Let's Make a Miracle

Yesterday I felt stretched in Dwaleni.

It wasn’t because I was chopping a bucket of onions with a butter knife.

It wasn’t because I had to come to terms that I simply CANNOT count to 10 in SiSwati.

And it wasn’t because I was covered in other people’s sweat and knew I was coming home to a base without water.

That’s pretty normal stuff.

I was stretched because I felt God challenging me to do my part the way HE wanted me to on that particular Thursday afternoon.

I think I always get to be a part of God’s work in the hugging, kissing and uncontrollable love department. And I always get to spend time teaching teams the culture and the ministry. But there are some moments where He requires more. Moments when God gives a gut-check and says, “LOOK AROUND YOU AND RESPOND!” 

Kinda like Mom’s famous brake-slamming seatbelt checks on Mustang Road.

I've been checked. And here's my response...

We started feeding in Dwaleni over a year and a half ago. We went from a handful of hungry kids to hundreds.  Orphaned and vulnerable children are flooding into the small property we feed from in tattered school uniforms, starving for spiritual, emotional and physical nourishment. I’ve never seen need that goes so deep as I see every week in Dwaleni.

My first visit to Dwaleni in January 2010, I was shocked to see over 100 children climbing on and playing around the big avocado tree. Last week, we were overwhelmed when about 250 children poured in with bottomless stomachs and hearts.

This week, we had way over 300 children. I typically assign myself to the gate they walk through to enter the property to welcome them, hug them kiss them and make sure each child knows he or she was noticed. Today I didn’t get to greet, much less see every child’s face as the waves of school uniforms just kept rolling in throughout the feeding.

Hope spreads. Home is contagious. Something is going right.

The group I’m here with, Ten Thousand Homes, is a non-profit organization that raises support for feeding programs, house-building and other opportunities to instill Hope and Homes in South Africa’s orphaned and vulnerable children. We pray every week for God’s protection on the children and communities we serve, and trust in Him to provide for the “least of these” with the resources we have been given.

Last week when the huge group of children showed up, they were welcomed Home by a loving, faithful team from New Hope Church in Wiley, Texas. After seeing the amount of children rushing in and the amount of food prepared, the New Hope team began praying and counting on a miracle of multiplication. Jesus used what His people had around Him, a few loaves of bread and fish, to feed thousands – with leftovers! Why wouldn’t He do that for these dirty, worn-down, abused, orphaned yet perfectly loved children?

He DID!

We filled every belly to the brim and sent children home with mincemeat moustaches and leftovers! It was a miracle! We’ve NEVER had leftovers before and we had never had that many children!

This week there were SO many more children.

And there was no multiplication miracle.

We ran completely out of food and had 67 empty mouths and tummies.

I was devastated. Speechless. I realized I was rocking the sleeping baby on my shoulder to soothe myself as I looked around and saw the ever-hopeful and never-complaining faces of the children who hadn’t been served and the patient volunteers praying with the children.

Hands and leftover change came together to buy enough bread to serve the 67 so no one left without receiving. It wasn’t the kind of miracle we saw last week, and I didn’t dance out of Dwaleni like King David was known to do. I was cringing on the inside and out, even while the children were filling my cheeks full of kisses and my hands with letters they had written me as they said goodbye.

Why, God?

Why would you send over 300 children when there’s not enough?

Why not another miracle?

Seatbelt check.

He IS Enough.

And there IS a miracle for Dwaleni that’s better than a “Remember that one time Jesus multiplied the food….” story. (If it gets better than THAT, I want some!)

I serve a God who has the power to do ALL things.

He can count every star while He’s blindfolded.

He can rearrange the Rockies with His hands tied behind His back.

The miracle for the orphaned and vulnerable children in Dwaleni is the power of the hands and feet He gave us coming together to provide.

God was at the drawing board- dreaming, speaking and breathing us into His most precious and prized piece of creation. He didn’t plan on some people having enough and some people having not enough. We have enough to make miracles.

The power in the Body of Christ coming together the way it was intended IS a miracle.

I’m trying to live a life worthy of the calling and to do my job well here – so I was planning on writing this blog about fundraising for a car. But, even without a seatbelt to call my own, God is giving me a seatbelt check.

