Guest Blogger: Ask 5 for 5

Guest Blogger: Sarah Lenssen from #Ask5for5

Family photos by Mike Fiechtner Photography

Thank you, The Oasis, and nearly 150 other bloggers from around the world for allowing me to share a story with you today, during Social Media Week.

A hungry child in East Africa can't wait.  Her hunger consumes her while we decide if we'll respond and save her life.  In Somalia, children are stumbling along for days, even weeks, on dangerous roads and with empty stomachs in search of food and water.  Their crops failed for the third year in a row.  All their animals died.  They lost everything.  Thousands are dying along the road before they find help in refugee camps. 

At my house, when my three children are hungry, they wait minutes for food, maybe an hour if dinner is approaching.  Children affected by the food crisis in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia aren't so lucky.  Did you know that the worst drought in 60 years is ravaging whole countries right now, as you read this?  Famine, a term not used lightly, has been declared in Somalia.  This is the world's first famine in 20 years. 

12.4 million people are in need of emergency assistance and over 29,000 children have died in the last three months alone.  A child is dying every 5 minutes.  It it estimated that 750,000 people could die before this famine is over.  Take a moment and let that settle in.

The media plays a major role in disasters.  They have the power to draw the attention of society to respond--or not.  Unfortunately, this horrific disaster has become merely a footnote in most national media outlets.  News of the U.S. national debt squabble and the latest celebrity's baby bump dominate headlines. 

That is why I am thrilled that nearly 150 bloggers from all over the world are joining together today to use the power of social media to make their own headlines; to share the urgent need of the almost forgotten with their blog readers.  Humans have the capacity to care deeply for those who are suffering, but in a situation like this when the numbers are too huge to grasp and the people so far away, we often feel like the little we can do will be a drop in the ocean, and don't do anything at all.

 

When news of the famine first hit the news in late July, I selfishly avoided it.  I didn't want to read about it or hear about it because I knew I would feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable.  I wanted to protect myself.  I knew I would need to do something if I knew what was really happening.  

You see, this food crisis is personal.  I have a 4-year-old son and a 1 yr-old daughter who were adopted from Ethiopia and born in regions now affected by the drought.  If my children still lived in their home villages, they would be two of the 12.4 million.  My children: extremely hungry and malnourished?  Gulp.

I think any one of us would do anything we could for our hungry child.  But would you do something for

another mother's hungry child?

My friend and World Vision staffer, Jon Warren, was recently in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya--the largest refugee camp in the world with over 400,000 people.  He told me the story of Isnino Siyat, 22, a mother who walked for 10 days and nights with her husband, 1 yr-old-baby, Suleiman, and 4 yr.-old son Adan Hussein, fleeing the drought in Somalia.  When she arrived at Dadaab, she built the family a shelter with borrowed materials while carrying her baby on her back. Even her dress is borrowed.  As she sat in the shelter on her second night in camp she told Jon, "I left because of hunger. It is a very horrible drought which finished both our livestock and our farm." The family lost their 5 cows and 10 goats one by one over 3 months, as grazing lands dried up.  "We don't have enough food now...our food is finished.  I am really worried about the future of my children and myself if the situation continues."


 

Will you help a child like Baby Suleiman?
Ask5for5 is a dream built upon the belief that you will.
 The concept is simple, give $5 and ask five of your friends to give $5, and then they each ask five of their friends to give $5 and so on--in nine generations of 5x5x5...we could raise $2.4 Million!  In one month, over 750 people have donated over $25,000!  I set up a fundraiser at See Your Impact and 100% of the funds will go to World Vision, an organization that has been fighting hunger in the Horn of Africa for decades and will continue long after this famine has ended.
Donations can multiply up to 5 times in impact by government grants to help provide emergency food, clean water, agricultural support, healthcare, and other vital assistance to children and families suffering in the Horn.

I need you to help me save lives.  It's so so simple; here's what you need to do:

1. Donate $5 or more on this page (http://seeyourimpact.org/members/ask5for5)
2. Send an email to your friends and ask them to join us.
3. Share #Ask5for5 on Facebook and Twitter!

I'm looking for another 100 bloggers to share this post on their blogs throughout Social Media Week.  Email me at ask5for5@gmail.com if you're interested in participating this week.

A hungry child doesn't wait.  She doesn't wait for us to finish the other things on our to-do list, or get to it next month when we might have a little more money to give.  She doesn't wait for us to decide if she's important enough to deserve a response.  She will only wait as long as her weakened little body will hold on...please respond now and help save her life.  Ask 5 for 5.

Thank you on behalf of all of those who will be helped. 

You are saving lives and changing history.

