Archives November 2011

I saw firsthand today that one little boy or girl can impact the world. It all started when my friend Mike Ford agreed to go to Colombia with us last June. His heart was touched as are so many as they walk through the fields of the fatherless. Mike came home so excited to tell his family about all that he had seen and felt. His family was very touched, especially his 6th grader Michael. The whole family has put their weight behind Orphan Hope and have worked hard to help in any way they could. Recently Michael’s teacher at school, Ms. Lisa Stoyak, proposed a plan to teach her students about giving and selflessness. She gave each one of them $5.00 of her own money and encouraged them to go out and find ways to multiply that money. She then told them that each of them would have an opportunity to make a presentation about their favorite charity and they would take a vote and all the money that each student raised by multiplying that $5.00 would be given to the charity that was selected. Michael worked and worked with the help of his dad to create a presentation about Orphan Hope International and when the day came he gave a wonderful presentation and his teacher and some of his friends even cried. Michael and his friends in the class worked and worked to raise money. They baked and sold cookies, had car washes, lemonade stands, made and sold jewelry and many other things. Altogether they raised the amazing amount of $6,000.00. The class selected two ministries, Living Water International and Orphan Hope International, to give the money to and today was the day they presented the checks to us. I had no idea of this whole story when I arrived at the school, Tomball Intermediate, today. I only knew that Michael had made a presentation about Orphan Hope and his class had raised some money to present us. I was so touched and impacted in my heart when I heard the story. The library was filled with children and parents and news media as the children each stood and told about how they had raised the money. They had made a giant poster saying “We love Orphan Hope” and another one saying “We love Living Water.” Mike and I shared with them about our personal stories and then about the ministry. Living Water shared as well and then the children presented us with the money. There were lots of photos and interviews. It was really wonderful. I realized today that one teacher with a big heart and a good idea, one class of 6th graders with big hearts and a little work, one little boy, one little girl can change the world for someone, somewhere.

God is so good to give me friends like the Grahams and then to let me share with them in this amazing journey. This is why we do what we do.

I am feeling a little homesick listing to Christmas music but I am praying I will be able to go home for two weeks for Christmas. Wednesday I was asked if I wanted to spend Thanksgiving with my great Aunt, Uncle and my Cousins that live here in LA. I was so excited because not only would I be able to hangout with my family I have not see in along time but I also be able to get away from the Dream Center for almost three day. It is really important to get away from the Dream Center sometimes because you see so much need and hurting families that you some times need to remember what it is like to live with a family. My cousin Shannon and his wife Brandy came down to pick me up Wednesday night and let me stay with them until I had to come back Friday afternoon. I had so much fun playing football, Frisbee, and the Wii with the kids. My Aunt Jan made the best home made roll ever! The kids and I were able to help her roll up the croissants. After Thanksgiving dinner all the men, the kids and I went out side and throwing the football around so more. We were having so much fun until Shannon threw the ball over the wall in their back yard on to the freeway but when he and Uncle Butch went down to get the football the kid had a lot more fun watching them I think. Friday we went to the Grove and shopped at farmers marked. I had so much fun watching the kids get exited about this toy or that doll. We ate lunch at In-and-out just so I could say I have had a In-and-out burger. Friday night Jesse and I went on our weekly prostitute outreach. We weren’t able to talk to very many girls because we went out to early but next week I hope we can help more girls. Saturday we canceled adopt a block so I was planning on just staying in my room most of the day but Greco my friend asked me if I wanted to go hiking with him and a lady from our church, so I went and we had some much fun. We hiked in the Glendale mountains again but this time instead of following the trail we hiked up the stream until it got to dark to go any farther. Sunday after church I went hiking with my life group to Paradise falls. We ended up leaving a little to late so by the time we got to the falls it was to dark to take pictures but I hope we will go back some time soon because it was very beautiful. Today is my last day off for Thanksgiving and I am so ready to get back to work!

One of the beautiful stories resulting from our summer vacation host program.

Evermons on Adoption from Shoby John on Vimeo.

Orphan Hope International – Intro video from Shoby John on Vimeo.

