Ting Ministries and Bible Orphan Ministry - Hope After Hosting for 2 Ukrainian Orphans

Update: April 15, 2018
Thank you for those who responded to the need for Artem and Yana! Immediately after we sent out the newsletter, we received well over our goal! Thank you for helping Ting Ministries and Bible Orphan Ministryreach these young lives. We are so blessed at the response and praise God that we will be able to help them get a new start surrounded by mentors. Please pray that Artem and Yana would feel the love of Jesus overwhelmingly through our team and supporters and that they would come to know Jesus. Please pray also for their protection and that Jesus would give them peace instead of any fear or doubt they may feel as we soon begin this transition . James 1:27 and 2 Corinthians 5:17

Question: What happens to host children who are never adopted? 
This is a common question in the adoption community and one with real implications for children. 

Where Artem and Yana are currently living. BOM told us they get water from a basin in the sink and take outdoor showers in the summer.

Today, Ting Ministries is working to aid two former host children through the help of our in-country partners, Bible Orphan Ministry. Brother and sister, Artem and Yana (names changed for privacy) were hosted several times, sadly aging out before they were adopted. We at Ting Ministries knew these children and were able to stay in touch with them. 

Yana and Artem with our BOM partners. 

Our BOM partners were able to spend a day with them and saw first-hand their terrible living conditions - no firewood for the winter, little available water, no money for food. Unfortunately, for orphans who "age out," this is the norm. Not an exception.

The living conditions inside. 

 Our friends from BOM spent the day with them supplying practical needs, loving them and sharing the Gospel, demonstrating the love of Jesus in a very real way. Ting Ministries and BOM were heartbroken to hear that Artem and Yana begged to go with our partners, asking: "Can you take us with you now?" 

BOM took Yana and Artem for a meal together.
Artem and Yana told us: "We are so thankful to you all and miss you terribly! May God protect your paths. Thank you!"

BOM helped Artem and Yana go shopping. They never learned how to cook. Artem didn't know how to shave using shaving cream, as it was always too expensive. We are so grateful by our BOM partners who mentored and loved these kids!

These two teenagers are trying to survive on their own, without any support. Artem is studying and Yana wants to go to university, but there are few opportunities for them outside of the orphanage. 

We plan to help Artem and Yana move closer to our BOM partners so they me be mentored and taught by our BOM partners and other Ukrainian Christians. We have already raised the money for Artem and Yana's bus tickets. But they each need 200 USD for adequate summer clothing. BOM's van was also damaged on the torn up roads to the village and the cost of repairs amounts to 155 USD.  In order to fulfill this need for Artem and Yana, we need a total of 555 USD.

The roads to Artem and Yana's village.

An outside view of the place where Artem and Yana are staying currently.

We have the ability to change the lives of two orphans for the better. They are not just names and pictures - they have fears and dreams. They are longing to be loved.

What are we living for?

Please pray for Yana and Artem, that through the love of Ting Ministries, BOM and all our supporters, that they would come feel and know the love of Jesus.


If you'd like to give and help answer Artem and Yana's prayers for someone to come and care for them, you can: donate online at www.paypal.me/Tingministries or send a check to: Ting Ministries, 29 East Poplar Street, Lebanon, PA 17042

Immediate Need: Summer Bible School Camp - 5 Days - 60 Orphans

Our TM Philippines team is putting together a Bible camp for orphans in April. There are 100 indigenous children already planning to attend! However, there are also 60 orphans wanting to come learn about Jesus who cannot pay the small registration fee (covering materials, snacks for the 5 days). 

At the cost of 500 pesos - only $9.57 per child, would you consider helping one or two children come to Bible school? The total for all 60 orphans to be able to come is 30,000 pesos or $574.20. Thank you for helping fulfill the commandments in James 1:27 and Matthew 28:19-20.

