Voice Box

encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds

I am in the Charlotte airport on my way to Fort Lauderdale for a round table discussion with other orphan care organizations on ways that we can collaborate to multiply ministry.  It reminds me of the text in Hebrews 10 where we are called to encourage one another to outburst of love and good deeds.  Extreme need on our planet plus coming face-to-face and heart-to-heart with the compassion of God should equal Christians in action.  And as we act, there is no room for competition.  We must collaborate.  We must encourage.  We must find unity.  I am excited to interact with others who are on the front-lines of caring for the orphaned and the widowed, the poor and exiled, the diseased and dying.

 

holding it all together

I listened to the news this morning on the drive from the gym to the office, as is my practice.  News of a $700 billion bailout plan for Wall Street, the mortgage crisis, North Korea's nuclear program, the threatening collaboration of Russia and Venezuela, violence in Iraq, astronomical oil prices.  If we let it, this stuff can wrap itself tightly around our heads and make us unable to operate, let alone move forward with hope and perseverance. 

As I considered these things, my mind was drawn to Colossians 1.  Verses 15-23 is actually an early Christian hymn.  St. Paul the Apostle was a songwriter.  And he felt that what he was writing to the church in the little, insignificant town of Colosse was important enough to set to melody and rhythm.  So like buying a new CD on the day it’s released, let’s unwrap this and listen in and discover what is so beautiful about these lyrics.  Let’s try hard to hear the melody and rhythm.

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

 21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

As we are bombarded with bad news, we must turn our attention to Christ, the one who holds all things together, Jesus, the source of creation and reconciliation.  I am not suggesting that we ignore economics and politics and foreign affairs and energy.  Quite the contrary.  We must engage these critical issues of our time as citizens of heaven, praying 'heaven on earth,' and living in submission to Christ, the supreme one who holds all things together.

Jesus, have mercy.

sex slaves

Tom Davis posted a haunting, informative, and compelling piece about the sex trade in Russia yesterday.  Read it here: Sex Trafficking in Russia.  I'll never forget the first trip that Julie and I took to Russia with Children's HopeChest in May 2004.  We visited an orphanage in Kostroma region called Ostrovskoye.  When we pulled up in the bus, children came to greet us.  The 9 year old boys looked like 9 year old boys.  The 14 year old girls looked like 14 year old girls.  Nothing unusual.  Then one of these teenage girls retreated to her room.  While she was gone, a black Mercedes showed up and businessmen from Moscow got out.  They were the ones who gave TVs and a new fence for the orphanage.  This girl emerged from her room provocatively dressed and looking 5 years older.  She left with the men for the weekend.  I began to ask questions of the other kids.  These men were taking them to the zoo and McDonald's and buying them clothes.  As I explored and experienced more, I came to understand that this is often a first step in the slave trade.  Creating relationships of trust and provision, only to set an orphaned girl up for vulnerability and exploitation.  This is confirmed in Victor Malarek's book, The Natashas.  Join us as we seek to introduce vulnerable orphaned children to Christian mentorship, life skills, and educational and vocational opportunities.   We are fighting the dehumanizing and disgusting sex slave trade by teaching young women that they are indeed made in the image of God, and by giving them the skills necessary for a healthy and whole adult life.

follow the journey of a family on mission

Jennifer, a Children's HopeChest board member, is traveling with her husband and two daughters to Uganda with me and eight others in October.  Follow her journey at Jukanovich Journals.

words of life

Please take a moment to read this post from a dear friend and mentor of mine, Wes Roberts of Leadership Design Group.  He shares peaceful and powerful words from St. John of the Cross and Evelyn Underhill.  In our anxious times, we need to listen to this guidance.

God of compassion

I was worshiping at my church yesterday, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, and at one particular point in the service, I was overcome with tearful gratitude and humble adoration.  After opening songs and prayers, Scripture reading, and the sermon, there is the prayers of the people.  An older gentleman in our church (and a retired attorney), Sterling, led it with confidence.  At one point in the liturgy, the congregation responded with, 'We praise you, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.'  I was overwhelmed with these words, with speaking them in prayer, and with thinking instantly about all the areas in my life that need compassion and comfort, and the areas on our planet that need the compassion and comfort of God our Father. 

