color our world

Our church is hosting their annual women's event on

Friday, April 19th.

I'm so excited about this, because all the proceeds go to World Orphans 

- the children in Ethiopia & Kenya that we partner with.

Not only is the event for a great cause, but it's going to be a ton of fun!

There's going to be an amazing dinner catered by Jeff Zak

(he's amazing - if you're having an event in metro-Detroit, go with him).

Our speaker is Julie Gumm - she adopted two children from Ethiopia

and wrote the book Adopt Without Debt. 

AND.

What would a women's event be without shopping?

We are going to have an amazing boutique full of home decor and accessories.

I've already been drooling over some of the samples that we've seen at our planning meetings.

So go register now! 

It's going to be an awesome evening.

an open letter to david platt

Dear David Platt,

Are you sure that God doesn't want you to pastor in Detroit?

Love,

Rachel

"

Because we are owned by Christ, we owe Christ to the world. Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. We owe Christ to the world.

Encompassed with this debt, though, in our contemporary approach to missions, we have subtly taken ourselves out from under the weight of a lost and dying world, wrung our hands in pious concern, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm just not called to that."

The result is tragic. A majority of individuals supposedly saved from eternal damnation by the gospel are now sitting back and making excuses for not sharing the gospel with the rest of the world.

Every single man, woman & child is intended to impact nations for the glory of Christ, and there is a God-designed way for us to live our lives here, and do church here, for the sake of people around the world who don't know Christ.

God saves me so that the nations will know him. He blesses me so that all the earth will see his glory!

"

-excerpts from Radical

33 days of hope

World Orphans has a project called 33 Days of Hope, in which they are trying to get 300 families to donate $33 per month to support orphans. Each day they send an email to their mailing list with a different story about one of their kids across the globe. Today's email was about Martin. Here's an excerpt.

Martin hopes to use his love for math to become an engineer. His dream is to help build airplanes... But Martin, like the 47 other boys at the Fountain of Life children's home in Kenya, did not always have hope for his future. Martin grew up in the slums of Nairobi. As a child on the streets, he learned to beg, scavenge and even steal for food. Without a family to care for him, Martin had little reason to consider his life valuable until he met the pastor at Fountain of Life. Now Martin has a home, a family, education, consistent emotional support and dreams for his future.

This season, as we enjoy the comforts of our homes and family, let's give just a little so that projects like Fountain of Life can continue to impact children around the world.

Click here to donate to 33 Days of Hope.

Martin, on our 2009 trip.

a challenging excerpt

"My biggest fear is that I will hear Jesus' words and walk away, content to settle for less than radical obedience to him...

I am convinced that we as Christ followers in American churches have embraced values and ideas that are not only unbiblical but that actually contradict the gospel we claim to believe. And I am convinced we have a choice.

You and I can choose to continue with business as usual in the Christian life and in the church as a whole, enjoying success based on the standards defined by the culture around us. Or we can take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him...

If Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then we may discover that satisfaction in our lives and success in the church are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus...

Based on what we have heard from Jesus in the Gospels, we would have to agree that the cost of discipleship is great. But I wonder if the cost of nondiscipleship is even greater.

The price is certainly high for people who don't know Christ and who live in a world where Christians shrink back from self-denying faith and settle into self-indulging faith. While Christians choose to spend their lives fulfilling the American dream instead of giving their lives to proclaiming the kingdom of God, literally billions in need of the gospel remain in the dark."

- David Platt, Radical

chocolate, church & maracas

Possibly the most random post ever.

First - make these Chocolate Oatmeal Almost-Candy Bars. The recipe is from Annie's Eats. Lynz blogged about her site awhile ago, and I have been hooked since!

Second - Doug went with our pastor to a conference at North Point Church in Atlanta, and ironically, this video was played. It's a parody of evangelical worship services, and it's spot on. Hilarious and disturbing.

Third - It's the weekend! Zooey is ready to par-tay.

i'm going back!

Family, friends & Internet -

It's true!! I am going back to Africa! My heart feels like bursting with joy & anticipation.

This past November, Doug & I went on a trip with the Charis Foundation to visit two churches in Ethiopia and Kenya, and I have been blessed with the opportunity to return this summer, July 30th - August 9th (Doug will unfortunately not be going this time).

For more information on our previous trip to Africa, you can read here, here, here, here, or here.

I am SO excited to reunite with the amazing people we met, and I am SO thankful that God has enabled us to partner with these churches and share in their efforts to spread the Gospel!

For this mission trip, I need to raise $1,500. If you feel the Lord leading you to share in this ministry with me, you can use your credit card securely at World Orphans. Please include my personal trip ID in the memo field: ST7025-Parton.

Most importantly, please pray for our trip. Pray for unity among team members. Pray for continued building of relationships and the partnership with the churches. Pray for wholehearted reliance on God to do awesome things for His Glory!

Thank you for your generosity and prayers!

"Learn to do right!

Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the case of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow."

