Adoption

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Beautiful Gate pic

The River Chapel was overflowing with volunteers, Beautiful Gate staff, government workers, house moms, and two families holding two healthy Basotho boys clinging to their new parents for an adoption ceremony. Even though it was a chilly morning in Lesotho Africa, the room heated up quickly as the festive celebration began. The housemothers, those who helped raised these two young boys, began the morning with songs, prayers, and of course dancing. The joy was contagious in the room, as the Beautiful Gate Staff knew these boys were going to godly homes where they would be nurtured and loved for the rest of their lives.

At one point house mom Ma Judith, who helped raise one of the adoptive boys from birth, shared about the blessing he had been to the Beautiful Gate family. It was a bitter sweet moment as she reached out her arms to hug the young child but he held tight to his new parents who he had just spent the week with. How hard it was for Judith to let go but as she turned around she led the ladies in another dance around the room rejoicing that the boy has already adapted to his loving home.

As I write this blog 10 days removed from the adoption ceremony I can still replay the scene in my mind in vivid detail. It truly was a spiritual experience for many reasons. First of all it was a God honoring day for the Beautiful Gate staff whom daily sacrifice to take care of (Matthew 25:40). It was God the Father saying, “well done good and faithful servants.” You could almost hear Heaven cheering in the chapel that day.

Secondly it was a day where a river of love flooded the room with powerful emotions of the Father’s love. As I leaned against a sidewall I watched tears flowing generously from volunteers, staff, and the families that were adopting, as well as several from our own team as we sat as bystanders. This is what happens when “true religion” takes place and God’s Kingdom breaks forth with joy that goes beyond words.

As both parents took pen in hand and signed the official papers making the long and costly adoption final, I pondered what my Abba Father did for me. How as an orphan child separated by my sin, shame, and a sickening spiritual death, he reached out to me through His only Son Jesus and purchased my life through His perfect, costly blood. The words from a song kept going through my mind during this ceremony, “I’m no longer a slave to sin but I am a child of God.”

That Friday morning in Lesotho Africa my soul was once again awakened to my own costly adoption and with great joy I joined in the singing and dancing giving praise to a good, good Father for His perfect love given to me His son.

“In love He predestined us to be adopted as his son through Jesus Christ …to the praise of His glorious grace,” Eph. 1:4-5.

 

1 Thing – “The Place”

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“Where have you experienced Holy Ground?” This is the question asked to each individual on the past three Africa Teams as we have journeyed and served together. I have loved hearing the response by others as they shared their Holy Ground experiences. Allow me to mention a few:

  • Listening to the Besotho people sing, dance and worship.
  • Hearing God speak to them during a sermon.
  • Praying over a deaf street boy and watching God restore his hearing.
  • Sewing, washing, and cooking with teen moms at the Good Shepherd Center.
  • Taking care of orphan children at Beautiful Gate.
  • Watching a double adoption service at Beautiful Gate.
  • Listening to the testimonies of orphan high school students at a retreat with Bountiful Hope Foundation.
  • Looking at the stars in the Southern Hemisphere.
  • Gazing at a waterfall in the mountains.
  • Meeting Sister Constance who has worked tirelessly to help orphan high school students.
  • Building a Green House at Good Shepherd Center.
  • Playing soccer in a youth prison.
  • Handing out audio Bibles in villages.

This is just a taste of the Holy Ground encounters experienced by our teams. I wish I had room to share them all.

Each member of the team read Draw the Circle, The 40-DayPrayer Challenge, and Day 39 spurred this question about Holy Ground. In Day 39 author Mark Batterson shares how Jewish scholars used to debate why God would meet Moses in the burning bush. Why not a palace or a pyramid in Egypt? Why such an obscure place?

Here was their conclusion: “to show that no place is devoid of God’s presence, not even a bush on the back side of the desert.” So the scholars gave God a name, The Place. They said, “God is here, there and everywhere,” (p. 217).

For me personally there are several places or pictures where God showed up and I truly experienced Holy Ground. One would be the fact that two students gave their lives to Christ; another would be the powerful healings by the finger of God, also the Father’s glory falling at the orphan high school retreat. I would also add to my list donating Bibles at a women’s prison and I could go on and on.