The volunteers at the feeding were doing their job and living fully for the Kingdom yesterday. The kids were doing their job and living fully for the Kingdom yesterday.

Today my job is to respond with words and tell you about the miracle of provision He has set the table for…

You are the hands.

photo by Carly B

You are the feet.

photo by Carly B

 You are the back.

photo by Carly B

 You are the arms.

 You are the lips.

We are the Body of Christ.

When we all bring what we have to the table, there is enough.

What are you bringing?

It only costs $5 to feed a child for a month.

It only costs $500 to provide for a weekly feeding program for a month.

We are praying for a fence around the yard for their protection and provision for a playground to make a space for them to act like children and for an increase in food supply weekly.

Pray for Dwaleni.

Tell your friends, family, coworkers, church groups and neighbors.

Sponsor a child for a month.

Sponsor a feeding for a month.

Come meet the children and extend God’s love tangibly.

Build a fence.

Build a playground.

I hope this is a seatbelt check. And you’ll ask God how to respond.

Let’s make a miracle.  

Deserts and Daily Bread

I LOVE worshipping with my American church family, Bay Area Community Church in League City, Texas. Singing familiar songs, in a familiar language, with familiar faces. Mmmhmmm.

The words felt different this past Sunday, though. Instead of giddy, giggling, overflowing worship in the back with my friends, I found a corner and felt it so differently.

As I held my arms up and sang, "I will follow you..." I didn't feel bowed up, like a soldier in armor going to battle. I didn't feel a surge of powerful jubilation or enthusiasm in following my God.

I felt a lot more like an Israelite in the desert, somewhere in the smoldering, confusing and undefinable abyss between slavery under the law and the Promised Land. (For all the details, check out Exodus. They start walking at the end of chapter 12.)

You see, the Israelites didn't have a map or a timeline or a planner. They started in Egypt, so you'd think they would have been accustomed to "African time", but we're talking 40 years of hiking through a desert to a place we've never known and having no tangible proof of its existence.

If you've never heard the story, brace yourself. Not only were they following an insecure, stuttering guy with a recent identity crisis, but their guide was a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (not kidding, see Exodus 13:17-22). When the cloud moved, they moved. When it stopped they stopped. Every day they woke up to morning shower of just enough food for that day (Exodus 16-17:7).

Tomorrow would bring what tomorrow would bring - new food and cloud chasing.

When they said, "I will follow you..." from that desert, I bet it felt different too.

Hard to swallow. Uncomfortable. Sometimes even angry.

I get that it's a beautiful image and makes for great Sunday School crafts. The very best of Lifetime movie marathons couldn't come close to the power and emotion in this story.

But when you actually live in that desert...
When you're following a cloud zig-zagging between the place that was hard to live in but at least made sense and the place you were created for but you've never known...
When you wake up each morning hoping for your daily bread...
When that tent starts to feel small and your feet have blisters....

"I will follow you..." feels different.

As different as it felt this Sunday, I think I meant it more than ever. Not because I'm oozing with extra holiness or because I just got my halo shined. (Trust me, I'm experiencing more excess in queso than holiness... and I don't think they even make halos in my size.)

I meant it more than ever because I have no other choice.

I have no idea what I'm doing.
I have no idea what life is going to look like when I get back to Africa on February 9th.
I have no idea where Lifa is or what God has planned for us. Or how to do that.
I have no idea how to be a visitor to my home country and go home to a foreign country.
I have no idea where my daily bread is going to come from.

But there is a lot to be confident about in this faith based on what we can't see. There are promises, miracles, provision and the very thickness of His Presence.

And then there's my story. 
Undeserved grace flowing through immeasurable depth in relationships. 
A front row seat to the unveiling of God's glory in families all around the world and coming back for Christmas with the families who taught it all to me, sent me off, and then welcomed me home with even more love than before. 
People joining in a movement together as a body and as a family. 

So, Jesus, "I will follow you..."
You write stories so much better than I do.

And to you, my Home people, reading this and knowing me in this journey...
Will you pray for me? He didn't send one Israelite on the journey. He sent the whole family. He didn't even make Moses lead alone. His brother came alongside him.