- Sarah
________________________________

Thank you to my guest blogger, Sarah.

Thank you to all of you who
read every word and take action. 
You are my heroes.

Missy

...as it is in Heaven

A dear friend of mine married a gorgeous, single Christian mommy.  From what I know of her, he hit the jackpot.  She leads her children to trust blindly, even at a young age.  This mommy had one daughter when they got married; now they have a total of three children together.

When adoption was just a tiny seed in my heart, my friend shared this with me:

 "If you ever wonder, God is more than capable of allowing you to love someone else's child as much as your own. I'm experiencing that now with my step-daughter and our other two children.
I seriously forget sometimes that I'm not her biological dad. I think it's neat." 

My friend is loving his daughter like God loves us. 
Not by acceptance. By total amnesia.  God wipes us clean and FORGETS that we were ever not His.

When you adopt internationally, you get a "referral picture" of the prospective child that the agency has matched you with, and you get to say "yes" or "no". 

The pictures I have seen from other parents are rough.  They are pictures of sick, dirty, confused children.  Parents who have adopted remind me of their child's referral picture in comparison with the "now". 

They say things like: 

"It was so sad, he had bruises on his head." 

Or "Her eyes looked dead." 

When God thinks of His adopted children,
He can't even access our "referral picture". 
After He cleans us and forgives us, He burns that picture. 

He doesn't even remember it.  

 

Thank you to the fathers on this earth

who mirror the love of our Father in Heaven.

Thank you to my Heavenly Father,
for burning MY picture
and placing an eternal crown
on my undeserving head.

All Fall Down

For a while now, my dreams have been of paperwork and notaries.  Every night.  This was one of many reasons why I was so grateful to turn over the paperwork and start the wait. 

I've been having a new dream: 
A tiny bright light in the distance, beaming with an intensity that pulses like a heartbeat.  It's beautiful.





But there are thoughts you have in the darkness that no one prepares you for.

Right now, adoption is literally under attack.  There is much concern about trafficking and adoption abuse.  When you begin the adoption journey, these facts hit you in the face and chase you in the night.

What if my child could have remained with their parents for a few dollars a month?  What if there is a mother crying in the night for the child she just gave up due to poverty? 

It's enough to make you quit.  Or take the entire adoption loan and donate it to a mother, or a family, or a village.

Dr. Jane Aronson responded to the recent adoption concerns in the Huffington Post yesterday:  "Why did we create such a marvelous bureaucracy to improve international adoption practices and not pour some of that money into the welfare of mothers in these countries?" 

The reality is that if we feed the mothers, we feed the children.  If we educate the mothers, we save the children.  If we give parents access to antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS, lives are saved and families remain intact.

I have noticed that parents of internationally adopted children naturally fall into a common stream of charities or causes.  You would think it would be "Adopt!  We did it!  It's great!"  It is; but it's not.  The causes are AIDS, poverty, and clean water.  It is a natural progression to care for these things when you care for a child affected by AIDS, poverty, and famine.  Promoting these issues are promoting orphan care. 

There is a major dilemna that we all must face as Christians at some point.  As Americans, we are ALL wealthy in comparison to the rest of this world.  As Americans, we are known to the rest of this world as a "Christian nation". 

Americans give to the hungry at a low percentage of their GNP (gross national product) in comparison to other nations.  What are we, as individual wealthy Christian Americans, telling the poverty-stricken world around us about Jesus Christ?  What are we telling the world about the Gospels? 

We are NOT the widow giving up her two coins. 

We are the rich, making a big show of our tiny gifts. 

Our adoption is not fixing any large problem.  It is just an act of obedience.  You may not feel called to adopt, but I will tell you that you can still do something to impact the orphan crisis in a huge way...you can sponsor a child.  You can be an active voice for the hungry and the poor, putting action behind your voice.  You can be aware that "if you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than seventy five percent of the people in the world." 

We can raise our children to understand that our wealth is determined by what we give to Jesus, not what we keep for ourselves.  We can give until it hurts; the essense of "sacrificial giving".  It's a lesson that I think I will have to spend the rest of my life learning, as I struggle to un-learn the American Dream and realign myself with the words of Jesus Christ. 

When I get caught up in the ethics of adoption, I remember the waiting children in the videos.  Waiting in cribs that are lined up like kennels.  Waiting in beds lined with chicken wire, crying for their loss of everything, waiting for us to figure out what to do with them, while we argue over pie charts about how to do it.

Paul and I have been called to carry one of these children, maybe more than one, as our own.  I don't know why.  I don't have to.  It's just The Plan.  What happens after that point will be our mission and responsibility for the rest of our lives; to care for and promote that child's country, to bring to the attention of other Christians the poverty and disease that is swallowing children and people whole.  I am grateful for this burden.