It has been so cold this week! In Houston it will get cold one day and the next will be warm but not in LA, every day I wake up thinking maybe it will be warmer, only to find it colder then the day before. I am such a wimp when it comes to cold weather. There is actually snow on some of the mountains around us. Tuesday I helped one of my friends with organizing files and other paper work. So much fun! Wednesday Jonathan had received a call from one of the pastors at our church that an old man named Larry who uses to come to church many years ago, needed help cleaning his house. So nine of us went over there Wednesday afternoon. The house was a one bedroom house and looked like it had not been cleaned in ten years. There were literally cobwebs every were, it looked like the cottage on Snow White. It was all I could do not to throw up when I walked in to the kitchen. I am not kidding, there was thrash on the kitchen floor piled up to my knee. You could not even walk through the living room because there was so many boxes stacked up every where. Mindy and I started on cleaning the kitchen and Dustin started on the bathroom. Everyone else took all the boxes out side and stacked them on pallets in the front yard. We cleaned for two hours then we had to go back to the dream center but we promised to come back on Friday. Thursday I spent all day in the office calling people back that had left messages asking for furniture. We now have about four new people to give furniture to. Friday morning we usually separate the need for our adopt a block sites but we had to cancel adopt a block this week because of a conference they had at the church on Saturday. So we went back to Larry’s house and spent all morning cleaning with a team of people that came to work at the dream center for the week. I have to say I was not sure we were even making a difference but when we left for lunch I felt a lot better about our progress. After lunch we took another team of about ten Movement kids with us and I have to say they did a great job. When we left Friday night you could actually cook in the kitchen and the rest of the house looked like a home you could live in. Saturday after the conference Jonathan, Mindy, and I with some Movement kid canvassed around the dream center for the Joy of Christmas musical we are having at the church. It is going to be great! We are giving out free toys after every performance. Sunday was the turkey give a way at the church, so my families from my site were feed lunch and given thanksgiving dinner. Sunday night I went to a game night with my friends. We had so much fun playing uno and mafia. Monday afternoon I went with my friends to Universal City Walk. We took the subway to get there, I had never ridden on the subway before. It was so much fun to stand on the edge of the platform and watch the train come around the corner and fly past you and the wind almost knock you over. After we walked around the City Walk we decided to go to Hollywood. Hollywood was so much fun. We walked up and down to sidewalk looking at the stars and taking pictures of our favorites. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving!

As a young Christian I was constantly thinking about and worrying about “What is the will of God for my life?” It seemed that I constantly wrestled with such questions as “What city does He want me in?” “What ministry does He want me to do?” I wanted to serve Him so desperately. I wanted to be used by Him terribly. I wanted to make a difference in the world. And it seemed to me that knowing the will of God was a mysterious, mirky, uncertain business. Today, I know better and it is a great delight to my life that I have figured out how to consistently discern the will of God for my life. God doesn’t play shell games with us. He doesn’t have a mission for our life and then spend the rest of our life trying to hide that mission from us. He has a mission for our life and He wants us to know what it is and to accomplish it more than we could possibly imagine. As Mark Batterson says, “God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go.” Matthew Barnett says, “God wants you to know your cause. He does not play games. Because He loves you more than you can understand, He is not going to make the discovery of your cause a tug-of-war in which He simply messes with your head. He designed that cause specifically for you because He knows it will deliver tremendous joy and fulfillment.”

Of course, sometimes God speaks directly to us in dreams, visions, or other ways but I have generally observed that He more often speaks in that still small voice. So quickly, here are the steps God has taught me for discerning His will in my life. I learned these by experience and then God has confirmed them through others over and over again and I will quote some of them. I specifically want to focus on the last one, Invitations. This is not a formula but the steps that I know God uses in my life to get me where He wants me to go.

1. Pursuing God. God’s will is not something He wants you to run off and do without Him. The first part of God’s will for every Christian is to know Him deeply and love Him deeply and stay in His presence. It’s only when I am pursuing God Himself that I can have any chance of knowing what He wants me to do.

2. Absolute Surrender. God’s will is GOD’S will not my will. The Lord’s prayer is hallowed be THY name not hallowed be MY name, THY kingdom come not MY kingdom come, THY will be done on earth as it is in heaven not MY will be done. If I want to be used of God I must be completely surrendered. I must lay my self on the altar and say, “Lord, use me how you want. You decide how my life can best bring You glory.” If it is suffering, sickness, prison, death, or advancement and prosperity, I submit to You Sovereign Lord. When God knows that I will do whatever He tells me without hesitation then He will clearly show me what He wants me to do. Matthew Barnett says, “So how do you find out what your cause is? From experience – mine and others’ – I’d argue that the first step is to surrender your will to God.”

