SIGNS FOR HOPE   

                     PRAYERLETTER               OCTOBER 2017
 

More of His Amazing God-Connections!
Becca Turner Shares!

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

My story starts back on October 2nd, 2013. This is the day my Dad passed away from cancer. My Dad was my best friend and along with my Mom, one of the biggest role models in my life. Throughout his battle with cancer, Dad never once complained. He said, “If God decides to heal my body of this cancer that would be great. But if he decides to take me home with Him in Heaven, that would be even greater.” My Dad’s great faith helped build my trust in God. After Dad died, all I had to rely on was Jesus. This trust brought me to transfer to Ozark Christian College during my senior year. At Ozark, I was invited to go on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. This is where I met my husband Austin Turner. Even through the greatest tragedy of my life, God was there. 

After Austin and I married, we moved to his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina. This past August I was hired at Hickory Grove Christian School to teach American Sign Language. ASL is a passion of mine, that I am beyond blessed to have the opportunity to teach. Three of my grandparents are Deaf, which is where my love for ASL began. 

 

Two weeks ago, our ASL Club met up with the School for the Deaf from Morganton, NC to go on a field trip together. On this trip, I met a young boy who was wearing a Signs for Hope t-shirt. I was curious about the shirt so I went home and googled the name. I read through the website and liked the Facebook page. A few days later, Becky Lloyd messaged me on Facebook thanking me for liking the Facebook page and explaining an opportunity to volunteer at their family retreat next June. I had been praying for weeks for an opportunity like this, I just had no idea where to look. Instead of having to search, God brought the opportunity and laid it right at my doorstep. 

Becky and I met up this week to discuss Signs for Hope and how I could possibly volunteer this summer and get more involved in the organization. I am beyond excited to volunteer for such an amazing organization. It is impossible for me to describe the amazing power of our God. God used the tragedy of losing Dad to bring me to my husband. Marrying Austin led me to Charlotte. Living in Charlotte gave me the opportunity to work at Hickory Grove Christian, which has allowed me the huge blessing of teaching the beautiful language my grandparents taught me. Teaching ASL has given me the opportunity to meet Becky and begin volunteering for Signs for Hope. Isn’t our God awesome! I can only imagine the amazing connections and opportunities the Lord will lead me to next. 

 

Signs for Hope Fundraisers!

Signs for Hope & Gobena Coffee

We have partnered with Gobena Coffee

to raise funds to help support the Deaf children we serve around the world. Gobena’s profits and our sales all go to support children at risk. 

It’s a win-win partnership.  

Gobena is not your ordinary coffee…
it’s extraordinary! 
Drink Gobena at home,
at work and at church.

50% of sales come to

Signs for Hope

Click HERE to shop!

Signs for Hope & Lynch Creek Farms

This is our 2nd annual
SFH Evergreen Fundraiser with
Lynch Creek Farms. 

Order beautiful Christmas creations that will fill your home with that one-of-a-kind evergreen aroma! 
Lynch Creek is old-fashioned, 
service-minded and they will take great care of you.  

You choose the delivery date. 

Don’t wait, sometimes their beautiful creations sell-out!  

 

20% of sales come directly
to Signs for Hope

Order HERE!

Signs for Hope & Yankee Candle


40% of all sales come directly
to Signs for Hope

Click
HERE 
And be sure to enter the 
SFH Group #
and Seller ID when you order!


Group #:  999976631

Seller ID: Becky96

Ellie Shares Her Heart…
Jesus is Enough!

 Ellie Cecil is our 1st Short-term Missionary (STM) serving in Honduras alongside the Robinson Family as their ASL tutor and more. 

I recently had the privilege of attending a church service in a local village here in Honduras. It was a brisk, Thursday evening as my friends and I parked alongside the road, the only car in sight. As we walked into a little house, we were met by about a dozen faces. Faces beaming with welcoming smiles as handshakes and hugs were shared all around. We took our seats on make-shift wooden benches, situated in a U-shape in the living room of our hostess. It was simple home with cement walls and a cement floor, yet it was ever so inviting. 

As it was time for service to begin, a man stepped to the front of the quaint room and welcomed the people. Then he began to pray. And as he prayed the entire congregation lifted their voices to the Lord in prayer. Men and women, young and old, pouring out their hearts to the Savior of the world. As some continued to pray, one voice began to lead out in song. Slowly, one by one the voices began singing in unison praises to the King of Kings. 

I stood quietly during this time, trying to take in everything. I listened as they prayed, hearing their cries to the Lord. I watched as they sang, lifting their hearts up to Him. I watched as they learned from the preaching of the Word. I watched as they worshipped. 

