It’s the freedom that we have in this country that I’m thankful for. That freedom that I enjoy demands my respect for those who fought to make it possible. It’s freedom that all faiths must fight to keep in this country. For what is faith without freedom to choose?

My utmost respect and gratitude go out to the veterans that fought for freedom.

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We are nearly done with our home study portion of the adoption process and it feels like we’ve been in the process for a very long time! There’s been lots of paperwork and talking with people to say the least. There’s lots of “white space” too. There’s plenty of time to wait for things to happen such as paperwork processing and appointments, but the best thing about the wait is that I’ve had the opportunity to really learn about adoption in a deeper way. I’ve been reading tons of material on everything from the theology of adoption to how Muslims are working in orphan care and adoption. To say the least, my perspective has certainly broadened and really do see adoption in a different way than I had seen it at the beginning of my adoption journey. So, for the remaining course of our journey, I will be sharing with you the things I’ve learned about the doctrine of adoption, the history, and about the worldview on adoption. Most of all, I hope that you will truly come to understand what it is to be adopted by God.

Related posts:

1. Our Adoption Story Update: God’s Ways Are Higher

Here’s a quote from an article by South African, Bilal Randeree:

Each year, millions of children are orphaned due to war, famine, and diseases. In poor communities, when parents die or a surviving adult is chronically or terminally ill, children face having to care for themselves and their siblings. Losing one or both parents is traumatic for any child in any situation.

South Africa has almost 4 million orphans, children who have lost either a mother or a father or both. There are an estimated 1.8 million orphans in South Africa infected or affected by HIV and/or AIDS. These orphans are living in poverty, and some have lost both their parents and live alone. Most of these orphans in South Africa are between 7 to 17 years old. Even with the expansion of antiretroviral treatment access, it is estimated that by 2015, the number of orphaned children will still be tremendously high.

Many orphans suffer from malnutrition and are forced to drop out of school. They have no money for food, shelter, healthcare, education and clothing. These children face a future of neglect, abject poverty, despair, and often suffer physical abuse. They sometimes seek refuge on the streets, begging or are coerced into crime for survival.

This guy really telling it as it is. Perhaps what he is talking about is moving you. Perhaps the cause for orphan care really breaks your heart.

Here’s the deal though, what’s the difference between orphan care between Christians and countless so many others doing the same thing? You see, the excerpt above comes from a Muslim who is dedicated to orphan care. There are countless number of people who are doing the same thing as Christians (and it’s not just in orphan care but in all kinds of social justice causes)!

So what sets Christians apart? What’s the difference?

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It’s pretty tough to get on the internet for long periods of time here in Pnomh Penh.  Morning have been early and schedule has been pretty full. But here I am updating once again on the home stretch of my trip.

Cambodia is a dark place right now. Although there has been economic improvement since the country joined the World Trade Organization, the counntry is still feeling the effects from the genocide committed by the Pol Pot Regime in the mid 70′s.

Spiritually, there is a lot of confusion here. Bhuddism is the primary religion here, but the people are Bhuddist that believe in many gods! Many of gods they believe in cross over into Hindu gods and other traditional Gods. Getting people to say they believe in Jesus is fairly easy actually. What’s difficult is to have them believe that Jesus is the only One, True, Living God.

Much of the country is still in great poverty with only 4 major cities having reliable electricity, road systems, water systems, and other basic utilities. Even in Phnom Penh there are electricity shortages and imcomplete sewer systems. People are hungry. A vast majority of the time, people associate with Christians because of what they can get from them. As many missionaries and short term teams bring in resources like food and medicine, people are simply drawn to meet their basic needs.

I’ll be honest here and say that I haven’t seen the sufficiency of God’s grace in people who claim to be Christians. It does lead me to wonder how much darkenss there has to be and how infertal the soil has to be here for the Gospel of Christ not to be completely received with joy. At what point are missionaries trying to “sell Jesus” by handing out food and medicine?

Hope isn’t all lost and I’ll blog about that tomorrow. I saw hope in a place where people say that there’s little hope. It was at an orphanage called the Center of Peace.

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We started in Atlanta, 13 or so hours to Tokyo, then 6 hours to Bangkok…now waiting here for about 5 hours to get on a plane to Phnom Penh, Cambodia!

A few more details about what we’ll be doing in Cambodia. Our primary activities will be to work with an orphanage in the city, work with children in a nearby village, and hopefully make some contacts with a couple more orphanages in the area.

On a more personal note, I’m trying to get a feel for the adoption climate in a country that is closed for international adoptions to the US, like Cambodia. What can we do to help orphans in those countries? What is the economic climate in those countries to develop sustainable support for orphan?

