Thoughts About Idea Camp

Brian and I, along with several other people from our church met with many other Believers last Friday and Saturday at a conference called Idea Camp. The topic of the conference was Orphan Care. OH MY!!!!! I have something to say about this!

I will begin this post by telling those reading it that I have prayed for God to use me as a vessel as I type this. I heard so much information over the last few days and I'm still processing it. I'm praying right now for the Holy Spirit to be my filter.

To officially begin this post...this rant...this, whatever it turns out to be....I want to throw a word out there for you to think about. I heard a lot of people talking about "rescue" during the conference. The word "rescue" is stuck in my head, and I can NOT get it out.

Tom Davis, the author of "Red Letters" and "Fields of The Fatherless," spoke to the group Friday morning. He gave us a quote from John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The enemy comes to steal our children!!!!!!!!!! He comes to destroy and kill our children!!!!!!!!! People need to understand that the enemy uses lots of different ways to do this. The enemy is taking away our future leaders!!!! He knows that this is one of his most effective ways to accomplish his work in this world....by ridding our world of one of our most precious commodities. I've heard all of my life about how the church is supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus. It is time for the church to OPEN THEIR EYES!!! We can no longer close our eyes and turn away. We are commanded to care for "the least of these," but are we doing that?

In Isaiah 58 it is written, "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. " This passage is talking about fasting....the Hebrews, obviously are not fasting for the right reasons or in a way that was pleasing to God. Fasting was supposed to be time spent focusing on God, instead they were using fasting as a ritual...in an effort to earn God's favor.

It continues in verse 6..."Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter, when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"
Then, the writer makes a turn in verse 8..."THEN, your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; and your righteousness will go before you and the GLORY of the Lord will be your rear guard. THEN you will call, and the Lord will answer, you will cry for help and he will say: Here am I."

People all over the world are turning away from their own flesh and blood. They are selling their children into slavery to pay their own debts. It is called "child trafficking." Children are abused in the most horrific ways once they are sold to people who close them away in small rooms and only take them out so they can provide some sick "pleasure" to men who come knocking on the door with cash in hand. In some countries children are born with a defect, and because they are not perfect, they are tossed out, abandoned, left near a trash dumpster, or worse; ultimately left as orphans without parents.

It is time for the church to wake up to the reality of orphan care. We are commanded to care for the "least of these." God does not just say, "Oh, by the way, if you have time, would you like to help me with this?" NO! It is commanded! That doesn't give us a choice, does it? Our Heavenly Father is telling us to take action!

So, here's the word again...."rescue." What are we going to do with it?

more later.....
Deb