Jiggers

My African Daughter, Praise, came to see me and we talked and talked.  

We discussed so many things as she wanted advice from here Dad.  

We decided what we should accomplish when we visited her home - 

build an addition to the school house.  

She also, mentioned that all the children had been infected  with Jiggers.

Jiggers?  I wasn't sure that I'd ever seen them. I had not idea how bad they could be.

She said they were in the dust on their floors.  

They are actually small and worm-like flee.  

They bore into the skin and then the foot becomes infected.  

Some children begin to lose their ability to walk. 

But knowing all this did not even begin to prepare me for what we saw when the team arrived.

One of the jiggers removed from a child's foot.

 Every child's foot was infected.  Not with just one, but with many jiggers.  

Oh, how our hearts broke for these children.  

They had run to the car to meet us.  

They had smiled and danced for us in a presentation of tradition African dance.  

They never once complained! 

Yet the pain would have had everyone of us on the floor writhing in pain.

So Alicia Halpenny, our team nurse this time, went to work with a part of the team!

Emma and I met Alicia when I was home for my mom's funeral. My mom always wanted to go to Africa!

 

Alicia teaching Praise how to help the children.

Praise cutting away some of the jiggers with a razor blade.

Slowly they cleaned each foot, then soaked them in a cleansing solution.  

Then they began the digging process... sore after sore, foot after foot.  But it was only the beginning... so much more to do - we barely were able to scratch the service of this very serious situation.

Ruby's Friends of International Voice of the Orphan is going to pay for these children

 to be taken to the doctor to finish the necessary work.

Today the team from Old Paths Church in Perry, NY  

and Rome Baptist will be buying sneakers and shoes at a local market. 

We are seeking to learn how we can kill these things in the home and spraying the land. 

These kids deserve better. 

They deserve the care that we can provide - TOGETHER!   

Legacy Leadership Conference

I had never been to such a remote location for a Legacy Leadership Conference. 

After turning off the main road we traveled another 45 minutes on back roads.  It took so long to get there on almost impassable roads that I began to question my decision to do a conference.  

At one point a large truck filled with sugar cane blocked the road after torrential rains, another had turned over and left it's load blocking half of the road.   

I wondered if we would ever get to the conference  

In Ugandan style we got out,  lined up watching and  waited outside our van 

while another truck backed up 

and pulled the partially buried truck out of the mud.

It was finally our turn!  As we approached this mini swamp another overloaded sugar truck started to make it's move.  By then I had had enough - people were waiting on me so I jumped from the truck and yelled "STOP" with my hand held high.  To my amazement and the rest of the LLC team - he stopped and let us pass!   

(Ok, so maybe I could have been beaten by the truck driver and other locals,

 but hey I'm a little crazy anyway right?)

Pastor Harley from my home town of Perry, NY preached.  Dr. Craig French shared business principles.   Gordon Cowan was my personal designated intercessor.  I personally preached 7 messages.  We had a great team.

The highlight for me (besides Kevin - see former post) was the amazing time of prayer 

for renewal by the Holy Spirit.  

Everyone raised hands toward heaven

 repenting and crying out to God for a new filling of 

the Holy Spirit. 

These wonderful brothers and sisters in Christ have no one to come encourage them.  At the end of the conference they said they never had anything like this in their area.  No one in the past had come to them... until the Legacy Conference.  

That's when I said to myself, "that's why we do what we do."  

That's why we fly thousands of miles, travel many hours by local taxi and traverse difficult terrain.

WE GET TO!   

WE GET TO BE THE HANDS & FEET OF CHRIST.

Blessed are the feet of him who brings good news!  I guess we have blessed feet! 

These brothers and sisters in the Lord were tired.  

They had run the race of following Christ for years without being refreshed.  

Now through a simple two day conference they had been encouraged and exhorted to lead from pure hearts.  Even at this Christian Leadership Conference a number received Christ.

 Training was given and a few Godly rebukes were well also received.  

We had traveled thousands and thousands of miles.

We had traversed the most difficult of roads for one main purpose.

To encourage the believers to finish.   

Jesus told us in John 4 that he had food to eat and that food was to 

do the will of God 

and to finish the work. 

Pastor Harley from Perry, NY bringing the word in power!

Can you imagine cooking for over 600 people?

This was a dual word for us.   

A word for those of Mayuge, Uganda - don't quit - finish the work.

A word for me -  don't quit - finish the work.   

For now, the work is finished in Mayuge.   

But the next remote village awaits.  

A huge thank you to all of you for your generous contributions to the 

Legacy Leadership Conference.  

You are changing history, one leader at a time!

His Name is Kevin

It had already been a great day at the Legacy Conference.