3. Passion. God begins to lead us into the specific areas of service that He wants us in by desire. This was a wonderful revelation to me. When I realized that God put this unquenchable passion in me to know, love, and serve Him, I remember leaping for joy. I was studying 1 Timothy 3 regarding the qualifications for pastors and it hit me that the first qualification was desire! It says, “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a pastor, he desireth a good work.” When I realized that the call of God starts with desire/passion my whole life changed.  Matthew Barnett says it so well, “In my life, God speaks through passion and circumstances. In other words, He instills a sense of desire and urgency within me. I have a passion to accomplish certain dreams. Because those dreams are not the normal human impulses, especially in today’s self-indulgent culture, I believe those are God-inspired passions.” For example, I have seen God take the passion He put in me as a little boy to be a good father when I grew up and to be the leader of a family that would love God and impact the world for generations to come and expand that original passion beyond just my blood descendants to encompass the orphans of the world. Amazing.

4. Invitations/Circumstances. The final way I, and others, have found that God directs us to His mission for our lives is through invitations to become involved in what He is already doing in the world. It has been one of the greatest joys of my life that as I am pursuing God and loving Him and that relationship begins to spill and splash on to others around me that invitations begin to come in from people to “come over and help us” (Acts 16:9) Most of the greatest blessings in my life have come from an invitation that I said yes to. Our involvement in evangelism, youth ministry, church planting, conference speaking, authoring a book, Tres Dias, adopting our precious daughter Mercy, our ministry in Colombia, our wonderful church that we now attend, and many other blessings all started with an invitation that lined up with a passion God had already stirred in our hearts. Matthew Barnett again says it so well, “If you’re serious about knowing God’s chosen cause for you, think carefully before you turn down invitations to help somebody you know engage in some type of service activity, no matter how big or small it might be. That invitation might be the beginning of the adventure that identifies the means to filling the hole in your heart.” Wow! I love that and have proven it in my own life.

So, all that being said, as I begin to think about the year ahead and what God wants for my life in 2012 I realize that God is drawing me to Himself and His presence more powerfully than ever before, I am less afraid to lay it all down on the altar for Him than I have ever been, there is a terrible burning passion in me and in my family to be involved in what God is doing in the nations, and I currently have invitations from people that I love and admire to come and preach/minister with them next year in Colombia, Mexico, Zambia, Liberia, Rwanda, Nepal, & India. I am humbled and amazed at the way God is moving in my life and I can’t wait to see where He leads.

Last Thursday night I had the joy and privilege of being interviewed by the guys at Streettalk Live on 700 AM radio here in Houston. It was wonderful because one of the hosts, Michael Smith, is one of the parents in the process of adopting a girl from this summer’s Texas Vacation Host Program. It was great to share about what God is doing with Orphan Hope International and to hear a little of Mike’s heart as well. Here is the audio from the interview.

We didn’t have any furniture to deliver this week so Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we spent in the office doing paper work and making new fliers for the sites, so that the fliers have the name of the streets that we pick up of church on the front of them. Friday we went to a park with our track to just have some fun playing football and eating snacks. It was so much fun just to get away and have a little picnic. Friday night it was not raining so we were able to go to Skid Row. I was really glad we did because it was cool and we gave out about fifty blankets to the homeless there. I also was able to pray with an older woman who really wanted pray to trust in the Lord. I felt really sad for her because she know the truth but still will not do anything to change her circumstances. I had heard about this ministry call Hope for the Homeless that goes out every Friday night from eleven to three to South Central LA to minister to the prostitutes, so after Skid Row my friend Jesse and I went with them to South Central. I could never have imagined how desperate a young lady would have to be to stand out in the freezing rain with nothing on but a very thin t-shirt sweeter thing and try to flag down cars to make money. Most of the girls were not receptive to our pray or food but I was surprised by one girl who after the pastor I was with prayed with one girl asked very desperately for us to pray with her. I just ask you all to keep me in pray as I continual to represent Jesus’ love to these girls. Saturday my site leader was not able to make it to adopt a block so I ended up leading our site. We had to leave earlier then usual because two of the staff members of the Dream Center got married at three on Saturday. But I was able to visit the girl we helped last week. Sunday we had fifty six people on our bus, we never usual have more then forty five! God has blessed our site so much! After church I was just going to hang out in my room and read but Greco my friend asked me if I wanted to go hiking again, so I did. It was so much fun! We hiked almost all the way to the top of the Glendale mountains. Next week we are going to Paradise waterfalls, I can’t wait!

