Sunday, January 19, 2014

Both Hands Details

We had a good Kick off meeting today at The Sycamore Church and we have about 10 volunteers on board! Both Hands recommends having 20 Core Memebers (people that will mail out letters and come work on the day of the project). So if you feel God calling you to help with this project, please answer Him!  You will be so glad you did! All the information you need is below. The first part is the volunteer letter & the second part had some more specific info. Please mark your calendar for the letter stuffing party on Saturday 2/1, 5:00 pm at The SycamoreChurch on 52nd St. 
 

 

Helping a Widow…Helping an Orphan

 

Dear Friends and Family,

As you all know a, we've been going through the process of adopting our little girl, Michal from China. We started the adoption process in March, we should be matched any day now and we hope to be allowed to travel to pick up our daughter in May or June.

Right now, ‘getting her’ is the hard part because it’s expensive. However, we are confident  God will continue to provide a wayfor us to complete this adoption. We have been very successful so far, we have raise $17,000 of the $30,000 total we need. Now a very interesting fundraising idea has reinforced God’s promise to provide for this adoption!

If you can use a tool, clean a window, paint a wall, stuff envelopes, make phone calls, arrange food, or simply pray… then we need you! With your help, we have a chance, not only to raise the funds necessary to bring our daughter home, but to also serve a widow, just like it talks about in James 1:27. Here’s how it works:

Matthew and I have decided to help Bessie Maddox. She is Bethany’s maternal Grandmother (mother of Dixie Barnes). So now we are working to assemble a team of our friends to complete this Both Hands Project.  Next the team (including us) would send out letters to family and friends asking people to sponsor us for the day, as we work on this widow’s house.  All the funds raised go toward our adoption.  It’s just like asking someone to sponsor you for a 5K Run for the Cure.

This idea has been done over 295 times around the country already! Attached is a link to a video that might help give you a good idea of what the Both Hands Project is all about.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98PD-O97N3I

Here is my request. Would you consider being on our team? You may be jumping up and down like I was and saying “pick me, pick me” or you might have several questions. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. You can reach me at(912) 844-4583, Matthew at (912) 844-4566 or emailmmbm31@comcast.net or matt316@comcast.net

Thanks for considering it.

Matthew & Bethany Manning

 

www.BothHandsFoundation.org

One for the Widow – One for the Orphan 



We are so excited to offer you this exciting, easy way to serve a widow and an orphan and to bring glory to God!!! Please contact us ASAP if you want to help. We will be contacting many of you by phone in the next few days! 


We are completing a Both Hands project at the home of Bessie Maddox this coming Feb. 22nd. Bessie is a widow, and she is Bethany's maternal grandma (mother of Dixie Barnes). My grandpa died of Parkinson's disease 6 years ago and now her home is in need of many repairs.


Both Hands is a wonderful orgnaization that's mission is to help both widows and orphans at the same time. Please read the attached letter and go to their website to learn more!

The reason we are contacting you is because we need your help!

The way the project works is, we need 20 Core Team Members. People that are Core Team Members will attend an envelope stuffing party held on Feb 1st in the fellowship hall at the Sycamore Church on 52nd St. At 5:00 pm. We will provide pizza for dinner!! At the envelope stuffing party we will supply everything you need! 
Envelopes, letters asking people to sponsor that person for a day of work on the widows home, and postage. We need each Core Member to address and mail 50letters each. We need them to pull out their Christmas card list, graduation invitation lists, wedding invitation list, or any way they can complie a list of 50+ addresses. What we did to get our addresses is go on Facebook and message everyone and ask them for their addressEach person is asking their friends to sponsor them for a days work on a widows home (just like people ask others to sponsor them to be in a 5K).
The letters are critical to making sure both the widow AND the orphan are blessed through the project. The widow gets the work done, te letters are what brings the money for te adoption.
If you absolutely can't mailing letters you can still come on the day of the project, which is Saturday, Feb. 22nd and work, provide/help with food or help with child care.

Other needs we have are people to supply food for the volunteers on the day of the event, people to donate building materials, and we would love to have anyone who is skilled in construction and home repair. Unskilled workers are welcome too!

To summarize, Ways to help:

1. Be a core member: attend two meetings, complie a list of 100 addresses of your friends and family and mail letters requesting they sposor you to work on a widows home (we will supply letters, envelopes, and postage). Then show up and work on Feb. 22nd.

2. Donate building materials.

3. Supply food for the workers on the day of the event.

4. Work on the day of the project. If you are skilled in construction or home repair we would greatly appreciate your help, but unskilled labors are welcome too!

So, grandma Bessie gets her home repaired, we get money to complete our adoption, God gets the glory, and our daughter Michal (Me-call) gets to come to her forever home!