But there is one scene in particular that symbolized a penetrating picture I will not forget of The Place. As our team was walking back from a hike to an indescribable waterfall we passed through a remote village. It was here that a team member stopped at a dilapidated shack that served as a bar for the local people and handed a young man a solar powered audio Bible in the Sesotho language. As she turned it on for him and he heard the Word read in his language his face lit up with pure joy and others who were just hanging around leaned in to listen as well. The bar became Holy Ground, The Place where Abba Father showed up to share His letter of love, to share hope in a remote village where the mode of transportation was horseback.

Remember no place is devoid of God’s Holy Presence, God is “here, there, and every where.” I pray as we get ready to fly back to the states this team and all the teams will remember that the same God that powerfully showed up in Lesotho Africa is alive and well in their schools, neighborhoods, soccer fields, bars, and where ever their paths may take them.

 

 

 

 

 

1 Thing – Dwelling in His Presence-Africa

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Despite the fact that Tim has traveled to Africa more than twenty times, I am experiencing Lesotho for the second time, however two years in a row. The fact that I was the last to set foot on the soil of Lesotho in our family of five was because Tim and I both felt that experiencing life from a different cultural perspective was important for our kids and so we offered the opportunity to each of them. Apparently our three kids were up for the challenge as each of them was able to travel with Tim to Lesotho, our oldest daughter even studied for a semester in South Africa during college. Our youngest daughter has been to Mexico more times than Tim and I combined and not sure if it counts but our son is currently spending the summer in Iowa and a semester in Chicago next year.

“ONE THING I ask of the LORD this is what I seek that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple,” (Psalm 27:4)

As far as I can tell dwelling in the house of the Lord can happen in any country, virtually in any place and any time. Dwelling in my opinion is being, BEING aware of God’s presence wherever and whenever, sure the church building may be a wonderful place to find God’s presence, but truly it goes beyond that. Dwelling is experiencing, it is relational, it takes time and energy, in many ways it is BEING STILL and knowing I am God. Although on Sunday the team we are traveling with joined the local congregation and sang that song with a lot of volume and action, it was a long way from a peaceful and quiet chorus, however it certainly could be categorized as focused, engaged and being very aware of God’s presence.

What about the newly arrived infant, barely a month old that came to Beautiful Gate Care Center on our first night arriving with the team. The fifteen of us had a very different journey of packing, planes and changing time zones. This precious baby girl had a journey that included being left who knows why and where? Could the presence of God be evident in such sadness? This baby tightly wrapped in a warm blanket and lovingly placed in the arms of workers at the care center has a new home and much hope. Each student had the privilege of holding this little one and gazing into her eyes before she fell asleep. The loving arms of our Savior held this little one and without a doubt revealed the presence of God.

What about the sunset at the top of Lancers Gap? Hearing the wind amongst the barking dogs and honking taxis was the presence of God there as sheep wandered past on the hilltop and echoing voices could be heard in the background? Yes, yes the scene was breathtaking as the sun dipped below the mountain and the sky changed colors and the temperature dropped. Yes, God’s presence was evident in such majesty.

I could go on with other specific examples of my time here in Lesotho, but those of you have opened your heart and life to others whether that be across the street, from another age group or religious affiliation knows what I am talking about. Those of you who have traveled to Israel, Africa or even Lesotho to visit, no rather “experience or BE” apart of Beautiful Gate can attest to dwelling in the presence of God. You don’t have to travel to Lesotho to know what it is like to experience God, but consider yourself invited if you ever decide to come!

May you DWELL….BE….EXPERIENCE….KNOW GOD at this moment, wherever you are and whatever life may hold at the moment.

 

1 Thing – When Jesus Shines

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Africa never fails to show forth the beauty of our Savior Jesus!  As I write this blog winter has officially arrived with a chill in Southern Africa, yet the Son’s glorious face has warmed deep into the hearts of those on our team.

