Christmas Miracles

January 15th is what the adoption world terms as our "GOTCHA DAY".  The day that we met our son for the first time.  I will never forget that moment.  If you want a glimpse into it you can view our "Gotcha Day" video  It is still so vivid in my mind, meeting him for the first time.  Being so unsure but knowing that this moment had been waiting for me my entire life.  God had etched it in my journey and here it was... this divine moment of meeting my son.  I will not forget the miracle of provision after provision that led up to that very moment.

You may think that I am naive, but I still believe in Christmas miracles.  To tell you the truth, I believe in everyday miracles as well.  I know that many of you are praying for just that.  A miracle that will unbound the restrictions in the process.  I know many of you expected to have your child home this Christmas and my heart hurts for you.  I remember the hole in my soul the Christmas before we traveled.  It was so unsure when we would be able to go and get him.  Not knowing how much longer we would have to wait due to travel restrictions caused by the election.  Everyone saying it was unsafe to go even if we got his Visa.  If a new president was elected would adoptions continue?  If the rioting didn't cease, would we be able to even travel? 

So today my attempt is to encourage you to just keep holding on.  Don't give up hope.  I was so encouraged in my advent devotional at this verse in Zephaniah:

¹⁷ The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

I love that God is our mighty warrior.  He is fighting alongside us.  He goes before us.  Our prayers are mighty as well.  I know He hears the cries of our heart.  I know that our God delights in these children.  Every Wednesday afternoon, I am spending a concentrated time in prayer for those of you that will be experiencing Christmas this year with an ache in your heart.  If you have specific prayer request please e-mail them to me.  I believe there is power in prayer and I would love to pray for you even more specifically. 

I also want to share a Christmas miracle that happened this season with you to encourage your hearts.  A prayer that had been earnestly prayed for over and over that God answered in his own time.  As you know I work with a few non-for-profit organizations in the DRC as a volunteer.  One of those organizations is Mwangaza International. Many of you have sponsored children through the Back to School campaign through this organization.  More recently we raised $400 for shoes for the Pygmy children as part of Mwangaza's Christmas Project.  I was blessed to meet the founder, Trésor Yenyi, a few months ago when he happened to be in town for a wedding.  His testimony is amazing. God worked many miracles to get him to the states to go to Bible college.

Meeting Trésor Yenyi, Founder of Mwangaza International

Recently, Trésor sent me an e-mail telling me about this miracle of provision.  I asked his persmission to share here on my blog.  It is a praise report that encouraged my heart.  A prayer that he had prayed since 2006 was finally fulfilled.

"Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.For the vision is yet for the appointed time;it testifies about the end and will not lie.Though it delays, wait for it,since it will certainly come and not be late."(Habakkuk 2: 2-3)

  If you are receiving this email its because I know you care about our ministry and pray for us. I wanted to share with you about something expected, a special Christmas gift we received at the ministry. In 2004, I came to Ozark Christian College. My teaching ministry of the church was one of my favorites. Doug Marks the teacher asked me to write my project in french. He said write about the dream God has given you for the ministry. I wrote my project about a "healing center" the place of my dream sat on 10 acres, it was a farm, but a farm that was a healing place and a place of ministry. Through the years, I asked God when I would see at least the beginning of it. I met a man who reignited that dream in 2010. We made plans, we prayed about it but like every other attempts finances never followed and it fell through.

  This January I joined a 21 days fast that pastor Jentezen Franklin has each year. I prayed that this would be the year I would see part of that dream come true and I added to my prayers that I would like the Lord to reward my team in Kinshasa with a vehicle. For the past 7 years, they have been faithful, they walked, took buses to cover the Kinshasa area. They never complained, people made fun of them, they trusted God. I said Lord I want to see this true. We were given a place for your offices and to put our souvenir store in downtown Kinshasa. 6 years now that the place has been unused and even deteriorating because we did not have the finances to fix it. I told the Lord that I needed $20,000. I prayed specifically for that amount. To purchase the land, purchase a vehicle and finish the office. The year was ending and I was telling a friend to join me next January to pray for the same things.

  God did not see things that way. 3 days ago I had diner with a friend of our ministry. Unexpectedly at the end of the diner. He says : "What would you do if you had $20,000?" I mentioned to him this 3 things. I told him that with the growth we have experienced, they weren't wants anymore they were pressing needs because for all the good we do with children, we have volunteers who work in terrible condition to bring the smile. He looks at me and said: "I feel like I am supposed to bless them with this" We knelt and prayed over the check and my prayer I sent for since 2006 found the answer. I also know that you pray for this ministry.
   This has been the a year of miracles. 118 children are now sponsored through our education program in 5 provinces, 10 women have started their businesses, our hospital rescue fund has helped 45 chlidren receive proper care. we have built a chicken coop to support the orphanage of Bakole. He has been faithful. We will never be alone, He is with us.

  The Lord has taught me that the most important was to be faithful with the small things and for the past 8 years, we have. In this year were the Lord blessed us to see some of the fruits of the work, I am thankful that the Lord reminds us that we are to go one small thing at a time.

  This is what we are going to to do:

1. We will purchase the vehicle as soon as we find one. For those of you who traveled us and had to ride in a rusty taxi, this will be a change :)

2. We will purchase 10 acres of land. and we will continue to pray for the project to come to fruition. We are planing on doing poultry and planting crops on it first. We also envision outreach activities on that land that the Lord has given. Please be praying that the right 10 acres be found and that the beginning of this new adventure will bless many lives. let me know if you know a farmer willing to help us with the God-size project :)

3. The office will be worked on and we will also have the Telema store downtown. This will help improve the sales of items women make since we will be closer to people who can purchase. Pray that the store will be successful and that the office will improve the abilities of our team in Kinshasa.  --Trésor Yenyi, Servant

Don't stop praying for your miracle, my friends!  Don't give up hope!  Sometimes our dreams/plans are not fulfilled in the time or way we hope, but TRUST today that our God is a mighty warrior that delights in us, hears our prayers and knows our hearts.

PRAISE GOD!  WE DID IT!  THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU WHO GAVE!

Another Christmas miracle for the children in Goma!