Voice Box

a whole in one

i'm not a golfer - i even avoid putt-putt, much to my wife's disappointment.  but the other day as i was meditating on the condition and circumstances facing millions of orphaned and poor children around the world, a phrase popped into my head - 'a whole in one.'  what we are working and praying and hoping for is that broken and disconnected people, especially children, will become 'a whole in one.'

at the center of jewish worship stands the shema: hear o israel, the LORD your God is one.  the most important image that judea-christianity has of God is that God is one, God is whole.  this is the radical monotheism and mysterious trinity that is so unique when set beside other world religions and worldviews.  and the message it offers us of healing and community is also unique in a world characterized by war, poverty, and brokenness.

so in response to the God who is one, and God's Son who lived this oneness perfectly (an appropriate topic in this season of Epiphany), i realize that what we need, and especially what broken children need is to be whole, to be one.  at Children's HopeChest, our prayers and our programs have this aim: to see a child who thinks they are alone and thinks that they are the trash of society to become a whole child... then a whole adult... party of a whole family.  not a person divided by disease, darkness, and despair, but a person restored and fused by God's grace and hope.

Episode 4: Reflections on a Vision Trip (Nov 3)

After a long flight from Atlanta to Moscow, a bus ride to Kostroma, and two busy days visiting Soligalich, Nikolskoye, and the Kostroma Ministry Center, we enjoyed a slower morning.  It was important to get some rest.

The team had a leisurely breakfast and enjoyed sight-seeing and souvenir shopping in downtown Kostroma.  I made arrangements the evening before to meet with a friend I've known for several years there, Nadya Grishina.  We first met in May 2004 when I visited her orphanage and her director, Olga, exclaimed, 'you could be brother and sister.'  The bond was immediate and has remained and grown.  She graduated from hair stylist's school last summer and gave me a haircut in July when she visited with our family.  I ran the Virginia Beach 1/2 Marathon in her honor with the Run for One team.  She was going to meet us at the hotel at 9am.  I waited with a good friend and one of HopeChest's staffmembers, Nastya, for 20 minutes and she didn't show up.  So we tried calling her sister and her friend to find her, and had no luck.  We went to 100 meters, a megastore where she recently began working, but she wasn't there either.  It was so disappointing to travel 6,000 miles only to miss seeing my little sister, Nadya.

We met up with the rest of the team and traveled to Ostrovskoye.  We were warmly welcomed by the children at this orphanage that looks like a little blue house.  Across the street is a Family Center where two house parents are raising several orphaned children in a Christian, loving, and family atmosphere.  This program is one of the great success stories of Children's HopeChest.  As orphan care around the world moves from institutional orphanages to group homes and foster care, we see more children receiving the attention they need in order to survive.  HopeChest is a pioneer in this kind of orphan care in Russia and we see that spreading throughout the world.  Psalm 68 says that God places the lonely in a family (not an orphanage).  It's important for children who otherwise would grow up alone and in despair, to experiences the blessing of a family.

After our heart-warming visit to Ostrovskoye, we drove to Yaroslavl to catch the overnight train to Kirov.

bringing hope to orphans

julie, judah, and i spend the summer in russia and had quite a time.  i wrote an article about my experiences and ministry to orphaned children.  it is in the current issue of YouthWorker Journal.  You can read the story here.

new

this is definitely a season of new things for me and my family.  we welcomed a new baby girl to our family just over 2 weeks ago.  we're living in a new home in a new state.  i'm working in a new position at children's hopechest.  since moving, i will continue my part-time seminary studies in theology at a new school.  everything seems to be so new right now.

new year's day is a time when many of us make resolutions.  i am goal-orientated and always dreaming about the future, so i'm inclined to make resolutions daily, weekly, monthly.  regardless, i definitely see the value in a regular time to evaluate the steps that brought us to today and to plan for the next steps.

in scripture, we hear of new life, a new song, a new city.  this year, as you look ahead to a great 2008, i pray that you would breathe deep of new life, would live in harmony and rhythm with a new song, and would more and more everyday become a citizen in the new city.

happy new year!