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Foster Care & Adoption
We all know that the gospel is a message that we must share with non-Christians. One of the most practical ways to share the love of Jesus is by taking children in our homes who would otherwise have no place to go. Through adoption, not only can we give them a home with us, but we can also point them to the eternal home with Jesus. Interested? Jessica Prather, a social worker in our church, has some thoughts:
We have a conviction through scripture to care for the orphans in our world
We believe that scripture calls us as Christians to care for and love children (James 1:27). One way that our church would encourage responding to this call is through fostering and adopting Arizona’s vulnerable children. Our state is in a crisis and in desperate need of Christian families to step up and become foster and adoptive parents. Our prayer is that our church would be filled with families who become foster and adoptive parents to children in need of loving homes.
First Steps
If you are interested in becoming a foster/adoptive parent, the first step is to attend an orientation to gather more information regarding foster care and adoption (2012 orientation schedule can be found here). The other option is to schedule an intake meeting with a Christian Adoption Agency (agencies listed below), and the intake coordinator can explain the process to you.
Resources
We hope you find these resources informative in helping you on your way to becoming foster and adoptive parents.
Agape Adoption Agency
Christian Family Care Agency
Bethany Christian Services
Adoption Tax Credit
Together for Adoption
If you have any questions regarding foster care and adoption you can contact Jessica Prather via email.
Relate 2012 Session Messages
This past weekend our church and the tfs ministry were host to Relate 2012. This 2-day conference brought singles age 17+ from SGC, neighboring states, and local Phoenix churches together to look at the topic of relationships and romance. The three sessions were taught by Jon Payne, who sought to direct our focus to the only source of advice we need when it comes to this area of our lives–God’s word. Jason Hansen led worship with the tfs band and a few additions from other churches. And we can’t forget “The Jordans” (Jordan Johnson and Jordan Morales) who did the “announcements” throughout.
You can listen to the messages by going to the Relate website here. Pictures will be posted soon on the Relate website, but here is a preview of what the conference was like. We look forward to doing this again at Relate 2013 in January next year!
Christmas at Rancho 3M
The wonderful staff at Rancho 3M in Mexico sent us pictures of the kids opening their Christmas gifts that we sent. Thank you Sovereign Grace Church for your generosity! Please take a look at these photos to see the kids’ appreciation…
Christmas Trip to Rancho 3M, Day Two
A second letter from Dale Furnish, writing from Rancho 3M on Monday, December 19, 2011:
“I started this in the El Paso airport waiting for a flight to Phoenix, having bailed out early on the group of fourteen at the Rancho 3M. It is spitting rain here, and pretty cold. In fact, it looks like most of the grunt labor has finished and tomorrow promises fun and games and crafts and Christmas cookies with the kids.
We got a lot done, including a night session after dinner on Sunday, when all the boxes of Feliz Tree presents were unloaded and stored away to wait for Christmas, several more classrooms got painted, the two tetherball posts were cemented in, and further cleaning of the workshop took place. Today was a cold, raw day with a cold, cutting wind and serious chill factor, and most of the kids stayed mostly inside. Meanwhile, we got new doorknobs and deadbolts on all the classroom doors and the chapel doors; the tetherballs placed on the new poles, which immediately begin to attract a group of kids to learn a new game; new basketball backboards up; more classrooms painted—the painters were within reach of finishing all fourteen rooms when I left; and a large galvanized steel pipe greenhouse frame perhaps 20’ by 30’ out of its site behind the school (where it had apparently never been used to teach the children about gardens and growing vegetables as originally intended), over a 7-foot fence with barbed wire at the top and on its way across the Rancho 3M campus to the area of the family homes where the Adameks and others can grow vegetables in it. I may have forgotten something, but we at least did all of this, and seemed to complete our punch list.