If you would like to help us in any way or if you have questions, please contact us ASAP. Bethany: (912) 844-4583 or mmbm31@comcast.net. Mattew: (912) 844-4566 ormatt316@comcast.net.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Breakthrough Received! God Speaks!

As I struggled with weariness, I said "I NEED to be matched and have Michal's picture to have the strength, energy, hope, excitiment to complete the Both Hands Project. . .I didn't realize I made that picture/match an IDOL. That what I thought and said was a SIN.

Energy, strength, hope, joy, vision and so much more has I come from GOD ALONE.

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for your courts above 
(Hymn: Come, thou fount of Many Blessings).

As I read about King David as he fleed from the throne GOD GAVE HIM and from his own son Absolom, like a coward running up the Mt. of Olives in 2 Samuel 15 and I thought 'this is redicilous. He is KING DAVID. Mighty boy that killed the giant. Mighty king, God's annointed! The man after God's own heart.'

Then. . .

The light went on!

I have been acting like scared David the last few days. Running up the mountain fleeing. 
WHAT!!!! Have I lost my mind???? 
My daddy is the KING of KINGS and LORD of LORDS!!!

The point in this whole journey is to draw us closer to Christ every day, to give him glory and point others to him. The point, the goal, is NOT to get a daughter. That is a BLESSING that comes from drawing closer to God and giving Him ALL glory ALL praise!!

Why would I want to rush the end of that process?? 

The Bible says to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of this will be given to you as well Matt 6:33. 

My job is to SEEK GOD God, stay in the word, glorify Him constantly, and when He gets good and ready He will bring my daughter home!

 He is God and I am not. 
He made Michal. 
This is His plan. 


It's time for me to sit down and shut up with my complaining, and to get up and shout out His glory!!

Thank you all so much for praying for us!
Please continue to pray. 
YOUR PRAYERS HELPED LEAD TO THIS BREAKTHROUGH!!


Pray he will lift up 20 members for this Both Hands Project! Pray we will have a GREAT time serving and blessing God. Praise God for the blessings my grandmother will receive through this project. . . and not to mention the blessings we will receive and ALL WHO CHOOSE PARTICIPATE IN ANY WAY!!

Please continue to pray for God's warrior angels to continue to fight on Michal's behalf as well as ours. 
There is a spiritual battle raging. The devil does not want this adoption completed, and if all he can do is slow it down and aggravate us that's what he will do.

However, we have no intentions of helping him anyway!!!

To God be the glory great things He is DOING!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Pray for breakthrough

Today is a hard day. We contacted CCAI to see how we are progressing in the wait. 

We have been waiting one month since our Login date (date our paperwork was offically logged in as received in China). 

There is NOTHING guaranteed on the timing of Child match, but we know of people in the past year that applied for a girl with cleft lip and palate (CL/CP: the most common disorder we picked--common means more likely to have a child with that need that needs a home sooner--greater chance of match with a child with CL/CP than other disorders) that have been matched in 3 weeks or a month. However, CCAI says it could be as much as another 7 months until we are matched or any day now. Ugh!!! That is a BIG range of time. 

So, we pray. So we poll the audience of others that have adopted similar children, recently, with our agency. It is very hard not to get angry and down. . .I felt both today. We felt both today.

As much as I want to control it. To DO something. I really can't DO much. We know God picked Michal for us before time began! I have said so many times and will say again, none of this is random. 

We do however know there is a spiritual battle raging. We know the evil one doesn't want Michal home and if he can't stop it, he would love to slow the process (Daniel 10:13) or make us thinking it has slowed to steal our joy.

So, please pray with us. Pray God will send more warrior angels to fight against the powers of darkness that seek to slow down our match. Pray for more angels to draw close to us and fight the evil one that would like to oppress us and the Holy Spirit to fill us more completely! Pray we will draw closer and closer to Christ!  Pray for us to be matched ASAP and for the restoration of peace and GREAT joy!

Thank you for standing with us!

This is what adoption does

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. (Psalm 113:7, 8 ESV)

This is what God does through adoption!

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014 Calendars Available!

Do you need a 2014 calendar??

Here you go!
 

Lexi Rockwell is a teenager at our church that realized God had gifted her with the ability to take beautiful pictures. She won an amazing camera because of one of her photos! She took the family pictures we have used to promote our adoption!




We just want to say a huge thank you to Lexi Rockwell!!

She continues to use her wonderful talent of photography to be obedient to what God tells her to do!

She used her exquisite photography to compile a beautiful calendar which she has been selling and she is donating the proceeds to the Michal adoption fund!

She has already donated $362 oF calendar proceeds! What a selfless, kind, act of love!

We are incredibly grateful to her, and we give God the glory for putting this idea on her heart. 


Thank you for considering purchasing a calendar! Us the donate button beside the blog to give!

Happy New Year!


To God be the glory!