As we sing together, "I will follow you..." will you pray for what that is supposed to look like on the rest of my Stateside journey? I have one month to follow Him through America, sharing stories and getting prepared for the upcoming year in Africa. I'm asking you to share stories with me and pray for a support team, or a family, to step up and help me financially on this journey. I have no idea how to do this and need your prayers.

And I'm praying with you that you find the parts in your daily life that feel different because you really mean them. Where in your journey do you FEEL it when you say, "I will follow you..." We are all called to be on this journey. We were all designed for the ultimate Promised Land. We're gonna have an awesome party when we get there!

In the meantime, pray for me and I'll pray for you. We'll follow him together. Our deserts and daily bread  probably look different. But let's keep looking for the Promised Land.

well, well, well....

Soundtrack: New Kids on the Block Christmas album (Don't judge... just try to have a Funky, Funky Christmas.)

Disclaimer: There's no Thanksgiving in S Africa and our ministry goes on break for December, so we're going into Christmas mode now!

I know what you're thinking: Don't worry, we are having a Thanksgiving feast on base! Roasted chicken... with all the traditional American Thanksgiving fixin's!

And we're back...
Saturday we are inviting the local volunteers that give hours of their time every week to prepare meals and pour into the children at the 5 weekly feeding programs we participate with. We're inviting volunteers from all three communities to come to be honored with a special meal and first-class treatment.


I've been really feeling God pushing me to do things well for His glory lately. I want to love well and serve well. I want to be intentional about what I'm doing.



Jesus was intentional about everything He did - to the point of dying on a cross for the most redeemingly painful display of loving and serving well. 

So I am praying that we can serve and love the volunteers well. And that I can learn from them - who already love and serve well - how to be more like Jesus. Pray with us that they will feel honored, loved, known and delighted in. Pray that they'll feel recognized for their selflessness and abounding love.

We took some extra steps today in our staff meeting to be creative and to get into the mindset of loving and serving well.

Made from scratch! I'm not gonna lie... I'm thrilled with myself.

Raising money for the Volunteer Christmas Celebration. Using ornaments to make pledges.

Putting the extra time in to set our focus, hearts and tones on living by His standards was so worth it this morning. As the holiday season gets going and our heads are being turned in a bajillion different directions, let's take a moment to refocus ourselves on what the hubbub is all about. A little baby boy who came and did a lot more than google gingerbread recipes and break out the glitter and glue sticks to love well and serve well. It's worth it.

I know fires. Part IV

I know fires.

I know what it’s like to remember – two years later – something else you don’t have anymore and you can’t replace.

I know what it’s like to not have the things you once thought represented who you are and where you’ve come from.

But I also know what it’s like to have a community of support made of people with more than enough – an abundance of love and stuff. We slept in spare bedrooms and on palettes made of extra bedding, slightly worn-in and pushed aside for a new look. I know what it’s like to have insurance so you know you’re not starting over from scratch.

I don’t know fires in Africa.

I don’t know what it’s like to be the twin who started the flame that burnt every tangible memory and possession of a family to a pile of ashes. 

I don’t know what it’s like to have nothing and to have no plan for something. 

I know two of the most incredible boys I’ve ever met.

I don’t know how to communicate to them through language, but we know we’re family and we love each other.

I know the two 13 year-old men in an extended family of nine who work harder than any 13 year-old in America would even know how to – with a smile, with dancing eyes and occasionally with full-on dance parties. They love life, from the babies they can’t stop carrying around and kissing, to the passion and pride they have in gardening and growing everything from beautiful flowers they pick for me to vegetables to sustain their family.

Digging trash pit at GoGo's

Part boy. Part ninja. They even make hard work fun!

Samkelo lit the match.

Everything was lost, including the money and materials their mother had saved up to finish building a half-constructed house for the family of three.

Samkelo was angry, disruptive and almost too much to handle. Bongani was broken-hearted and had empty eyes. Their mom, Sharon, looked like she wanted to be invisible.

The entire family carried sorrow in the deepest parts of them through a culture that doesn’t make room and a lifestyle that doesn’t know how to express it. 

Lifa and Tstepiso – for the first time ever – smelled like trash and were playing with trash. The twins stayed outside.

I held Sharon’s hand and, even when every face in the room remained expressionless, I talked. I told her how much I hurt to see my family experiencing loss. I told her about when I lost a home to a fire and how much it hurt. I just kept talking. I talked about what Home means to us, the ways God provides beyond the physical needs, and that she was not alone in any way.

