Sponsoring Hope.

A couple of years ago, BFF Jami and I found ourselves staring at a table full of faces. We were working summer camp at Crossroads, who had a strong relationship with an organization called New Missions. I had approached Jami to consider sponsorship with me and for a week we prayed about it separately.

Isn't it funny that we had to pray about it? I mean, after all as Francis Chan says, "Did God tell you to watch TV last night?"


ahem.



So the Table. The Table full of little faces. Some smiling, some looking cute, some royally ticked off because they had to get a picture made. Some whose eyes felt like they were boring a hole through my soul.

As we scanned the Table, it became clear to me in a hurry which little one would be ours. It was a little girl with about fifty baby barrettes in her hair, and they were all neon colored. She had dark brown eyes and she was not smiling. In fact, maybe it was my imagination but she looked like she had a little attitude.


Come to mama!



Without saying a word, a moment later Jami picked up the photo of the little girl with the massive amounts of barrettes. She scanned her profile and said, "Her name is SARAH."

Jami knew that I love the name Sarah because it means Princess. I always call my nieces Princess and I had always wanted to name a daughter that, but it's so popular in the US that I didn't want her to be one of forty Sarahs in her school or something. So the fact that this little one's name was Sarah was complete confirmation!

Her full name is Sarah Prosper. She was four years old when we picked up that photo.


I have never once regretted that decision.

We started corresponding with Sarah and sending her pictures and other things. Our lives have never been the same.


About a year after we started sponsoring Sarah, I had the privilege of going to New Missions to see the ministry firsthand and to spend a week with the Haitian people. I was scheduled to meet Sarah and her mom on Thursday, but God had other plans. People had been fasting and praying for me daily on the trip, and the biggest blessing would come on Wednesday of that week.

My journal:

We came back and had an opportunity to purchase good from the local Haitians. This was partly frustrating because we could not give everyone business and some of them were pretty aggressive.
But then, the coolest part of the whole trip came. I walked toward one of the shops and almost ran into someone as I was looking down and walking (not a good plan) around to find Seth a nativity. I looked up at the man with whom I had collided and immediately began to apologize in the most broken form of Creole ever heard.
He looked at me for a minute.
Then he said, "You have child?"

People, I am a slightly rotund individual, but even I had not had that many bowls of beans and rice.

Trying not to become offended, I was thinking in my head, "Was that a Haitian fat joke?"
Finally I shook my head no. He then said,

"No. You have Haitian child. Sarah."

It took me a second for it all to come together.

"Yes!" I said. "How did you know?"


He responded, "Sarah is my sister. There she is, right over there."

Perched on the wall separating New Missions from the Village of Bord Mer was my little princess, wearing a bathing suit and nothing else. Her brother's name was Charles, and he had recognized me from the picture we sent. What are the odds?

But then again, why am I surprised?


I promised to take Sarah to the clinic later that day due to a skin problem she had (NM covers all healthcare procedures) and I kissed her and told her I would see her then.

So I thought!
We went to a church service and Scott (team leader) tapped me on the shoulder. "Is that Sarah?" He asked.

Sure enough, it was. So I got her and took her to sit with me. As we stood and sang Trading My Sorrows, and as Sarah clung to me like a koala and would not let me put her down, tears of joy rained down my face at God's amazing blessings and His extra grace to give me the chance to meet Sarah and spend extra time with her.

****************

Through my experiences with Sarah, I have learned how amazing it is to sponsor a child. So when my friend Nicole decided to go on the World Race for a year, I wanted to contribute to her mission trip. We were discussing how I could do that, and then I remembered Jose.


Nicole has been sponsoring a little boy from Nicaragua named Jose through Compassion International for a few years now. In our apartment, his picture hung and we spent time praying for our sponsored kids (although not nearly enough!). I saw his sweet face daily and I knew that as Nicole was working hard to raise funds so that she could meet the needs of people all over the world who are just like Jose, someone had to be this little boy's sponsor for a year to free up Nicole's finances. Just for this year, i get the honor of meeting Jose's needs.

Now Nicole is heading to Nicaragua tomorrow on a 17-hour bus ride. She will be spending a month there Would you join me in prayer that Nicole will have the same experience as I did? Please pray that somehow, God would work a miracle and she would get to meet Jose!



Also, I would like to ask you to consider getting involved with child sponsorship. For just a few dollars a day, you can have the blessing of reaching a child with the love of Jesus Christ. With a little sarificial giving, you can sponsor HOPE in a child's life. If you have children, it's a great project to help the understand God's love for the nations and to teach them about giving.

One more thing, some Compassion Bloggers are set to hit El Salvador in the next few days. They will be blogging their experiences and I encourage you to take time to read their stories.



For your comment consideration:
How are you reaching out?
If you're not, how are you going to?



What if we?