I was feeling a little down on Tuesday about my devotion time and feeling a closeness to Jesus I had. I don’t know if I was tried or if maybe I was not spending enough time in the word and praying. So I decided to just asked Jesus for a sign to encourage me that I was on track. I am reading through a book of the Bible randomly every morning, Tuesday I started Daniel and read the first five chapters. Well Tuesday night I go to the youth group and the youth pastors sermon that night was on Daniel chapter one! God is so good to me and I am so happy to know He loves me that much! Wednesday we delivered furniture to two different families. One was a single mom with five kids living in a house with only one bed a no other furniture. The other was a lady living in a one bedroom house with no furniture and only blankets to sleep on. We gave her a couch, a mattress and a tv. Thursday morning we went back to the single mom’s house to give her to dressers and another mattress because we gave her a queen size mattress but she told us that her kid were sleeping on the floor so we brought her three twin size mattress for her kids. I think this is my favorite part of our job! Thursday afternoon we worked in the office and I called a couple families that had asked for prayer. I prayed with one lady whose daughter is in Mexico and not in a very good place but can’t come here to be with her mom. I really hop I encouraged that lady. Friday was very rainy and cool. We went back to the retirement home to hang out with the residents there. I was very surprised that one of the ladies there remembered me and thanked me for coming back to see them. We sang some songs , colored and just talked with them. I am so glad we do this every other week, I think it really makes a difference. Friday night we had to cancel going to Skid Row because of the rain and Dave and Dustin could not come with us so it would have had to just be Jonathan, Mindy and me. I was sad but I did get to go to a open mice night at the Café here at the Dream Center. Saturday was the best Adopt a Block for me yet. Every Saturday after we give out the food and needs, I take a team with me to knock on some doors to get to know some people and invite them to church. Well for the last six weeks I have each week knock on about thirty doors with no one opening up to us. But this week we were so blessed to have three different people really care what we were doing and to said they would come to church with us. One was a girl how was about sixteen and was at home by herself with some younger siblings to take care of and she was trying to clean up her house by herself, so we helped her with the dishes and cleaned up the trash for her. It was awesome to be able to finally be a blessing the way we want and try to be every week. Sunday after church I was able again to go hiking with some of my friends. This time we went to Malibu Mountains right next to the Malibu beach. It was amazing to be up in the mountains and on one side see the ocean and on the other see part of the city. We did a some rock climbing and had a little devotion after wards. I love how much God has blessed me this week.

Today, Sunday, October 30, 2011 was another wonderful day in the presence of the Lord and His beautiful people. The morning started out at 8:00 a.m. with praise and worship at Pastor Tatis’ church in his living room in central Bogota. We had a sweet time together. Pastor Tatis had a brand new pulpit and he proudly told me that I would be the first one to use it. I was humbled and honored. Pastor Tatis and his sweet family, Dellis, his wife, son, Danny, and daughters Sarah and Ruth are building this church solely from the families of the children that they have ministered to that come into the emergency center. So in the emergency center they are ministering to the children and in their home on Sundays they are ministering to the families of the children. I gave my testimony and preached about the family being the building block of the kingdom of God and of society and as goes the family so goes the world. As soon as we were done and had hugged everyone there, a car was waiting to take us to the next church where I would preach for pastors Lucas and Doraynne at Liberty Church also in central Bogota.

Pastor Lucas and Doraynne are precious to me for many reasons, one of them being the way they have ministered to my sweet Heidy. I was so delighted to get to be in their church and to preach for them as well. I shared with them how going on mission with Jesus is wonderful because we get to go FOR Jesus because He said GO! and He is the boss with all authority. (Mt. 28:18-19) But we don’t go alone an in our own strength. We get to go WITH Jesus because He is on mission in the world and has invited us to go along. (Mt. 28:20) And not only do we go FOR and WITH Jesus but we also go TO Jesus and minister TO Jesus because He has told us that when we feed the poor or clothe the naked or visit the prisoner or care for the “least of these” we are doing it unto Him. So all of our work in this world is not about us it is about Him. We minister FOR Him, WITH Him, and To Him.

We enjoyed lunch with the pastors and some friends and then headed over to our dear friend and sister in the Lord, Nelda’s house for coffee. I was so tired and experiencing a bad case of Lupus flare up that I went and laid down on one of her guest beds and slept for about 3 hours. We then went and did some shopping for the Goddaughters and laughed and talked and then she fixed us a wonderful meal. We headed home to the Safe House to sleep and prepare for a full day tomorrow with Fundacio Mundo Nuevo as they have a grand costume fiesta with all 600 children in the organization. I can’t wait.

Today, October 29, 2011 is my 46th birthday and I am so happy to be spending it with these sweet children that I love so much.

