We pray that Challenges for the Heart helped do just that...challenge your heart. Though this blog is being put to slumber, I am hopeful that you will not be. I am hoping that God is just waking us up to seeing the world with His eyes and with His heart. That we are just coming alive to being fully on mission with Christ who is committed to restoring us as individuals and to restoring this broken world to its intended design.
Let us not love in word or tongue, but with actions and truth. 1 John 3:18
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love. Galatians 5:6
Blessings, and thanks for traveling this blog journey with me over the past 6 weeks!
Laura Hoy
Friday, November 14, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
Feedback Here
The Challenges for the Heart blog will continue through Friday to allow for anyone to comment about how any of the challenges over the past six weeks has impacted your heart and life. We'd love to hear how God may have spoken into your life during this time.
Thank you!
Thank you!
Note from Millie
My name is Millie Vanderpool and I am part of the World Vision staff that came to Orchard Hill Church to speak on behalf of the AIDS crisis in Africa and around the world. I thank you for welcoming us into your church and community as this was truly a community effort as many churches came and participated and volunteered. I'm here at the hotel right now reading the "blog" and hoping that I shared enough and spoke enough on behalf of the orphans and families in need in Africa. After traveling to Africa three times this year and meeting more orphans that anyone should ever meet and crying many tears over the children I left behind knowing they are alone and frightened and many very hungry.............................I asked God...................why God??? Why am I here? Why must I see so many orphans and children living alone with no parents, or grandparents taking care of many grandchildren with no support or food as their gardens dried up from the droughts? Why, Lord, are there hardly any dads at home or anyone around the age of 25-45? Why am I going home to a home with electricity and running water and healthy children and the luxuries of living in the US? Then He told me.............. and I knew then as I know today .....................that He took me to Africa to show me what was happening and to come back and speak on behalf of the 15 million orphans.
To share with others that 6000 children every day will lose a parent in Africa!!!!!! 29,000 children die every day from hunger or illnesses that can be prevented like drinking dirty water...............or no water................ I'm thankful for the Experience AIDS Exhibit because
it is a way for us to bring part of Africa to you. As we can't bring you
all to Africa we can try to bring stories and part of Africa to you and help you understand what is happening through the stories of these 4 precious children. They are our true heroes of the world and true survivors that represent millions of children.
I say this in order to thank you for volunteering and coming to our African exhibit at Orchard Hill Church, and I hope that you all share what you learned with others and spread the word as we are making a difference and we can save lives and help orphans in need....one child at a time. There is hope and we are part of making it happen!!
Blessings to each and everyone one of you and may our Lord continue to bless you.
Millie Vanderpool
To share with others that 6000 children every day will lose a parent in Africa!!!!!! 29,000 children die every day from hunger or illnesses that can be prevented like drinking dirty water...............or no water................ I'm thankful for the Experience AIDS Exhibit because
it is a way for us to bring part of Africa to you. As we can't bring you
all to Africa we can try to bring stories and part of Africa to you and help you understand what is happening through the stories of these 4 precious children. They are our true heroes of the world and true survivors that represent millions of children.
I say this in order to thank you for volunteering and coming to our African exhibit at Orchard Hill Church, and I hope that you all share what you learned with others and spread the word as we are making a difference and we can save lives and help orphans in need....one child at a time. There is hope and we are part of making it happen!!
Blessings to each and everyone one of you and may our Lord continue to bless you.
Millie Vanderpool
New little friends
Your feedback regarding your experience through the World Vision AIDS Village is encouraged. Please offer a comment below!
Yesterday was the busiest day yet...I've heard there were close to 800 visitors and there were 80 commitments to sponsorships! That's 80 children who have a new friend who will impact children's lives in significant ways...food, education, health care.....major needs being met through sponsorship. Hurray! And even a greater hurray is the friendship and spiritual connection being birthed through sponsorship. We pray that all sponsors keep their sponsored child close in prayer, in heart, in thought. And letters to the child will help that relationship form even more deeply. You all should meet Millie VanderPool, from World Vision. She carries around a binder with the pictures of her 6 six sponsored children and all of the letters and correspondence included. Just listening to her talk about "her kids" reminds me of being with a grandmother doting on her grandchildren. She's a great example of keeping our sponsored children close to us as we go about our lives in America.
