Domestic Violence

Day Three

Definition-domestic violence occurs between spouses or intimate partners, when one partner in the relationship tries to control the other person.  The perpetrator uses fear and intimidation and often physical or sexual violence. 

60% of battered women are abused while they are pregnant. 

Every 9 seconds in the United States, a women is assaulted and beaten.

A portion of the book:  "She's you neighbor.  No matter what language you speak or where you live -- a house in Peru, an apartment in Toronto or a hut in a North African village.  You talk to her throughout the week, send your kids outside to play with her kids, you share the same street."  (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless)

It's astounding that domestic violence is so rampant in our society and around the world.  I pray that these women would have the courage and support to come out of these abusive relationships.  Ps. 83:2 Says, we are to "defend the cause of the weak."  I pray that our eyes and ears would be open and to the cries of these women that we would be there to support and pray for them.  That we wouldn't miss any opportunities to help.  Oh Father that you would send them the help they need and that they would have the courage to accept your help.

AIDS

Day 2

Definition Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a serious , fatal disease of the immune system contracted through blood transfusions, sexual contact or contaminated needles. There is no known cure for it.

AIDS has killed more than 25 million people since 1981 more than four Jewish holocausts or 22 Rwandan genocides. 

Africa has 12 million AIDS orphans.
 This book was published in 2005 so these numbers are even higher now.

Did you know that today in America HIV is considered more manageable than juvenile diabetes?  We have come a long way in the war on HIV.  Today people living with HIV can have a long and full life with the proper medications, diet, and care.  I don't want to over simplify because it can't be a cake walk to live with HIV, but it is a drastically different story for those who contract HIV in Africa or other countries where money is scare and medical care is hard to come by.  In those countries HIV is a death sentence.  Unfaithful husbands give it to mothers who give it to the unborn and nursing children who will all die without our intervention.  It creates a society of the very old and the very young.  Can you imagine whole villages where grandparents are caring for their childrens' ,children.  There are few young adults who are not sick or dieing, so there are very few workers to bring in the crops, carry the water, or tend the livestock.  This disease to wiping out an entire generation in some places and in others in has become a manageable chronic disease.  We have the resources to change these statics, but we must care about these people the way that we care for ourselves.

A small portion of the book:  "She didn't know that her husband was infected with a virus called HIV when she married him.  She didn't know that he knew he was sick.  At the time, she was 16 and he was 31.  She didn't know he believed that sleeping with a virgin would cure his disease." (30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless, forwarded by Loren Cunningham)

Pray for those infected with HIV all over the world.  They face challenges in all areas of their lives that we can't even imagine.  Pray that others would educate themselves concerning this disease to help fight the stigma and misconceptions.  Pray that God would raise up doctors and missionaries to help fight this virus in the most remote villages.  Pray that people would be educated so that young virgin girls would not be needlessly infected.  Let you heart be broken for their needless suffering.

30 Days of Prayer

So I've been praying and fasting for 12 days now and I feel like God wants me to blog about it. I don't really want too. I'd rather keep it private, but I know God has greater plans, so I'll share with you what I've been doing.
Our Bible study group is doing a book called "Tune In" by Jen Hatmaker. In this book she challenges us to fast as a way to hear God more clearly, she described fasting as a way to make room for God.  I'm fasting one meal a day and I do feel a closeness that I haven't felt before.  Before I had aways viewed fasting as more of a sacrifice that had to be so difficult you couldn't pull it off, no matter how hard you tried. Anyway to say my view of fasting was off track is an understatement.  I feel like I have a better understanding of it now, but I know I still have much to learn.
As I felt God prompting me to pray I knew I would be praying for our children to come home, for them to be safe, for their paper work to be in order, that they would be released. But God has laid several other things on my heart, one is a book called "30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless".  I've had this book forever, it's been buried in a pile of books on the back of the toilet, not kidding that's where I found it.  I think I'll back track to day one and give you a short summary of what I've been praying for each day.  I hope to give voice to those who have no voice and that as you become aware of the needs that it would cause you to pray and to even reach out in some way to those in need.
Each day it gives a a topic, then it's definition, along with statics, a personal impact story and then a verse from the Bible to pray and a way to act.

Day One
Child Prostitution
This one makes me want to throw up, my stomach turns over and my eyes begin to pour out tears and I know our Father in heaven weeps and groans for these children.  I really don't enjoy knowing all these facts and I'd rather hide my head in the sand and pretend this never happens, but I can't because I have children out there alone and defenceless and I know God is calling me out of my apathy. 
Definition
It is the sexual exploitation of a child for renumeration in cash or kind, usually but not always organized by an intermediary (parent, family member, procurer or teacher).
So in other words these children, mostly girls, are exploited by those who are supposed to love and protect them.  In Thailand, 10-12 year old girls service men in the sex industry.  They typically have sex with men 10-15 times daily, and sometimes as many as 20-30. 
Story
Her family needed food and if they sold her into the sex trade they'd have one less mouth to feed and more money to feed the younger children.  Did her parents know where she was headed?  Some do and some don't, parents are promised that there children will be well cared for, educated, and released after a time.  All of it lies.  Can you imagine being so desperate to feed and clothe your family you would consider selling your oldest daughter?  Hoping against hope that she wasn't going to be forced into the sex industry , but you feel you have no choice and because girls have little or no value in your culture, you go ahead even though you know deep within your spirit you are selling your daughter into the pit of hell.  It happens everyday day all over the world.  It happens right here in America and still we turn a blind eye.
I have no idea how to solve this massive problem, but I do know I must pray.  I must turn from my apathy and tell others of this problem.  We must join forces with organizations that are fighting these problems on the front lines.  We must give them our time, energy, money, and prayers.  These children deserve for us to fight for them.
If you would like to order this book it is, 30 Days of Prayer for the Voiceless, foreword by Loren Cunningham

