Since the adoption retreat I went to in February, the country of Uganda has been on my heart. We were introduced to a ministry called 60 Feet. You can read about their story at www.sixtyfeet.org, but basically they are trying to provide for the needs of imprisoned children... you heard me right... I said children in prison. They made a movie about it and showed it at the retreat. It was heartbreaking to watch what these children have to endure. The movie really gave you a feel for the hearts of the people at 60 Feet and made me want to support them just because they seemed so humble and willing to go wherever God lead them. I felt such an urge to do something... to get involved somehow.
Now, I'm not one to get all fired up about about foreign missions. I may have been as a teenager, but as an adult I always figured there were enough people in my own back yard that needed Jesus just as much. But, my heart has been completely broken for these children. I don't know why now and why Uganda specifically. It could be that being a mom has softened my heart or adopting children has made me more sensitive to orphans and abandoned children. (I know both of those ARE true) Anyway, I can't watch a 60 Feet video or read a blog without balling my eyes out! Having adopted my own children from foster care, I know a little bit about what orphaned and abandoned children go through in this country and it is no where near what these children in Uganda face every day. Praise God for Social Justice in America! (not that it doesn't have it's problems - that would be a whole 'nother post!) And praise God for 60 Feet and other ministries like them stepping up to do God's work in places like Uganda!
The Cupcake Kids (www.thecupcakekids.org) was started when a couple of kids asked their parents if they could sell cupcakes and give all the money to the kids in Africa. It was such a huge success that others wanted to do it as well and next thing they knew they had cupcake sales going on all over the US. The other moms that I went on the retreat with felt a burden as well so we all decided to host a cupcake sale in Macon.
I encourage you to click on the links I provided and see for yourself what this is all about and why we felt the need to do this. I hope your heart is broken for God's children as mine has been. If not for more than to see how God is moving hearts to act on behalf of those who are suffering.
"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your feed with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to cloth him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" Isaiah 58:6-7
"If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday." Isaiah 58:10
"Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." James 1:27
Our cupcake sale here in Macon is going to take place two days in a row. This Saturday, April 16 at Bearstock on Mercer University campus from 12pm to ? (until we drop, I guess) and 10am Sunday April 17 at New City Church Downtown, 533 Cherry Street, Macon, GA.