They had next to nothing. There was no church building, no bulletins, no coffee. No carpet, glass windows, air conditioning or heating system. There wasn't a sound system, a worship team, or cushioned chairs. There were no hymnals, nor a piano, nor pews. But as they worshiped, they had one thing: the presence of Jesus. And for this little church, in this little village, Jesus was enough. 

During the days that followed, I continued to ponder the presence of Jesus in their midst. They had nothing worthy of which to speak, yet Jesus was enough. Then I began to ask myself, "Is Jesus enough, for me?" On the days when living in a foreign country and a longing for home begins to pry at the heart, is Jesus enough? When life seems to throw one more unknown on top of the hundred others that are already surrounding, is Jesus enough? On the days when all that the body and heart desires is a bed and a place to call "home", is Jesus enough? When arriving home covered in layers of mud, thistles and who knows what else and not a drop of water to be found, is Jesus enough? Can I worship Him, when I feel like I have nothing?
Is Jesus enough, for me? 

In John chapter 4, we find the account of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman at the well to give Him a drink of water. The Samaritan woman responds in confusion to Jesus' question. In verse 10, Jesus explains to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." Here He is, Jesus, the Messiah, sitting right in front of her. Jesus, who was enough to satisfy her every thirst was there, yet she didn't know Him. 

The woman responds to Jesus in verse 11 and says, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?" The woman saw the obvious, He physically had no object with which to draw water... how could He be enough to satisfy her thirst? Yet Jesus tells her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again," (vs. 13-14). Jesus was enough. 

The conversation continued, and in verses 23 and 24 Jesus tells her, "True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." When we know the truth that Jesus is enough, and 

our spirits rest in the truth that Jesus is enough, we can experience true worship. Just like for the little church in the little village, true worship was not a result of the situations in which they lived or the things they possessed. Their worship was an overflow of their spirits resting in the truth that Jesus is enough. 

But is He enough for me? Is my spirit resting in the truth that Jesus is enough? My heart's desire, and prayer, is that I may learn to truly sing, "Hallelujah! All I have is Christ. Hallelujah! Jesus is my life." ("All I Have is Christ" written by: Jordan Kauflin) 

Because Jesus is enough!

From My Heart to Yours…

As the 10-year mark of God’s call for me to “coordinate the adoption of deaf orphans in the world” grows closer (March 18, 2018), I recently shared with our board members, once again, what it is we do and why.  Let me share with you, too. 

God's call:  "Coordinate the adoption of deaf orphans in the world".  These are His words and they will never change.  Our vision and mission to accomplish them can change, if needed.  How I interpreted His Words from that first day, March 18, 2008, to how He has revealed their meaning over the past 9+ years has changed.  Much more so, the first 3 or 3 and a half years.  

I was clueless in the beginning, but still have lots to learn.  I was constantly seeking what He meant by His words.  Honestly, some people told me never to tell people God "spoke" those words to me, without a doubt.  They say, "He doesn't do that anymore and you are adding to His Holy Word if you say He did speak to you."  I stopped sharing that detail for a time, but that is the very reason I am doing what I am doing.  I do share it, now.

Apart from that CLEAR CALL, I would not be doing this.  This was not in me, to do.  I probably would have agreed with them about God not speaking to people today, before that day.  And adoption and foster care had destroyed families I knew.  I knew His words were specific, with specific meaning.  He could have said, "I want you to set up an adoption agency that only places deaf children waiting to be adopted."  He didn't.  He could have said, "I want you to adopt a deaf child."  He didn't.  He could have said, "I want you to move to Africa and care for orphans and widows."  He didn't.  All of those are good things, but that is not what He said to me.  Those are things I contemplated, along with others, to see if they fit with His call...they did not.  I continued to ask Him to show me clearly what He meant.  Sometimes, I did wish He had been more clear, but now, I believe His Words were/are completely clear, I just needed to let Him lead me to His meaning of them, not my own.  This is exactly how you and I must interpret scripture, with His Spirit leading us. 

Since earthy adoption was the only way I knew to interpret His words in the beginning, that's where I started.  That is what He had revealed.  Yes, I had heard we were "adopted into God's family", but that concept was not something I connected to “His call” in the beginning.  That came as time went on, through personal Bible study, reading and hearing others teach His Word as it relates to earthly adoption and asking Him to make all things clear. 
Of course, that was what He meant.