Compassion set the tone and rhythm for Jesus' ministry.  As he was teaching, preaching, healing, and feeding, his heart was full of compassion, and his actions made this real to a helpless and harrassed people: Matthew 9:35-37, Matthew 14:13-15, and Matthew 20:33-34.

As we go through our days, may we remember the compassion of Christ for us, and may we live this compassion in a way that comforts others.

laughter is good medicine

We had the privilege to launch Anita's Mission of Hope with Anita Renfroe in August.  You may know her from the Mom Song that has been viewed over 10 million times.  Anita has committed to raise $1 million for Children's HopeChest.  She was in Denver the last couple days for the Women of Faith Conference.  We had the privilege of spending some time with her, dreaming and planning how to make Anita's Mission of Hope a success.  Last night, Julie and I went with Tom Davis, and his wife Emily, as well as Brett and Nicole Irwin from Saint's Coffee, to see her performance.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  It is true that laughter is good medicine.  We are so pleased to be teamed up with Anita to bring healing and wholeness to orphaned children around the world.  Look for HopeChest with Anita at Christ's Church in Mason, Ohio on Tuesday, October 7th, and at Sovereign Performing Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania on Saturday, November 1st.

working with orphan grads in kirov, russia

We've just received a wonderful letter from a staff person at Tech School #18 in Kirov, Russia.  Children's HopeChest began offering discipleship and mentorship programs there in early 2008.  An orphaned child's time at a tech school is critical.  They have grown up in tragedy and in institutions.  They are ill-prepared for independent life.  This sets them up not to be a success, but to be a statistic.  Within two years of leaving the orphanage, many of these children will take their own lives, begin abusive and addictive behavior, and get involved in crime and prostitution.  By linking churches to sponsor orphanages and build holistic and long-term relationships, and then by intervening and supporting the grads during their transition to adulthood, we are seeing lives revived.  Read the following letter:

Technical School # 18 worked together with Nadezhda Fund in 2008 academic year through its disciplers: Ekaterina Kosnyreva and Roman Ponomaryev. They worked with the students of Technical School that resided in school dormitories through lectures, seminars and training sessions.

    The purpose of these activities was to help students better understand their career goals and life objectives. The disciplers tried to create all the necessary conditions to help these students acquire new social experience in order to have a better knowledge of themselves and to find out their strengths and weaknesses as well as personal inclinations and interests. This was best achieved through group sessions and interactions.

    The disciplers came to school on a regular basis, every week. Both Roman and Ekaterina showed themselves as very capable instructors: they used effectively contemporary teaching methods and materials. Various visual aids that they resorted to during their classroom time helped get and keep the students’ attention and interest. Teaching content was age-appropriate as well as interesting. They raised problems valid for the students which stimulated the listeners’ thinking and problem solving skills.

    Moreover, Roman and Ekaterina managed to establish and maintain friendly and trustworthy relationship with the children which broke the initial “ice” between them. They were great assets to us and to our students.

    On behalf of the school administration we thank Nadezhda Fund for making this cooperation and support possible and we certainly hope to continue working with Roman and Ekaterina in the future.

School Counselor
Y. R. Koshpajeva

things coming together

This is not coincidence.  You have to read this blog.  It's the story of things coming together for one person who is motivated to care for orphaned children.  It's fascinating the way that our different initiatives are serving to inform and mobilize people across the country to care for children around the world. 

Tom Davis in Russia

It's been a couple very busy weeks since I posted here.  Since then we had family in town for Labor Day, I visited churches in Menlo Park, Half Moon Bay, and Sacramento, and I traveled with my whole family to my home town - Columbus, Ohio - my parents retired and moved there this last weekend from Chattanooga.  We practically had a family reunion - which doesn't happen often now with us in Colorado and my travel schedule.  But I'm in town now for a few weeks before I go to Uganda on October 7 with a great team of twelve to help begin our ministry programs there.

Tom, HopeChest's President and CEO has been in Russia for the last week and has been enjoying a wonderful time with the staff, children, and grads in our programs.  He also spent significant and important time with the executive staff of Fund Nadezhda, our Russian partner, and with Fund Nadezhda's board of directors.  Catch up on his travels in Russia by reading his blog.  The posts beginning September 9th present a great picture of what is going on there.