Wake Up Call

This is Beauty's story. It is so hard to hear, but so necessary if we are going to be following God's command to...

Be doers of the word, and not hearers only...religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. ~James 1:23,27

Beauty's story is very similar to the stories of the orphans I will be encountering this summer. She is so strong and truly beautiful inside & out. I don't know how you can hear something like that and not be changed. God has used Beauty as a huge wake up call in my life to break through my sheltered heart. I recognize that while I am safely asleep in my warm bed with all the comforts I can afford, children like Beauty are going to bed starving, being beaten, having hot knives thrown at them, are being raped in the streets of their villages, are being yelled at and screamed at with harsh words, and so much more when, as Beauty stated, they have done nothing wrong. I have realized how truly blessed I am to have grown up in a safe, loving, Christian home. And now more than ever I want to be an advocate for the innocent. I want to show children in Zambia and in my own country Light in this dark world.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ~John 10:10

Satan wants nothing more than to destroy these innocent little ones. He does not see them as cute and precious the way we do. He wanted Beauty to take all of her Folic Acid that night and end her life. But God said, "NO!" and He lovingly claimed her as HIS own! HE delivered her from darkness. And now Beauty testifies God's sovereignty in her life through seeing that He had good planned for her life and a much bigger calling.

I thank God for everything. I even thank Him for stopping me to kill myself. Oh God, I thank you. ~Beauty

I pray that all who hear Beauty's story would be burdened to take action and protect God's little ones. Zambian children are not the only ones hurting and suffering. Let's not be so naive as to think the same horrible things are not just as likely to occur in our country, in our cities, and on our streets. Pray for God to turn your heart and to show you how to serve His Kingdom in reaching out to a lost and dying world that Satan is desperately trying to destroy. May we not be satisfied to live as the world does, but to...

Count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. ~Philippians 3:8