Releasing children from poverty in JESUS' name!

Believe it or not we're quickly approaching the holiday session! In fact we're 87 days away from Christmas!! (I know, I know you don't want hear that just yet!)

I got on this Christmas kick after being reminded of our sponsor child today.

Meet Rachel. Rachel is 8 years old and is in 2nd grade. She lives in rural Indonesia with her mom and dad. One fun fact she has shared with us recently is that her favorite food is rice! We hear from her about 6 times a year and is always telling us what her new favorite bible story is. We get to write her back about us and even share bible stories through letters.

Now you're probably wondering how did that lead you to thinking about Christmas? The answer is that I was offered the opportunity to send her a Christmas present today. Every last penny of the money we gave for her will be spent on her! I love that Compassion International doesn't take any administrative costs out of gift money.

Compassion International helps Christians connect with children in need in 26 countries around the world. Their motto is "releasing children from poverty in JESUS' name." It cost $38 a month and 80% of what you give goes to the child. That is much more than most other sponsorship programs. Their program feeds, clothes, and educates them in addition to getting them involved in a church program where they will learn about the gospel.

So back to Christmas. I as I do from time to time I clicked on the Compassion International website. My heart broke as I looked at the pictures of children tagged with a heart. This means they have been waiting for a sponsor for over six months! I thought about how they may not even know how to pray to God yet asking for a sponsor yet. So I stopped to pray for one for them.

Father God,

You know each one of these little ones personally.
You see there tears, you hear their rumbling tummies, you feel their longing to know someone loves them.
I pray on their behalf that Your Spirit would awaken us to hear and see their needs too.
James 1:27 says "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."
Allow us to be a part of your plan to care for those who can not care for themselves. For you will raise up the poor from the dust; and lift the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. (1 Samuel 2:8)
More specifically, I pray that each child who has been waiting for 6 months or longer will receive a sponsor by Christmas.

In Jesus' name,
Amen

I hope Christmas is on your mind now and that you will consider becoming a sponsor to one of these little ones before December 25. I can only imagine that it will make for their best Christmas ever. It could result in the first time they ever hear what Christmas is all about.

If you have any questions about Compassion or sponsorship we would be happy to answer them for you. And if you're already a sponsor we would love to know that too!

Merry Christmas,
Laura

One Year Later

Ok ok so this blog is being posted one year and almost two months later. I think you all understand, though, that when the school year hits life picks up speed and the fun stuff like blogging is pushed to the way side. Our paper (first) anniversary, however, is worth backtracking a little for.

For those of you who don't know the first anniversary is traditionally the "paper anniversary" because you are poor. The couple is to buy, make, or incorporate a paper aspect to their gift. To honor tradition (and our status as poor seminary students) we decided to go with it.

I (Laura) got Steve a copy of our song's sheet music. We're still trying to get the hang of this guitar thing. I hope one day (maybe by our 10th anniversary) we can play it!

Steve's gift was a series of cards that he gave out through out the day. Each one was accompanied by a surprise of where we were to go next.

 The first surprise was that we were going to Monterey California. It is about a hour and a half drive from where we live. On the way we passed the famous garlic festival. Despite my wanting to check it out Steve felt we had better things lined up. haha. Maybe we'll hit up the garlic festival next year.

After we arrived I got my next card and surprise number two that we would be eating at an awesome seafood restaurant on the water. Our table over looked the beach and was so beautiful! The food was really good too!

We decided to take a picture of one  year's worth of wear and tear on our rings.

 At the end of lunch I got my last card and final surprise that we were going on a whale watching tour! I was super surprised and we were both excited. We had a little time to kill so we walked back down the beach towards the pier and window shopped.

Just before our tour started the sun came out! It was perfect timing! This is a picture of the boat that took us an hour out to sea.

We decided to sit outside and enjoy the sunshine and views. With a little hot chocolate we were able to stand the cold. About an  hour into the trip we started to get skeptical. Were we going to be in the 1% of people who didn't see something on this trip? Then out of no where...