His leading me to Liberia in 2010, was clear, 7-8 God-connections in 2009 (within about a week’s time) to confirm Liberia was the place for me to see my first deaf orphans. Was I confused when Liberia closed the adoptions in January of that year?  Yes!  I went anyway.  This opened my eyes to broaden the "care" to include deaf children who may never have the opportunity to be adopted. 

He showed me clearly there were Deaf orphans (children and adults) in Liberia that had (still have) great need.  Hence the monthly sponsorship program with Christian Adoptions Services in Matthews, NC began and we called it "Heart Adoption".  Monthly financial support for the basic needs of life and daily prayer for them by their sponsors.  Small packets of goodies were/are hand-delivered from sponsors once or twice each year.  It was no longer just earthly or traditional adoption, but it was "heart adoption", too. 

Finally, somewhere in 2011 He made it clear to me that the "adoption" He told me to coordinate, was in fact "His adoption" into His family.  So "coordinate the adoption of deaf orphans into My family". He is always focused on the eternal; I however was somewhat more focused on the here and now.  That did not negate what He had already led me to do, however, but clearly it included them and they were ways we would accomplish His call for deaf orphans to be included in His family. 

Maybe you are thinking, "It sure took her a long time to figure this out!"  I did not assume anything, back then.  He had to intentionally lead me to almost everything.  He still does this, today.  In the beginning, I wasn't even sure we would use "Christian" on our website.  That was during the time where the thinking was you could reach “more”, if you did not.  That seems so foreign to me, now.  I would not do this any other way than to proclaim everything we do relates to sharing the gospel, in the midst of it all.  That is exactly what you and I do, daily, or it should be.

Interesting to note, the first couple that contacted me about adoption was in Nov of 2010, Orphan Sunday.  2.5+ years after His call.  The first actual Deaf adoptions didn't take place until 2012.  Four years after His call.  Lots of seeking, researching, learning, asking, listening during that time. This is the "earthly adoption" piece God revealed early on.  

My first adoption experience, 2012, I will NEVER forget!  Click the video to watch!

Click Here to Watch the Video

In 2013, JD King (Deaf Child Hope International/monthly sponsorship for deaf children) and I got connected.  He contacted me; found me through the Internet.  I think we talked once in 2012.  Not until the connections to the Deaf schools in Vietnam (2016) did we partner with DCHI for monthly sponsorships.  Yes, I had contemplated SFH setting up monthly sponsorships, but why do that when DCHI was doing that?  God intentionally led me to collaboration in those early days.  DCHI facilitate the sponsorships, but I am their representative between DCHI and the schools.  I had hoped to do monthly sponsorships in Liberia with DCHI, but sadly I was unable to find a school that would meet their standards in financial accountability. Monthly sponsorship is the "heart adoption" piece God revealed earlier. Yes, most of these children we are connected to, now, have not been abandoned and they are not orphans, but they are at risk and need help to preserve their families and prevent more orphans and of course they and their families need to know Jesus and be adopted into God's family.  Whatever you and I do on this earth, if eternity is it not the end-goal, why do it?  Do not misunderstand me.  Many things you and I do seem far from eternity-focused, however when you and I are developing relationships with others, in a variety of settings, eternity should be revealed in our speech, our actions, our listening and responses. 

This is what I share with people.  This is what our brochure states.    

God's call is to "coordinate the adoption of deaf orphans in the world"; therefore, SFH exists to share the Hope of Christ by facilitating care for deaf/HOH orphans throughout the world through single-family adoption and heart adoption/monthly sponsorship.  

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.  James 1:27

That word “care for” does not clearly define “what” you and I are to do, specifically. Other translations use “visit”, look after, take care of”. Those words are arbitrary in their meaning, because I believe He has different meanings for this verse for different people. He alone reveals that to each of us as we allow Him to do so.  I believe the word “care” could be translated “love” and that opens the door for just about anything.  Do not leave off that last command, “keep oneself from being polluted by this world”.  It is vitally important when obeying the command to “care for, look after, take care of, love” the orphan and the widow. 

There are a list of ways we provide "care" for these two precious groups of children, traditional adoption and heart adoption, and those who care for them.  This is what is posted on my SFH display when I exhibit.
Be assured, it truly is far more than this. 


Not listed above, but just as important to “His call”…YOU!  You and me!  The relationships you and I share, because of Signs for Hope.  For some of us, we shared relationship before SFH, but I believe “His call” has caused you and me to go deeper…together…with Him.  I am so thankful for this and for you!


I do love you, but He loves you and me beyond our comprehension!

Becky

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Signs for Hope

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828-691-2581

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