We did it!

We (my family and I) have felt increasingly convicted and stirred and spoken to by God about putting our faith into action.  Last night we decided together to sponsor a child through Compassion International!  His name is Enock, and here he is:

 

We all sat around the computer and prayed and looked together at pictures of kids, and we decided on him.  We are very excited!  Noah (our eight year old) got teary several times as the impact of what we are doing was hitting him, that our 32 bucks a month will make such a HUGE impact for Enock and his family, so much more than here.  Noah wants to send toys and books (which apparently we cannot officially do, but the thought is awesome), and Abbie (our four year old) wants to color pictures to send.  We will all be praying for Enock and his family daily, and are looking forward to getting the packet of info from Compassion so we can begin to connect with him!

With me still being unemployed, it seemed like a “no-brainer” that we cannot afford this and we better wait.  On the other hand, it was a “no-brainer” that we could NOT wait, and that even in our relative state of “poorness” right now (is poorness a word?), we are SO rich.  We figured if we have to give up the occasional drink at St. Arbucks, or cut soda from our grocery budget, or whatever, that we could realistically come up with the $8 a week to do this.  It’s not adding an additional “expense,” it’s re-allocating what we already have… as we sit here in a big house, with a computer, and a TV, and our iPods, two cars, and plenty of food in the pantry.  (I don’t feel so bad off when I look at the big picture!)

Anyway, when I do start working, we want to sponsor another child, a girl about Abbie’s age.  We are going to be buying grocieries for the church food pantry, and bring the kids there to serve.  We really want to start living differently to do what we can to live out the gospel more and more.  Lent is about conviction, about repentance, about transformation.  This is where God is getting to us.

And if we can make a temporal and eternal difference in the life of a boy and his family in Uganda, I’m pretty thrilled with that.

At the risk of sounding like a commercial, I encourage any and all of you reading this to consider sponsoring a child through Compassion, or at least to do something actively for the poor.  Don’t do it because you feel like you should, or because some guy in a blog is suggesting it.  Think and pray about, search the scriptures, do what God tells you to do, and honor God with your wealth.  God has more to say in scripture about caring for the poor than most of us like to think about.  If every family in the Western church did something like this, the results might just be radical!  And I think that might make God pretty happy.

More info on Compassion here.  More info on Uganda and the bloggers here.  Sponsor a child here.  Live the gospel everywhere.

UPDATE 21

So here’s the latest from my personal world!

I am still not working and have still not had any temp assignments; I think this is the fifth week?  Not only has the brook dried up, but the creek bed is all but dry.  (Is there a “widow” on the horizon?)  Tracy’s paycheck is keeping us afloat, but doing this long term won’t be good.  Meanwhile, I have a face-to-face interview scheduled with the company I’ve been hoping for (www.globalknowledge.com) on February 26th from 2-4PM!  Apparently I will be meeting with eight different managers (all together or seperate?) because I might be working for any one of them.  If this works out, I would be starting work at the beginning of April.  Please be praying with us about this opportunity!  Meanwhile, there is another job option in the hopper that I have been recommended to; some kind of sales position in a Christian ministry that helps people find work (ironic).  That would only be part-time to start with the possibility of full-time, but I am trying every door to see what happens.

Things at church are going well.  Amazing things have been happening in our small group as we have been looking at the life and family dynamics of Joseph (Genesis 37) and doing genograms of our own family histories.  God is touching many of us powerfully as we open up our brokenness to God’s grace.  Sometime soon, Tracy and I will likely be launching a new small group (Spring?  Summer?), hopefully for the “young adult” set.  There is nothing offered here for that age group, and we are feeling more and more stirred to minister to the Gen Y/Millennial/18-25 types.  I have also been doing (from time to time) announcments and offering on Sunday morning here, which is kind of fun.  I am scheduled to preach next Sunday (February 24th) and March 30th as well.  Starting Easter Sunday (March 23rd) Raleigh Vineyard is going back to two services on Sundays, so it will be a new experience for me to preach two services instead of just one.  Cool!

Tracy is doing well overall, though she’s had trouble sleeping well this week.  She is still enjoying her job, though is admittedly not using all her gifts and potential in a purely admin position.  To everything there is a season…  Tracy has also been pretty wrecked recently following a group of bloggers sent to Uganda with Compassion International (see her blog here for more).  She has always had a strong passion for justice, and God is overwhelming her with this.  I have also been increasingly stirred and convicted about issues like poverty and disease in the world, and how inadequate expressions of faith end up without actions of love and justice.  I am seeing more and more (along with so many others) that it is simply inexcusable that thousands are dying of starvation and preventable diseases (here and abroad) when half the world (and people like me) are rich.  It’s kind of gut twister to realize that I am “poor” right now, unemployed (and I’m sure that our combined income level is right around “poverty” level; I know it was a good chunk of last year)… but that I am still quite “rich,” comfortable, and living a luxury kind of life while so many others are seriously, really, poor.  Anyway, not trying to soapbox, just sharing what’s going on in our hearts.  And the real issue is this:  what does Jesus and His gospel of the kingdom call us to do about all these issues?  Individually?  As the Church?  As the West?  I’m not talking some kind of liberalism, I’m talking kingdom.  Something to wrestle around with….

The kids?  Abbie is about to get registered for kindergarten, and is soooo ready!  She talks constantly about letters and numbers, and wants to play “school.”  She seems to be growing taller too.  Noah (I always say this) is still a voracious reader, like to the tune of eight to ten books a week!  We have to get him to the library weekly or he gets frustrated because he has nothing new to read.  Thank God for the library!

Overall, we are all doing well, and God is continuing to move in our lives, speak to us, and prepare us for the season that is to come for us.  Someday, we will see birthed a new ekklesia (whatever that will look like)… and in the meantime, we will strive to seek first our Father’s kingdom and be part of the “revolution.”  (“Revolution 115” is from Mark 1:15– the coming of the kingdom of God.  More on that later!)  Thank you so much, Friends and Family, for your prayers and love and support through this dry season.  I love you!!

Love, Brian