The greenhouse moving project was everything good about working at Rancho 3M. To me, it looked borderline impossible. It provoked discussion about how to accomplish the whole job, from getting the bolted-pipe frame free from its moorings, to getting it over the fence and finally moved about a quarter mile or more. It was good to have the manpower that we had this trip for this project, and to see the cooperation that made it possible. In my recollection, it seems like a miracle that we got that frame over that fence, doing it the way we did it. Fortunately, no safety experts or union reps were on the job, but God was.
While some of the men played in the dirt and wielded cordless drills and hammers and other tools that made noise, the younger women helped paint and helped clean up the workshop (a never-ending task, but it is in pretty good order now), and all the women found time to help out wherever needed on all the other jobs and also set up meals and all of the arts, crafts and games. I did not see any of that, but if the craft and games day is like the meals, it will come off flawlessly and lift the hearts of children and everybody else, and get the Sovereign Grace folks started home in good spirits, a little beaten up and achy here and there perhaps, but with a strong sense of accomplishment and thankful for another opportunity to receive God’s blessings in our service to others.
Overall, the visit left me with a renewed respect for the regular staff. We supply lots of support and real improvements, but the whole campus needs constant maintenance and administration. The environment beats on everything, and the orphanage uses it hard. We can step in and make a real difference, but do not put out any of the daily fires and problems that come up. As one example, we got new doorknobs and deadbolts on beaten-up doors. A lot of the doors really need to be rehabilitated completely, and will cause regular problems that staff will have to deal with.
Monday afternoon, we broke out the gloves and soft baseballs again, and everybody was outside with a glove playing catch at the end of the day. Almost everybody from Sovereign Grace was playing ball with the kids in a scene of happy chaos. There is another day Tuesday, and more of the same, probably the most specific contact with the kids, as the visit winds down. There are some new kids at Rancho 3M, and some that we had gotten to know have left, but the core of children remains, growing, learning, forming patterns and attitudes that will shape their lives. To know that the children’s development takes place in the godly environment Rancho 3M provides, and to which we contribute, should encourage every heart. The world is hard and filled with sin and depravity, but we can overcome through Jesus and serving Him. Rancho 3M is a clear and present blessing for us all, and should fortify everyone’s faith and trust in the Lord, His grace, His mercy and His salvation for us all, on both sides of the border.”
Christmas Trip to Rancho 3M, Day One
A letter from Dale Furnish, writing from Rancho 3M on Sunday, December 18, 2011:
“The sun has gone down—a beautiful sunset behind the hills to the west—on our first full day at Rancho 3M, and the Felíz Tree Christmas-present boxes are being transferred into the Women’s Guest Dormitory right now. The Bells and the Schepps pulled in this afternoon in time to take part in the “mostly locals versus the mostly visiting gringos” soccer game, which the locals won 3-1. Diane and Scott Mitchell are preparing supper and all of the kids are in their dormitories, after a very active day.
The trip over for eight of us on Saturday produced no major events, good news. We got across the border by 2:30 PM local time, and the Mexican customs and army gave us the minimum of checks, opening a few suitcases and then waving us through. The first day was overcast, raw and cold, but we broke out baseball gloves and balls and had everybody playing catch, some for the first time judging from the way they threw and the fact that they did not know how to put on their gloves and often tried them on the wrong hand. Every kid enthusiastically joined in, although we fell a few gloves short.
We accomplished a lot of tasks today, which dawned clear and crisp. After a great breakfast of egg-sausage casserole and fresh-ground coffee (we seem to eat very, very well on these trips . . . courtesy of several wives who are not here, and Diane, who is, but for all of whom we are very thankful) we split up. Hunter Stout, man of a hundred skills, started welding reinforcement rails on the fence, with Aubrey Lyts and Diane carrying the rails to the fence. The fence is about 3½ miles long, so Hunter will probably not get it all welded this trip, but he put in a full day at it, with one break when he ran out of gas for the welder.
Scott, and then Diane after she had finished carting steel rails, cleaned out the shop, a feat close to Hercules’ mythical cleaning of the Sysiphian stables. Three trucks full of junk and other stuff went to the dump, and the workshop now looks neat, clean and organized as it has not looked for decades.
