was going to say, but he opened up about living in an orphanage. He talked about he and Anna going to Chicago 2 summers in a row and were hosted by a family who wanted to adopt them, but they didn't want Jordan because he had medical issues. Since Andrii was at the age where he had to consent, he refused to be adopted by that family because he knew he had a younger brother and he wanted his family to be together. Then along came us! On our way to meet Andrii & Anna for the first time we were told about how they'd been to Chicago twice. We didn't know why Andrii refused to be adopted by that family, and we worried that he wouldn't want us either. But on that very first meeting he said yes to being adopted into our family! God honored Andrii's desire to keep his siblings together. The older a kid gets and added siblings greatly reduce a kids chances of getting a forever family. We know that we are part of a miracle. Andrii experienced God's love. Adoption is the greatest way to model the Gospel: redemption, new life, sacrificial love, and the Father's heart. Well I must wrap this up, Jordan wants me to surf the web for speedos!

Orphan Ministry

Last November our church, Gospel Community Church in Coxsackie, NY, did an Orphan Sunday service.  This was a natural fit for our church since we have families who have adopted and families who are doing foster care.  Plus we've always informally done orphan care through short-term mission trips and sending blankets, clothes, etc. to orphanages in Ukraine and we support a ministry that helps children and girls in Cambodia.  Orphan care has always been preached from the pulpit since our pastor is an adoptive dad himself.  After Orphan Sunday my pastor's wife, Mary, and I began to feel the Lord leading us into orphan ministry on a more formal and purposeful basis.  We attend Christian Alliance For Orphans' 8th annual Orphan Summit in Southern California in May.  We came home excited and overwhelmed.
God has been stirring our hearts for the fatherless.  There are some 163 million orphans in the world and 500,000 children in the American foster care system.  The Lord has given His Church the mandate to care for orphans, not the government:  Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles.  James 1:27a.  Adoption reflects the heart of the Father.  He adopted us and made us sons and daughters not because He wanted children, but because we needed a Father.  God created the family as the perfect place for children.  The Church is made up of Christian families...and we need to be doers of the Word.  The purpose of family is to raise up a generation for God.  We adopt to redeem, restore, to give the Gospel.  The Gospel is the reason why we do what we do.  Justice and mercy flow from the Gospel.  Your Christianity doesn't mean anything unless it is demonstrated.  Stern words I know, but consider the fact that the American church is busy building mega-churches with mega-buildings, mega-worship teams, mega-budgets, and after an ear-tickling-feel good sermon members stroll out to the mega-parking lot, hop in their mega-cars, and go out for a mega-lunch.  I ask why?  How does this make sense in light of the Scriptures?  The Church has been asleep far too long on this issue.

LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.  Surely you will listen to their cries and comfort them.  You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so people can no longer terrify them.  
                                                                                                                         Psalm 10:17-18
God uses US, His Church, to bring justice to orphans and the oppressed.  Wake up, Church!

In an effort to rally the Church to awareness and action, Mary and I are putting together an orphan conference for Saturday, October 13, 2012, at 10am at our church.  We're inviting all area churches, pastors, lay leaders, and members.  Orphan ministry encompasses three main areas:  (1) adoption (international/domestic), (2) foster care, and (3) global orphan care.  We know not everyone is called to adopt or do foster care (though if Christians were to actually pray and seek the Lord's will in this matter AND walk in obedience to His will, there would be way less orphans globally and less kids in the foster care system.)  But every member of the church, from Sunday School children to Youth Group kids to seniors...everyone can help in some way.  Our conference will present the Father's heart for the fatherless and share practical ways everyone can help.  Our hope is that people will bring what they learn back to their churches and begin to make a difference.  We will have local families share their experience with adoption, foster care, and orphan care.  Representatives will be on hand from Bethany Christian Services, Albany and Greene Counties, Christian Alliance For Orphans, and others.