There were over 15 whales all around us. They told us it was pretty unusual to see them in groups like that. They were happy to show off for by us coming out of the water which was really fun. One came right up to our boat but of course I was not ready with the camera so this is a sampling of what we got.



Once back to shore we finished our day with a trip to Buba Gump Shrimp for dinner. We chose it because we went to our first Buba Gump Shrimp restaurant on our honeymoon. We learned that Monterey is the original Buba Gump!

We didn't get around to the final tradition of first year anniversary's until the day after our one year mark... The eating of the year old cake. It was quite an adventure getting this cake to us. As most of you know we were married in Mississippi and now we live in California. We planned on hand carrying it back earlier this summer when we visited home but forgot it in the freezer. Good thing too because we got stuck overnight at the airport and it would have been ruined by the time we got home. So my mom and grandma figured out how to overnight it to us and it made the trip just fin.

While I had to do some strong convincing for Steve to give it a try we decided that it was pretty good. We, however, did not to keep it to try again the next year and tossed the leftovers in the trash.

Seattle Washington

Steve and I were able to spend a week in Seattle Washington leading our college students on a mission trip. Our purpose was to help out with Veritas Church in any way they needed. We were blessed to have two great MS summer missionaries helping us out and planning our daily activities. Here is a little recap video to show you a little of what we did.

We would like to give a big shout out to all our college students for being awesome! They were super flexible and did everything that was asked of them without a single complaint. We love you guys and were blessed and encouraged by each of you!

Happy Birthday to me!

This is obviously a little late since my birthday was now almost a month ago but it seems like we've been going 90 to nothing ever since. I wanted to update you all before we got back to school on the back half of our summer. It has been such a blast that we don't want to leave you in the dark!

My birthday seamed to drag out for several wonderful days. It started with funfetti cake, cheese cake and a lot of fried food at our Friday night fellowship. We were joined by all the summer missionaries in San Francisco who had helped us with our VBS this year. It was such a special treat!



The next day was spent opening presents in the morning. We then drove north an hour to the only known Chili's and after enjoyed a game glow in the dark mini golf.

Steve and I are learning to play the guitar! I got a really nice new guitar from my parents for my birthday! We will be uploading a song we have been practicing soon.

Rebecca sent me a "as seen on TV gift" that had caught my eye over Christmas. I plan on doing a product review soon!

Can you guess who these came from?? STEVE!!! Isn't he great!

That night was spent with lots of GGBTS friends hanging out and enjoying cake. Over all it was a wonderful Birthday and I was blessed to see how so many people who care about me so much.

Steve preaching "Speak the Gospel (Romans 10:1-17)"

This is the first sermon in a two-part mini-series Steve preached on the mission of our church. Stay tuned for Pt.2 soon! We hope you enjoy!!!


Speak the Gospel (Romans 10:1-17) from Steve Reynolds on Vimeo.

Canada Day and the 4th of July

We have enjoyed spending this past weekend with more friends from GGBTS. We (and many others) experienced our first Canada day thanks to Sarah and Daniel Blackaby! It was very interesting to try ketchup chips. Steve loved the sausage (because he never gets that at home) and we both enjoyed the homemade pierogies! We are blessed to have such good friends!

We then had to have them over for Sarah's first 4th of July (well in America at least). Steve grilled Hamburgers and Chicken and we all pigged out. We wrapped it up with fireworks on Chapel hill. I didn't take pictures because I was having too much fun to think about it. So here is a small video for you to enjoy instead.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Summer Time Update

Steve and I have been hard at work knocking out our list of fun summer items. While we still have lots to go I wanted to take the time to update you on a few of the ones we have checked off so far:

1. Get more exercise... Not accomplished yet.

2. Read fun books: Check! So far Steve and I have both gotten a little fun reading in.

My (Laura) book of choice has been Orphanology by Tony Merida and Rick Mortan. It is all about the Church's Call to do orphan ministry. I like this book because it has something for everyone! I realize that not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to do orphan ministry. This book shows people how they can do that in many different practical ways. It also shows biblically why orphan ministry is important. If you're looking for an inspiring, challenging, and at times tear jerking book you should check it out!

