christian alliance for orphans

This past Thursday and Friday (4/29 & 4/30) I attended “Summit VI” of the Christian Alliance for Orphans in Eden Prairie, MN.  It’s just a hop, skip and a jump from my home in Blaine.  Well, about a 45 minute hop anyway.  My fabulous and inspiring friend Tiffany asked me to go, and I will never be the same.

I wouldn’t say the conference was perfect and earth shattering in it’s production value, but the content was just what I needed to spend 2 complete and full days on.  The thing started at like 8:30 in the morning and wasn’t over until 9:00 at night and there were VERY few breaks.  A couple of the highlights would be performances and talks by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman, John Piper and Desperation Band. 
I attended breakouts on Attachment & Trauma, Giving Voice to the Orphan, Human Trafficking, Helping Orphans Succeed in the Working World, to name a few.  

To try to encapsulate all I learned in a few lines would be very difficult, but I did glean a couple of extremely important words from the Lord.  

1. I see the plight of every one of my children who are fatherless, and it breaks my heart.  
2. Are you giving to my kingdom out of your wounds, or out of your healing?  

God spoke in several “still small voices” to me over the course of the 2-day conference.  He affirmed me in my path to adopt a child from Ethiopia on more than one occasion, He comforted me as I thought of past hurts/sufferings I’ve gone through and allowed me to see the healing that has come since going through them, and He blessed me with a vision of just a smidgen of His work in the world.  What breaks the heart of God should break ours, and it should cause us to move by faith in Him.  Sometimes the simplicity of it all is overwhelming.  The need is great.  

There were several moments I was overwhelmed by the great need, but the conference did a great job of reminding us of several things.  One of God’s gifts to the world is the desire to love and care for children “from the hard places.” He will equip us to do it by touching them one at a time.  Listen for His voice in life, by quieting the other “voices” that distract us.  Listen to your own voice as you realize your need to heal from your own suffering and ask God to make you the person you need to be to answer His call.  Wait on the timing for Him to work out His plan in and through you.  It will always be worth it.

That piece spoke volumes to me.  This wait time that has increased for us has been a blessing in complete disguise.  God has helped to open my eyes to the character and spiritual growth that needed to happen in my life, and has increased my love for His Word.  He has also helped widen my vision to the enormity of the task of orphan care and given me more resolve to trust Him in all of it.  

God is great, may we ne’er forget.