Tomorrow will be a day to settle in to where we’re staying and give us some time to rest. Each day isn’t going to be all that predictable so really looking forward to seeing how God will work!

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Often times I find myself desiring greater faith, but realize that I’m pursuing a life that requires very little.

How about you?

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• 11:07 AM Jason - Meredith Andrews was a blessing to listen to…she led worship this morning.
• 11:10 AM Jason - Elizabeth Styffe, Executive Director of the Saddleback Orphan Care Initiative is going to speak.
• 11:12 AM Jason - “Orphan Care and the Church”
• 11:13 AM Jason - When we follow Jesus, it changes everything…
• 11:14 AM Jason - There is something distinctly different about orphan care from Disciples…people who follow Jesus.
• 11:17 AM Jason - Christian orphan care is about connecting, aligning, reviving, and excelling (CARE)
• 11:18 AM Jason - conferences all around the world about orphan care, but they focus on food, clothing, shelter, and focused on custodial needs…but as Christians, this must go further
• 11:19 AM Jason - Connecting: we need to connect people to God, connect people to each other, connect people to the Church, connect people to orphans; connecting is what makes Christians different
• 11:20 AM Jason - Connections are the essence of life – Ephesians 1:4
• 11:21 AM Jason - You are longing for belonging!
• 11:22 AM Jason - Conections are the way we learn to love and be loved. Love is the ultimate connection. Ephesians 1:5
• 11:24 AM Jason - 8 children from Rwanda have been adopted to the US in the last…five years
• 11:27 AM Jason - we have to learn to connect; rescuing is not orphan care, that is orphan survival and there is a difference
• 11:29 AM Jason - Dr. Karyn Purvis now speaking
• 11:30 AM Jason - the deepest need of orphans is the need for connection with people
• 11:36 AM Jason - Styff back speaking
• 11:36 AM Jason - the most important thing we can do in the life of a child is to help them connect; connect deeply, connect permanently, connect intentionally
• 11:37 AM Jason - an orphan can only go through so many times of connecting and ripping apart
• 11:39 AM Jason - orphan care is the only thing that every believer can do and must do
• 11:39 AM Jason - James 1:27 is not a command, but a definition
• 11:49 AM Jason - Aligning: we all need to aligned in the work of orphan care, we need to work together
• 11:49 AM Jason - in the tough times of a recession every event, every effort, and every expense, must be aligned with orphan care strategies which are Biblically based and best practices
• 11:51 AM Jason - results of alignment: magnetism, synergy
• 11:52 AM Jason - Orphan: Open your eyes and your heart
• 11:53 AM Jason - oRphan: Rely on the Church; orphan care is by the Church, from the Church and through the Church
• 11:58 AM Jason - the church has the largest participation, the widest distribution, the simplest administration
• 12:00 PM Jason - orPhan: Prevent children from becoming orphaned; orphan care takes care of parents and families
• 12:03 PM Jason - orpHan: Help with relief
• 12:05 PM Jason - we need to connect orphans to God, to families, to resources; the problem is that we start with resources
• 12:08 PM Jason - Revive the church on orphan care
• 12:09 PM Jason - Excelling: we need to do thing better
• 12:10 PM Jason - the best solution for orphan care is to bring yourself permanently into an orphan’s life, to connect a child with a mom and dad
• 12:11 PM Jason - make your goals as big as God
• 12:16 PM Jason - Mariela Clark now speaking, Orphanage Director, VisionTrust International
• 12:17 PM Jason - it’s very difficult to work with orphans, especially when they first come in
• 12:17 PM Jason - Ara was a 9 year old girl that lost her mother because of AIDS, and had a step father that raped her
• 12:18 PM Jason - Jimmy was a boy who lived in a cardboard box for years
• 12:18 PM Jason - Renee was a girl who witnessed her mom kill herself
• 12:18 PM Jason - these stories do have an end, and that end is Jesus
• 12:19 PM Jason - Ara is preparing to go study at a seminary to work with orphans
• 12:19 PM Jason - Renee is studying to be a medical professional to work with pregnant mothers
• 12:20 PM Jason - all of these children was to go to Bible college so that they can really learn the Word of God so that they can teach it
• 12:23 PM Jason - God’s not going to hold us responsible for the past generation, but will hold us responsible for the current generation
• 12:24 PM Jason - what can you do in this sometimes overwhelming task of caring for orphans? do your part!
• 12:26 PM Jason - we need to be reminded by the boy who brought the fish and bread to Jesus in faith that He would use it…the little boy did his part
• 12:27 PM Jason - we can plant the seed and water it, but it is God who grows it
• 12:28 PM Jason - we do what we can, but we leave the impossible up to God
• 12:29 PM Jason - many children come to her with their hearts completely destroyed, but the hands of God touches these hearts and restores them and gives new life…Jesus is the end to the stories of these orphans
• 12:35 PM Jason - now going through announcements! you can see live clips from the event at: www.jasonjeong.com

