Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
(James 1:27)
All I can say is that our Orphan Care Ministry team is serious about doing whatever is necessary to help others adopt children. They proved it again by transforming PBF into a flea market and back again last weekend.
It’s amazing what these people are capable of. Wednesday evening after our monthly prayer meeting, it looked like a landfill vomited in our sanctuary. Thursday represented fourteen hours of highly-motivated volunteers organizing, pricing, hanging clothes, and posting signage. Friday morning a crowd of rummage sale aficionados showed up like we were giving away money.
By the end of the sale at 3pm on Saturday, my only thought was, “How on earth are we going to get this place looking like a church before tomorrow morning?” One hour later, my only thought was, “God is so kind and I love the body of Christ at PBF.” Many hands make light work and the place was transformed very quickly.
The sale was an enormous success. The proceeds will be added to our Lifesong for Orphans Fund. We explained last year that LifeSong For Orphans manages all the funds raised for adoption through our Orphan Care Ministry. The funds are used for adoption loans, which are repaid via adoption tax credits. The first loan to use the funds was recently repaid in full. With the diligent fundraising and generous gifts of the last several months, the fund has quadrupled since that first loan was made. We praise God for His blessing through the kindness, hard work, and generosity of many.
It’s crucial to remember why we care for orphans. We serve a God who has a heart for the fatherless. He sent His Son to die and be raised so that He might adopt a multitude of spiritual orphans eternally. We are among that number. We promote adoption because we want to be like Him and because we want to be a living picture of that gospel.
May the Lord bless all who contributed to the rummage sale by donating items, time, and sweat. It was for an eternal cause!
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