We will be having a multi family yard sale at Argo Christian Fellowship in Trussville, AL on Saturday,July, 19 2014. If you or anyone you know is cleaning out and wants to donate gently used or new items to the yard sale please let me know! Anything that we do not sell will be donated and put to good use. If you want to go ahead and get these items out of your home I have a place at home that I can put it so you can drop it off at my house or I can meet you somewhere. If you have any issues just contact me. Again, thank you for your continued support and I hope to see lots of people there! Spread the word!
Sincerely,
Erica Clark
elclark0430@gmail.com
Argo Christian Fellowship Church
936 U.S. Hwy 11
Trussville, AL 35173
Adventure Pic
We loved you before we knew you, even when there was just hope for you- we loved you.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Orphanology, by Rick Morton and Tony Merida
For those of you who can't really comprehend what Jay and I are doing I would strongly urge you to indulge in a great book that I am currently reading called Orphanology, written by Tony Merida and Rick Morton. This will give you a bit more insight as to one of the many reasons we feel the calling to adopt.
Link to the book on Amazon.com > http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=orphanology&sprefix=orphanolo%2Caps%2C392
This book informs you not only of our role in taking care of orphans, but what that really looks like in our day to day life. It helps you understand statistics and how we as a church are responsible for the well being of orphan children. Whether you are adopting/fostering or supporting those who are adopting/fostering, we all play a role in protecting God's children in the United States and the rest of the world. Yes, this problem seems too large for a few people to handle, but we HAVE TO TRY. Sitting around, having knowledge about what is going on in our own towns, cities and/or counties and doing nothing is not good enough.
Excerpt from Orphanology that really puts the issue at hand into perspective -
How many orphans are currently living on the earth? It seems like a pretty straightforward question, and you may be surprised by the difficulty answering it. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are estimated to be between 143 and 210 million orphans worldwide, though this number is uncertain. While this estimate is staggering, it likely fails to give a full picture of the scope of the problem. You see, UNICEF only includes children who have lost one or both parents to death in its calculation of the worldwide orphan population. While this approach to defining who is an orphan isn't really wrong, it does fail to account for many of the children who are truly fatherless.
There are several organizations that offer you a way to be involved in making a difference. One I would like to highlight simply because Jay and I are involved is Compassion International. Compassion is a christian child advocacy ministry that provides the opportunity to sponsor children all across the world. We are currently sponsoring a little boy from the Dominican Republic and a little girl from Indonesia. It is so cool to receive the packet of information about the children, their needs, what their environments are like. It tells you about their day to day lives and how your sponsorship is going to affect that in a positive way. You are also able to have direct contact with your sponsored child. If they do not speak/write in English, you get the original letter and then one that has been translated so you can read it.
http://www.compassion.com/about/about-us.htm
This experience has been so fulfilling to pray for children to come to know the Lord personally while watching them grow and gain education. It has given me perspective in the sense of what the Lord has provided Jay and I with and despite the negative things that are going on in this country, what an amazing place it is to live. I am so thankful the Lord chose for me to live in this great nation.
Please keep us in your prayers as we finish up the last of our paperwork. I have been so thankful that the Lord has provided us with fast results when getting paperwork from other people. It has really blown me away, the work ethic behind some of the people that have helped us. We are truly blessed to have met and encountered the people in our journey so far and I know this is only the beginning!
Link to the book on Amazon.com > http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_9?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=orphanology&sprefix=orphanolo%2Caps%2C392
This book informs you not only of our role in taking care of orphans, but what that really looks like in our day to day life. It helps you understand statistics and how we as a church are responsible for the well being of orphan children. Whether you are adopting/fostering or supporting those who are adopting/fostering, we all play a role in protecting God's children in the United States and the rest of the world. Yes, this problem seems too large for a few people to handle, but we HAVE TO TRY. Sitting around, having knowledge about what is going on in our own towns, cities and/or counties and doing nothing is not good enough.
Excerpt from Orphanology that really puts the issue at hand into perspective -
How many orphans are currently living on the earth? It seems like a pretty straightforward question, and you may be surprised by the difficulty answering it. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are estimated to be between 143 and 210 million orphans worldwide, though this number is uncertain. While this estimate is staggering, it likely fails to give a full picture of the scope of the problem. You see, UNICEF only includes children who have lost one or both parents to death in its calculation of the worldwide orphan population. While this approach to defining who is an orphan isn't really wrong, it does fail to account for many of the children who are truly fatherless.
