HOPE

How do you give HOPE?

It's easy to give a hungry person food

Or a naked person clothes

or a cold person a blanket

or a homeless person a place to sleep


but HOPE?

Sometimes hope starts with
food,
clothes,
a blanket
and a place to sleep.

But it can't end there.

Giving HOPE involves relationship.

Investing

in someone's life

to the point

that your own life

might become

uncomfortable

Are you willing to give HOPE??

May is foster care month.  Events are taking place nationwide.
Check here for an event in your area.
Foster care is full of children who need HOPE.
It doesn't just mean that you take in a child.
There is MUCH you can do besides that, or in addition to that.

If you live on Guam,
JOIN US!!
on Sunday, May 29th at 10am
Bayview Church
to hear God's passion for these children.
And to learn about the needs of the orphan
on Guam and worldwide.

SEE YOU THERE!

(*to read other things I have written on this topic, see the links below)

The Cry of the Orphan

The Starfish Story

Touching video

Hungry in Haiti

Feeding hungry children

Preventing orphans

Orphan Sunday

Last thoughts, (for now) regarding orphans.


The most ideal situation would be,


to not have orphans at all


John and Beth from Heartline Ministries are training women
to care for their bodies during pregancy

They are teaching them to drink clean water

and take vitamins


and come in and deliver their baby in a clean environment

and sew at the Heartline Women's Program

So they can have an income


and provide for their families




Remember the Starfish story??


Buy a purse or two from one of these ladies and let her be your STARFISH!




OR host a purse party


or make a donation to the program here

Melda aka The Broken Record

Yep,

Same topic  -  orphans

I know,

I know,

Seriously,

I have been deleted from Facebook by people who said,

"I am sick of the Haiti crap"

Okay,  so delete me.

or don't read it.

but I can't not say it.

really, it's not even me........

be mad at God - he said it first

Psalm 82:3

Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute

I have a passion, deep in my heart........

for babies,

children

with no one to care for them

I read a post by Tara Livesay that caused me to think deeply about this question:

Is it universal to love your child?
Or does the the privilege of wealth allows us greater freedom to love??
 (read that story here)

I'm not sure about the right way to even process that question.

But it makes me cry.

When we got the call that Isaac was born.

The social worker told us all about his birth stats.

and then with a strange pause added,

"and his birthmother is HIV+"

100% honesty here.

I remember thinking.....

I can do this

I just won't love him

so if he dies,

it won't break my heart




what breaks my heart now is thinking about people with so much death in their life,

that they can really get to that place, where it's just easier not to love



Please help these people feed their babies

so they can watch them grow

and thrive

and LOVE


Click here to donate to Tara Livesays fund raiser for Medika Mamba
Giving kids the proper nutrition that they need

Thank you!

GOT-CHA!!

Today, 

November 5th -

is Michael's GOT-CHA day!

That is.......the day we "Got him"

It is the day I became a mother,

thirteen years ago

I love that his GOT-CHA day falls near Orphan Sunday.

But I don't tell you that so you can think about how his life is different

and better

and how "lucky" he is that he was adopted




What I want you to think about

is how MY life is different

and better

and how "LUCKY" I am

to have such a wonderful boy to call my son

His life is certainly better and very different than it would have been in Haiti
But he has no concept of that


I can, however, try to imagine my life without him.......

and it's an overwhelming thought that brings me to tears


Please consider making a difference in the life of an orphan,

not JUST because it will change their life


but because it will change YOURS

I love you Michael!

I would never BBQ my dog...........

..........but I have never been hungry.


I don't say this to shock you


or have 101 animal rights folks posting on my blog or Facebook.


I say this because you have never been hungry either.


The people that could walk a mile in those shoes won't be on Facebook tonight


They have never seen a computer


nor have they ever slept on a bed


or had a pillow


or a hot bath





I remember Michael got really sick one time when he was about 9 months old.  

The doctor told me not to feed him.  

Thirteen years later, I still cry thinking about it.

See..........Michael did go hungry in Haiti.

And I promised him he would never be hungry again.

and then a doctor tells me not to feed him........

I never want to be forced to break a promise.

It's too hard


Don't we all promise our kids things?

Things that will make their lives better?

Things we wish we had? 

or things we want to change about our own childhood?




What if..........

you really, really, couldn't feed your child??


Not because they were sick, and a doctor told you to wait........

but because there was nothing to eat

Would you let them eat dirt??

drink dirty water??

because they were hungry,

because they were thirsty,

And you had nothing else to give them

Read this story

Orphan Sunday - November 7th

Watch this video

Who is your Starfish??

An old man was walking down the beach just before dawn.

In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.

As the old man approached the young man, he asked; "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"

The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.

"But there must be thousands of beaches and millions of starfish, exclaimed the old man. "How can your efforts make any difference?"

The young man looked down at the small starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said;

"It makes a difference to this one!"


Orphans need your help

and you can make a difference


To this one

or this one

 or this one

or this one

Please consider making a difference

If you don't know where to start

Please email me and I will help you

MikenMelda@aol.com




 

The Cry of the Orphan

The Cry of the Orphan is a national organization that was formed to help raise awareness and spur action on behalf of the millions of orphans waiting around the world and in the U.S., Focus on the Family, Hope for Orphans (a ministry of FamilyLife), and Show Hope have created a free 60-minute video program called Answer the Cry.
Next Sunday is

ORPHAN SUNDAY. 

This week, I will be blogging about my passion for this group of humanity without a voice.

Click here to learn more