Holy, holy, holy moley!

I have news once again from the other side of the world! It is not about the orphanages, however. Due to some visa trouble our contact and her family had to take a little vacation till they got things straightened out.  Now that things have settled back down for them, we will have more news on the orphanages soon.  This amazing story, however, is about something amazing that happened during one of our contact's worship services.  Read on....


Yesterday was a good day. I didn't realize how good it would be until I received the news.

It all started last week when I was preparing the worship set for our youth band to lead for the upcoming Sunday service. I usually can pick our songs rather quickly and easily, but this time I was struggling. I would pick a few songs, then decide they weren't right. I would pick other ones, then decide the first ones were better. I kept rearranging and changing and my head was spinning as the clock was ticking late into the night. It was well past my bedtime and I begged God to please lead me to pick the right songs for the service. I was strongly led to pick out the song, "Holy Holy Holy, Lord God Almighty". It's a hymn and our youth band has never played it together before. I wasn't exactly sure why I picked it, but I knew I was supposed to select songs that would go well with this song (themes, keys, etc...)

Our band practiced for two hours on Saturday, and and hour and half before the Sunday service as well. We worked so hard to make sure the songs were played with excellence. We worked hard to make sure the songs flowed nicely during transitions. We worked hard on the vocals making sure the melodies and harmonies blended perfectly. We prayed that our music would bring glory to God and create an environment where the congregation could meet with Him with no distractions.

After the service we felt relieved that everything went well and we breathed a sigh of relief. I gave all my team members hugs and thanked them for their hard work and willing hearts. I was dead tired after a long weekend already, and I was dreaming of my pillow at home. I scooped up my daughter and guitar and headed out the sanctuary when someone pulled me aside. They went on to inform me that two national people (from the country we are living in) attended the service that morning. (Our church consists mostly of international foreigners like us living in this country, but we have many locals who attend. Sometimes they come to learn English, and sometimes they come because they are seeking the Truth!) Apparently these two natinoals came up to the Senior Pastor after service wanting to explain what happened to them during the worship time. While we were leading worship, for the first time ever they both had the revelation that Jesus is God!

This is huge, my friends. Absolutely huge! You see, Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, a good man. But they do not believe he was the Son of God, and they certainly don't believe He is God. For many Muslims seeking the truth, it is very difficult for them believe this. They feel that it is "heresy" to give an earthly man the title of God (or Allah, as they call Him.)

I was in shock. I couldn't believe it! God used our meager attempts at leading worship to draw Muslims to Himself! Not only that, but He chose to use the youth band, which consists of young musicians still growing in their skills. One of my students has only been taking bass lessons from me for a few months and it was only her second time playing with us! It reminds me of this verse:

1 Corinthians 1:27: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

As one of the verses in the Holy Holy Holy hymn says, "God in three persons, blessed Trinity." Thank you Jesus, for using our small youth band to help these locals receive a revelation that You are God! We pray that more and more Muslims will come to believe in Jesus Christ like never before!


Amazing! Never doubt the power of God, or that He is moving in this world.  Thanks to all of the supporters out there who have helped out this project. Keep the love coming!


-Lindsey

No Reason At All!

As Junie B. Jones said, the best reason for getting a present is no good reason at all!

My dad is the best. Yesterday he just surprised me with a bubblegum pink Fender Squire.  He had heard from my brother that Nick and I had been looking at electric guitars a while ago but we never got one because we didn't have enough money to justify such a purchase.

But my father had picked up this little gem on craigslist and was just planning on fixing it up and reselling it when he heard we had been looking for one.  So he just GAVE it to me! How cool! Can you believe it?! I am sooo excited. I love Squires.  For the price, the quality of the make is hard to beat.  Now to swap out the old pick ups with some lipstick tube ones, restring that baby and she's ready to rock! :D

And while we are on the subject of rocking, I would just like to mention that we are going to be having a little playing gig to benefit the Little Black Dress project sometime in April.  More details of this to come!

Rock on,

-Lindsey 

BLEACH!!!!

I'm BLONDE!!!!

And you know what? I had to buy practically the whole aisle of bleach products to get here. 

My dear friend Maggie recently returned from the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota and she said she could do my hair for me.  Well, little did she know that she was about to receive the challenge of her life.  

I told her I wanted to go platinum so we went to Sally's and purchased the strongest bleach possible. We bleached my hair the first time and waited the maximum amount of time for the color to lift.  Upon washing my hair out, we discovered that the color had only partially lifted.  

It was YELLOW.

like, yellow yellow.  I looked like a cartoon character!

Seriously, people. My hair was this shade of yellow. Horror!

Maggie comforted me and said that sometimes it  takes two bleaches to lift to white and assured me that we would try again the next day and it would be white.  So the next night we bleached my hair again. It turned a paler shade of yellow. Okay. This was better, but...still not good. 