She doesn’t even understand English very well. No one said much. Not even their eyes said much. But the more I talked, the tighter Sharon squeezed my hand. She felt the little bit of love and the little bit of Home I could offer that day. 

The boys, who, keep in mind, are still 13 year-old boys, usually at least try to duck and hide from my crazy-aunt kisses and hugs. On that day, Samkelo held my hand all the way back from church. And they both let me hold them and hug them and speak love into them. They needed it. They were like dried-out sponges.

That evening, we went with Pastor Sthembiso to see where their tiny shack had stood. It was only an outline on the dirt with some melted, morphed wire framing from what had been minimal furniture cast aside. She held my hand tight again. I held Sharon and her sister and prayed Home in the most powerful and providing sense of the word over them in that place in that moment. John and Sthembiso talked details, making a plan of action to take care of my family. I held hands and talked provision.

Then we saw what looked like a pile of tin. Upon closer look, we saw it was a homemade fence protecting the most beautiful vegetable garden. A carefully tended patch of vibrance. Life amongst what looked like – and felt like – death. The boys’ handiwork. Their aunt gushed with pride over the twins and the ways they cared for the garden with such joy and the diligence in which they did everything.

I felt a surge of relief to hear the boys being celebrated, when, so easily in this culture, they could have become the black sheep of the family. I couldn’t bear the thought of Samkelo carrying around the label “the twin who ruined everything” for the rest of his life. I couldn’t stand the thought of even the slightest flicker of life leaving either one of their eyes.

Hearing the aunt talk about them over their garden, I knew God had given this family a special gift. Thinking back on it now, I shouldn’t have been so worried. This family loves so well – they love me completely and as their own. In this small patch of red dirt – the community of Mbonisweni, you have to focus on the present and every person uses every bit of energy to maintain daily life. But God has written somewhere in this family that His love prevails beyond today. Without a single possession to their name, this family was celebrating the life in the garden instead of the pile of ashes beside it.

Please pray with us for finances to restore a sense of safety and a tangible sense of home to the boys and Sharon. We have received a donation to continue working on their home and are so grateful for that. I’m praying for more home for them. They’re my people. I’m praying for beds, furniture, an oven, a couch, curtains, and all the things that we don’t even realize we’re missing on a daily basis. If you are interested in joining in bringing Home to my family, feel free to email me at kacychaffin@gmail.com

Thank you for doing this with us. 

Learning The Hard Way

I"m painfully uncomfortable asking for help. It's a weakness God's working on in my by putting me in situations where I have no other choice.

He's showing me that if we live as though we don't need anyone else, we're living by the world's standards. And who really wants to exist in a place where we don't need each other? That's a world without relationships. That's a world without God.

So, I'm learning.

I cannot drive here and have no transport on my own - so I have to ask for help.
I cannot speak the local language in communities - so I have to ask for help.
And I cannot live out the work I've been called to do here independently - so I have to ask for help.

I was good at supporting myself, living by myself and taking care of myself in America. But there was a loneliness in it that I couldn't shake.

Needless to say, things have changed! Now I have no means of supporting myself, live in community and depend on others to help me get around. (I'm pretty sure my mom is cringing right now as she reads - Hi Rosa!)

Gut-check.
Culture-check.
Truth-check.

God's shaking me up, pruning off the branches that aren't bearing fruit (John 15) and giving me perspective about what the body of Christ really looks like. My feet have landed here in South Africa. But He has assured me that He will send hearts and hands to keep me from falling. He's reminding me that people all over the world care about the orphan crisis, but were made to care in differnet ways than me. He's teaching me that needing others is inviting them into watching Him work first-hand and into being a part of His Kingdom. Missionaries live all over the world and have all kinds of differnet jobs and realities.

I need your help. Let us not live in a culture of independence, but in a Kingdom culture, recognizing we need one another and we need God's grace.

I'm officially starting support-raising, seeking monthly and one-time donations so sustain me as I live in White River, Mpumalanga, South Africa and work with Ten Thousand Homes. I've reorganized my blog to be information-friendly regarding support-raising and sent out more information via email. I will be traveling to the States for Christmas holidays and would love to speak with churches, small groups and have coffee dates with anyone interested in what I'm doing here.