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• 10:47 AM Jason - From the Christian Alliance for Orphans – Summit V – Dallas, TX
  Opening video, “Why are you here?…You are here because in me they will find compassion, hope, and a future.” – “for in you the fatherless find compassion” ~Hosea 14:3
• 10:59 AM Jason - a family is powerful in the valley of the shadow of death
• 10:59 AM Jason - no child was meant to die alone
• 11:01 AM Jason - (Dennis Rainey speaking, President of FamilyLife)
• 11:03 AM Jason - You don’t know how God will use you to change the lives of others
• 11:04 AM Jason - 1. birth and bathe your ministry in prayer, it’s a spiritual re-calibration, to allow you to realize that it is about God
• 11:06 AM Jason - 2. we must leverage one another’s strengths, organizations must work together, large or small; find fresh ways to cooperate and innovate
• 11:10 AM Jason - he challenged 986 college students to commit 1 year of their lives to care for the physical and spiritual needs of orphans, those college students get it, they want an authentic life in Christ; 600 signed up that day.
• 11:12 AM Jason - the church is the key, it is the church that must own an orphan care ministry…let’s see 10% of churches get on board with this…that’s 40,000 churches
• 11:13 AM Jason - 3. unleash the power of children who do have families, and unleash adults that have a passion and vision for orphans
• 11:16 AM Jason - a 9-yr-old was able to start a foster care ministry in his church ministering to hundreds of kids in the area
• 11:18 AM Jason - why aren’t we swinging for the fences?
• 11:19 AM Jason - we are at the heart of God when we care for those who can’t do anything for us
• 11:20 AM Jason - expect and believe in the God of the Bible to use you to change the lives of children
• 11:22 AM Jason - (Jedd Medefind now speaking, Executive Director of CAFO, served as Special Assistant to President George W. Bush)
• 11:26 AM Jason - the fulcrum of power is not in the White House, not in Congress, not in the Board Rooms, but in those lives who are sold out for Jesus
• 11:31 AM Jason - he was in the adoption process and found out that they were pregnant and it almost felt as if it was a miscarriage for the child they were planning on adopting…then they had a miscarriage and through that God revealed the burden to care for the fatherless
• 11:34 AM Jason - they are back in the adoption process and adopting a child from Ethiopia…and once again they are pregnant again
• 11:40 AM Jason - (Rob Mitchell now speaking, author of Cast-away Kid)
• 11:42 AM Jason - He was abandoned at the age of 3, where she was sent to an orphanage
• 11:44 AM Jason - at 17, was given a one-way bus ticket to wherever he wanted to go and was told “Good luck, kid.”
• 11:47 AM Jason - Nola was a woman who took care of him and 25 other children 24 hours-a-day for 5-1/2 days a week
• 11:49 AM Jason - Nola had prayed that she’d find something to love in each and every one of them
• 11:52 AM Jason - an afflicted child (by depression, loneliness, bi-polar, etc) does not know how to open up their hearts to allow hope into their hearts
• 11:54 AM Jason - kids want to know the truth about their family, who their parents were; “if my mom was a crack whore, then tell me that she was so that I can process it.”
• 12:05 PM Jason - personal note: listening to this story is tough to type
• 12:08 PM Jason - it is so special to remember the names
• 12:11 PM Jason - love is a 4-letter word that is spelled T-I-M-E
• 12:15 PM Jason - Jesus was betrayed by people that he was supposed to be able to trust…
• 12:16 PM Jason - the anger that orphans go through daily is exhausting

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stain [steyn] -noun: a cause of reproach; stigma; blemish: a stain on one’s reputation.