Maggie was beside herself. She couldn't think of any reason my hair shouldn't be white.  She was also quite amazed because my hair seemed to have sustained very little damage. Frustrated, we schemed to bleach yet AGAIN the next day...

Round three went better. It brought my hair to a livable shade of light blonde, a color that some girls actually want in their hair. But it still wasn't that snow white, Last Unicorn kind of flowing mane we were going for.

I know. She is also a cartoon.

I was relieved that I could show my head in public again but discouraged that it still wasn't white! Fearing the worst for my follicles I said we should take a break from our intense bleach streak and give my scalp a few days to recover. So like three days later I texted Maggie to see if she was ready for one more round.  She was determined to make my mutant hair WHITE. So we got some more bleach and gave it one last go. If it hadn't worked that time I was prepared to give up and just live with whatever results we got. 

But the hair salon gods smiled upon us that day. The clouds parted. Heavenly rays shown down upon my bleach covered scalp. VICTORY!!!!!!  

4 times people, and my freaky follicles are still nice and healthy.  I think this must be my super power. I would've chosen flying, but this is cool too. 

Btw, I would like to say that my hair's difficulty is not a result of Maggie's competence.  She is excellent at what she does. It truly was just a freak thing. So thanks Mags for my snowy white locks!

-Lindsey

A world in unrest stays in unrest

Hello, everybody!

I have a new update from our contact.  She and her family recently had some visa trouble, which is why we haven't had any updates about the orphanages for a while.

If you have turned on the news lately you might have seen some unsettling scenes. Our world today is changing right before our eyes. Do not be afraid, just check out your Bible and read how Jesus prophesied about all this. The good news for Christians is our hope is in Jesus Christ, not in any economy or country. My prayer is that every person in this world would evaluate their relationship with God and surrender completely to Him.

Unfortunately we are experiencing some visa difficulties, therefore we had to leave the country for a few days. We are currently in the process of trying something new to obtain a one-year visa. We have been leaving the country every 3 months since last summer because of these visa difficulties. The country we are living in is slowly trying to sift out foreigners, and some of the ways they are making this possible are by rejecting visas.

Also, the country we are living is experiencing slight civil unrest. I'm sure the people of this country are watching neighboring countries and becoming inspired to stand up to their government. Some protest leaders were put in prison and the protest quickly fizzled out. It's crazy to think that what's been happening in other countries on the news could quite possibly happen here.

I'm asking for your prayers- oh how we need them! Pray that we can obtain this year-long visa to stay in the country and continue our work. Please pray for the country's political state, and the safety of everyone living here. Also please pray that the people here will hunger and thirst for the Living God! We often pray that they will see visions of Jesus and seek to find out more about Him (which is often the case in many Muslim countries).

Thank you for your prayers and support. Without them we would not be able to be here. With all our love- thank you!


Our contact has made it safely back with her family, but please continue praying for their safety and for their precarious situation.  


Also, I would like to ask readers to lift Japan up in prayer.  It's horrible what's happening there.  Pray for their people's recovery and protection and that God can use this event for His good purpose, and draw people closer to him. 

-Lindsey

It's a Beautiful Life

I would just like to take a moment to say how very blessed Nick and I are. In our little house, with our little dog, life was pretty wonderful. And for some reason, beyond my understanding, God sees fit to bless my husband with not one, but two wonderful jobs. One at Bliss Bakery, which my sister in law owns, and the other at Beansmith which creates artisan roasted coffees.  Nick has truly found his niche, it seems, and I praise God for that.  It seemed that for so long he worked for horrible employers, people who never appreciated the great hard working man they had.  It was very frustrating.  I can't count the number of times I wanted to march down to his work place and grab somebody by the ear and give them what for!

But, instead, I did my best to diffuse those feelings in both of us by simply trying to be a comfort to Nick. I'm sure he felt fired up enough for the both of us. >.<

The difference between now and then is unbelievable.  Nick wakes up excited every morning to go to work. He comes home and tells me about all the stuff going on at each place, bubbling with enthusiasm.  And, he has discovered a latent passion for baking!

I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that.

our experimental scones

hahaha!

So I would just like to give my baby a big pat on the back. Thanks for bringing home the bacon.  And the coffee.  Thanks, God, for this super awesome life and for wonderful employers. :D

-Lindsey

Happy Women's Day!

There is an international holiday for women, because we rock. :)

I did not know this until today, and all of a sudden I hear about it from a handful of friends scattered across the world!

And all this time, I thought you had to be a mother to earn that kind of recognition. (Well, mothers rock harder).

One of these awesome women is our very own contact, who has been busy busy busy! But we've got another update about the orphanage. So, happy Women's Day, and enjoy.

Happy International Women’s Day!

This holiday is not celebrated in America, at least to my knowledge. We celebrate Mother’s Day, but not Women’s Day. All growing up I remember thinking that it would be fun to be a mother so that I could be honored for a whole day every year (on top of my birthday of course, but who doesn’t love being spoiled twice in a year?)

