Orphans of God

This weekend I was blessed with a visit by some dear friends from Belpre (the last church I served with). A group of six women were here from Belpre for the Rochester Ladies Day. My family and I spent Friday night taking them to Yates Cider Mill and enjoying dinner at the church building with a group of ladies. Saturday was the Ladies Day (which I was not at, for the record) and then a trip out to the DuBaere's for our Harvest Party.

Probably the biggest blessing of the weekend for me was Sunday morning. Jen Wright, one of the ladies that came down, taught our teen class. Jen is currently serving as a missionary in Santa Ana, a city in Honduras. She and another friend, Karen Vaughan, run a children's home called Casa de Esperanza (House of Hope). They are truly servants of the King!

During the class, Jen shared her life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. She encouraged and challenged our students to do three things.

Find a mentor.

Find a mission.

Move!

The Holy Spirit was obviously moving through Jen as she shared her testimony about how God has worked in her life. She talked about the way she wasted her teenage years. She discussed the ways that God continued to pursue her.

During her presentation, we watched a brief video about Casa and three of the ladies sang a special song, "Orphans of God," for us. Here are the lyrics:

Who here among us has not been broken
Who here among us is without guilt or pain
So oft? abandoned by our transgressions
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah
There are no orphans of God

Come ye unwanted and find affection
Come all ye weary, come and lay down your head
Come ye unworthy, you are my brother
If such a thing as grace exists
Then grace was made for lives like this

O blessed Father, look down upon us
We are Your children, we need Your love
We run before Your throne of mercy
And seek Your face to rise above

It was a powerful morning and God was present in a very tangible and special way. At the end of her talk, Jen prayed over our students. Then we surrounded Jen and the other women and prayed over them. It was one of the most powerful classes I have even been a part of in my many years of ministry.

Thank you to Jen for her dedication and her passion for God. There is a link to her blog on my Blogroll. There is also a link to Karen's blog there. Please pray for my special friends and their ministry. Please visit Casa's website at http://cdehonduras.org/. If you are looking for an overseas mission to support, check them out. What a great opportunity to live out the words of the book of James. 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. (James 1:27)

shine!
Jason