The goal of our team from Colorado was Psalm 27:4, “to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord…”  We have faced spiritual battles, adversity,highs and lows, seen miracles, shed tears, made new friends, and on this journey His beauty captivated us beyond words.

Listen to a fews students from Parker Lutheran who were basking in the Son’s radiance:

“Jesus is everywhere, and I really noticed this during our trip in Lesotho, Africa. His presence was known and shown in every little thing we did and saw. I saw Him through the Good Shepherd teen age moms I met, the people I saw on the streets, the church that accepted us as one of their own, and through the love and compassion shown by the adults, and teenagers on this trip. The way we glorified God through our actions was such an incredible thing. I’ve never felt more humbled and blessed as I have in Africa. This trip has changed my view on the world, and has turned my life upside down in the best way.” (Abi Budnack).

“Throughout our time serving in the beautiful country of Lesotho, we got to experience Christ firsthand. It was in the eyes of the Besotho people, the people we were all blessed to have blessed, that I saw Christ. Looking at the eyes of the people I could see the stories of pain, sorrow, scarring, fatigue, poverty, sickness, fear, and so much more, yet in those same eyes, I could see the overwhelming light of Christ. Throughout all of the trials and tribulations, God was and still is working in their lives for good. It is in those eyes that Christ is shining through the pain and suffering and overcoming the trials and tribulations. I have been blessed and broken through a simple glance of an orphan, a teen mother, a child, a nun, the sick, or the poor and will be forever changed because of the Holy Spirit within the hearts and souls and eyes of the wonderful people of Lesotho.  Matthew 6:22 The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light.”(Daniel Ness)

Take time today and find the face of Jesus as these young people did. He is not just in Africa, He is the One placed right in front of you to love, serve, and then watch Him Shine.

1 Thing – Finding Beauty

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Bags are about packed and last minute details finalized for the trip to Africa. On Thursday the almost yearlong plans will be set into motion. Students from Parker Lutheran in Colorado and from Holland Christian in Michigan will both be traveling to the little country of Lesotho. All the dreaming and planning will be more than worth it once our feet hit the African soil. It truly is a privilege to experience God’s glory in His beautiful people and through the Divine Appointments He has waiting!

The 26 hours of flying plus the six hours of driving on a bus will take its toil on my rapidly aging body, yet the blessings far out way the temporary stiffness. Truth is the trip brings about a glorious ruin in our hearts as the presence and beauty of God is revealed via abandoned babies being loved, retreats for orphan high school students held, worship with the Besotho people being experienced, and service projects attempted and hopefully completed. Most everyone who goes on these trips leave forever transformed by what is encountered and any discomfort along the way cannot compare to the lasting impact.

The same is true for those willing to take the 1 Thing Journey in Psalm 27:4….

“One Thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”

The journey to the transforming power of the beauty of the LORD starts with “ask.” Something in your spirit moved by the Holy Spirit begins to cry out to the Father to take you home, you want to see His Face (vs. 8). As that prayer becomes your 1 Thing He begins to help you pack for the trip. The packing is not always easy as he asks us to unpack the baggage of sin and our self -centered lives so we can travel light. This demands we walk in faith right through the Cross of Christ, leaving everything else behind so that we can be clothed with His perfect love and power.

The cross readies us for the journey to see the Face of our Abba Father. We begin to seek Him by following after His Son Jesus. This too is not always easy as we seek to keep in step with where He is leading us. This demands time reading, studying, listening, and finally following Him on what may be a long hard journey. Yet, Jesus makes the incredible promise that the “askers and seekers” who continue on the journey will be finders of His Spirit (Luke 11:11-13). His transforming beauty will forever ruin those who find the Father and dwell in His House. Those who see His face through His Son Jesus Christ will testify that even though the trip is filled with pitfalls, pain, and a high price, it is worth it all to be forever ruined by His inexpressible love that comes from His Spirit.

My two greatest obsessions in life are to be gloriously ruined by the beautiful face of my Father’s love for me and to encourage others to take the same journey and gaze on His beautiful face. So whether you are traveling to Africa, vacationing with your family or going about your day to activities may you seek the beautiful face of God and find the treasure of 1 Thing.