Hungry for Love

I was having dinner with my dad and some friends the other night when he mentioned something that made me stop and think. As he told my new friends a little bit about my mom, he shared about our bookstore and the ministry that came of it.

"Cheryl always said that when people came in and wandered around for a little while, and then came up to the counter and said, 'I don't know why I'm here,' that she was to encourage and pray with them."

I want to be careful not to make the woman who birthed me into some kind of saint on this blog, but she was a mighty fine lady. She was also onto something.

People are hungry for something and they don't even know what.


But we do.

It's called love. Sometimes people just need to be loved.
Even mean people.
Even cold people.
Even difficult people.
Even people who have abandoned the faith.
Even people who have hurt us deeply in the past.
Even people who are absent--those who have checked out of life as they knew it.

It's true that some people need a swift kick in the rear as well--that is also loving when appropriate.

They wander in and out of our lives just like they wandered in and out of our store.

Do you see their hunger? Do you even notice them?


Maybe it's a coworker that's always hanging out at the water cooler with sad looking eyes. Maybe it's your daughter's friend Aubrey who is ALWAYS over at your house and requires much more patience than you have to offer at times. Maybe it's a family member who is always critical to you and everyone else but keeps coming over to visit.


Do we see them? Do we hear their unvoiced cries for help? Do we have the courage to passionately share His truth with them in love? Or do we ignore them in order to maintain our pristine image and perfect social life and some sense of our sanity?

We have a divine responsibility to take the time and spare willingly the energy required to truly love people who float in and out of our lives. (Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that we should enable people or allow them to abuse our bodies, minds, or spirits.) Everyone so desperately needs love.




Maybe it's you, dear reader. Maybe you're the one who stumbled upon this blog and you don't even know why you are reading or following this blog. Can I know your name and your story? It would be my honor to pray with you and to encourage you along this sometimes bumpy road called life? If you're not sure why you are here, please email me at lauren.thatgirl@gmail.com and tell me about you. It would be my honor to listen.


If you know of someone who has wandered into your life, I dare you to show them the love of Christ and see what happens. If that's the case, I encourage you to leave a comment with a prayer over the first name of the person in your life who needs the most love.

Guest Blog//What If We....(please read)

My friend Cody spent a year in Ch*na working as an official teacher and a covert missionary to college students. I heard him share this story


and I can NEVER, ever be the same.


This story begs the question:



Cody's Story....
I would like to tell you a story of what I experienced while being a missionary to Ch*na. I had been in the city of Guanghzou for my first two months working with the underground Church. Everything seemed to be going great until one week God totally flipped my world upside down.

I always noticed a homeless beggar that sat on a sidewalk. What was really interesting about this man is that he would only come out at night. He was almost ashamed of being seen in his state during the day. So one night on my way back from leading a bible study I walked past this man. I felt like I should help him out so I put a little money in the bowl that he kept in front of him as he sat on the disgusting sidewalk. (Sidewalks in Ch*na are not the cleanest to say the least (!) and it is considered a place for only the most lowly). I walked on after giving him the money and felt good about myself. I felt like I had shown that man the love of Christ. Then later that night as I got in bed I realized that I should have done more.

So the next day I went and bought the man some bread and a bottled water. I handed it to him, smiled and went on my day feeling once again that I had shown the love of Christ to this man. As I lay down in my bed that night God spoke right to my heart like he never had before. I realized, "Yeah, I'm giving him money and food, but is that showing the love of Christ?

I realized that it wasn't showing His love, because after all, Muslims have the command to give to the poor in their religion, Buddhists also have the command to help the poor, Atheists for the most part help others in need.

In fact, all of these groups had done these same things I had been doing with this homeless man. So how was I to show this man the love of Christ? How did that look different from what they were doing? So God spoke to me and showed me what He did to show people love. God spoke to my heart and the following few days changed my life.

I walked by the man as I did many nights before. I walked by him and went about a block away to a noodle shop. There I bought some soup and noodles, food that he could never afford to buy but for me, the sacrifice was nothing. I walked over to him and handed him the noodles. He looked up at me, took the food, and said "Thank you," in Ch*nese. But the next thing really caught him off guard.

I sat down next to him and crossed that taboo barrier. I pulled out my own soup and noodles and started to eat next to him on the dirty sidewalk.

I remember him just staring over at me for what seemed like forever. I can't help but wonder if he was thinking: "Is this big white stranger going to hurt me?" (I am a big man.) But eventually he went back to eating his noodles. I practiced some of my Chinese with him, introducing myself, telling him where I was from, what my name was.

People walked by and their faces said it all. It was obvious as they passed by that they had never before seen this rather unusual sidewalk friendship. I had a great conversation with him and he had opened up by the end of it. I got up, said goodbye, and went home. Over the next week I returned with my friend and some soup and noodles. I got to know him very well and was eventually able to tell him about Christ's love for him.

