Monday, February 25, 2008

P.S.

The other day someone handed me an envelope with $91 in it. They said that a little girl had been doing all sorts of little jobs and fundraisers to collect the money. There was a note that came with the money and at the bottom it said, "p.s. I want to be a missionary in China when I grow up!!"

It reminded me of the verse, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news." What a beautiful and kind heart I got to see expressed through $91.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Yeah, Yeah for DUCKS & Funny Twisted Trees

This year we organized 4 tours to spread the word about the orphans in China. In October we had our West Coast Tour, in November our East Coast Tour, in February our Midwest Tour, and in March will be on our Australia Tour. Yeah, yeah for traveling and here's pics from our Midwest Tour we just finished. (KS, OH, IL, MO)

A funny twisted little special tree Andrew and I found in OH




Our first stop on the Midwest tour was KS. We had a great time sharing with
several Chinese Fellowships.



Christy and I found ducks in IL!




SNOW!!! This is a picture from OH.



I LOVE MY SISTER!!!

Monday, February 18, 2008

Two Dreams

In the last week I had two very different dreams. The first one was about Doughnuts. For those of you that don’t know, I recently discovered that I’m addicted to doughnuts. It all started when I began taking my little sister Mary to the doughnut shop after she would spend the night at my place. I really didn’t like doughnuts at all but the more time I spent in the doughnut shop the more I started getting tempted. It started out that I would just order one for me and one for Mary. She got the sprinkle kind and I got the French Twist with chocolate on top. But then a strange thing happened. I started going to the doughnut shop just by myself. And instead of ordering just one I would order three. And would take them home and eat them all day or on a couple occasions I ate all three at one time.

I think the worst part of this addiction came when I started getting to know the doughnut man. We started to become pretty good friends. And I remember one day I walked in and asked me if I wanted the usual. Ahhhh, he knows what I want!!! And it all started because I was just being a good big brother. I never liked doughnuts. They are terrible for you! But now every time I drive by the doughnut shop something in me says, PULL OVER, PULL OVER. So the other night I’m almost positive that I had a dream about doughnuts. And then Mary drew me these pictures and I didn’t even tell her about the dream.

My second dream was about China. I was holding an orphan girl that was sobbing because she didn’t want to leave me to go back to the orphanage. And I was holding her tight but had to say goodbye. It was a sad dream but in a way it was a wonderful dream because I woke up feeling a great love for that invisible girl that I had met in my sleep. And once again I felt a passion for my job- To love these kids and to give them Jesus, a family, and an education.

How can you turn a note down like this?

Me going to bed after brushing my teeth.

Me dreaming about doughnuts.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Adventure Ahead (Dec & Jan Support Update)

Adventure #1: Home Planting
For some time we have wanted to help orphans receive their 3 greatest needs- Jesus, a family, and education. Summer camp is the first step in a child receiving those three things; Hearts are opened and relationships have begun.

I am REALLY excited to tell you that we are getting ready to take the next step in meeting the needs of children. This summer a close friend of mine is moving his family to China to pioneer our first Home Planting effort. Their family will be overseeing the setting up of multiple homes that will care for orphans. I look forward to keeping you updated as the adventure unfolds. And please email me if you would like to be on the update list for the homes.

Adventure #2: Full Length Documentary
Nate Pache (BMH marketing director) and I have been talking about putting together a documentary for some time now, and starting in February Nate will be traveling around China to capture the stories of orphans. You can anticipate seeing the completed documentary in Fall 2008.

Adventure #3: Summer Camps in China
This summer we are planning for 450 orphans to come to camp for a week long trip they will never forget. The camps will be held at the same time in three locations across China (Guangzhou, Nanchang, & Beijing). It was fun to think that if you add up all their weeks at camp it comes out to almost 9 years of kids being loved!

Adventure #4: Olympic Opportunities
Cathy Bradford, former USA Olympian, is on staff with Bring Me Hope and helping coordinate Olympian relations. We are really excited to see what doors God opens through the Beijing Olympics.