Danny Stehlik and Enrique Canales started painting classrooms in the school—now out for vacation until after Christmas. There are fourteen classrooms and Danny figured 1½ hours per classroom, so it should take over 20 hours to get them painted. Aubrey joined the painters after she finished her hauling stint. So far three rooms have been painted, and we will paint at night to see if we can get all rooms done.
Jonathan Lambros and I put a roof on the pump station/welding shop, and began to install two tether-ball poles.
We did take a break to join everyone for a great mid-day meal of tamales, rice and beans, singing Mañanitas (Mexican “Happy Birthday”) to all September-December birthdays. Rancho 3M normally does not serve dessert, but every three months or so, they have a mass birthday party, this one with cupcakes and ice cream cups. In between lunch and dessert, we played field hockey, and then finished off the day with soccer.
So it was a day with a lot of work, a lot of good food and a lot of time with the kids and Rancho 3M personnel. When we play sports here, everyone participates, from me (71) to the little 7- and 8-year-olds, and everybody in between, all at the same time, all in the same game. It is great to see the soccer ball moving upfield through about 20-25 people of all ages, and a 10-year-old execute a great fake and go around a 40-year-old.
Nice to see the six reinforcements arrive without incident, and be around a table with fourteen Sovereign Grace saints, breaking bread and planning projects. Rancho 3M has changed a lot since I began coming here, notably for the better. There are more and better structures, and the existing structures have improved under our efforts. We are not the only church that visits Rancho 3M, but we certainly contribute to the ongoing enterprise of the orphanage.
The kids are the reason for Rancho 3M and make it what it is. The kids’ enthusiasm overflows. It shows in their eyes and in their body language. It shows in their energy and the joy with which they do everything . . . everything! In many ways, they do not have a lot. By our standards, they are poor in material goods and lifestyle. They are getting a good education, however, and they all know about the Lord and the gospel. They are not all believers, but they have as strong a start as any children could get in the Word. They are active, healthy kids, much more active physically than many American kids these days. They respect discipline, despite their typical kids’ inclination to get into trouble. There is a lot going on with these kids, body, mind and heart, and it is virtually all good in this environment on the Rancho 3M. The Rancho 3M kids prosper in every way that counts.
Never forget, however, that every one of these kids has a horrible story behind them. Some carry visible scars. All carry internal scars that seem to heal, and hold out hope for their spiritual development and spiritual maturity over the long term. The older kids here seem less rebellious and more caring towards the younger kids than we often expect. Some of the current full-time personnel grew up on Rancho 3M.
All of the Rancho 3M personnel glorify God with their work here. While we are blessed to be able to come down every three months or so, they are here full time, at great sacrifice in worldly goods and praise. The Rancho 3M staff sets the tone for the whole operation. They are joyful, godly people. They are fun to be around. I have not met one who does not manifest the fruit of the Spirit. If the kids are the reason for Rancho 3M, the Rancho 3M staff is the reason that the kids are so bright-eyed and bursting with healthy growing. I cannot think of a greater blessing to all of us than to be a part of supporting Rancho 3M.”
Hope Women’s Center Charity Opportunity
As we approach the end of the year, we wanted to tell you about an opportunity to help the local organization, Hope Women’s Center. Because of their ministry with women and teen girls, Hope Women’s Center can have your tax dollars redirected to their organization, up to $400 for married couples and $200 for single tax payers from now until December 31. If you work in the state of Arizona you must pay taxes. Why not tell the state to direct a portion of that money to a ministry that is making a significant difference? For more information, you can click on this link here to view the brochure, or visit their website here.
New CD – The Gathering
Sovereign Grace music has just released a new CD. Recorded live at the WorshipGod11 conference that Jon and I attended, The Gathering contains 15 songs that tell the story of the gospel and our appropriate response to it. You can preview the songs for free, and the MP3 album is available at Amazon ($6.99) and iTunes ($9.99). Hard copies will be available in our bookstore within the next few Sundays.
