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blog posts 

Pen Pals

5/26/2021

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Every year, students in Kenya are encouraged to write to their sponsors twice a year- once for Easter and once for Christmas. This spring, one of our students named Irine wrote a letter to her sponsors named the Gilberts in Seattle, WA. 
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Three days after I sent the letter to her sponsors, they sent me a letter back for Irine. 
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Along with these letters, I shared a picture I had of Peter Gilbert who was recently on the cover of USA TODAY as he has been the lead statistician for the US Covid-19 Prevention Network. 
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Then less than a week later, we received a letter back for the Gilberts along with pictures of Irine showing the newspaper to her head teacher at her school as she was so excited and proud about the connection. 
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This just goes to show that a short note goes a long way in building connections across the miles. 
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This reminds me of this beautiful song by Andrew Peterson: 
"Planting Trees"


We chose the spot, we dug the hole
We laid the maples in the ground to have and hold
As Autumn falls to Winters sleep
We pray that somehow in the Spring
The roots grow deep

And many years from now
Long after we are gone
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless the dawn

He took a plane to Africa
He gathered up into his arms
An orphan son

So many years from now
Long after we are gone
This tree will spread its branches out
And bless the dawn

So sit down and write that letter
Sign up and join the fight

Sink in to all that matters
Step out into the light
Let go of all that's passing
Lift up the least of these
Lean into something lasting
Planting trees

She rises up as morning breaks
She moves among these rooms alone
Before we wake
And her heart is so full, it overflows
She waters us with love and the children grow

So many years from now
Long after we are gone
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless the dawn
These trees will spread their branches out
And bless someone
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If you have not written to your sponsored child in a while, I encourage you to take inspiration from the Gilberts and sit down and write that letter. Thank you so much for your continued investment! 
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Emergency Relief and Prayers for India

5/3/2021

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CNN reports that "India is on the brink of recording 20 million coronavirus cases as it continues to buckle under its worst outbreak yet. Authorities also reported more than 400,000 daily cases for the first time on Saturday and a record-high number of deaths yesterday." 

In light of this news, we are raising funds to get vaccines and other needed supplies for families in India. We have a donor willing to match up to $2000 for people who are considering giving a donation for this emergency relief.  Please donate here and send an email to [email protected] to confirm designation of your gift. 
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A Liturgy for a Time of Widespread Suffering
by Douglas McKelvey 


Christ Our King, 
Our world is overtaken by unexpected 
calamity, and by a host of attending fears, 
worries, and insecurities. 

We witness suffering, confusion, and 
hardship multiplied around us, and we find
ourselves swept up in these same anxieties and 
troubles, dismayed by so many uncertainties. 

Now we turn to you, O God, 
in this season of our common distress.

Be merciful, O Christ, to those who suffer, 
to those who worry, to those who grieve, to
those who are threatened or harmed in any 
way by this upheaval. Let your holy compassions 
be active throughout the world even now--
tending the afflicted, comforting the 
brokenhearted, and bringing hope to 
many who are hopeless. 

Use even these hardships to woo our hearts 
nearer to you, O God.

Indeed, O Father, may these days 
of disquiet become a catalyst 
for conviction and repentance,
for the tendering of our affections, 
for the stirring of our sympathies,
for the refining of our love.

We are your people, who are called by you,
We need not be troubled or alarmed.

Indeed, O Lord, let us love now more fearlessly,
remembering that you created us, 
and appointed us 
to live in these very places, 
in the midst of these unsettled times. 

It is no surprise to you that we are here now,
sharing in this turmoil along with the rest of 
our society, for you have called your children 
to live as salt and light among the nations, 
praying and laboring for the flourishing of the 
communities where we dwell, acting as agents of 
your forgiveness, salvation, healing, reconciliation, 
and hope, in the very midst of an often-troubled world.

And in these holy vocations 
you have not left us helpless, O Lord, 
because you have not left us at all. 
Your Spirit remains among us.

Inhabit now your church, O Spirit of the Risen Christ.
Unite and equip your people for the work before them.

Father, empower your children to live as your children. 
In times of distress let us respond, not as those 
who would instinctively entrench for our own 
self-preservation, but rather as those who—in imitation 
of their Lord—would move in humble obedience toward 
the needs and hurts of their neighborhoods and communities.

You were not ashamed to share in our sufferings, Jesus. 
Let us now be willing to share in yours, serving 
as your visible witnesses in this broken world.

Hear now these words, you children of God, 
and be greatly encouraged:
The Lord’s throne in heaven is yet occupied, 
his rule is eternal, and his good purposes 
on earth will be forever accomplished.
So we need never be swayed by the brief and 
passing panics of this age.

You are the King of the Ages, O Christ, 
and history is held in your Father’s hands. 

We, your people, know the good and glorious 
end of this story. Our heavenly hope is secure. 
In this time of widespread suffering then, 
let us rest afresh in the surpassing peace of that 
vision, that your whole church on earth might be 
liberated to love more generously and sacrificially.

Now labor in and through us, O Lord, extending and 
multiplying the many expressions of your mercy.

Amen.
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