God was moving and the Holy Spirit was doing a great work among the over 600 in attendance.  I closed a teaching on the Holy Spirit with a challenge to ask for prayer.   The response was overwhelming and powerful as almost everyone lifted their hands for prayer and
began to cry out for God. 

I personally prayed for  over 100 people and went outside to pray for those who could not fit in the church.  Many had stood all day outside, some in the sun, and some in make shift shelters.

Then it happened.

A number of children surrounded me as I show them the picture of our  family.  I pointed out each child.   They came running from all directions and within seconds they were crowding around me pushing to get a little closer look.  Then a woman motioned for me to come to a little group of women on a blanket.   As I walked toward the group another woman sitting on the ground pulled back something like a small blanket.

Then I met him.... his name is Kevin

Isn't he beautiful??

As the tears rolled down my face I showed them Ruby's picture and told them a bit of Ruby's story.

Kevin quite obviously has what Ruby has.

There is no option, he must get medical attention immediately.

 I told them about medical care at CURE hospital where Ruby was treated.

 His life is at risk.  The comments of those around quickly told me the rest of the story.

Each said it costs too much to go to CURE Hospital {where Ruby had her first brain surgery while Linny and Emma were in Uganda to bring her home}.

It's true, 500,000 shillings for the initial surgery is an exorbitant amount for this poor Ugandan couple from a rural village.

Translated to $250 - and it would possibly save his life - yet,  it is beyond their means.

Parents give up hope...little children die... all because of a lack of money.

If you are like me, you want to SHOUT ---- NOT ON MY SHIFT!

I let them quickly know that we could and would quickly raise the money.   Her husband came over and was told through an interpreter that we would pay the medical.  He sobbed as I grabbed him and held him.  My emotions were off the hook.  Ruby's life was and has been saved.

Kevin's life can, and Lord willing, will be saved.

I encouraged the Dad that his son is wonderful... he is handsome... and to be proud of him.  {It was apparent that he had been struggling with his son's medical condition.}

I longed for this dad to understand what a treasure his son is.

Admittedly, earlier I had questioned our remote location.  A small village, located off some of the worst roads in Uganda.  Now it was clear why we had this conference in a remote village far from the heart of Jjinja.

We were there so I could meet Kevin - so you, too, could meet Kevin!

We needed to help save his life - it is unacceptable to do otherwise.

There will be more needs for Kevin... but the Lord used this moment further in my life.  Would you pray for him and his family?

If parents give up and children die for lack of money, then we must begin a ministry to save more children.   Ruby would shout, you did it for me... do it for my brothers and sisters!

God was revealing to me in that moment that with Emma on the ground, along with Shawn and Sarah, we will see medical needs on, perhaps, a daily basis.   Crisis medical intervention.

So let's begin!

First, let's help with Kevin... then whoever God brings next.

In a way, it's Ruby's way of  giving back.  Ruby wants Kevin to know the relief that she has experienced.   I would assume it will cost several thousand by the time it is done.

Who's in?

(Anything amount that exceeds the care needed to Kevin will be used in our new Emergency Medical Care ministry.}

But wait!  What would we call this arm of International Voice of the Orphan?

And then the Lord whispered:

Ruby's Friends

And yes, Ruby thought it was perfect!

Donate to help save Kevin's life by clicking here.

A Safe Place To Heal

We all need a safe place.  

A place where you can be safe emotionally as well as physically.  

A safe place to talk.  

A safe place to cry.  

A safe place to be honest.  

A safe place to be healed.

While we may not think often about such a place 

surely a safe place to heal is a place we would all run to when trauma strikes.

I cannot even begin to imagine the trauma the street children have experienced.    

Just think of the horrors most have experienced; abandonment, rejection, loss of one or both parents, loss of hope, physical abuse, daily fist fights, sexual abuse... and the list goes on and on.  The days are filled with darkness he night are long and dark filled with fear.

Formerly on the steets now loved at API!

Amos, my little buddy!

When you take street children who are great kids but have been through so much abuse off the streets and into homes you need a "Safe Place" for them to heal.   Talking with Abby and David from API Linny and I  learned that they needed that "Safe Place" for the children of API.   Surely the counseling could continue under a tree on the corner of the cleared property  but these children and the workers need something better.... a safe place!

(This will be short as bed is calling me after a huge day.. and tomorrow we travel 2+ hours to teach our Legacy Leadership Conference.)

So IVO agreed to build that "Safe Place", a  "Counseling and Team Gazebo".  This was their dream and because of your generous support we said, "YES" - we will build a "Safe Place" for you.  Below is the start... the lining out the foundation, holes for the posts, the stripping of the thatch roof timbers and more.   The story is better told in pictures.