Yesterday was the busiest day yet...I've heard there were close to 800 visitors and there were 80 commitments to sponsorships! That's 80 children who have a new friend who will impact children's lives in significant ways...food, education, health care.....major needs being met through sponsorship. Hurray! And even a greater hurray is the friendship and spiritual connection being birthed through sponsorship. We pray that all sponsors keep their sponsored child close in prayer, in heart, in thought. And letters to the child will help that relationship form even more deeply. You all should meet Millie VanderPool, from World Vision. She carries around a binder with the pictures of her 6 six sponsored children and all of the letters and correspondence included. Just listening to her talk about "her kids" reminds me of being with a grandmother doting on her grandchildren. She's a great example of keeping our sponsored children close to us as we go about our lives in America.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
HIV and AIDS in Iowa
Cedar AIDS Support System has a table at the World Vision Experience. Here are just a few of the facts about HIV/AIDS in Iowa:
- There were 127 HIV diagnoses in 2007, the most since HIV reporting began in 1998. These diagnoses represent a 12% increase over 2006 and exceed the previous high of 117 diagnoses in 2005.
- HIV diagnoses among persons 45 years of age and older have more than doubled since 2003. In 2007, there were 41 diagnoses among those 45 yrs. and older compared to 18 in 2003.
- There were 1,910 persons thought to be living with HIV/AIDS in Iowa on December 31, 2007.
- There were 127 HIV diagnoses in 2007, the most since HIV reporting began in 1998. These diagnoses represent a 12% increase over 2006 and exceed the previous high of 117 diagnoses in 2005.
- HIV diagnoses among persons 45 years of age and older have more than doubled since 2003. In 2007, there were 41 diagnoses among those 45 yrs. and older compared to 18 in 2003.
- There were 1,910 persons thought to be living with HIV/AIDS in Iowa on December 31, 2007.
The Big Disease
I sat on Kombo's bed yesterday. He is one of the four children featured in the AIDS Village. As I sat on his stained mattress with an old sheet and little pillow, I considered his few, meager possessions compared to my mountains of stuff. While sitting there, Kombo was speaking into my earphones asking, "Do I have the big disease?" (meaning HIV/AIDS). I suddenly found myself asking, "Do I have the big disease?" ....in American terms- materialism/greed.
Guilt isn't a great motivator, I know. And I know that we can and should celebrate and be very grateful for all that we have. But, I also heard what Brian McLaren said in his message at the CCDA conference...he named materialism/greed as the number one issue that is tripping us up as a nation. I think we at least need to name it...talk about the cause and effect....challenge one another to a different way...and paint the vision of what could happen in the world if we lived in a simpler way that helped us to be more available, more able to contribute to Christ's redeeming ways in the world.
After going through the AIDS Village, I can't help but think of the end of Schindler's List when Schindler is wanting to give every last everything in order to save more Jews from death. I hear him crying, "I could have saved more..."
Please give your feedback as you journey into the life of an African child this weekend....
Guilt isn't a great motivator, I know. And I know that we can and should celebrate and be very grateful for all that we have. But, I also heard what Brian McLaren said in his message at the CCDA conference...he named materialism/greed as the number one issue that is tripping us up as a nation. I think we at least need to name it...talk about the cause and effect....challenge one another to a different way...and paint the vision of what could happen in the world if we lived in a simpler way that helped us to be more available, more able to contribute to Christ's redeeming ways in the world.
After going through the AIDS Village, I can't help but think of the end of Schindler's List when Schindler is wanting to give every last everything in order to save more Jews from death. I hear him crying, "I could have saved more..."
Please give your feedback as you journey into the life of an African child this weekend....
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Wow!
I just left the community center, and it's an incredible sight. A great team of about 16 people working around one another to put this mammoth exhibit together. I first came in this morning when the tour tech director, Jennifer, was talking about how we would never see our worship area the same again. It will be forever altered in our minds due to this experience. I am praying that is true also for our lives.
Over the next several days, please post comments letting us know how the World Vision Experience:AIDS impacts you. We'd love your feedback!
Peace,
Laura
Over the next several days, please post comments letting us know how the World Vision Experience:AIDS impacts you. We'd love your feedback!
Peace,
Laura
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
World Vision Tour Staff has arrived!
This morning, the World Vision tour staff sat down and met with the Orchard Hill folks who have been working to bring the World Vision Experience here. Jeanine, Jennifer, Nikki, and Joshua will be here to lead the set-up, the training for volunteers, and to manage the exhibit through the time it is in the Cedar Valley. They will be joined by Amy and Millie tomorrow, two more World Vision staff who will join the group for the days ahead.
After much planning, the time is upon us, and we're excited and filled with hope! In prayer, we anticipate that God will move hearts through this Experience to care about what He so deeply cares about....people. We are prayerful that hearts, eyes, and ears will be open to receive what God wants to speak into our lives through this Experience.
Be sure to welcome the World Vision staff if you happen to meet any of them! Pray for this Experience...that the set-up goes smoothly tomorrow. And join me in thanking God for how amazingly wonderful He has gifted His body. I sat around a table today listening to the roles each person is playing on the team. It is absolutely BEEEAUTIFUL to see how each person plays an intricate part to create the whole.
