The Young Family Farm

I have a confession to make. Yes, another confession. Confessions are SO good for me though. I have been holding caring for widows and orphans at arms length. Serving comfortably and although passionate about it…I just realized it today.

As I stood in the back of the auditorum of my son’s preK class and watched an awards ceremony—in my mind I heard J.G. Morrison famous quote “Can’t you do just a little bit more?” as he was pleading with Nazarenes in the 1930’s Great Depression to support their missionaries. I am quilty. I have only been serving comfortable. And yes, I can do…a little bit more. But what if we could do A LOT more? Because as I stood in the back of that school with well dressed, healthy, full tummied, giggling children—millions of of children just like my son need us…to do more.

I am quilty of living comfortably. And justifying it too. I even have felt like not going on our annual vacation to Hilton Head as we poured into an adoption instead was doing without. I have dressed to be cute, instead of clothed. I have cooked to be satisfied instead of fed. I have, truthfully, invested more in my earthly home than my heavenly home. And today…it really bothered me. And Richard. And thankfully, we are on the same page.

I want to live more for the kingdom.

I want to live more for the gospel.

I want to live more for others.

I really do.

I don’t care if my blogs sound pretty. I don’t care if I sound crazy. And I just pray that Richard and I can follow the Lord no matter what. We heard news today that broke our hearts. It hit home in an entirely new way. What if that were Parker? What if that were Laney, Frank or Isaac? The truth is…if it were them…I would DO ANYTHING to help them. If it meant selling my house…going to sit by them and hold their hands until they got better…I’d do anything until they were okay. Truthfully, we have helped the orphans and widows at arms length. And…we can do more. We just can.

I pray our children turn out okay as we carry them along in our pursuit of following Him in His calling us to do more. My life is not my own—and if I am going to truly live for Him…then…I need to follow Him. We need not give our leftovers to the poor—but the meal—and allow Him to satisfy instead.

I knew the numbers. They made me sad. And through our ministry–I felt like we were doing something. And we are. But…I feel Him calling us to be present in an entirely new way—to longer hold these precious ones at arms length. I asked Him to break my heart for what breaks His…and I thought He already did that. But really—I. Had. NO. idea.

I’m anxious to see what is ahead for our family…but I think I already have a few ideas—and I’m excited to see how it all unfolds. It’s so funny–when you live for the world you look around and think you need this or that. But when you start living for the kingdom…you start looking around trying to figure out how to rid your life of the this and thats to ease the burden of another. When you live for the world you fear loss…but when you live for the kingdom you realize really you have nothing to lose. When you live for the world you want to please others, you care what others think of you and you spend your time analyzing how you make them feel or how they made you feel. But when you live for the kingdom, there is freedom—and you allow Him to work things out, be your guide, and you are filled with the peace that surpasses all understanding. James 1:27 always blows my mind on what pure and true religion is—especially the second part…not being polluted by the world. And that for me, is the most challenging part…not looking to the left or right but keeping my eyes focused on Him alone. James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. I’m getting to know the widow in a new way. I’m loving the orphan in a deeper way. And I can’t tell you how beautiful and right it feels…but also how BROKEN you become when you put those two together and begin to really understand them TOGETHER…and why we were told to serve them both—together. I can’t love the orphan and forget the widow. And I can’t love the orphan and widow and be of the world. Thank you Lord for your beautiful design of pure religion. This is what I want more of…this is what I want to live…and truly—we can do more.

So many exciting things are happening in Zambia at Wiphan and I just HAVE to share! We love sharing how the Lord is working at Wiphan, and we are so thankful to all who help us spread the word and who have joined us in supporting Wiphan. Never underestimate how the Lord might use your voice in sharing—and please feel free to share as you just never know who might be reading your blog, Facebook status (you can link this post to it!) or listening to your share and become interested in learning more and joining us! For those of you who might just be tuning in and haven’t heard of Wiphan before, visit the website and if you’d like to learn more or get involved–you can fill out the “get involved” form on the Wiphan blog, sign up for the montly newsletter and also sign up to follow on Twitter and Facebook! AND if you have a blog, you can ask for a button for your blog there too!

