March 9, 2008

• God sets the lonely in families

  Last night we were at a send-off party for a best friend — Pam.  After working diligently and prayerfully for the last few years, the foundations for Hope Harvest International have finally been set and is in a place where she can now go overseas to work out more details.  As the church stood together to pray for her last night, I couldn’t help but remember the “China Dreaming” meetings we had so many years ago when it all started.  We all sat around in her living room with a big white butcher paper, brainstormed and dreamed about all the needs there were in China and what needed to be done.  The possibilities seemed endless, exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.  But we believed together that with God all things are possible.  Today, years later, I am completely in awe of God and His faithfulness to His promises and amazed at Pam and her perseverance and faith in following hard after Him and after the dream He gave her to start a non-profit organization to care for the parent-less in China.  Most of us just dream about things, but Pam has done it.  Certainly, it has not been without blood, sweat and tears.  But as many of us who have walked alongside Pam, prayed with her and heard of all the “almosts” and the dead-ends and the going-around-in-circles, I am among the many who has learned so much from her example.  Mainly, that when God gives you a vision, you have to follow Him.  It won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it.

  

  Here’s a picture of the two women who have most influenced me to follow God in faith, even when it seems impossible and even when it goes against the grain.  Sam on the left and Pam in the middle.

  Pam read a verse to us last night from Psalm 68:5-6a:
  “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.  God sets the lonely in families…”

  “The mission of Hope Harvest International is to parent neglected orphans in impoverished
  areas of China within small family-style homes. Through nurturing home environments, it is our vision that these children develop their full potential so that they will better the communities
  around them.”

  As Pam shared these things last night, I kept thinking, “Exactly!!!”  This is the same exact reason why (husband)Sam and I want to become foster parents.  It’s so clear in Scripture — over and over, it states — God’s love and compassion for the orphans.  He sets the lonely in families.  May we all each in one way or another be a “family” for some of these lonely ones.

  Let’s follow after the dreams and visions God gives us — even if it seems impossible! 

  • 11:02 pm
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