Adoption - Urgent Rescue from ISIS

Pastor John recently visited an area of the Philippines where 83% of the children are living in poverty and are malnourished. Despite their circumstances, the children desire to go to school with others. Ting Ministries is thankful that the school fees for our current children has been provided for! However, the need is growing as our Ting Ministries team goes and visits more needy children. Please consider becoming a sponsor.

Sponsors will do more then help children go to school. With more support, Pastor John can take in more children. He has been asked by leaders to bring more children into his home - before ISIS brainwashes them! The need is real and urgent for these innocent lives. Please consider how you can change their lives for the better. 

Full Sponsorship: 30 dollars/month includes monthly school fees and other basic necessities for the children.

Partial Sponsorship: 15 or 10 dollars/month.

One-Year: 72 dollars pays for a whole year of school for one of Pastor John's (Not including other basic needs)    

Ministry among tribal kids

Pastor John with street children who want to go to school

                   

Praise for Bangladesh: A Big Announcement!

Recently, Ting Ministries was blessed with a donation from generous friends, whom we met through Christian Alliance for Orphans. Thanks to their gift and support of Ting Ministries, we have a very big announcement to share with you!

We have enough funds to: build the children's home, support the Pastors' families for a year, and buy a motorbike! We are so grateful for your support, and thought you might like to hear Pastor James's thanks as well: 

"Praise God! Praise God! Praise God! Hallelujah! God is good all the time, all the time God is so good! Thank you so much for good news! Our God is a living God and Almighty and faithful God. He answered our prayers in His perfect timing! To God be the glory! I really give to thanks to [the donor family] for donating everything to God. This is GREAT and AMAZING! God will bless them abundantly and we will be keeping on praying for them."

Read more about our plans for the children's home. 

January in the Philippines: Support for Feeding Program and a New Auntie

A Note from Pastor Mark about the work our team is continuing this year...

"For the month of January, things are going well and we will be starting lots of changes and expansion to our programs. My wife is reorganizing the orphanage ministry and is asking the orphanage director to allow a new student as a new orphanage Auntie for the children. Also, if one church can really commit support the monthly ministry then we will not be affected in our approach and program for the children. We will also have a long meeting the community leaders for the children's ministry in the remote areas. Please pray for us and that we will be able the start of the feeding program."

If you know a church would like to support the monthly feeding program for the orphanage, so the children can receive healthy and supplemental meals, please contact us at tingministries@comcast.net.

Thank you!

UPDATE: 12/18/17: TM Bulgaria Christmas - Thank You & 13 Outfits Still Needed!

Update: 12/17/17

Bulgaria Christmas Child Update: Clothes for 13 KIDS STILL NEEDED!

Dear Friends of Ting Ministries - Thank you so much for following our Christmas project this year. We are collecting new/gently used articles of clothing to bring to orphans in a rural Bulgarian orphanage. Thank you to those who have donated either new/gently used clothing or money towards a new outfit! Through your generous support we have over outfits for over half of the children! Thank you for helping share the love of Jesus in a tangible way to these children, some of who will never get the chance to be adopted into a family.

If you want to help it is NOT TOO LATE! There are still 13 children who need outfits. We will be purchasing the rest of the items in country, when our director travels to Bulgaria next month. Please consider how you can help! A suggested donation for a complete outfit is 100 dollars, but any amount you are able to contribute is appreciated, getting us one step closer to our goal!

Please pray for these children as they receive their gifts. Pray they would not only know the love of people here, but most importantly that this gift would open their hearts to the love of their Heavenly Father. We hope receiving this gift will not only meet a physical need, but that it will stay with them for years be a part of them coming to know and trust Jesus. Thank you for your part in caring for the orphan!

Please see the HOW YOU CAN HELP Section, below the original post (separated by ***).