Please help spread the word.
Thank you to those who have encouraged me in my insecurities and fears. Please keep praying with me that I embrace this Kingdom culture rather than running back toward independence. Also, please pray for provision and that God will move in the hearts of His children to support me and know me through this process.

If you'd like more info, please feel free to email me at kacychaffin@gmail.com

Naps and News

I’ve held sleeping babies all day today.


Every time I go to Mbonisweni, one of the communities Ten Thousand Homes works in, I walk straight to my family’s house- the family I stayed with for 5 days in March during our community stay. After lots of greetings, hugs, kisses, and usually GoGo (grandma) giving me some fruit, I typically help the youngest boys, Tepiso and Lifa get dressed and take them to church with me. The rest of the family comes when they are finished with chores.

Nothing makes me happier than walking down that dirt road with Tepiso on one side and Lifa on the other. (If you haven’t heard, I am completely in love with 2-year old Lifa. He lives at Tepiso’s house because he doesn’t have parents to care for him. And I’m pretty sure that once Tepiso’s cousin told me in Swati that I could keep Lifa.)

Today, I held baby Fiona while Tepiso’s mom took a shower, and as soon as she was in my arms, she was asleep. Later, at church, as soon as I sat down with Lifa on my lap he was sleeping, and when I looked at Tepiso sitting next to me, his little head was bobbing up and down until he finally laid on what lap I had left.

I listened to the other children sing while I watched Lifa sleep, and thought about how amazing it is that these kids long so much for safe and loving arms to rest in.

Isn’t that what we all want?

When we’re little, we often deflect naps with every trick in the book. We sing and dance and fight with all the fight we’ve got to keep our eyes open. (If only we knew then how precious naps are as grown-ups!) We don’t want to miss a moment, and we certainly don’t want to lose the feeling of having control in a situation. We don’t admit to needing a nap and think we can handle it all by ourselves. Sometimes we refuse to surrender until a warm embrace swoops us up and we can’t resist giving in to that love that is so much bigger than us.

In the past few weeks, I’ve been fighting rest. I’ve sang and danced and entertained thoughts of exciting new ministry programs, life plans and adventures. I’ve fought against hearing God say what I thought He was going to say. You could even call it a full-blown temper tantrum which then led immediately to denial.

But as I watched Lifa today, I realized that this is how it’s supposed to be. Whenever Lifa sees me, he looks at me, longing for me to call to him and then crawls right into my lap and settles in to rest in the safety of loving arms. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around him, who’s there, or how long he’s been there. And he knows I’ll wake him up in time to get his meal.

It’s time for me to sit and get comfortable in God’s safe and loving arms. Time to do what He’s calling me to do rather than try to keep myself awake and in control.

I’ve decided to join staff at Ten Thousand Homes in South Africa. I’m not sure how long I will be here for, but I’m making this “home” now.

In the past weeks, God has reminded me of the vision He cast in me years ago, the passions He gave me and the ways He created me. (Another blog, another time.) He has shown me that I’ve been obedient in following Him, but I’ve become more comfortable in the song and dance part than the actual serving Him part.

It’s time to not be “on a mission trip” anymore, and it’s time to live as His obedient child- living life the way He’s taught me to amidst the orphan crisis. It’s making the Kingdom my culture wherever I am. And, right now, I am here.
I want to live with trust in the love that’s too big for me to see. I want to live with an open heart and a full lap.

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2Cor 4:18

I have no idea what this looks like yet or how to live it out, but I know it’s right. I am asking for your prayers though that I keep resting in Him and not struggle to keep control. I’m trying to adjust to living in a new culture, doing a new kind of work, and living a new lifestyle. I didn’t plan to come to Africa in January and not MOVE back to the States. On some days, I’m completely freaked out and lonely. On others, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing. As of now, I plan on settling in here until November and then coming to the States for a holiday/fundraising trip.

Also, please pray for me in the details. I will be seeking monthly support now, applying for a visa, and nesting on the opposite side of the world from all my family and friends. I don’t know how to do any of this stuff. (And I welcome your suggestions.)

