Blogging for Orphans

OCA Mission Moments from Lifesong for Orphans on Vimeo.

They sat in the studio with an expectant glow as they spoke about their children they had yet to meet, but who they claimed as their very own...

Josh: "As unbelievers, we are aliens. We are strangers. We are separated from God. But God has come in and adopted us, through Christ, to be in His family."

Jenn: "And we're just so thrilled that our family can be a picture of that to the world! And just like we would never question our true son-ship to God the Father, it's been an encouragement to us to think about, we really don't have to question whether these kids are our true children... cause they are!"

When Josh and Jenn Philpot felt God's nudging toward adoption they weren't sure where they would get the money. They received a matching grant through the Orphan Care Alliance (OCA), turning the $6,000 they had raised into $10,000, and making it possible for them to bring home not just one child but two!

OCA is a multi-church alliance in the Louisville/Southern Indiana area. Adoption funding is just one part of their ministry. Their many outreaches include recruiting and training foster parents, mentoring local foster children, assistance for local churches in launching orphan ministries, international orphan care, and more! They are also a part of Lifesong's Outside the Walls Network, which connects churches to serve orphans more powerfully together than they could on their own.

Celebrating All the Wins!

Church planting has been a long and lonely road. It is sort of like a ball game in that you win some and you loose some....in our case it has been energy, drive and sometimes people. There are weeks when we are on cloud 9 and then there have been weeks when we are all just dragging, no energy whatsoever. The holiday season was rough, lots of low attendance Sundays. I know that attendance shouldn't mean that much, but when you are a church of 15 and you only have like 20, you cannot help but get discouraged. Then January & February came........things have begun to turn around. Our energy has gone through the roof. This has been truly a God thing, and I also think it has a lot to do with us stepping back and celebrating the wins, ALL of them! We used to think the only wins were having large crowds and seeing people come to Jesus (seeing people saved is our number 1 focus), but some of our celebrations now are just the simple fact that we can set up church each Sunday, the fact that we have raised 32% of our $5,000 goal to dig a well in only 4 weeks, or the simple fact that God has so graciously blessed us with so much musical talent that we cannot fit them all on stage each Sunday, or that we meet in a HUGE building for FREEEEEEEE! Jesus has given Oasis the ability and the drive and it would be selfish of us not to jump in with everything we have and say "use US Lord, use US"!

I have been through my times of doubt and depression as I have battled with the idea of do we even need to continue and I can tell you now, without a doubt that God is holding this church together and wants it to succeed. Our God never ceases to amaze me. When I say we can't, He says "oh yeah, well watch this!" So, God has shut my mouth and boy am I glad He did. I am so thankful for Oasis church and all the other churches in our surrounding area who see the needs outside their four walls! What a mighty God we serve!

To the Moon & Back

For as long as I can remember my mother has always followed the phrase "I love you" with "to the moon and back". The more grandchildren she has it seems they say it more and more. Both boys have said it numerous times, but as they have gotten older they seem to be out of the habit of adding that phrase, which at times is sad. Campbell on the other hand, cannot say it enough. Our conversations today went something like this.....

(While throwing the ball with the boys, CG is prancing around the yard in her old tap shoes)

"I love you mommy"

"I love you Campbell"

"To da moon and back mommy"

"To the moon and back Campbell"

(While swinging at the park this afternoon)

"You know I love you mommy"

"And I love you Campbell"

"To da moon and back"

"That's right, the moon and back"

She just can't seem to say it enough and that is fine with me.

In November I found a rustic, wooden sign with "To the Moon and Back" painted on it and I bought it for my mom to hang in her dining room. It suits her well!!! My mom is a wonderful, godly lady who loves her children and grandchildren. I am thankful for her, and so are my kids! We love you nanny, to the moon and back!

Monday, Monday

This post totally rocked my world today. Please, please, please check it out!!! Here are some ways you can help us out!!!!

1. register for our 5k in May, visit this site to register online!

2. purchase a bag of GREAT coffee from this site!

3. donate yard sale items by bringing them buy our house or messaging us on facebook so that we can pick them up

4. purchasing one of our one of kind adoption tees or hoodies

5. donate $5-$25 dollars, every penny helps

Help us bring our little Anya home!!!

Waiting Mail and Some Great News

Busy week, even busier weekend and wouldn't you know I had to catch the stomach virus from some of my lovely, hand sanitized sweethearts at school. So, I was out of work two days this past week, which I hated. I always feel guilty when I miss work, I mean with budget cuts and everything, attendance is a must, no time to be hugging that porcelain throne you know? I finally went back to work again on Friday and received a great email from our adoption coordinator at AWAA! Basically it told us about some things we need to be doing while waiting for our referral and also that we should have our little girl in about 9-10 months??? Wait, seriously, this is actually happening? So, we are on cloud 9 and still a little nervous! We are now moving into full fundraising mode at the end of February......why? Well, I finish my masters and have had little time for anything else, but come March 1st I will be FREE!!!!

Among other things, our new series at church begins tomorrow called "I killed Jesus"......we have had some very interesting conversations with people just about the title itself. This series is sure to be eye opening and heart breaking. BIG things are happening at Oasis, and we have no one to praise but God for that!!!

Exciting things are happening!

So much is happening around our family and church family! It is so awesome to see Christ bring people together is HIS time and then watch the vision we are following so diligently become a reality. Saturday a few of us Oasis folks visited La Puerta in Greenwood. We came along side some amazing people from different churches to help begin planting a garden for the community of Greenwood. La Puerta is more than just a food ministry, but it is also a place where families can go to learn to speak english, get help with homework and make new friends. Visit this blog to check out the progress and view photos from Saturday!

Today's church service was amazing! We had soooo many new visitors who came early just to help set up! God is really beginning to blow our minds. We have been through so many seasons of doubt, pain and just being unsure of where God was taking us. Through it all we have been in prayer and have been faithful as we let HIM lead! So, this Sunday, Oasis decided to dig a well in a third world country. We took up our first well offering today and our goal is to raise $5,000 by July! Let's just say that we are well on our way and we have extremely giving people in our church. That is funny because most of our congregation are college students.........broke, young college students whom we were told would never give money to church because they don't have any. I believe that God has a great sense of humor and He can use anyone.......!!! I am so excited! Check out this website to learn more about your church or community group digging a well in a needy community!

What we've been up to

Not much going on around here lately. Luke and CG had the flu the week of the big snow so we were pretty much homebound from Wednesday to the following Monday. Curt and I were able to go to the ARMS/CP Net conference in Bluffton with some friends of ours, Carl and Peggy Martin. We spent a summer with them a few years ago as they planted Crosspoint Bluffton which is now doing so great! We are thankful that they have taken our hands as we have walked this lonely road of church planting.

Thanks to the oh so wonderful Brandi and Addam, we were able to leave the kids for a trial run for our Russia trip:)! We are so blessed to have these friends in our lives! No news from Russian yet, in the words of the band CALEB....."We will Wait"! We have already received quite a few registration forms in the mail and it is still pretty early! We are so blessed to have people joining with us as we support a call that is so dear to our hearts!!! Thanks and have a blessed week everyone!