Original Post

Ting Ministries: Upcoming Bulgaria Trip and Christmas Clothing UPDATE:

Our director and administrator will be travelling to Bulgaria in about a month to oversee how our ministry work is progressing. As a part of the trip, they will be visiting several orphanages to see how Ting Ministries can be a part of helping the children, some of whom will never have the opportunity to be adopted. In particular, we are visiting a very poor, rural orphanage which has asked Ting Ministries for help.

You may be aware of our Christmas Gift Drive to help collect new and gently used outfits for the children in this rural orphanage. Our plan is to provide each child with a new outfit (shirt, jeans, coat, hat, gloves, scarf and shoes). We are pleased to have received enough to provide outfits for about 15 children!

**********************************************************************************************************
HOW YOU CAN HELP:

We will be purchasing this clothing IN-COUNTRY to lessen the cost of shipping and travel. If you would like to help, there are several ways you can give:

1. Ting Ministries PayPal (on our website, www.tingministries.blogspot.com) Please note: for Bulgarian Rural Orphanage
2. Write a check to Ting Ministries c/o Brian Carpenter and send it to our headquarters: 29 East Poplar Street, Lebanon, PA 1702

The children we are helping have never had nice outfit of their own, which is very stigmatizing and damaging to their self-esteem. Not only will an outfit provide for a practical need, it will help them feel a sense of worth and most importantly, it will show the love of Jesus to these children! This will be something they will remember and that may draw their hearts to come and know Jesus!
Please help us show these kids that they are loved by others around the world and by their Heavenly Father!

In Case You Missed It - Recap of Our Night for Orphans with the Celtic Martins!

In case you missed it...

Ting Ministries Presents

The Celtic Martins & A Voice for Orphans

A big thank-you is extended to The Celtic Martins for coming to share their talents with Ting Ministries and the audience. Keep reading to see a short video of their performance! 

Executive Director of Ting Ministries, Brian Carpenter, shared about God's Word and the orphan. Graduated from seminary with his Masters in counseling, Brian has a passion for fulfilling the calling of James 1:27 - the core verse of Ting Ministries. He believes that getting into the Word is the key to a transformed life in Christ and that is what allows us to care for the Least of These.

Hannah and Sasha smile for a selfie! Sasha spoke about issues of identity in adopted children and families and the healing Christ can bring to these questions. She also sang and closed the night with a dramatic prose performance of The Boy from Baby House 10. This is the story of a boy with Cerebral Palsy who was adopted from Russia, by John Lahutsky. Check out and follow her on her blog: www.natalyacarpenter.blogspot.com

Director Stephanie Carpenter with Hannah and Ellianna. Stephanie spoke about Ting Ministries' work in Bangladesh, the Philippines, Ukraine, Bulgaria and more. To learn about current needs and how you can help, please see Our Projects.  One of our top projects right now is to build an orphanage in Bangladesh. There are currently 30 village children who have nowhere to go and the cost to build a place where they can sleep, eat, and go to school is less than 5,000 dollars! Our partners have also asked for help to purchase a motorbike for safe travel, and pastor sponsorships.

Learn how you can help Ting Ministries's Christmas Child Gift Project. We need outfits, warm gloves and shoes! You can sign-up in the spreadsheet here.

 Angelina and her friend Molly having fun!

Thank you to our friends in Bangladesh who shared their love for Ting Ministries halfway across the world! 

Here's a short clip of the performance by The Celtic Martins. Enjoy!

Thank you again to all who came out in support and to learn more about Ting Ministries and the plight of the orphan. Thank you for everyone who helped in set-up, clean-up and providing desserts!

God Bless!

TM Bulgaria: Christmas Child Gift Program!

Update: The trip was a success! Thank you to those who were following and supporting us in prayer. Look for more updates about our work in Bulgaria in the future.

Sign Up to Participate in TM's Bulgaria Christmas Child Gift Program! 

Sign up in the spreadsheet here. 