I plan on blogging through this process because, like I’ve said over and over and over again, you are such an important part of what Home is to me. In my relationship with you, I feel valuable and loved and like I belong. You are a part of how I experienced the very love that compels me to be here. It’s important for me to stay connected to you. Please keep in touch and keep sharing your life stories with me.

And, you are always welcome to visit my new place. ;)

Christmas Love

Merry Christmas!

I hope your Christmas is full of joy, peace and love! I have felt like it's Christmas for the last 3 months of fundraising and planning as people have given selflessly and offered incredible, endless encouragement. Thank you for offering the love of Christ so abundantly day-in and day-out. I can't imagine what lies ahead as I prepare to leave in less than 3 weeks!

For a very special Christmas gift this year, some generous hearts have donated bricks in people's names as Christmas gifts. It only takes 1,000 bricks to build a house to create "Home" for 3 - 5 orphaned children. Giving them a Home, or a place to belong and to be known, is part of the effort of Ten Thousand Homes to end the orphan crisis in South Africa. With your brick donation, you are helping to end the orphan crisis. Thank you for bringing Home to orphans.

A special thank you to:
- my NaNa
- Larissa and Derek Lee
- LK Wolfe
- Elcie Schedule
- Arispe Family
- Prevou Family
- Lucas Collins
- Lori Bryce
- Kate Cantu
- Granny Sharon

Be blessed this holiday season as the gift in your name has blessed "the least of these".

Record breaking temperatures and blessings

My toes have finally warmed up and I still haven't stopped smiling.

This weekend my thoughts, emotions and body temperature were ALL over the place. My good friend, Loryn, and I started planning a photo fundraiser over a month ago. Loryn is a gifted photographer and offered her time and talent for 30 min photo sessions for a $50 donation toward my trip. We planned for Friday, December 5th and crossed our fingers and said our prayers that it wouldn't rain because there was no back-up weather plan.

And then, Friday, Dec 4th it SNOWED IN TEXAS! I may have refered to it as a blizzard, even though not even one flake stuck on the ground. But, COME ON... SNOW! Needless to say, we got nervous. Loryn was driving in from San Antonio... in the blizzard.

Before we went to sleep Friday night, Loryn and I prayed that God would send His provision, His sunlight, His people, and that every detail would be taken care of in the name of His Glory.Prayers and prayers and prayers prompted us to press on.

So, we woke up Saturday morning, put on 3 of everything, defrosted the car, boiled gallons of water for hot chocolate, and set out at 7:15am in the 35 degree weather to see if any of the 13 families who signed up would come.

THEY CAME! And so did the sun! During 10 hours of posing, snapping pictures and jumping out of bushes with a tambourine to elicit a smile (that was my job), Loryn and I had the privilege of watching God's glory being revealed bigger and more beautiful with every hour that went by. Each detail was covered. And, trust me, there were A LOT of details.

Thank you, first and foremost, Loryn, for your servant-heart and for using your giftings for the glory of God. I pray you will be blessed ten-fold.

And thank you to the friends and families who braved the cold for a good cause! I hope you enjoy your photos and find warmth in the Truth that you gave your time and treasure toward the Kingdom this weekend. With your help, we raised $1782!

Check out Loryn's blog for a preview of the photos. They look awesome!

Also, thank you for those of you who've been praying for me financially. As I shared last week, I've been praying for $1000/week. Last week, by Wednesday, the Lord provided $1044 in addition to the $1728 at the photo fundraiser. No matter how big we dream, God is always bigger. I love serving a God I could never put a limit on.

Please join me in prayer for the next fundraiser, and let me know if you want to come. It's going to be FUN!

MYSTERY DINNER THEATER

Sunday, Dec. 13th at 6pm
Chabuca's in Webster, TX

Tickets are $30/person for a 3-course meal and an interactive mystery show. It's going to be a blast and all proceeds go toward bringing Homes and Hope to orphans and vulnerable children.

RSVP now! Kacychaffin@gmail.com

The photo fundraiser set-up:

The Harveys were the bravest, coldest bunch. They came for an hour photo session at 8am!

Loryn and the Oberts

Plane Tickets, Paper Chains and Prayers, OH MY

There's a date. There's a time. There's a TICKET!

I'm excited, anxious, elated, nervous, delighted and so, so pleased to announce that I will be leaving for South Africa in 43 days!

