The Orphan Awareness Banquet was held Friday, 25 March at Shady Maple Banquet Hall. God blessed our evening immensely! Just think of 130+ people who caught a clearer glimpse of God's loving heart for orphaned children...our circles of influence collectively reach out further than one person could ever touch. I hope that many orphans' lives will be touched and transformed as a result of the evening, but even if our being together makes a difference for only one, it will still be worth it!
Bill and Sara Lynn Lapp shared their story as well as some challenges and truths they have learned. A few highlights:
-God has his ear specially inclined to the orphan's cry. When they pray, He hears!
-God's provision is always perfect. He often makes orphans part of his redemptive plans.
-Worried about not being able to love an adopted child as much as a biological child? Not a problem. (They speak from experience!)
Jay Leibee, adopted from Columbia, shared his story and testimony. A few highlights:
-He was adopted at age 5, not as a little boy, but as a little man, because of the life experiences that were already his.
-He remembers his desperate desire to be loved. Heartbreaking.
-God blessed him with Christian parents who were able to lead him to a second adoption by his Heavenly Father at the age of 12. Becoming a son of God brought amazing transformation to his heart, giving him the grace to forgive those responsible for hurting him in the past.
Jay overflows with the joy of knowing He is loved and redeemed. He can hardly find the words to express the praise he wants to give God. As I listened to him tell his story and then chatted with him later, I was truly amazed at how his story is all about the grace and goodness and mercy and love and saving power of God. It's a story that makes you look past the storyteller to the Storywriter, and simply stand in awe. Jay had so many strikes against him- he was an older child (over the age of 2), he was a boy, and he was battered by life trauma. He was what I would consider a classic case of adoption disaster waiting to happen, or a classic case of a child waiting for a family that never comes. He was not an orphan of the "darling, angel-baby" variety. But God. God, by calling his parents to adopt not a baby girl as they had first planned, but a 5 year old street "man", had a channel to pour divine love and redemption into his life and change him forever. For the glory of God, Jay is a walking miracle.
Other parts of the evening included mind-blowing statistics about the number of orphans and their needs, sharing about the spirit of adoption, showing the "Depraved Indifference" vido sermonette by Eric Ludy, and plenty of networking and fellowship around the tables. We handed out resource packets (there are some left and I will be happy to send one to anyone who wants one). We were priveleged to have a COBYS representative attend the banquet as well.
The evening was not primarily a fundraiser but we did have some extra funds after all expenses were paid. We plan to share this money with Loving Shepherd Ministries.
If you wanted to come to the banquet but weren't able to, we hope to have a similar event next year!
To see more pictures, go to Lauren's blog entry about the evening.
And check back here soon to hear about my next project. I'm excited to share it with you!
Bill and Sara Lynn Lapp shared their story as well as some challenges and truths they have learned. A few highlights:
-God has his ear specially inclined to the orphan's cry. When they pray, He hears!
-God's provision is always perfect. He often makes orphans part of his redemptive plans.
-Worried about not being able to love an adopted child as much as a biological child? Not a problem. (They speak from experience!)
Jay Leibee, adopted from Columbia, shared his story and testimony. A few highlights:
-He was adopted at age 5, not as a little boy, but as a little man, because of the life experiences that were already his.
-He remembers his desperate desire to be loved. Heartbreaking.
-God blessed him with Christian parents who were able to lead him to a second adoption by his Heavenly Father at the age of 12. Becoming a son of God brought amazing transformation to his heart, giving him the grace to forgive those responsible for hurting him in the past.
Jay overflows with the joy of knowing He is loved and redeemed. He can hardly find the words to express the praise he wants to give God. As I listened to him tell his story and then chatted with him later, I was truly amazed at how his story is all about the grace and goodness and mercy and love and saving power of God. It's a story that makes you look past the storyteller to the Storywriter, and simply stand in awe. Jay had so many strikes against him- he was an older child (over the age of 2), he was a boy, and he was battered by life trauma. He was what I would consider a classic case of adoption disaster waiting to happen, or a classic case of a child waiting for a family that never comes. He was not an orphan of the "darling, angel-baby" variety. But God. God, by calling his parents to adopt not a baby girl as they had first planned, but a 5 year old street "man", had a channel to pour divine love and redemption into his life and change him forever. For the glory of God, Jay is a walking miracle.
Other parts of the evening included mind-blowing statistics about the number of orphans and their needs, sharing about the spirit of adoption, showing the "Depraved Indifference" vido sermonette by Eric Ludy, and plenty of networking and fellowship around the tables. We handed out resource packets (there are some left and I will be happy to send one to anyone who wants one). We were priveleged to have a COBYS representative attend the banquet as well.
The evening was not primarily a fundraiser but we did have some extra funds after all expenses were paid. We plan to share this money with Loving Shepherd Ministries.
If you wanted to come to the banquet but weren't able to, we hope to have a similar event next year!
And check back here soon to hear about my next project. I'm excited to share it with you!
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