Thank you, Lord.

For breaking my heart.

No Greater Love

 

A friend is someone who is happy to see you

who will hold your hand on the long journey

A friend cheers you on in the small things

....they bring you back to the flock when you accidentally wander too far.

A friend is someone to break bread with

And someone to pray with

A friend celebrates your new life.

They make you brave.

A friend stands beside you when you face the wilderness.

Thank you for being my friends.

You know who you are.

"I thank my God every time I remember you."

- Philippians 1:3

I'm Gonna Be Your Friend

                   

This is happening right now.

Please share this video.  With everyone.

 

Missy

"He's From Ethiopia"

*****

Enkutatash 2012!  

Post from one year ago today...pre-referral by only a few days.  What a year it has been!

*****

Lunch with our friends from the movie theater
was a success.



We met our new friends at a

local authentic Ethiopian restaurant.

It was authentic.  No silverware.

The kids got along instantly.

Isaac and Emma Grace taught Lilly that the
"pancakes" were actually "injera". 

 

Daisy was a good sport.  She tried "injera" and "kik alicha".

The waitress insisted that this was "perfect for babies".  When Daisy tried it,

the waitress declared that Daisy was "very smart".

Then Daisy finished her Uncrustable.

Jesus was there.

At our table, and on the walls.

The kids made good use of the stage

and the ceremonial play area coffee area.

The guys were able to finish off most of the platters. 

And by "guys", I mean Issac.

Isaac paid the tab for his family.

It was a very cute moment.

Here's to new friends and family.

Enkutatash...

Happy Ethiopian New Years 2011!

(There aren't enough ways

to say "Thank You."

My cup overflows.....)

Buckle Up

One of our adoption loans fell through yesterday.

It was a tough day.  But there have been other tough days...

The day we told friends and family about our plan, the emotional support was overwhelming.  However, many asked,
"How do you KNOW that this is God's calling?" 

It got to me.  

I woke my oldest daughter from her nap and drove her to the dollar theater to see Pooh Bear, something I would never normally do. 

It was raining. 

Hurricane Irene was passing over our heads.

It started raining really hard on the drive over, and I just cried while I drove. 
I was really, really scared. 
What if we were wrong? 
What if we were outside of "The Plan"? 

I begged God for a sign, or at least some comfort.

Soaked from the rain and still wiping tears from my eyes, I purchased tickets at the booth.  I turned to find my daughter staring face to face with a little boy. 

She whispered just loud enough for me to hear, "Mommy, is this my brother?"

I quickly apologized to the little boy's Mommy, explaining the adoption. 

She said It's okay... 
He's from Ethiopia. 

I was speechless.  I went to the popcorn stand and the woman fell in line behind me again.  We exchanged numbers, and she invited us to join her family for the Ethiopian New Year's dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant in September. 

That day is today.

His rainbows are everywhere in our lives right now. 

We already built the boat.

Regarding the loan,  I want to share with you that it will be okay.  There is a better plan.  We are approved for a high interest loan via a Christian Credit Union, but I think there is a bigger plan in the works right now.  Our completed homestudy is set to be done this week, and at that point we may apply to several no-interest loans like Abba Fund.

I wanted to share with you once again that God Funds What He Favors. 
He has already given this family everything we need to believe that.  We are eligible for a $10,000 tax credit from the federal government, and an ADDITIONAL $6,000 from the state.  He has already made the provisions.  We just have to walk blindly towards that point. 

I got a few notes asking if this was the end. 
This is NOT the end. 
This is the beginning. 
This will teach us patience. 

If this small bump knocked us off the course, we would not make it through the trials that lie ahead either.  I am praying for friends right now who have a legally adopted child waiting for them in Ethiopia, and they cannot pick them up until the courts reopen from rainy season and paperwork debaucles are sorted out.  This is nothing.

People have asked me, "Now that you guys have made this announcement, what if you decide to back out of this?  What will you do?"

My husband and I have to laugh to ourselves.  We already have children in Africa.  We have not seen their faces, but this deal is already done.  To walk away now would break our hearts in the same manner it would if we left one of our biological children in Africa and returned home without them.  We are already parents to our unknown children.  We love them and yearn for them with a nonsensical passion. 

He's GOT this!

Paper Pregnancy

All of the symptoms are there. 

My adoption gurus had told me that there would be something like a pregnancy that takes over your brain during the dossier process. 
So true.  I can barely think straight. 

Why does this happen?  Because of this this..

Appeasing all of the governmental agencies with the required paperwork is
on par with natural childbirth.  I've now done both. 
I would be hard pressed to pick the fiercer competitor. 
One is fast and furious.  One is slow and painful. 

