WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND?

by Mike Dee

What’s in your hand? It’s a question that everyone needs to ask of themselves. The Father has put something in your hand. Do you know what it is? Do you know how to use it? Are you prepared to give it away?

David was a shepherd boy who was given the charge to watch over his father’s sheep. This was typically one of the “lower class” duties during that period of time. However, during his time of shepherding God instilled the very qualities that David would one day need to become king of Israel. (Don’t despise the day of small beginnings) ?? Scripture??.

One day David was asked by his father to go to the front line of the battle that was being waged between Israel and the Philistines to get a report on how his brothers were doing. David, obediently went, but was not prepared for what he was about to face. The Israelites had been challenged by the Philistines that whoever would come to fight their great warrior, Goliath, the countrymen of the loser would serve the countrymen of the victor.

David was not trained in battle, however, he had been trained by the experiences that he had acquired while tending his father’s sheep. During those years he was required to kill the bear and the lion in order to protect the sheep. He did not have weapons of war, but rather a sling and some stones and the reliance of his heavenly Father’s protection.

Upon arriving at the battle front, David observed that the there was not one man in all of Israel that would accept this challenge to fight Goliath. He went to the king and volunteered for the job. The king attempted to outfit him with the weapons of war, but David found them awkward and bulky hindering his ability to fight. How often do we try to take on the awkward and bulky burdens of man in place of the very thing that God has already given us – the thing that is in our hand! How often do we try to follow man’s plan before we try God’s way?

Most of you know how the story ends. David removes the burdens placed upon him by man (the king’s armor). He then uses the thing that God had placed in his HAND – a simple sling and 5 smooth stones. David slays the giant Goliath and goes on to become the King of Israel.

So you ask, what does this have to do with orphans in Africa? It’s about taking the thing that you have in your hand and using it for God’s kingdom. James 1:27 states that “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”. You may not think that the thing in your hand is much. It may be a little money, a simple prayer, a small gift or talent, etc. Whatever it is, God is waiting for you to use it for his kingdom. When we step out in faith and give it away, God is faithful to use it. It may have small impact or it may bring down a giant. Either way, it will be used to advance the Kingdom of God.

For me, that small thing in my hand was “time”. As I gave it away on this trip to Africa, the Father graciously answered our prayers that we would establish like-minded partners who reside in Zambia to accomplish the task of building not just physical homes for orphans, but establishing an eternal family for these beautiful orphaned children.

So, my challenge to you is this – you know what’s in your hand; you know how to use it; GIVE IT AWAY!!

During our trip to Zambia last month, we were blessed to spend time with Mike and Linda Jones. Mike and Linda have been in Zambia, ministering to the locals, for over 13 years now and share in common with WOR a desire to serve Orphans.

Mike agreed to act as our Director of Missions for Africa and we are so excited to take advantage of his experience and look forward to working with him and Linda to establish ways in which we can bless Orphans in Africa.

One project that we have agreed to move forward on is an orphanage in Silembe. Silembe is about an hour north off the main road from Kolomo. Silembe is home to nearly 100 families and our plan is to build 6 homes to serve 72 Orphans in this community. Each home will house 12 of these children and a house-mother. We believe that we can build this Orphanage for under $1,700 per child with each of the six homes being constructed for $10,000. Our next step will be to establish water at the site before we start construction in the next several months.

There will be opportunities to serve either on-site or by participating with fundraising for various stages of this project. A complete build-out for this project is planned to take two to three years. We'll keep you posted.

Master of Peace Ranch

Ndola’s Master of Peace Ranch Orphanage

Who: World Orphan Relief
What: 4 homes, 12 Orphans per home, -home to 48 Orphans
When: 2007–2010
Where: Ndola, Zambia’s third largest city.
How: Through one-time and monthly donations
Status: Planning and raising funds for purchase

Hope for the City Orphanage

Last year while visiting Kitwe Central Assembly of God, I shared a message of Hope. This theme of Hope was tied to my experience with our daughter, and finally to the plight of Orphans.

Little did I know that that church had formed a committee to establish a way the church could somehow serve the community. After hearing our message of Hope, the committee at Kitwe Central was stirred to serve Orphans. In this instance they went out and took ten girls off of the street and placed them in a home, Hope for the City Orphanage.

We had the honor of visiting Hope for the City Orphanage. What makes this home beautiful is the girls that now live there. There are six of the ten girls who remain, the other four ran away back to the streets, and on of the six girls had a baby recently and her name is Hope.

The now seven girls in total are cared for by one women. They live in a two bedroom house in what we would call the slum. They have no stove in which to cook on, nor a refrigerator to store food. They only use a hot plate in which to cook their meals. There is no indoor toilet. For some reason this was a very humbling experience.

We would hope to raise funds for a stove and refrigerator for the Orphanage, the only quote we have received so far is for $800. This would be for new appliances. If you’d like to help you may contact us at (303) 840-1123 or make a donation through our website at worldorphanrelief.org.

WOW!

I am so humbled by my experiences over the last two years. On the next post I'll tell you about 'Hope for the City Ministry'. We visited there last month in Zambia. -Blessings.

WOR Founder and President Scott Nordstrom with WOR Board Member Mike Dee standing on the Bridge of Hope built by WOTA Ministries in Chingola. This bridge provides an entry to the WOTA Ministry development from the city of Chingola. World Orphan Relief is currently in discussions with WOTA that would provide for an Orphanage in the area.

What a week!

This week has been a blur, but we have so many positive things happening on many fronts.

I have been spending some time organizing an executive committee for WOR and have had great conversations with several individuals who would make a great contribution to the cause.

In addition, we have been getting busy with organizing our fundraising activity. Not a fun thing to talk about for most people, but a necessary aspect of what we do and we channel resources from those who can and do give to those far less fortunate than us -Orphans. I believe that we are going to be working with Champ Events Group to do multiple location campaigns; both in the spring and the fall.

The momentum we are gaining is huge and we can't afford to rest at this moment. I'll get more to all later, and many blessings as you enter Super Bowl weekend!