Prayer Request

Two weeks from today, we'll be flying across the Atlantic!

With the countdown, there naturally comes some anxiety with all the things that still need to get done to prepare for the trip. We are also feeling such a strong need to be spiritually ready for this vision trip. Not only is there much focus on preparation to go, there is also preparation for who the team is leaving behind. With the exception of Tom, all of the team members are leaving children here to be cared for by family.

It is a difficult concept for children to understand poverty and the lives of orphans. We all pray that our children's hearts will understand fully why we are going on this trip, and someday have compassion and share hope with orphans themselves.

So it is not surprising that I held back tears when our 4 year-old, West, and I had this conversation while listening to Jeremy Camp on the radio:

There will be a day,
with no more pain
no more tears
and no more fears.

There will be a day
when the burdens of this place
will be no more
we'll see Jesus face to face.

While I absentmindedly thought about daily to do's, my son interrupts my thoughts to say, "Is that what you are going to tell the orphans?"

"Tell them what?" I reply.

West answers, " Tell them that there will be no pain and they don't have to cry in heaven"

"Yes, West," I say. "That is exactly what we will tell them."

"Don't forget to tell them that the bees won't sting in heaven either," says West.

We wonder what children get, and we wonder if they are too young to know, but it seems to me that they know better than most of us.

As you pray for the team, pray for our children who are away from us. Pray they be a joy to their caretakers, stamina for their caretakers, and most of all great peace that their parents will return soon.

Julie