 These wonderful children of API, and their fantastic leaders, Abby & David,  will soon have a "Safe Place" and the healing will come through great counseling, loving leaders, and the power of God at their "Safe Place"! 

From the children.... "thank you for coming... our smiles were small now they are large!"

Welcome To The Rest of the World

Today was an initiation of sorts.

 It was a time of seeing life through a different lens - perhaps even a new set of eyes.

It was a time for our new "Go Team" to begin to understand that we don't live like the rest of the world in America,  nor do we resemble the rest of the world.  Today was a day to have the scales removed from our eyes.   Today we had surgery on our hearts to remove presuppositions, prejudices, and false conclusions.   

Today we went to the slums in the heart of Kampala.  Our "Frontlines Feed+" program actually got it's start in the slums.  In the slums we typically feed 60 street boys three times a week.  Today 80 showed up.  They had been told "Big JaJa" (grandpa - that would be me) was showing up!  And they showed up in mass!

Many of you help support our feeding program with our partners;  "API".  Because of your generosity we have taken responsibility for all costs associated with the feeding program:  including food 3 times per week, basic training, medical and hospitalization costs, and costs of resettling runaways.  (The church where they are fed only allows us use it 3 times per week.)

But when you really go into the slums and see with your own eyes, smell the rotting garbage and touch the children's tender faces your life will be forever changed.

At our Team meeting tonight the tears flowed as person after person shared their hearts.  Almost everyone was in tears.   Moms, wept at the "big brown eyes" that stared into their eyes without hope.  Young ladies cried as they recalled the pain of the sights and experiences.  Big men had tears fill their eyes as they recounted the children.

The smells, oh the smells.  As you walk across a small bridge into the heart of the slums you look over a water shed area of mud and human waste.  This is where they bathe and wash their clothes.   "Welcome to the rest of the World"!

 Then walking up a small set of stairs we encountered the garbage pile, soaked from heavy rains and filling our every footstep with a constant shoe sucking reminder, "you are sloshing through garbage."  (Welcome to the rest of the world.)

 There are areas you smell human waste and actually see it on the ground inside the church building project.  "Welcome to the rest of the world!"

  Then you see the kids... they cheer.... we have arrived!

"Welcome to the rest of the World!"

G shared incredulously, "One boy came and offered me his muffin.  He wasn't going to eat for 2 more days!  And he offers me his muffin!  Another boy came up to me and offered me a little bit of change - all he had.... all he had, unbelievable!  These boys were giving me everything they had!   (Who is the picture of Christ here?)"

As G shook his head in disbelief you could feel the room grow silent.  We all knew  -- these boys were willing to give up everything they had.... could we say the same?

"Welcome to the rest of the World."

What the team experienced today is how most of the rest of the world lives every.single.day.

 It is the reality for millions and millions of children each day.

Five thousand children around the world die each day due to starvation.

The rest of the world is clawing and fighting to get their next meal.

The rest of the world fights to survive.

But because of partners around the globe, we at International Voice of the Orphan have said, "No more! Not on my watch!"

The rest of the world has been praying that someone would care... that God would answer....

The rest of the world waits.....................................

Will you help?

Feed One - Frontlines+ Feeding Program

Children in China Need You

Treasures in Agape House

 

Have you ever broken a bone?  

Or has one of your children broken a leg, an arm, or a wrist?   

If you haven't broken something, maybe you've had to walk on crutches 

for a torn muscle of a sprained ankle and discovered it was much harder than it looked!

More Treasures

Do you remember how difficult it was to get around?    

So many things we take for granted suddenly became great obstacles 

to everyday life.  

 I personally remember my crutch experiences. 

 I'm a bit of a wimp on crutches and was exhausted over the easiest of tasks.  

(I know maybe it's a man thing --- we like to whine!)

When Linny was in a wheelchair with her MS was flaring up, I would see everything with new eyes.  

"Questions came to mind:

"How do we get up those steps?"

"What in the world were  they thinking?"

"Why didn't they think people with disabilities when they built this building?"    

Imagine as a child that you had to face these obstacles every day of your life.   

Feel their emotions!   

Think their thoughts! 

See through there eyes! 

Then you will begin to discover how the precious children in Agape House 

feel every day of their lives.  

So Beautiful!

Our China Connection directors, Janet and  Kevin Bourke, have personally met, 

loved on and 

cared for the children at Agape House.  

Now they'd like to give back ramps to these children.   

Below is an article she wrote about Agape Family Life House.

Agape Family Life House (agapeflh.org) is a foster village in Langfang, China where children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle Bone Disease) live and find love, stability, and nurturing. The mission statement of AFLH states they “believe everyone is special and ( they )strive to offer orphans with special needs a place to call home and family to call their own.” The wonderful folks who run Agape House want to help orphans in a tangible way, giving their children the opportunity to thrive through education, discipleship, and loving care. 