After much planning, the time is upon us, and we're excited and filled with hope! In prayer, we anticipate that God will move hearts through this Experience to care about what He so deeply cares about....people. We are prayerful that hearts, eyes, and ears will be open to receive what God wants to speak into our lives through this Experience.
Be sure to welcome the World Vision staff if you happen to meet any of them! Pray for this Experience...that the set-up goes smoothly tomorrow. And join me in thanking God for how amazingly wonderful He has gifted His body. I sat around a table today listening to the roles each person is playing on the team. It is absolutely BEEEAUTIFUL to see how each person plays an intricate part to create the whole.
Monday, November 3, 2008
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day is December 1. You can learn more at www.worldaidscampaign.org or google World AIDS Day. Consider taking part in some way on this day that is set apart to grow awareness and advocate for those who are impacted by HIV/AIDS in our world.
Biblical mandate
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of God's throne (Psalm 89:14) There are about 2,000 verses in the Bible speaking to us about God's heart for the poor and oppressed, the widow and the orphan and commanding us to care and share in order for justice to prevail.
James 1:27 says "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." This Scripture also speaks of justice and righteousness.
We cannot look at missions as an arm of the Church, as a passion or calling of a selected group of people in the church. Righteousness and justice are the mission of God, made possible by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and we are called, all of us, to join God in His mission of righteousness and justice on the earth.
James 1:27 says "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." This Scripture also speaks of justice and righteousness.
We cannot look at missions as an arm of the Church, as a passion or calling of a selected group of people in the church. Righteousness and justice are the mission of God, made possible by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and we are called, all of us, to join God in His mission of righteousness and justice on the earth.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Only Hope
Kay Warren writes about the Church:
"I know it sounds crazy, but the church-with all its warts and flaws-has advantages over every other institution in society. More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ- and this means that no organization is bigger than the church. No government, no relief agency- no single country, in fact- is bigger than the church. These churches are scattered in nearly every country on earth, and there are more churches than all of the McDonald's. WalMarts, Starbucks, and Macy's combined. Some places have a few or no hospitals or universities or libraries, but they have a church!
Churches are part of a grassroots networking system, which means they are much more efficient and effective than bureaucracies. The church around the world is growing at the rate of 60,000 new converts a day. The church has been around for nearly 2,000 years...it has a track record of caring for the sick, heloping the poor, and leading people to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself told us to go into the world and do his work- there is no stronger authorization than that. The church offers love as the motivation for everything we do; the highest call on our lives is to love as Jesus loved. Governments and the private sector cannot love in the name of Jesus; only Christians can do that.
"God's strategy has always been to work through his people... to be his hands and feet in the world, to be his voice of love, to speak truth, to act justly, to combat evil, and to do good. Our job is to push back the encroaching darkness and be God's light in a desperately dark world. Our mission is to care for the sick, the widows, the orphans- and to heal in Jesus's name. We are to preach the Good News of salvation and to disciple the nations, bringing all into fellowship with him and each other. The Lord of all calls us to lives of love, mercy, and grace, thus making the invisible God visible. It's not a matter of one or the other; we must care for both body and soul. We are Christ's ambassadors. "
"I know it sounds crazy, but the church-with all its warts and flaws-has advantages over every other institution in society. More than 2 billion people claim to be followers of Jesus Christ- and this means that no organization is bigger than the church. No government, no relief agency- no single country, in fact- is bigger than the church. These churches are scattered in nearly every country on earth, and there are more churches than all of the McDonald's. WalMarts, Starbucks, and Macy's combined. Some places have a few or no hospitals or universities or libraries, but they have a church!
Churches are part of a grassroots networking system, which means they are much more efficient and effective than bureaucracies. The church around the world is growing at the rate of 60,000 new converts a day. The church has been around for nearly 2,000 years...it has a track record of caring for the sick, heloping the poor, and leading people to Jesus Christ. Jesus himself told us to go into the world and do his work- there is no stronger authorization than that. The church offers love as the motivation for everything we do; the highest call on our lives is to love as Jesus loved. Governments and the private sector cannot love in the name of Jesus; only Christians can do that.
"God's strategy has always been to work through his people... to be his hands and feet in the world, to be his voice of love, to speak truth, to act justly, to combat evil, and to do good. Our job is to push back the encroaching darkness and be God's light in a desperately dark world. Our mission is to care for the sick, the widows, the orphans- and to heal in Jesus's name. We are to preach the Good News of salvation and to disciple the nations, bringing all into fellowship with him and each other. The Lord of all calls us to lives of love, mercy, and grace, thus making the invisible God visible. It's not a matter of one or the other; we must care for both body and soul. We are Christ's ambassadors. "
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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