A particular piece of paper is causing a lot of problems.  USCIS requires backup documentation for the background check. 
For almost two weeks, I called every half hour.  It did not look good:

"Ma'am, what you are asking for does not exist.  It is impossible."

"Ma'am, you would be better off getting an audience with the governor and asking him to talk to my supervisor's supervisor. 
It would be faster than me getting that far."

"Ma'am, the Attorney General himself could come down here and tell us to provide that letter, and we still would not do it."

I was very nice.  I just kept asking for the next supervisor. 

A few times, I would hit a wall:

"Ma'am, I AM the supervisor."  (PopCopy, anyone?)

Late one afternoon, with low bloodsugar pumping, I just pressed random buttons on the automated prompter until I got an unknown person's voicemail.  I had no idea whose.

And I lost it. 

I was still very nice, but about halfway through explaining the request for the 300th time, I started to cry.  On a message machine. 

I hung up quickly and said a prayer.  I decided to take a break. 

The next morning, I was up before dawn. I examined my exhausted list of contacts at the clerks office and then settled in for more prayer.  I got low. 

I decided that today, God was going to help me.  He had already gotten me this far, and He has never abandoned me in my life.  I prepped myself for battle and ran 3 miles with Jennifer Knapp as loud as I could get her.

The phone rang early. 

A woman named Deborah called and explained that she was calling to solve my paperwork problem, and that she was going to personally handle the situation.  The impossible letter would be in the mail today.  Her voice was one of the kindest I had ever heard. 

She was the recipient of my sobbing phone call the day before. 
Somehow, I had randomly pressed the right buttons to get to
the actual Clerk of Court's Administrative Assistant.

God reminds me every day that these battles are not mine to fight.  He is doing all of the work, pressing all of the "random buttons".  I have to remember this.  Anyone who is adopting has to remember this.  It's a divine calling, and He's got this under control.

See you Tuesday!

I'll be taking another unplugged weekend.

(To smell the roses and such.)

Missy

Life of Brian

One of my favorite voices on the planet
(step aside, James Earl Jones, AKA Darth Vader)
has started a new personal blog ministry.

Brian Hardin is the voice of Daily Audio Bible. 
He is also a voice of comfort and encouragement for me throughout my day. 
Brian posted an amazing video of a Rwanda trip for his first
personal blog post.  I wanted to hijack my own posting today in order to redirect you to this blog to view the video and read Brian's words. 

From what I have been told by those who have gone, you will never see anything more "tragically beautiful" than the survival spirit of the children who live in Rwanda, a place where Hell has come to this earth in full force in recent past. 


Rwanda is a constant reminder to me that adoption is not the fix for the problems of war-torn or poverty-stricken Africa.  There is so much to be done.  Africa needs assistance, action, and change. 


Africa needs food.
They need drinkable water.
They need peace. 

If you want to help Rwanda today,
sponsor a child in Rwanda or consider another charity of your choice. 

If you want to help all of the famine-effected areas of Africa today, you can donate $10 and feed a child for 10 days
by texting "FOOD" to UNICEF. 

And pray!

For more on Daily Audio Bible, click here.

For Brian's Blog, visit http://www.brianhardin.com/.

Love Story

My eyes open this morning, and I am already late.  I stood God up for our quiet time together.  My feeble excuse is a 20-month old who has taken to crying all night long. 

I'll have to reschedule.  There are 3 mouths to feed;  Paul is home for Labor Day.  I drag myself down the stairs and give up before the day even starts. 

Paul invites me to go along on the morning walk, even though he knows he will have to wait for me to get dressed.  I go.

When we get home, I pull out a processed convenient box of pancake mix; a new addition to our breakfast repertoire thanks to the budget cuts and Mommy's suddenly stretched time.  Paul unloads the dishwasher without a word, and I stir the water into the mix with an attitude.

He makes the pancakes, the eggs, the sausage; and he insists on doing the dishes afterwards.  I grumble a thanks. 

I am looking for something to complain about today.  I can't find it yet.

After too much prodding on his part, Paul packs us all up to go to a random flower garden he found tucked away in the neighborhoods behind NC State back when he was in school.

We find it.

I am quiet and take the pictures. 

It's what I do now.

God reschedules, too.

He meets me in the garden.

The girls want to pick the flowers.



Daddy says:

"We can't pick these flowers.  Just smell."

The girls have favorites.

I break my silence to tell Paul that the

red roses are my favorite.

We head home. 

The flowers are not for picking.

Daddy picked one, anyway. 

Thank you for picking me,

even when I am less than delightful.

Thank you for knowing me so well.

I love you!