Are you looking for a new way to bless others this Christmas? Do you want to teach your children in a new way what it means to give and help others? Or, are you not sure what to give someone? Consider donating a gift in their honor and help Ting Ministries! This year, we are helping a rural Bulgarian orphanage by providing gifts and needed items for the children. Imagine having to wear someone else's junky, hand-me-down clothing, and never having something to call your own. How humiliating and discouraging this would be - but this is exactly what many orphans have to experience. This Christmas, we want to share encouragement and the love of Christ through donating gifts to these kids and teenagers.

Ting Ministries is collecting the following items: lightly used/new clothing such as jeans, leggings, long-sleeve shirts and sweaters, underwear, socks, coats, and shoes. You can sign up for a child below and purchase the items and send them to Ting Ministries. Or, if you prefer, you can donate towards the cost of a care pack and Ting Ministries will purchase the items (Suggested Donation per child: 100 dollars).

Some of the clothing will be sent to Bulgaria and other items we will deliver personally when the director of Ting Ministries takes a trip this winter. Please contact us at: tingministries@comcast.net with any questions!

Bulgarian countryside

Not Only in Word, But Also in Deeds: Masha and Marichka

From our partners at Bible Orphan Ministry.

"Do you see these beautiful young ladies? At first glance, they seem to be happy, enjoying meal and having a great time... Yes, they are enjoying food for the first time in a few days!!! Can you believe it??? When I asked them what you ate in the morning? We did not have breakfast today. What did you eat yesterday? Nothing. How about the day before yesterday? Only tea ... It's terrible! How you would feel, if you are a young mother expecting a baby? 

Marichka (in pink) and Masha, two girlfriends and are going through a very, very difficult time now... They share not only their clothing but also joy and problems. Marichka should give birth to a baby girl in January. Her baby does not feel very well. Bad medical tests. Later we will know more details. Her belly is so tiny that you can not even tell that she is pregnant at all... And this is on the 7th month!!! Marichka often starves... In a month she has nowhere to go! Masha is already homeless! Today we just met with each other by a miracle! This is another story. But anyway, if we had not met, Masha would have spent the night in the street today! And maybe even one more night, two, a week, a month... It's very cold, windy and rain. In some parts of Ukraine it is already snowing! Can you imagine this? The young lady all alone and hungry on the street? What would have happened, if it had not been God's mercy to this precious young lady? Even scary to imagine ...




We found a temporary housing for Masha. But we do not know what to do next? How to be? We just can not leave these abandoned children on the street! Both girls do not have winter clothes and a lot of necessary things. They are both feeling cold today and now! And for this reason they got sick. Marichka needs medicines to ensure that her baby girl will be healthy. She tries hard and she needs help. A young mother loves her darling daughter and worries about her. They worked some time ago and earned 25.00 uah per day($0.90)! Yes, Yes! 25uah per day($0.90)! This is less then a $1.00 !!! They quit this job because it's not enough to eat at least once a day!!! Can you imagine what they feel these days??? Hungry, barefoot, without necessary clothing, cold, lonely, without hope, disappointment, 
fear.

Both girls were crying today...could hardly hold back tears so as not to burst into tears. Our hearts are broken. Thousands of thoughts in the head. What to do? How to be? Now the tears running down the face. Pain. A terrible pain for these orphaned children... It tears your heart into a million pieces... 

Dear friends, we need the mercy of God!!! Please, pray with us about these two precious souls!! Pray that God has blessed and revealed to us His will. We have some thoughts on how to help these two sweet young ladies, but is there a will of God in this? If not, then God would show us and open other door. Pray that God will send funds to buy the necessary clothes and food for the first time, while Masha will find work and Marichka as well. Since she is expecting the baby, we are not sure that she will be able to work. God already answered to many your prayers! 

Will you help please to show the love of Christ to these poor and lonely souls, not only in words but also in deeds? That they are not alone, that they are precious and loved? To give them hope and their hearts would opened to Jesus Christ, where they can find rest for souls, joy and grace. Every donation is precious and greatly appreciated!