One night he wrote on a napkin we had. He wrote in Chinese something that I will treasure always. It translated to "You are the greatest man I have ever met." I didn't know what to think when I later found out the meaning of the words. But that night was the last time I saw him. They probably found out about an American sitting with him and kicked him out into the small villages in order to keep China's positive image. But what he wrote stuck with me. Once again I got in my bed that night and God spoke to me. I realized that I am far from a great man, and in fact I am a man that is terrible, but through this terrible man the homeless beggar saw the Greatest Man, Jesus. It was the first time that I have ever felt like Jesus completely used me one hundred percent, like I was just a spectator. It felt good and fueled my passion to not just do a little something extra, but rather to really show people what the difference is between doing good things and showing a person the true love of Christ.

Now, I ask you friends. Are you any different from an atheist, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a Hindu? We all do nice and good things, but what makes what we are doing any different from what they are doing? We need to truly share the love of Christ with people in a way that we are sometimes secretly scared to. That is what makes Jesus the amazing man that He is! He went the extra distance to show people that he actually cared about them and not just their needs. So, what are you going to do about it? Today is the day, friends. What if We....

Eli is Coming Home!

Please pray for Josh, Kristi, Sam, Cora, and Eli as Josh and Kristi prepare to travel to breing Eli back to his forever family from March 7-13. I am so blessed to know and love this family, and if I know you, loyal Bloggerotsky, you are adding baby Eli to your prayer list right now and can't wait to talk to God about him and his precious family.


That's why I love you!

What if We? Part I Follow-Up.

I had a Rooty, Tooty, Fresh and Fruity good time doing the What if We? Challenge with Kasey, Jami, and Nicole on Thursday night.





Our original plan was to solicit my friend Tiffany, who works at Grand Traverse Pie Co. in Evansville. But their registers are set up for folks to pay before they sit down to eat, so when we got there, our plans changed. We went to the glamorous IHOP instead. We sat down and told our waitress our selections from the menu. A family walked in and we told her that we wanted to pick up their checks anonymously. So I ripped up a piece of cardstock Jami had in her purse (she's a scrapper...) and wrote "God Loves You" on it. I asked the waitress to make sure they got that instead of a check. It was worth every penny. We prayed for the family as we prayed for our meal, but the funniest part was when we left and we were being silly and goofing off outside of the restaurant on the way to the car. One of the folks at the table we had paid for looked up and raised his eyebrows at us!! We had been singing this silly rap song and being funny, and he could hear us...bet he idn't suspect us in a million years.


IT WAS AWESOME?


what are you waiting for? I'm like LeVar Burton. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself!


did you? Let me know...

What If We... PART I.

Bought a stranger's meal?
Let's find out...


Tonight Jami, Nicole, and I are going to see what happens.



We'll let you know. If you want to try it with us, I suggest you pick up a tab anonymously at a restaurant tonight or pick up the tab for the stranger behind you in the drive-thru. Have the cashier tell them God loves them. Then share your story and email me or link it to this blog. Let's see what happens when we become the hands and feet of Jesus in a surprising way without taking credit for it!

What do you have to lose?




What if we....

YAY!

Baby Eli passed his court date--let's pray him here quickly. I am absolutely beside myself waiting to hold this handsome little chubby-cheeked wonder!


go show sweet Kristi and Josh your love and support as they prepare to travel to see their beloved third child...


gosh he is cute. Now get to praying so he can get to Indiana and I can hold him soon!!

love you, Ausbrooks family!

What if We... (& Giveaway)

***Update:
I am getting some GREAT responses in the comment section. Let's try to narrow it down for a more specific, more attainable approach...such as
What if we paid for the car behind us in the drive-thru?
What if we fed the homeless person we see every day on the way to work?
Thanks, Bloggerotsky. You are awesome.



Brandon Heath's album What if We is messing me up so much right now.
I visit his website and for the past several months since What If We came out, he has been asking questions and answering them with video blogs....
such as:
What If We bought a stranger's lunch?
What if We Learned to Communicate?

It has inspired me to continue the quest in what the Book of James calls true religion...as in loving God by caring for those who are unloved or oppressed.

So that's where you come in. I am beginning a blog feature called

and I want your help. Beginning now, I am asking you, dear Bloggerotsky, to fill in the blank
"What if we..."
Your suggestions will be used if possible for an upcoming series of video blogs where I will try to demonstrate your suggestion.
If your suggestion is used, you will score a FREE Brandon Heath CD and also see your idea come to life!

Let's remember to keep it within reach, because we want to actually accomplish these things (i.e. What if we...had world peace is a lofty goal, but slightly unattainable for "that Girl..." at this present moment).

You may also steal that graphic and put it on your own blog (please be sure to link it to my blog, so that everyone can be in the running for the giveaway--we want everyone involved...Hence, What If WE.

so, get to it, folks.




What if we....