My main job today was to help our videographer from Sugarcreek Baptist Church, Dave Grumme, who is here this week shooting video for several upcoming OHI promotional pieces. We had a full schedule of videos planned throughout the day but as often happens here in Colombia things change quickly. First, I was asked to speak at a worship service being conducted at San Miguel Emergency Center across the street from where we are staying. San Miguel is one of the places where the children come for triage when they are first brought in off the street by the police. I was excited to speak there but was worried about the time because I only had Dave Grumme for this one day and we had a lot of work to get done. The thing I didn’t know was that my sweet Goddaughter Heidy had alerted San Miguel that today was my birthday and so they were secretly planning a party for me after the worship service. Anyhow, I spoke (without a translator… it was short 🙂 ) and sang some songs for the kids. They were so sweet and applauded like crazy. Dave and I kept trying to leave so we could get our work done and they kept delaying us and we kept looking at each other like, “what is the deal.” Suddenly the girls burst in with a big banner telling me happy birthday and a cake that Heidy and another girl decorated beautifully for me. They sang to me in English and Spanish and we all had cake and then it was time to go.

Dave and I were both worried because our plans were really getting demolished. But God! The rest of the day went so smooth and so anointed that we kept looking at each other and saying, “Wow, God is giving us favor.” We got so much done and made every appointment on time and got Dave to the airport only 15 minutes late tonight. He shot some wonderful video and some interviews and at one point he was so excited he said to me, “We need to make a movie.” I just love that the story of these precious children will be getting out to the world. We had lunch at a place that specializes in meat from an animal in southern Colombia that is like a large rabbit. It was amazing. Then for the second time in a week I got to go up to the mountain top at Monserate but this time with Dave so he could shoot video and photos and Heidy and some of the girls from Casa De Egreso and Oscar from Fundacion por un Mundo Nuevo. We had a wonderful time and then headed down the mountain to dinner and dropped Dave at the airport. It was a wonderful, wonderful birthday.

Well home sickness kicked in this week but I am really hoping to go home for Christmas. No madder how much fun you have or how many friends you have nothing can replace just sitting on your couch watching a movie with you family. Ok Monday I at our after school program I joined the guitar class. My friend Mindy is the teacher and I have wanted to learn to play for a long time and she said she would teach me! I am so excited! So Tuesday we started our long week of canvassing for Pastor Barnet’s awesome illustrated sermon this Sunday. Tuesday night George Lukas had invited about two hundred people from the dream center to his first viewing of his new movie Red Tails. I was able to go and it was as much fun! We sat in a very comfortable theater and the movie was really good too. Wednesday was the Dream Center’s big annual fundraiser. I didn’t work at the fundraiser but it was fun watching them set up everything. Thursday we spent all day in the office until it was time to ride the busses for church. I love how much time I get to spend with the kids at my site, with Saturday adopt a block and Sunday riding with them on the busses and then again on Thursday. Friday we canvassed again for the illustrated sermon on Sunday but after we were done we still had some time left so Dave decided to take us down to the mall. On the way to the mall we still had some fliers left so my crazy friend and coworker Dustin started throwing the fliers out the car window at cars passing by. I thought I was going to die from laughing so hard! Friday night when we were at Skid Row a fight started out with two homeless people so we had to leave a little earlier then usually do. After adopt a block on Saturday I went down to a costume store to see if I could get a real cheep costume because my friends James and Jesse wanted me to go with them on Monday to trick or treat in Beverly Hills. So I found this great cap and vampire like makeup for really cheep I was so happy. Sunday Jesse, James, and I dressed up in costumes for the bus ride to church with the kids from my site. I was so much fun how at first the kid would not even go to the back of the bus were Jesse was (he looked like scarecrow on Batman Begins) but the longer we were on the bus they started seeing who was brave enough too get close and closer to him. The illustrated sermon was amazing, Pastor Barnet had four rooms on stage that represented four different stages of our lives. The first was our childhood and the second was the compromises we make in our lives because of the things that haunt us from our childhood. The third was the death room and he explained how a lot of us because of our compromises we live as if we were dead but still alive, the living dead. But the final room was the shower room or the room of renewal when God come and revise our hearts. He even had real shower on stage that anyone could come and get in after the service who wanted to as like the alter call. Monday was my first day off since I came here it was nice I went on a long walk and went to the library. Monday night I went with James and Jesse trick or treating in Beverly Hills it was the first time James and I had ever trick or treated. We had to take the bus but that was fun because I had never taken a public bus in my life. We ended up not getting very much candy because we got there kind of late but we had so much fun just dressing up and seeing all the people in Beverly Hills.