So many of the children who live at Agape Family Life House use wheel chairs, and the wheel chair ramps were slippery and dangerous to use. New ramps that have a gradual slope would be far easier for the children to use, enabling them to get up the ramp easier with less effort. New ramps would also have a different, less slick type of tile that would be much safer for the children. 

We would like to help build new ramps for the children. They need two ramps for a total of $2361.

Ramps like this one!

WE CAN DO THIS!

 WE MUST DO THIS!

As Christmas approaches we will all be giving gifts to those we love. Let's include a place in that giving for the children we love whom we will never meet. Love those who do not have a mom and dad, love the orphans who have such need. Simply mark your contribution in the donate box with a memo that says "China" and we will get that money to Agape House. If funds are raised over the amount needed it will go to the next place of greatest need. May God bless you as you give.

Together we can do this!
 Dwight & Linny Lee

The Man In The Mirror

One of my African sons, rescued from the streets now giving his life to the Orphans!

Men can we be brutally honest today?   

Can you be honest with the man in the mirror!  

Can you be honest with God?

But first, we must first lay down our defenses, our excuses, our lack of faith 

and be honest with the man in the mirror! 

What are we doing on behalf the children who have no one to call Dad, 

no place to live, & to often nothing to eat?

Why are we lagging behind the women hearing the call of God and the cry of the orphans? 

At least in America we have slipped into the notion that a good Christian man will provide for his family, protect his family and take them to church weekly.   Now while all of those are right and good, coming to the conclusion that this is the end of the story is completely false.

So my question becomes; is this the end of a man's responsibilities or simply the beginning?

Should you and I contend to live a more radical life than that celebrated by most of the Christian households in America?    Are we missing the exclamation point in our families?

We are compelled to ask, "how does the "normal American Christian" life 

stand up to this clarion call from the Bible.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. 
And what does the LORD require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.   Micah 6:8

To act justly?  

To love mercy?

To walk humbly?

What does that even look like?

Where is it modeled?

How could you and I experience this type of inside - out, upside down type of living?

Whatever happened to the warrior within us men?

Whatever happened to the idea of manly sacrifice?

Whatever happened to acting justly and loving mercy for the "least of these"?

Whatever happened to the great commission being fleshed out by me and our family?

Many of the young adults I talk with these days want to see a real/ authentic Christian.  

Where are the examples?  Where are these modern hero's?

 They want to see their Dad's to be that person.  

They want to know Dad and other men will take risks for the Kingdom.  

If it's not worth dying for, it's not worth living for! 

They want to see Dad lead the family to "Go" to areas that others won't go. 

They want Dad to live a radical life for Christ and for His kingdom.  

Are you willing Dad?

One of the ways you can lead your family is to take them one by one, or as a family, 

on a mission trip.   

Get out of your comfort zone men.  

We were created to lead!  

Instead we have fallen way behind the front lines in the battle 

for the lives of children 

around the world.  

We have sent our woman to the front lines while funding the battle 

from the safety of our own castles.

Men stand up!  

Go to battle for children. 

The Orphans need you to be their voice.  

 Will you be a voice for the voiceless?

Don't wait for a movie star.  

Don't wait for the UN... please don't wait for the UN!

Don't wait for others to join you! LEAD!

GET UP - and start a movement of men who love God more than life.  

Your kids will see you as their hero, not some athlete, not some musician, not someone else!  

Simply you!  But you won't get there by sitting back!

To be fair, there are a number of men who are beginning to respond to the Orphan Crisis.   

They come from all walks of life... and they are leading their families into radical Christianity.

Dr. Craig French - a radical for the orphan!

Some men are leading their family to adopt another child.    But not enough!

Some are leading their families to pray for an Orphan.  But not enough!

Some are giving to feed or care for orphans.  But not enough!

Some are going to the orphans.  But not enough!

Not nearly enough to start a movement. 

SO

Let the movement begin with you!

Can you hear the rumbling?  

Is that you getting ready for battle on behalf of the Orphan?  

Welcome man of God to the front lines!   

Join the war to save the children without a Voice!

Take fair warning!  You will not find it promised anywhere that this will be an easy road.  

There is no mention of a prosperity gospel above. 

 Times will get tough, but God!  

He is always faithful!

There is no mention that you will not have to sacrifice.  You will!

To live a radical life for Christ always requires sacrifice. 

It also requires us to respond to God's call and the Orphan's cry!

Suit up!  Game on!  We are in it to win it!

He has showed you, O man, what is good. 
And what does the LORD require of you? 
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.   Micah 6:8

See you on the Front Lines!  Pastor Dwight