Hey All, It's been awhile, I know, things on the adoption front have been very disappointing lately. The wait times keep going up, our agency is now saying we should expect to wait 18-24 months for a referral. We have currently been waiting 10 months. We would appreciate your prayers, especailly for our children as they wait. My heart aches to have them home in my arms. On a completely different note I leave with a few touching things Abe has said in the last few months that reassure me that God has a plan and a purpose in the waiting. During Holy Week we attended a drama of Christ's crucifixtion. Abe wept through much of the performance and on the way home he said something like this, "Mom if you or i had to die, you know we haaaad to die, I would die for you", then he turns and looks at his brothers and says, "I would die so you can have mom." I thought my heart would melt right there, Abe had wept because he had understood just how big a sacrafice Christ had made. He understood that God gave Jesus to die so we could live. Several weeks later Abe said to me in an extremely serious voice, "Mom I need to tell you something really important," he pauses for dramatic effect and then says, "I LOVE YOU!" and throws his head back and laughs like he just said the funniest thing in the world. That's our Abe the son we waited on for almost 2 1/2 years and worth every minute, and so we'll keep on waiting for the next two, praying all the while that God will bring them home soon.

He's HOME!!!

Ben made it home safe and sound. The boys and I are so gald to have him back. Hope you enjoy reading about his journey, if you have any interest or would like to know more don't hesitate to ask. Ben really feels a calling to help the "least of these" and if you would like to be invovled in some way we'd love to help you get started or point you in the right direction.
Blessings,
Leigha

How Can You Help!

Friday morning we went to a government orphanage. It was a very different environment that the other places we've been. The Ethiopian government has decided to focus more on reunification (meaning trying to keep orphans with families) instead of international adoption. Unfortunately, this is slow and often impossible process which means that the orphans suffer. Even more unfortunately, it sometimes means that orphans are placed in back in situations where they are unloved or abused or even worse. I don't want to be overly critical of the Ethiopian government. While I don't agree with some of their practices and policies, they are faced with a HUGE problem and they do a lot of things really well. That said, international adoption is not the perfect solution for every situation. God's plan was for families to stay together and to love and care for one another. Sadly this doesn't happen nearly enough, thus the world's orphan crisis. There is no one solution to the problem. One of the best aspects of this trip has been to see so many different people doing so many different things that really do work and really do make a difference. The fact of the matter is that this probably is the solution--lots of people following their individual callings with love and compassion while seeking justice for the oppressed by trying to meet not only physical needs but more importantly break the "orphan" spirit that tells the least of these that they don't matter, that they aren't valuable, that they are worth loving, that they don't have hope or a future.



After leaving the government orphanage, we ate lunch with Jimmy and Rachel Gross, American missionaries who are getting ready to open a home-based children's care facility. It is similar to what has traditionally been called an orphanage, but it will be smaller in scale to facilitate more of a family environment. They took us to see the facility that they are going to use. It was an incredible place and they were able to rent it for an incredible price. We were the first guests to see it, which was very cool because One Child campaign contributed the first funding to the project. The timing of the gift was far more significant than the amount because Jimmy received it (totally unexpectedly) on the same day that he made the final decision to go ahead with the project. The gift was a wonderful confirmation of their calling.



It is now Saturday morning, and I get to climb on a plane and head back home in about 16 hours. It has been a great trip, but I'm ready to go back to my family. Thanks to all who have followed my adventure and prayed for me along the way. Please don't forget all of the wonderful children and amazing caregivers I've been posting about after this trip is over. If anyone would like to talk about you can make a difference in these people's lives, please talk to me when I get home. Caring for orphans is one of my deepest passions, so I love to talk about. It would be a pleasure for me to discuss with anyone who will listen.

more from ET

We started this morning by going to Compassion Family International (CFI). It is a children's care facility near our guest house. Caleb sponsors a little girl there. There were about 25 kids there this morning. There are about 50 others that CFI care for, but they were off at school. The kids were fun to play with because they were excited to see us, but they all have families so they weren't so starved for affection that they were able to just have fun with us. After that we went to a kindergarten that is provided in a very poor part of Addis by Kids Care (they also run the orphanage where Sam lived for 7 months) to meet with the founder who is named Aster. She is really an amazing woman, but she had something come up so she had to leave before we got there. The kids same some songs for us and performed their letters and numbers in English. The staff then served us a coffee ceremony. In the afternoon we head out to Holetta, wihch is where 4 Tracy Mihnovich's came from. We got to see the orphanage they lived in while the adoption was processed. We walked through the community a little bit and there were some places where you could feel the evil. We got to see the site where a grain mill is going to be installed soon to bring economic opportunity to some of the poorest women in the country. The installation has been on hold since last July because the government has been coming up with excuses not to turn on the power to the building. While we standing the building talking and getting ready to pray about the situation, 2 government officials came in and told us that the electric meter would be installed Monday. They even stayed & prayed with us. After leaving Holetta we drove back to Addis to have supper with Tara Mowen and her 3 boys. Tara has been here about 8 weeks while the adoption of 2 of their sons is finalized. There adoption stories are pretty cool and can be found at http://mowensjourney.blogspot.com/ It was nice to see Tara, Jacob, Kaleb & Isaiah. We made back to the guest house by about 8:30, so I'm hoping to get to bed a little earlier tonight. Thanks!