Those in leadership will know that the role of being a leader can bring out the best in you and sometimes bring out those character traits that aren’t so good. Here are some of my character stains:

1. Over Analytical – yea, so I went to Georgia Tech and pretty much everyone is over analytical there (but they make great engineers, but not so good leaders). You give me a riddle and I tell you how that riddle isn’t possible because you said the word “this” instead of “that”. This is my first reaction to things. It leaves people bitter about talking to you. It pushes people away. You become unapproachable.
2. Know-It-All Questions – too often I find myself asking a question I already know the answer to. Why do I do that? Insecurities as a leader always trying to stay in control. Trying to ask questions to get people to think the way I think. This one leaves people demoralized. It pushes people down.
3. Mr. Handyman – when people come to me with problems my first reaction is to think of a fix. Come to me with relationship problems? I’ll give you 5 ways to improve your relationship…right. I blame this one on testosterone and the lack of empathy. Thanks to my wife (who is awesomely compassionate and empathetic) I’ve been able to improve in this area, but it’s still a thorn in my side. People don’t share their problems with you so that you can come up with a solution. They want you to feel their pain. Carry their burdens and you will life people up. Giving people a fix will leave them feeling stranded.
4. Insensitive Multitasking – I am such a do’er and a poor listener that I’ll sit there often times trying to get stuff done while someone is talking to me. Why can’t I just stop what I’m doing the moment people talk to me? Is what I’m doing really more important than the person talking to me? This is one of the fastest ways to shut someone out.
5. Interrupting Arrogance – it is what it is. When you interrupt someone, what you’re basically saying is that what I have to say is more important what you have to say. That is arrogant and prideful. Boy, I’ve become pretty good at this over the years. At least now it makes me mad when I catch myself doing it. This is one of the best ways to make someone angry or in turn not listen to you.

Why am I putting all these things in the open? First, I’m sorry about these thing I do that is not a reflection of God’s character. Second, because I desperately need the help of the people around me to keep me accountable. It’s not like I’m saying anything new to the people who already know me (especially those I have the privilege of leading).

Let me tell you about the grace of God…His blood washes your stains and makes you white as snow…

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• 4:01 PM Jason - Perry Noble wearing a new shirt…
• 4:02 PM Jason - this session is talking to the leaders
• 4:03 PM Jason - for a church to reach its potential, you have to have leaders that are on fire for Jesus
• 4:08 PM Jason - aren’t there days you just wanna quit? didn’t people tell you church work was gonna be easy?
• 4:09 PM Jason - people in the church can be the meanest people on the planet…”I’m a devil’s advocate”…he don’t need a freaking advocate
• 4:10 PM Jason - about staying in the game…how to stay in the game. ask yourself four questions
• 4:10 PM Jason - Question 1: How is with me?
• 4:12 PM Jason - Exodus 33:12 – I wanna lead, I wanna take them, but before I do this, I gotta know who’s with me
• 4:13 PM Jason - average stay for a pastor in the US is 22 months
• 4:13 PM Jason - Senior Pastors, before you can have people buy into you, you have to first buy into your people
• 4:14 PM Jason - senior pastors, do your pastors and staff know that you are there and that you love them? what kind of comittment do you have to them?
• 4:15 PM Jason - Satan doesn’t want to split your church, he wants to split your [staff] leaders
• 4:17 PM Jason - let me tell you something about your pastor that he doesn’t tell you…he’s got a weight on his shoulder that you cannot imagine
• 4:20 PM Jason - sheep don’t lead the shepherd…at the end of the day, the leader will have to lead, and he will be held accountable; you sheep have to have the leader’s back
• 4:21 PM Jason - Question 2: Am I pleasing You (God)?
• 4:26 PM Jason - Exodus 33:13 – do you desire to please God?
• 4:28 PM Jason - Pastors, are you a prophet or prostitute? are you getting paid for a service that made them feel good. some of you might have to get out of church work to get back into ministry. Church work is about pleasing people and ministry is about pleasing God
• 4:29 PM Jason - The Four Questions:
  Do I understand that ministry is received not achieved?
  Am I placing limits on me that God hasn’t placed on me?
  Will we see you?
  What’s Next?
• 4:30 PM Jason - the reason that we are in ministry is by the mercy of God; he knows every mistake you have made, but yet he has called you in ministry; we depend too much on our ability rather than anointing
• 4:34 PM Jason - are we providing the type of atmosphere where people kissed toilets all week long and leave understanding repentance and forgiveness?
• 4:35 PM Jason - when was the last time you were so desperate for God to show up and do something only He can do?
• 4:36 PM Jason - do you want attendance or repentance?
• 4:38 PM Jason - the church is the body…if you close the back door of the body…LOL
• 4:41 PM Jason - New Spring cannot explain what happened…cannot explain the number of people that show up
• 4:43 PM Jason - Exodus 33:18 – at the end of the day, people just need to see how awesome God is
• 4:44 PM Jason - what does God want to do next in your church?
• 4:45 PM Jason - Fox news talked about the decline of Christians…what if that can change? What if five years from now Fox news reports on something incredible happening in the church?
• 4:48 PM Jason - do you want the ball? do you want to advance the ball? you might get hit, you might get injured, but do you want the ball? who want’s the ball?

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