January 12, 2010 at 6:25pm from IAH? Who wants to have a party?

Thank you to those of you who have supported me financially and prayerfully this far. The ticket (one-way) was purchased today, and now it's all about the paper-chain countdown.

I LOVE making paper-chains. It's something to celebrate everyday, something to remind you to pray every night, and something to remind you to cherish every moment instead of letting them sneak by. Check out Macie and the paper chain below!

I had a wonderful week of vacation and now am looking at my last two weeks of work, orchestrating fundraising events and speaking at life groups. Everything in sight is good, but sometimes it seems there is sooooo much in sight. I've been overcome this week with "to-do's" and stressors, anxious about fundraising, and feeling like there was too much going on all the way around me.

Then Jesus whispered.

"Stop managing and start worshipping."

So I sat down with Him today and gave it all back. The details. The concerns. The projects. And I worshipped.

He is good. He is a Sovereign and Mighty Provider and Protector. More than enough. More than I could ever fathom.

Please join me this week in prayer for financial support for my travels to South Africa.

I'm praying for $1,000 a week from here on out. I BELIEVE.

Will you pray expectantly?

Say Cheeeeeeeeeese!

Ladies and Gentleman, Step Right Up...Get 'Em While They're HOT!

One Day and One Day Only!

There is a great opportunity for me, for you, and for the orphans I'll be traveling to serve THIS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5th in League City!

An incredibly loving and servant-hearted friend and photographer, Loryn, is coming in from San Antonio to offer her gift of photography to you as a fundraiser toward bringing homes and hope to HIV/AIDS orphans.

Go  to Loryn's blog at http://www.lnwgallery.blogspot.com/ and comment on her recent post, "5 More Spots" to sign up for a 30-min time slot.

Loryn is offering a 30-min photo session at Helen's Garden in League City, TX on Saturday, Dec 5th. Family Christmas cards, engagement pics, senior portraits, you name it, she will rock it! For a minimum $50 donation, Loryn will provide a 30-min photo session and provide you with a CD that day of all images and full printing rights.

It's a great deal for a great cause!

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

Please continue to join me in prayer for fundraising. God Will Provide! Pray that we are obedient stewards of the resources He's given us to make His will be done.  Thank you!

Time and Treasures and Talents, Oh My!

It's a good thing I like talking.

I've had so many incredible and often surprising opportunities to share with people about going to Africa in the past week. I've stared visiting the life groups of my church, Bay Area Community Church, this week to invite my community to join with me. I have been encouraged and supported in unique ways by each group. Thank you!

In sharing about my heart for this trip, I often talk about my "God box" - how it's so easy for me to try to coneptualize God or try to understand Him from within the box or the compartment I keep Him in. When I traveled to Kenya in 2007, however, the bottom of that box fell out. I was taken back by how BIG God is. I know we sing about it in worship, high-five about it in youth group, and AMEN about it in church... but, I'm talking a BIG, BIG GOD. A God so big that all you can understand is that He is Good. He is Love. And He is SO BIG that all we can really wrap our heads around is He's too big for a box and much too big to wrap our heads around.

An unfathomable good, an unfathomable love, an immeasurable creator that is so completely captivated by the smallest details of your daily life and what makes you you.

While preparing to share with my church members about traveling to Africa, I met with Pastor Steven Yoes to share my heart for the church joining with me for this trip. He responded with a phrase that has resounded in me ever since. He passionately committed to walking with me in this calling and called the church to join with their "time, treasures and talents".

Hmm.

I automatically thought of prayer, blog-checking and such for time, and financial support and brick-buying for treasures... but talents?

Get ready for it. Because the talents are a-flowin'!

I have been awe-struck this week by the ways people have offered support by lending me their talents. God is pulling out all the stops here, people. And we have one creative Savior! I love the ways He has created His body.

A few examples: Bud and Ashley from church have suggested hosting a Mystery Dinner Theater as a fundraiser. (How cool is that?) And Loryn has offered her incredible gift of photography as a gift to families interested in taking Christmas pictures, offering all proceeds to go toward our Africa fund. (YAY!) And a co-worker, Carey, is creating a space for Ten Thousand Homes at her wedding (YES, her wedding!) by making a donation toward my trip in lieu of wedding favors and distributing my blog information.