There are several organizations that offer you a way to be involved in making a difference. One I would like to highlight simply because Jay and I are involved is Compassion International. Compassion is a christian child advocacy ministry that provides the opportunity to sponsor children all across the world. We are currently sponsoring a little boy from the Dominican Republic and a little girl from Indonesia. It is so cool to receive the packet of information about the children, their needs, what their environments are like. It tells you about their day to day lives and how your sponsorship is going to affect that in a positive way. You are also able to have direct contact with your sponsored child. If they do not speak/write in English, you get the original letter and then one that has been translated so you can read it.
http://www.compassion.com/about/about-us.htm
This experience has been so fulfilling to pray for children to come to know the Lord personally while watching them grow and gain education. It has given me perspective in the sense of what the Lord has provided Jay and I with and despite the negative things that are going on in this country, what an amazing place it is to live. I am so thankful the Lord chose for me to live in this great nation.
Please keep us in your prayers as we finish up the last of our paperwork. I have been so thankful that the Lord has provided us with fast results when getting paperwork from other people. It has really blown me away, the work ethic behind some of the people that have helped us. We are truly blessed to have met and encountered the people in our journey so far and I know this is only the beginning!
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Our journey to the decision to adopt
Jay and I's journey started long before this year. For Jay it started in Africa in 2009 when he decided to move to Uganda. The Lord started working in his heart immediately and as the love of Christ consumed him, the love to serve and take care of the fatherless was a calling Jay knew he could not ignore.
Jay with the kids from Sozo.
My calling to adopt did not occur until October of 2010. I want to be very transparent and admit that I never thought I would want to or be able to adopt a child. I was never against it, but being the oldest of six children and growing up the way that I did, I never thought I would be able to love a child that was not "blood," for lack of a better term. God rocked my world when he sent me to Montana and I met some of the most amazing children that changed my life forever.
 |
Fast forward a little bit, Jay and I got married in April of 2011. The natural question I have learned that people ask you after you get married is, "so when are you guys going to have kids?" ( I am sure anyone reading this blog who is recently married is shaking your head in agreement). Being the oldest of six, I feel like I have done everything but actually give birth to a child, so I was in no rush and Jay was in agreement.
We decided we would go the easier route and get animals first, so meet Professor McGonagall aka Maggie- she was our first fur baby. We got her in 2011. ( a story I should blog about because getting her was very unexpected) She is a miniature dachshund miniature schnauzer mix. Brisbane, the Australian Shepherd, joined the Clark clan in April 2013.In October 2012, Jay and I ventured back to Uganda, this time together. I was ecstatic!! I had heard so many stories, seen so many pictures and had been praying for most of the kids since the day Sozo got them back in 2010! Needless to say it was going to be a trip of a lifetime!
Jay and I in Rays of Hope
Jay and I with Victoria
All the kids in House 1 before church
It was the first trip to Africa and a mission trip outside the US for me. To say I have never been the same is an understatement. To see the calling answered by my amazing, brave, loving, Jesus filled husband was mind blowing. These kids lives were forever changed because he trusted in the Lord. I am so lucky to have Jay and his leadership as a man of the Lord.
These experiences, along with several years of prayer is what ultimately led to the decision to attend the "kNOw more orphans" conference at The Church at Brookhills in March of this year. At this point Jay and I had been praying more intently about when we would think about having children. Naturally, we also talked about when we would adopt? Would we try to conceive first or should we consider adoption first? There was a lot of discussion back and forth and then the weekend of March 7-8, 2014 solidified that decision.
There are 153 million orphans in the world. 153 MILLION - that is 153 million children that do not have a mommy to cook for them and take care of them when they are sick, a daddy to teach them to play golf or soccer; to protect them from danger, grandparents to give them cheetos for breakfast (according to my Granny that is its own food group) or let them drink sodas with every meal because that is what grandparents do. On top of the every day needs to exist in the world, these children may or may not have the opportunity to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior.
After having the pleasure of listening to dozens of speakers (some of my personal favorites- Rick Morton, Tony Merida, David Platt, Shawn Groves) Jay and I walked out of there knowing that this would NEVER be our plan B. Our baby, that God willing will come from India, is our PLAN A and we can't wait to meet our little one.
Please join us on our continued journey from 2 Clarks to 3 as the Lord unfolds his plans for us and our baby! We appreciate the prayers and we will continue to update you as everything happens!
With Hopeful Hearts,
Jay and Erica Clark
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)