Steve who is always outdoing me in the reading front has been working on several books. His first read of the summer was Francis Schaeffer's A Christian Manifesto He reviews it as "well worth the read." he is also working on Tim Keller's Generous Justice So far his review is that this book is "very insightful and challenging."

3. Memorize a book of the Bible: Work in Progress

Steve is working on memorizing the book of Galatians.

I (Laura) do not plan on memorizing the whole book of Psalms but did memorize Psalm 139 last week with the help of her wonderful friend Carlena Speed. I have not picked a whole book to memorize yet.

4. Go to Salt Lake City: Check!
Go to Las Angeles: Check!
Go to Mississippi/(Texas): Check!
Go to Seattle: Not yet

My (Laura) trip to Salt Lake City was to go the wedding of a close High School friend. My mon also flew out for the festivities. This trip also marked the first night apart Steve and I had spent apart since getting married. While I had a wonderful time I must admit I was very glad to get home to him again!

 

Not two days later another high school friend and I were able to meet up right here in San Fran. Lauren and I did quite a bit of touring locally and then did some in L.A. too! I feel like I’m starting to get the tour guide thing down (Please come visit us!)

 

Steve forgot to write visiting Texas as another one of my goals. My little Sister Rebecca graduated high school and my Dad retired from the military. Both events were really nice and I am glad I was able to attend.

Steve spent time in Mississippi performing the duties’ of being a grooms man at his college friend’s wedding. He enjoyed catching up but decided that living the life of an on the go bachelor was no longer for him claiming it was much too exhausting.

After the wedding Steve and I met up to visit with both sets of our grandparents. It was by far the most relaxing part of our trip. They treated us to some fine out to eat dining as well as good home cooked food too! We are so blessed to have them!

Seattle is coming up in less than a month Our College group will be doing a mission trip to help out a local church plant. We will defiantly blog about that trip when it comes!

5. Do some preaching: Check!

Steve is in the middle of a miniseries at church right now on our Church’s mission statement. Videos will be coming soon!

6. Plan and Lead VBS: Check!!!!!!

After a logged 40 hours of prep work at the church starting the day after we returned from Mississippi we hit the ground running with our Pandamania VBS. Our VBS was likely very different than most. For starters it was all day long Children arrived at 8:45 a.m. and stayed until 5 p.m. each day. Another difference is that we did not have enough people to do it on our own. The Lord has a way of working things out though! SFMBC was blessed with having 7 Summer missionaries from GA and MS to help us this year. We ended up having 32 children attend. At the end of the week 2 children and 2 youth were saved (Praise God!), 50 cans were collected for the homeless, and nearly $700 was raised for the SFMBC college mission trip! I was so encouraged and blessed!

If you have a few minutes check out our end of the week wrap up video:

http://youtu.be/CKBOYrdTJiQ 

7. Make a good grade in Christian Ethics: Work in Progress

8. Plan something cool for our anniversary: Check! Though I have no idea what it is. Steve has taken care of it all to surprise me.

9. Look like surfer beard guy: Check for Steve! No check for Laura!

Steve was on the verge of growing a disgusting beard much like surfer dude but I could not let him continue it. Thankfully it is now shaved.

10. Hang out with Neighbors and friends at GGBTS: Work in Progress

Hanging with the Davis family at Regan's Birth.

Hanging with Carlena (and Will) in L.A.

Hanging with Cara as she helped me paint for VBS.

We have enjoyed catching up a little this summer but we have not gotten to see all of you yet! Give us a call or knock on the door we would love to hang out with you!