- Isaiah 1:17

the big reveal

Um... so...

Doug & I are going to Africa.

Doug's company has a charitable foundation that is partnering with two churches, one in Ethiopia and one in Kenya, to form children's homes in each country. The foundation has committed to these churches for the next five years, hoping that each year, the church and community will become increasingly self-sufficient in providing for the children's homes.

We will be going to both Kenya and Ethiopia from November 6-16th. The purpose of this trip is to vision-cast with both churches and serve them in any ways possible. We are going with Doug's CEO, Kevin & his wife Janni, their son Jamin & one of his friends, our dear friend Ellie, her daughter and one of my best friends, Sara, and a guy named Scott from World Orphans.

I don't know what else to say except that I am bursting with excitement. We were invited in August, and I didn't want to say anything to anyone because for some time it didn't look like I would be able to go, but then God just kept putting pieces of the puzzle together! It's all I can think about and all I want to talk about. I'll share more details of our itinerary as they continue to unfold but guys - - WE ARE GOING TO AFRICA!! I am SO EXCITED.

SO EXCITED.

Jamaica: Day 8 & 9

Sat. (7/18): Beach day - Seven Mile Beach in Negril. One of the top 20 beaches in the world. My camera died in the morning & I forgot to charge the extra battery. Oops. 

Check out Doug's farmer tan!! Photo by Sara VanWinkle.

Just like it sounds: we lounged on the beach all day.

At night we had dinner at a resort and debriefed the whole trip. We took a lot of pics, sang some karaoke & headed back to Sandy Bay for bed.

Staff.

Ridiculously good looking people.

Sun. (7/19): We woke up at 8:00am & packed. We ate breakfast, said goodbye to the cooks, took a few last pictures & boarded the bus for the last time to head to the airport in Montego Bay. We had a layover in Memphis and were in Detroit at 9:30pm...

Photo by "Kevin, the Artist."

Jamaica: Day 7

Fri. (7/17): We got to sleep in until 8! Breakfast was back to the heavenly pancakes and at 9, we departed for Blossom Gardens Orphanage. BG is for children up to age 8, so there were TONS of infants, toddlers & pre-schoolers. Such a mixture of emotions - I loved playing with all the adorable children, but it broke my heart that they are without families! I seriously wanted to adopt all of them, but below I will introduce you to the two that were closest to my heart.

While the matrons were getting the children ready for the day, we were instructed to pick up rocks from the yard. There was another group at the orphanage that day, so I was picking up alongside this teenaged boy, so I decided to strike up a conversation because I felt awkward working in silence. So, as we're chatting, I find out that his name is Julien, he's going to be a senior in high school, and he's an acrobat (sweet!). I asked him about his college plans & career plans and this was the conversation...

Me: "So, what do you want to do once you're out of college?"

Julien: "Well, my parents own a pretty big corporation in Tennessee that I'd like to work for."

Me: "What's the corporation?"

Julien: "Well, it's kind of funny, but they make snack cakes..."

Me: "That's awesome."

Julien: "Yeah, have you ever heard of Little Debbie?"

Me: "Um, YES. Swiss Cake Rolls?! If you even knew my family... that is awesome!"

I then found out that "Little Debbie" is an actual person - his aunt! Mom - we like, KNOW them!

Anyway, then the little toddlers came out for their water play day - SWEET BLISS. I'll try to figure out how to post a couple videos later.

This is Omar. I want him.

Family portrait.

After playing for about an hour & a half, the kiddos were tuckered out - we changed them and laid them down for their naps...

The potty-trained toddlers sleep next to one another in beds that are lined up in rows... adorable beyond words.

Most of them fell asleep immediately, but others needing some coaxing/backrubbing...

After watching Omar just sleep for about 15 minutes, I peeled myself away and went to the infant room. Big mistake/best decision ever, because I met the love of my life...

Legionaire. The sweetest, smiliest baby in the world.

You would have fit so perfectly in my carry-on.

Look at that perfect little foot! 

Needless to say, leaving BG was very difficult. I've cried a lot of tears over my little boys. Between Legionaire, Omar, Wilbur & the little guy whose name I can NOT remember (he's holding the butterfly in the previous post)... sigh. 

We stayed at the orphanage until 1:00, then we drove to see the construction that our youth group worked on last year in Jamaica. They were really encouraged to see that a TON of progress has been made. We returned to Sandy Bay for a late lunch, then went to Mt. Pelier one last time to say goodbye to all the VBS kids... my heart was aching.

Photo by Sara VanWinkle.

That night they had a Farewell Service for us at the Crusade. Doug had told his buddy Malik that he wanted to pray for him before we left, so that night as we were all saying our goodbyes, we were sitting by Malik on the steps for a couple pictures & then he said quietly to Doug, "Pray for me." So Doug prayed for him and when I opened my eyes at the end of the prayer, Malik was quickly wiping tears from his eyes. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. 