I recommended this CD at our last Family meeting, not only because it is full of great songs, but also because many of these songs will join our Sunday morning worship set over the next year. Since one focus of this collection is the gathering of believers to worship God together, it only seems appropriate that we would be adding these songs to our Sunday morning time of worship together. The first track on the album captures what The Gathering is all about:
There is one reason why we’re gathered here
Your love is causing us to sing
All of Your people through Your Son draw near
Sinners before their Holy King
The church of God bought by blood
We love You, Father
God of all, our God forever
We praise You, Jesus
Christ, our Lord, the Son, our Savior
We’re here together
In Your Holy Spirit gathered for Your glory
So you should listen to these songs, and you can look forward to learning and singing them over the next few months.
Struggling to Read? Read Lit!
Do you struggle with reading? Is it more like a chore than a joy? When people say that all they want to do is curl up with a blanket and a cup of coffee so that they can read all day do you think, “Worst. Day. Ever.”? If so, then you should read the book Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books by my friend Tony Reinke. The purpose of this book is to help everyone read rightly and to help some of you read period.
It may seem counter-intuitive for me to tell those of you who don’t like to read books to read a book; and I guess it is. However, I pray that if you take the risk and begin reading this book you will find a desire to read where it wasn’t before. May the Lord spark a reading fire in your hearts and minds and may you find it to be a source of joy instead of a source of dread.
Dangers of Bitterness & Resentment
Have you ever struggled with bitterness or resentment toward another person? I’m guessing you have. I can say this because I know that I have. It’s such a common thing for us in our sinfulness to want to be right and be justified for being right, and oftentimes this craving to justify ourselves comes at the cost of someone else who might be disagreeing with us or seemingly opposed to us.
Kevin DeYoung has given us some helpful food for thought regarding this topic. You can read his whole post here, but I thought the following quote about the dangers of allowing “the seed of bitterness [to] get planted” was worth reposting:
There is no escaping the snare of resentment, save for the sovereign grace of God. Once you let the seed of bitterness get planted and take root, the flower only blooms what is bitter. No matter how much you reason, no matter how much you listen, no matter how much you care or critique, the matter is as clear to the resentful one as it ever was: it’s all your fault.
A Thank You
In September, we took donations for the Hope Women’s Center Resource Room. This week, we received a thank you letter from Hope Women’s Center and wanted to share it with the rest of the church:
Dear Body of Sovereign Grace Church,
I cannot begin to tell you how very blessed we are by your generosity. There were several items that we were completely out of at the time the donations arrived. Regardless of how often we see it happen, I still marvel at God’s perfect timing and His loving provision, as laid on the hearts of brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for serving and blessing our clients through your giving in the month of September.
God bless you!
Mitzi Wisely
Pictoral Update from Rancho3M
Greetings from Mexico!
We’ve completed our first full day here at the Ranch, and we’re excited for another long day of working and playing hard. Thank you all for your prayers! We made it here safely and crossing the border was remarkably smooth!
Here are some photos from our day yesterday…
Most of the guys spent all day working on installing the septic tank.
While the ladies did some painting…
and roofing…
and shoveling…
In the afternoon, we provided an intense hour of field games for the last hour of school at the K-8th grade school located next door to the ranch. Much fun was had by all…
3-legged races…
Parachuting…
Partner tag…
And more…
We ended the day with some good hard play and lots of hug time. 
Michelle and Aubrey…
Me reading a criminology textbook to Alan…in English…he just liked carrying around a book and got excited about the highlighted sections, hehe.
I’d better run and help finish roofing the chicken coop… Hasta Luego!
- Naomi
Treasuring the Word
I first saw this on Justin Taylor’s blog (you can view his post here). This is convicting on how much I treasure God’s Word. These people, who now have the Word in their own language for the first time, are so overjoyed that they can read about their God and their Savior in a language that they can understand; it makes me wonder about how much we take the Word for granted. May the Lord renew this type of love for His Word in us!
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