Another area that I've gotten formally involved in is Orphan Sunday.  Orphan Sunday originated in Zambia of all places.  A Zambian pastor with a heart for the orphans around him dedicated a service to orphans and he called it "Orphan Sunday."  Christian Alliance For Orphans brought that idea back to the States and has been running a campaign to get American churches to dedicate a service to Orphan Sunday the first Sunday in November annually.  November is National Adoption Awareness Month here in the U.S.  While at the Orphan Summit I learned that barely any churches in NY are doing Orphan Sunday.  I was surprised, assuming since our church does it that most churches do it (naive I know).  Well now I'm the Regional Coordinator for Orphan Sunday for all of NY State!  My job is to get churches on board to bring awareness to the orphan crisis.  Whether a church dedicates 15 minutes or an entire service to the orphan and whether it's actually on November 4th or anytime before or after, the mission is to rally the Church.  I have resources to share and can be as hands-on or as hands-off as the leadership wants.

Mary and I are considering the name "Justice For Orphans" for our ministry.  This is a whole new direction for us to walk in but we believe the Lord is leading.  We've got years of hands-on experience with our own "orphans" and God is directing our steps.  To Him be the glory!

More Summer Happenings

HAPPY 22ND BIRTHDAY, MISSY!

 We celebrated Missy's birthday on Saturday with a family party.  I can't believe the little girl who first came into our family at age 8 is now 22!  She has a job, a car, and her own apartment.  How time flies!

A sunbathing Slava!

 Since we first opened the pool this season this has been Slava's out-of-water posture.  He gets cold fast so then he lays on his belly on the warm concrete to warm up.  His back is so tan because of it.  He has become a fish too.  He jumps off the diving board, swims under water, and does flips all without a life jacket!

Hot Summer Fun

The days have been hot, in the 90s.  I got some water balloons for the kids to play with.  Jordan & Slava were stealing the balloons as fast as Anna was filling them!  Notice Jordan got his cast off.  His next surgery is scheduled for Monday the 23rd.

Notice the 2 items on the right of the blog:  A Child's Hope Int'l is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to motivate and mobilize the Church to care for the orphans of the world.  The founder, Larry Bergeron, wrote a book titled "Journey To The Fatherless", one of the best books on adoption I've read so far.  Every pastor, leader, and church member, every Christian must read this book.  I'll be dedicating a post very soon on this subject.  The other icon is for Orphan Sunday.  Christian Alliance For Orphans, who sponsored the Summit I went to back in May, promotes Orphan Sunday.  At the conference I learned that hardly any churches in NY do Orphan Sunday!  I was surprised.  Our church does it, so I thought all churches did it (naive I know).  Well, now I'm the OS Regional Coordinator for all of NYS!  More about this in my next post also, so please stay tuned... :)

Summer Happenings

I'm always amazed at how fast the days fly by.  It seems like we just finished school, but now we're already half way through July!  Here are some of our summer adventures so far:

Missy, Kerri, Andrea, and Anna

 Missy's friend from Sweden, Andrea, spent a week here.  They met a few years ago while both girls were students in the Discipleship Training School at YWAM Kiev.  We took her to NYC and above we're on top of the Empire State Building.

Wayne & Kerri

 Wayne Jr. and Kerri both graduated from Liberty University in May.  We had a graduation party for them.  They also just celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary.  Oh how time flies!

Slava, Jordan, & Daddy

 If there is construction equipment and dirt involved, Jordan & Slava are in it.  We had a new well drilled, and Wayne had to dig the new water line to our house.  For about a week this was the place to be for the little guys.

Jordan has muscles!

Jordan is finally growing and looking more like a little boy instead of a baby.  In a way it makes me sad, but I guess it's time since he will be 9 years old next month!  We can't wait for that cast to come off this week.  Six months is a long time to wear something that you can't take off and wash.  When the cast comes off that means it's time for another surgery.  Jordan will have his rods lengthened on July 23rd.  Jordan cracks me up.  We spent the weekend at our camp and the kids like to play Mad Libs around the camp fire.  For those who don't know what Mad Libs is, it's a word game where you fill in the blanks with nouns, verbs, adjectives, body parts, etc.  Then you read back the story with the random words people filled in and it's hysterically funny.  Jordan had to name a body part for his turn...he said, "rods."  Well, I guess if you're Jordan, rods are a body part!