One time gifts for food and medicine or monthly sponsors of 30 or 60 dollars welcome! 

To send gift of love through PayPal: tingministries@comcast.net
or send a check:

Stephanie and Brian Carpenter
Ting Ministries
904 State Drive
Lebanon, PA 17042
USA

Please, leave a note "For Marichka or Masha". 

Thank you very much! May God bless you!

The CELTIC MARTINS & a Voice for Orphans!

Ting Ministries Presents:

The Celtic Martins&A Voice for Orphans

The Celtic Martins and Ting Ministries:

Come enjoy the incredible gifts and talents of the Martin family as they share their uplifting and toe-tapping music! During the evening, you will learn more about Ting Ministries's growing ministry work in Bangladesh, Ukraine, Bulgaria, the Philippines, China and the USA. Come find out how you can help orphans around the world while staying right here, through this local and hands-on ministry fulfilling the call of James 1:27.

Hope to see you there!

Details of the Event:

Save the date - Come for a night of great music and fellowship!

Date: Saturday, November 18, 2017
Location: Fairland Brethren in Christ Church, 529 W. Penn Ave., Cleona, PA 17042
Time: 4-6 pm
Coffee and desserts, entire event by donation - NO tickets needed!
Learn more about the Celtic Martins and Ting Ministries at:
www.celticmartins.com
www.tingministries.blogspot.com

Can You Take Them: A Ting House and Indigenous Children

Pastor Mark tells us: "My wife and I are here in an indigenous tribe visiting the orphans and children. We are looking for more partners to sponsor children to schools. Please pray that God will doors of opportunities. These children are mostly illiterate and only 18% are going to formal studies. Most of then are living in mountainous and remote places."

Pastor Mark with the indigenous children

Also, Pastor Mark took another trip to Marawi, where he was met by thirty orphaned children. Those in charge of the relief center asked him: Can you please take them? Pastor Mark's heart was broken. Friends, Pastor Mark would love to take these children back with him to Zamboanga so they could go to school and experience the love of a family. However, before this would be possible - we need a place for them to stay. We need your help to build a children's home, a Ting House, for children like these. Pastor Mark and his family would welcome them, but until we have an additional home in Zamboanga, these children have nowhere to go. Please pray for the Lord to provide the funds needed so we can carry out the mission of James 1:27: To care for the orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

If you would like to give to the cost of a Ting House for the Philippines: 

Donate on the PayPal button at the side of our website or write a check to: 

Ting Ministries

904 State Drive, 

Lebanon, PA 17042

Please specify: Ting House Philippines

100 percent of your donation will go to the Ting House, with nothing taken out for administrative purposes. All our work depends on the help of our generous supporters. Please consider how you can help today! Thank you and God bless.

I Think They Are the Same: A Bangladesh Update and Orphanage Development

"But as we messengers of God, we did it as much as possible what God has given on us for duty and responsibilities to oversee His sheep. No matter it is rainy seasons, cold seasons or hot seasons, we must carry on our duty and responsibilities. I think that doctors and missionaries position are the same. And also we must to think about Jesus’ His life and how much His sacrificed for us!" Pastor James, TM Bangladesh Missionary

Dear friends - we have joyous news! Recently, Brian and Stephanie got the opportunity to speak with Pastor James in Bangladesh. It was a time of great encouragement in the Lord for all. We are excited to bring Pastor James to the US to speak with us in churches in Summer 2018. 

Below are some pictures of the TM Bangladesh team on their latest travels to share the Gospel...

In July, we announced an important project with our Bangladesh missionaries and we need your help! We are building an orphanage for thirty children. These children live in remote villages and have no family that takes care of them. Pastor James and his team check on the children and bring a bit of food for them when they are travelling from village to village. This is only a temporary solution, however. They desperately need somewhere safe to stay, eat, and go to school. All of our work is dependent on the our faithful supporters who supply tangible resources our missionaries and partners. They are so blessed and encouraged to know there are people around the world who are praying for them and supporting them as they fulfill God's call to share the Good News.