Me, Malik, Ashley & Doug. Photo by Andrea Wilseck.

Jamaica: Day 6

Thurs. (7/16) Woke up at 7am, went to breakfast - which was NOT pancakes! We had fruit and these little delights called "festivals." Kind of like plain donuts, but sweeter. At 7:45 we went to the construction sites and did some work again, then at 9 we went up for our last day of VBS. Our craft for the day was coloring & putting together little butterflies.

My little buddy Danielle wrote "Today is Rachel day" on her butterfly...

I was able to go down to the field for a little bit to watch the kids play games & snap some pics...

Then we went back to lunch & did afternoon construction again.

Photo by Doug.

Then dinner, Crusade, team meeting & bed!

Jamaica: Day 4&5

Tuesday (7/14): Woke up at 7am for pancakes. Have I mentioned the delicious pancakes yet? :) Construction again at 7:45. VBS again at 9 - our craft for the day was coloring & scratch pads. 

In the afternoon we went to an adult infirmary. I met a lady named Vida and talked to her the whole time. At her request, I read my bible to her and ended up leaving it there with her because she didn't have one. She also told me about her "gentleman friend, Gil" and said I should "go look at him - he's hot." 

Photo by Sara VanWinkle.

When we got home, we played with kids before dinner...

Doug preached at the Crusade & did a great job talking about how the whole Bible points to the central Gospel message.

We ended the evening with another team meeting!

--

Wednesday (7/15): Up at 7am, breakfast - you guessed it - sweet pancakes. Construction started again at 7:45. This time we split up into 3 groups - one at Mt. Pelier, one at Fletcher's Grove and one painting at the school. I was in the painting group.

Our VBS craft for Weds. was bracelets, necklaces, etc. 

In the afternoon we all went back to the same work we were doing in the morning. When we finished up, we had some time before dinner to go down to the "beach". We were probably less than 100 yards from the ocean, but we had to walk about 10 minutes to get to a place where it was semi-safe to swim. There were still tons of sea urchins, and we had a kid get stung in the foot.

Dinner, another Crusade, more time with kids, team meeting & then bed!

Jamaica: Day 3

Monday 7/13: We woke up at 7am for breakfast. Did I mention yet that we had delicious pancakes almost every morning?! So spoiled. By 7:45, we were at our construction sites. We divided into two teams - one team went up to the Mt. Pelier church and the other worked at Fletcher's Grove. Both groups were working on classrooms. Doug & I were both stationed at Fletcher's Grove. I don't know how anyone gets anything done in those temperatures and humidity.

The girls in our group!

Hauling bricks

Cement at the other site - photo by Laura Pugh.

At 9am, we met in Mt. Pelier for VBS. Our first day, we had about 90 kids - by the end of the week we had about 140. I was one of the leaders for Crafts, and Doug was the Games leader. Our other two groups were Bible and Music. Monday's craft was decorating parachutes & playing with them, which the kids seemed to enjoy immensely. 

Could this be any cuter?!

Love these little bare feet!

Favorite part is the girl in green's face!

Danielle, the girl I met at church on Sunday, was there for VBS and attached herself to me throughout the week. I also met a little guy who quickly became a favorite - Wilbur. 

After VBS, it was back to Sandy Bay for lunch, and after lunch we headed to our first orphanage, West Haven. It was an hour bus ride, snaking through the mountains, going higher & higher... when we pulled up, our PPM leader, Brien, informed us that all of the "children" (ages 10-32) were "MRDD - Mentally Retarded and Developmentally Disabled." An immediate internal panic seized our group, as we were totally unprepared for this and completely out of our comfort zone. 

On the way to West Haven...

However, this afternoon would prove to be the most powerful example of God's strength and love that we experienced. When our group walked through the gates, it was as one massive blob. However, within ten minutes, our youth group kids were totally immersed, loving the residents and having an awesome time. I know that there is no way I could have gotten past the smells and sights on my own, and I think I can speak for the group when I say that. It was incredible watching teenagers carrying people their age, getting drooled or urinated on, and just continuing to pour God's love into the residents and receive His love back from them. It was one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of.

In a quiet moment at West Haven, it struck me that these are some of the most forgotten people in the world. Abandoned by their families, pushed as far away as possible - yet they are so full of joy and couldn't stop singing praises to God. I left feeling utterly humbled. Being at West Haven revealed a different aspect of God's beauty to me. I saw that in Christ's eyes, we are all the same and we are all unique - simultaneously... if that even makes sense. It's amazing worshiping Jesus with all types of people and knowing that regardless of our circumstances, we are praising the same Creator who holds us all together.

We had dinner when we got back from West Haven and then had another "Crusade." I loved listening to our praise team and Fletcher Grove's praise team share with the congregation - just another awesome example of Christ spanning cultures! 

Terrible picture quality, sorry!

Nightly team meeting to debrief & prepare for the following day was after Crusade and then we  dropped exhaustedly into our beds!