As His works are coming to fruition, I feel my heart overflowing with gratitude. I was just thinking about the depth and breadth of how this process of sharing, fundraising, and praying together has been such a direct reflection of Christ in my life. I go around talking about bringing Home and Hope - loving, knowing and supporting God's children. And I have never felt more loved, known and supported.

Thank you just isn't big enough to communicate my gratitude. My prayer is that you experience ten-fold the love, support, care, encouragement and hope you have blessed me with.

To-Do or Not-To-Do...

What a busy week! I've been finding myself getting all swirly and lost in the details of how to raise support and share about Africa WHILE trying to figure out the details about moving out and moving on. What furniture goes where, when to meet with who, how to get this to there... You know the drill.

If I made a list, I think there would be at least 438 things to-do on it.

I also have felt a lull in what has been nothing but an exciting ride thus far. God has moved in so many incredible ways toward directing my path to South Africa that I've stayed on an adrenaline-powered spiritual roller coaster. The to-do's slowed me down, along with feeling the burden of a short amount of time and a lot of money to raise. This week I felt some discouragement by family members worried my fundraising being an inconvenience or a burden. I realized it was really starting to get to me and infiltrate my heart despite being so so so sure that God is my Provider.

I saw down with full intentions of pouting with Jesus this morning. And boy did I pout. I worried, wondered, and worshiped. (Thank you Fall Back for an extra hour to make all of these W's possible.)

I told Him I was completely overwhelmed. I was worried I had been reduced to being inconsiderate and childishin the eyes of the family members I look up to and care about the most. It was weighing so heavily on me.

He reminded me that, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." (Mark 6:4) Jesus understood. I was talking to the right guy.

I certainly don't belong on the same page as Jesus and don't necessarily command a lot of honor, but Jesus understands not being understood. And He went there anyway... all the way to the cross.

When I was coming out of church, I received a text message telling me someone was going to buy me a video camera... And then someone gave me 100 stamps for support letters and told me she'd provide all the stamps I need for support letters. I felt like God was meeting me in the overwhelmed and telling me He is SO GOOD and SO BIG, He's already working on the details.

I'm astounded in His presence.

I would still like to ask for your prayers for financial provision. I am raising $9000 for my trip in January. So far, I have $360. Please pray that there is ample time to get the word out, bless people by doing so, and raise an abundance in funds.

Thank you so much. God bless you.

I believe...

I believe that God loves us profoundly. Indescribably.

I believe He knows us personally. Our names. Our hearts.

I believe that Jesus came and died on a cross so that we could have intimate communion with God. So that He could touch us, speak to us and live through us.

I believe that we all need Home - a place we are known and loved. Our HOME is the Kingdom of God, and while we are here, it's our job to bring the Kingdom to one another. Jesus calls us to care for the widows, orphans and those who've never experienced a Home in Christ.

God is calling me to extend Home to those who don't have one – specifically, orphans.

I'm going to South Africa with Youth With A Mission (YWAM) to participate in a Discipleship Training School (DTS). I will be staying at YWAM's South African base, Ten Thousand Homes, where they are living out Jesus' proclamation by bringing homes and hope to HIV/AIDS orphans. After 3 months of DTS, my team and I will travel to another African country for outreach for 2 months.

I believe God’s heart is for the American church to join this mighty Kingdom work. Will you pray for the Homes of the orphans and Africans I will encounter, as well as follow me prayerfully on my blog? I appreciate your prayers for the details of the trip as well, as I am just beginning raising support, will be moving out of my apartment in a few weeks and arranging all the details for the journey ahead.

I will be raising $9000 for 8 months of traveling, training and ministry, as well as money to build a house for a family unit to give Home to a few orphaned children. It only takes 1000 bricks to build a house for 4 - and it only costs $3/brick!

My church, Bay Area Community Church in League City, TX, is sending a team to join me in July to put their hands and feet into His work, and build the house we raise. I believe God has already started working in us as a body to turn our hearts toward the Kingdom together.

I feel like I have a front row seat into a big, big work God is doing and I'm honored to be a part of it. I believe this is our mission, and that we can join together for the good of Africa's orphans and for the glory of the Kingdom.