TM Orphanage in Bangladesh (Read More Here)

The plan is for the orphanage to also be a school, so the children can live there and also get a proper education. Eventually, there will be monthly costs to run the orphanage/school (for teachers, cooks, medical care etc). However, the first thing that needs to be done is to build the structure of the orphanage. This includes building the house with bamboo and wood with a tin roof. It also includes furniture, bedding for the children, and kitchen supplies.

The total cost for all this is only 4,556 US Dollars! 

If you would like to help us build an orphanage for these precious children there are several ways you can help: 

1. There is a PayPal button on the side of our website. Please specify for Bangladesh orphanage. 

2. Mail a check to Ting Ministries at 904 State Drive, Lebanon, PA 17042. In the memo, please write for Bangladesh orphanage.

Emergency Update: We Need Tangible Help for the Philippines!

Update: This need was met! Thank you to our supporters!

EMERGENCY: Okay friends! You may have seen our update yesterday from the Philippines, asking for help. Today, the situation has gotten worse. Our team is down in Marawi and they have run out of funds - and they still have 200-300 children to feed tomorrow. Trusting the Lord, they went down and were able to have several days of ministry, but unless people like our supporters begin to help in tangible ways, there is nothing they can do! Some people may call it foolish to go down having little else but faith, but what else can you do when you see suffering and the Lord commands us to "Go?" (James 1:27)

Pictured is a little girl who sustained severe burns on her face during the fighting between ISIS and the military in Marawi. Dear friends - I am pleading with you - this is why we need you! Ask yourself what you can give, even if it is 5 dollars it makes a big difference! If everyone who liked only our Facebook page gave ONLY 5 dollars we would have more than enough!

The total needed is 1,060 dollars. Please. It is nighttime in the Philippines. Let's show Pastor Mark the faithfulness of the Lord by having the need fully met when he wakes up! To Donate, go to: www.paypal.me/tingministries and specify Emergency Marawi Relief.

Thank you and help us be a Voice for the Voiceless.
Proverbs 31:8-9

Breaking the Flask for Orphans

Avigayil

Church - where are you?  
Where are the families?  

As obvious as it may seem, orphans do not want to be orphans. They want to be in a family. They want to be loved just like you and I want to be loved. (From "Adoption and the Gospel" by Gerry Clark – a must read).

There are approximately 37 million Christian churches worldwide.  There are approximately 153 million orphans. 15 million of these orphans have lost both parents. Not all of these 153 million orphans are adoptable, but for the sake of making this point, let’s say they all are adoptable.

Do the math. Only 4 children would need to be adopted per church worldwide to eradicate the orphan crisis. Only 4 orphans per church….

Here in the USA, there are 400,000 total children in the foster care system. 100,000 of these children are waiting to be adopted. There are approximately 350,000 churches in the USA. Look at the numbers – that is only 1 child being adopted by every third church.

Where is the church - the believers who are the hands and feet of Jesus on this earth?

We have often been asked, "Why do you want her when you could adopt any other healthy child in the whole orphanage? Why her? What value will her life ever hold?"  Our daughter Avigayil was the child with the highest special-needs in her whole orphanage in the Philippines. Believe it or not, I have heard it said about children who died alone in orphanages before they were adopted:  “Well, at least maybe they smiled and made a caregiver feel useful. Perhaps their life made the caregiver feel good.  At least if they die, they will go to heaven and be with Jesus where they will be healed and loved.  Isn’t that even better than suffering?” 

What? Dying alone in an orphange is better than knowing the love of a family?

It is true that the ultimate answer is yes.  One day, we will all die and these children who never had the ability to understand salvation will go to be with Jesus when they die. Yet, isn’t this answer just relieving us of our guilty feelings?  Our guilt at not seeing and then, when we do see -  our guilt at not opening our own hearts or home to a child in need. Our refusal to answer God's call to care for the Least of These. 

