Kisses from Katie

It is National Adoption Month again which is a good time for me to come on here and write something current in reference to the world's orphan crisis. I am reading the book "Kisses from Katie" by Katie Davis. Wow. Just wow. There are so many unbelievable "God stories" in this book and it is just amazing what the LORD can do through just one person. Truly amazing. Katie made the decision to live in Uganda and pour out her life serving the people there. Part of that has included her adopting 14 girls and starting a ministry called Amazima, which helps hundreds of other children in Uganda. There is so much more so just read the book! It is so inspiring and yet also very sobering. I wanted to share some statistics Katie writes about in the book:

The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left.

Let that sink in. Let all of us who proclaim Jesus as LORD meditate and pray asking Him what more we can do.

Go On A Short-Term Missions Trip!

In keeping this blog "alive," I'd like to take the opportunity to encourage others to take a short-term missions trip. It is such an amazing, life-changing experience and if you are able, you should go! If finances are an issue, do some fundraising at your church or in your community. Tell your family to forget Christmas/birthday presents and instead make a donation to your trip.

If you are interested in meeting the precious children at Gift of God Orphanage in Haiti featured in my blog, check out upcoming trips with Faith Missions International at http://fmisent.org/ShortTerm

If you are interested in going elsewhere like China or Africa, you can find information on the All God's Children International website at
http://www.allgodschildren.org/embrace-missions

There are several other ministries that also coordinate short-term missions trips to various countries around the world. Just type in "short term missions" on Google and see what you find!