Favour's new life

Favour is 4 years old. She and her brother, Abraham, who is 9 years old, have endured things no child should. Their mother was a prostitute. When she would go to work, she would leave the children behind and tied Favour by her leg to the bedpost to keep her from leaving. Abraham was in charge of watching Favour each night. Last year, their mom suddenly died and a Nigerian woman from a local church took in the two orphans. However, her husband said that they could not care for Favour and Abraham, in addition to their own six children. The woman heard about City Ministries and in October 2008, Favour and Abraham moved into one of our Care Centers.

I just received news that Favour is doing really well and has just started preschool! Here are a few pictures taken on her first day of school.

Favour was rescued from a life of neglect, poverty and fear. She is now thriving in a safe, loving and Christ-centered environment. Favour now gets to go to school and play and laugh and eat three meals every day... the life that every child should have.

Pieces of the Tapestry

What is a Tapestry? It is a form of art, where all the individual pieces are hidden in the completed work.


Today, I saw a small thread of God's tapestry when His people gathered in a conference room on the 17th floor of a building in the heart of downtown Chicago. I saw mostly men, lawyers, who make it a priority to stop once and week and come together to encourage one another and to be taught from the Word. They dug into the Word, they asked questions, good discussions were going on, but all under incredible humility. In this corporate environment, all credentials were checked at the door as we all sat down to learn from the Word through the Holy Spirit and through each other.

The gentleman who approached me after church last week, had invited me to attend this study and to come as often as possible. He is brainstorming about how he can help me connect with some people who love Africa, people who have a passion for children and how they could possibly partner with City Ministries.

I left that meeting and hopped into a cab to take me across the river (you've see the scenes in the movies). It's gorgeous and frozen now. I hop out just after crossing the bridge and head to my next appointment and the next thread in the tapestry. I am joyfully embraced by a woman who's never met me face to face, but apparently has made use of my blog and website and is full of compassion for the lost and wants to come up with ways to improve their lives and also help them to grow in Christ. She has been praying for a long time for one woman to come and help her know how to start living overseas. (She thinks I may be the answer to her prayer!) She is really praying about going to Nigeria for a 6 weeks vision trip and seeing what God does through that in her life and how that could expand in many other ways. We had a great chat over yummy broccoli, hummus, and cashews, with her dog laying by the fire.

These are ways that God is interweaving His threads in the tapestry of life. It is beautiful, to step back and see, but it is a limited view because all of us have our own piece that is being created. And one day, we will be in speechless awe when we can view how our every day decisions really impact so many others actions because we are all created equal and in that creativity, the uniqueness we each possess, the uniqueness that gets us off the boat and into the water, the gift that allows us to do something we never thought possible, that prayer that renews hope, that justice that saves one from despair... all the heartbeat of ONE... our Audience of ONE. When, in fact, we are His Audience as He moves, creates, refines, burns, tears, restores His children so that we are where we are to fulfill His purpose for us in that little piece of the tapestry.

Piece by piece by piece, we start to see His plans, purposes and reasons. A limited view, yes, but we are allowed enough to be encouraged to keep adding to the tapestry of our lives so that He can complete the Masterpiece.... and then we can all go Home.

Until then, my piece.... your piece... woven through our obedience to His Holy Spirit who guides and instructs. Making decisions that unselfishly do not meet our needs, but look to the needs of others. Our pieces woven through tears, sacrifice, loss, joy, hope, fun, good health, poor health... There IS a purpose to it all! It is not all for nothing! Oh the beautiful love of Jesus. So simple, free and available to all. Accept His love and watch Him use your past and present experiences to weave a beautiful tapestry and then hands it over to you to continue. He has the Plan and knows the End. But He wants us to experience the joy of hearing His voice and obeying Him and seeing how our actions can very positively affect people around us. He wants us to see that we may feel insecure or unable to accomplish anything. But He reminds us that He has just given us a small piece of the tapestry (of the picture) and that is all we are responsible for now. He'll give us more when we are ready. More opportunities, more of those out-of-the-comfort-zone times, more challenges, more victories.... all part of the plan of His Ultimate Plan for His Kingdom.

Thank, You , Lord for being so detail oriented and for giving us the incredible honor to see how You connect people, places, ideas, strategies, creativity, resources.... all for the end game, the completed work of Your tapestry...
That every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

He took it !!

On December 13th, I wrote a blog and titled it 'He can take it'. I shared my struggle with the financial needs of the ministry and how I knew I was depending too much on myself to try and fix the problem. That's so American, by the way, to try and fix everything. :) I am praying that I will focus more on relationships than on tasks, but that is a challenge here in this task-driven society. Well, God knows my heart....

Anyways, the reason I was so burdened on the 13th, was because I was sharing about the ministry at The Moody Church Christmas Festival on the 14th. To about 4,000 people. Yeah.

I rarely ever get nervous in public speaking, so the fact that I was nervous made me even more nervous. That's why I knew I needed to take it to Him, and let Him take it from me. And boy, did He take it!!!

Yesterday in church, Pastor Lutzer shared how, in the 30 years of being at pastor at Moody, he had never said something about the people of Moody Church . He had never said that he is proud of them. But, he decided it is time to say he is proud of the church! Then he called me up on stage (took me by surprise) and said "At the Christmas Festival, Erin shared that City Ministries needs $50,000 to help feed the kids. We did not get $50,000. This morning, your bulletin says we got $62,000. We did not get $62,000. In fact, we raised $76,500!!!"
(again, took me by surprise). :)

Is that not just the coolest, most wonderful display of generosity from God's people? Especially taking into consideration the economic issues. This testifies that God is not bound by earthly things and that His purposes will be accomplished! It is up to us if we want to be a part of His plans.

I am so thankful to Pastor Erwin Lutzer (pictured here on the night of the Festival) for his support, compassion, and love for City Ministries Nigeria. The people of The Moody Church have sacrificially given, so very generously, so that the children in Nigeria can know that they will get three meals every day for the next year.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. ~ Malachi 3:10