This past week, we have seen the flooding in Texas and the horrors of the extreme need. In this time of crisis, we have come together - people are jumping to action and stepping up to care for others. Our hearts go out for the people caught in this tradgedy and we, like countless others, feel burdened to help and glad to see people rallying together for Texas. 

But I say there is a crisis happening every day. The orphan crisis. It has been occurring for years on end, for child after child, that most refuse to see.  We need to open our eyes and work with the same fervor and compassion that has gripped our country to allieviate the suffering of the amazing folks in Texas. By doing so, we can make a difference in the lives of all the orphans. Yes, all the orphans – remember the statistics. 
It is completely possible.  

Now, back to the question of why we should adopt a child like Avigayil. Let us respond with a simple question. 

Why not her?  

God called us to her and asked us to go. What makes Avigayil any less deserving of a family and love than any other child?  Every child deserves to be loved and know what family is. In His Word, God commands us to Go and care for the Least of These.  He does not have conditions.  He does not say, "Go and care for some...but not those who are looked down upon in the eyes of the world." He says "Go and care for the orphans and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27). All of them. 

We have also been asked, “What value does Avi's life have as a completely dependent child with a severe disability?"  She has as much value to us as parents as our daughter Sasha who also defied the odds placed on her life.  To the world, Sasha, who is an intelligent, gifted academic, an honors student, appears to have more value in life than Avigayil. 

I completely disagree.  

They both have equal value and both have equal right to be loved and to be adopted because both were created by God.  Galatians 4: 4-5: “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.  God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”

I believe we have it all upside down and that children like Avigayil are not here for us to teach them but rather - for them to teach us.  Avigayil’s life is priceless and God has used her to start a whole ministry in the Philippines. Already, because of her life, countless other children now have a mother and father and know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Avigyail’s life has blessed our lives more than words can express, but we do not adopt because we expect to be blessed.  Indeed, we do not become Christians because we expect to be blessed. Theologian Oswald Chambers in some of his “Utmost for His Highest” devotionals says this: “We must continually remind ourselves of the purpose of life.  We are not destined to happiness nor to health but to holiness. Today we have far too many desires and interests and our lives are being consumed and wasted by them.  Many of them may be right, noble, and good and may later be fulfilled, but in the meantime God must cause their importance to us to decrease (From September 1).

If we believe in Jesus, it is not what we gain for ourselves, but He pours through us that really counts. As Oswald Chambers eloquently writes: “'When Mary of Bethany broke the flask [...] of very costly oil […] and poured it on Jesus head,'  it was an act for which no one else saw any special occasion; in fact, there were some who […] said,  ‘Why was this fragrant oil wasted?’ (Mark 14: 3-4). But Jesus commended Mary for her extravagant act of devotion." (My Utmost for His Highest, September 2).

I greatly suspect, in our prioritizing of value and importance, we have it backwards and upside down.  Our Lord is filled with overflowing joy whenever He sees any of us doing what Mary did – not being bound by a particular set of rules, but being totally surrendered to Him. God poured out the life of His Son ”that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).  Are we prepared to pour out our lives for Him? Are we prepared to give of ourselves for a child like Avi, whom the rest of the world sees no value in? For if Jesus was pleased with Mary's sacrifice, how pleased must He be when we care for a child like her - the least of the Least of These.

That is ultimately what adoption is – pouring out of your life for Him.  Are you prepared? The truths Oswald Chambers so fittingly stated are at the heart of the question: will you adopt? Will you step out of your comfort zone and your comfortable life and care for the Least of These. Will you break the flask, as Mary did, regardless of how wasteful others may regard your decision? “Now is the time for us to break the flask of our lives to stop seeking our own satisfaction and to pour out our lives before Him.  Our Lord is asking who of us will do it for Him. (Oswald Chambers Utmost for His Highest September 2).