Here’s the latest…

As most of you know we have 450 orphans and 150 widows in our program. Zambia has been hit hard by AIDS, malaria and poverty—yet only 9 children were adopted from Zambia last year (Ethiopia was 2,277) so although it has been hit just as hard as many countries in Africa, more than 99% of the orphans there will remain in Zambia. To say there is a huge need there for supporting organizations like Wiphan that provide an education, a safe haven and Biblical support and teaching…is an understatement. But with your involvement even MORE children and widows can be reached. Widows? Yes. Absolutely. We were called to serve orphans AND widows…and often the widows are overlooked…and that’s where we often miss where CHANGE and HOPE can really happen!

Who is loving on the children in these countries? Who are the people housing the orphans really? Who is able to cook, hug and look after these children while we send in our monthly sponsorship donations to children? Yet, who are the people so often overlooked in the verse James 1:27 (“…look after orphans AND widows in their distress…”). Yep…the WIDOWS.

One thing I just love about what Wiphan is doing is we are doing BOTH of these. And you can even SPONSOR the widow program on the website! They NEED our support. They need YOUR creativity in taking this program to the next level. And they NEED us to pour into them. We watch individuals here in the states do big things for orphans across the world—but just think what could happen if we started to pour into the widows who are ALREADY there! WOW!
Check out the latest with what is happening at Wiphan…

They are making cement blocks to contribute to the new building at Sinia center…
By their helping build, they are learning to make a difference in their OWN community. Often, ministries will have groups come in and build. This is great–but they are learning to be the ones to make a difference as we encourage and support them to do so!

Check out the building in progress…

The widows are rocking in their skills training! Check out some of their latest skills…

Knitting class…

Jewelry making…

Tayloring lessons…

Just a few years ago, these ladies didn’t have this. But today–they are learning skills that will bring in an income and guess who can teach these skills to the orphans? Guess who can help provide for the orphans in their community? Guess who can better afford to have 2, 3, 4, even 5 additional orphans under their roof as they learn these skills? YES! These widows! Amazing!

We also love some community love at Wiphan…and at our Mapalo school (we have 2 compounds with schools Mapalo and Sinia)…we have a water pump where all are welcome to come get water!

Just a couple of years ago, we had fewer supporters and were struggling to keep our feeding program…but today we are growing (although we continue to need growing support!) BUT check out these happy faces that get a daily meal!

Our dream would be to one day have Wiphans all over…but first—we need Wiphan Zambia to thrive. We want to do something well before spreading and we want our kids and widows to impact their community…and one day–their world! For you, it may just start by sponsoring our widow program or a child—or maybe you feel the Lord calling you to do more like become a monthly contributor. Maybe you want to help us spread the word and be a voice. PLEASE feel free to blog about Wiphan! Or even just share a link to this entry. God has done wonders through the voice of others…and maybe it’s YOURS He would like to use! One thing is for sure…Wiphan has not only changed our hearts—but it continues to change our family. And for that, I couldn’t thank the the Lord, our orphans and our widows more. I had no idea what I was missing…and what a JOY it would be to love this ministry and these precious orphans and widows day in and day out!

May He lead, guide and bless your heart as you step out to serve…where ever that is…I pray you follow with obedience and courage–and know just as the community who comes to drink water at our well…you are always welcome at Wiphan;).

Please keep the Wiphan USA team in your prayers as they leave NEXT WEEK to go love and minister to Wiphan Zambia! They will be giving Biblical training to some of the staff, training to the teachers and of course loving on our 450 orphans! I will be blogging some of their fun…and also more specific details and prayer requests! Please pray for this group as they prepare to travel and as many of them work out the details of leaving their children with grandparents and friends.