I’ve been thinking and praying of ways to bless the orphanage workers where I volunteer for some time now. They have an extremely stressful job with little pay. On top of it all, they aren’t held in any sort of “respect” and they get little to no encouragement or thanks from their employers. Corruption abounds in this country, along with desperate attempts to “make a buck” and “get ahead”…. add that on top of low funding for orphanages and what do you get? Understaffed, overwhelmed workers who often take money or items meant for the children and keep them for themselves. Sad, but true.

My heart’s desire has been to seek ways to bless these women. To make them feel special, appreciated, and encouraged. What woman isn’t grateful for a pat on the back or a box of chocolates once in a while? How does it make you feel when someone thanks you for a job well done? Does it make you want to try harder and continue giving it your all? It certainly does for me.

These workers get hardly any encouragement from their superiors (actually, I’ve witnessed yelling fights more than anything.) They look disheveled and discouraged often. I started asking them about their home lives, their children, their likes and dislikes, and I started seeing some smiles creep up on their faces. The light bulb turned on one day and I realized that it would be a brilliant idea to find regular ways to bless these women. The more encouraged they are, the happier they are, and in turn the children will be treated better. For the past few weeks I’ve heard reports from my fellow volunteers that they’ve witness the workers hitting the children. If we can regularly uplift them, I think they will be less likely to act this way.

A group of us decided to raise some money in order to purchase presents to give to the workers on Women’s Day. A few weeks ago we had a bake sale and from the profits we bought chocolate and hair products. We wrapped them up nicely with pretty bows and wrote “Happy Women’s day” in their language. We also baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for them because they love American baked goods!

This morning was the big day. I was nervous and excited. How would the women react? Would they be thankful? I wasn’t sure how everything would turn out. We packed up all the presents and cookies and headed out for the orphanage. When we arrived, the staff wouldn’t answer the door. We worried that because of the holiday, they were understaffed and might be embarrassed to have us come in and see the conditions.  We rang the doorbell, then we rang it again, and again, and again. Finally they let us in! We started handing out the presents and I gave each staff member a hug and traditional kiss on the check (more like in the air while your cheeks touch) and wished them “Happy Women’s Day”.

Their response? Total surprise and thankfulness! Their faces brightened, their smiles widened, and their hugs were tighter then ever before. They laughed and showed each other their presents, then hugged us some more. We passed out the presents to the cooks and doctor as well.

The head director was off because of the holiday, so the head doctor was in charge. She took us upstairs to hand out presents to workers where we’ve never been before… to the newborn room! My heart skipped a beat as we walked up the stairs. We’ve all wondered what the newborn room looked like and the conditions of the little ones. The door creaked open and I poked my head instead to find over 10 little babies bundled up in their cribs. There were only two workers and they were busy cleaning, folding clothes, and preparing medicine. I tried to balance between talking to the workers and sneaking a quick peek at the precious babies. They were so incredibly small! Some of them were crying and waving their arms in the air, while some were quiet and motionless. My mind immediately raced back to memories of my daughter as a newborn. She was constantly in my arms or in a sling as a little baby. I loved cuddling her as much as possible during those early months. And here these baby orphans lay all alone in cribs. I wished so badly that we could scoop them all up and sing sweet lullaby’s into their ears.

I returned back to the toddler room and helped with the 1-2 year olds. I snuggled them, sang to them, played with them, feed them, and prayed for them in my heart. They are growing up so quickly! One little boy, we’ll call Baby A, is walking now! He is the cutest little munchkin I’ve ever seen. We call him monkey boy because he’s constantly climbing around and reaching for toys with a huge smile on his face (he was the boy quarantined to his crib a while back when all the kids were sick).  

Baby K, my favorite little princess who called me “mamma” a while back, is supposedly getting adopted by a local family! When I found out  I had a mix of emotions. At first I was devastated because I’ve always dreamed of adopting her, but then I realized that this is a good thing. We want local families to adopt children from their own country! I’ve been told that orphans are considered to be almost nothing by locals and hardly anyone would want to adopt them.  Over tea one day my local friend asked me, “If you adopted a child here, how could you ever love them like your own?” Anger rose up within me but I asked the Holy Spirit to calm my words as I replied, “Oh, believe me, I could love them as my own.”

Sadly, adoption in this country by Americans is not going so well. One of my friends has been trying for almost a year now, and the child they’ve been seeking is suddenly being given to another family. There is much corruption involved in the process here and it frustrates me to no end. We just keep praying, praying, and praying.

My heart’s desire is that we would bring rays of hope and blessing to this orphanage- to the workers and to the children.  Our prayer is that they see Jesus in us, and become hungry for the hope we have in Him.  Please continue praying with us- we need your prayers! And if you ever feel led to give financially, the money will be used for the children’s needs directly. In the past few months we’ve purchased bibs, walkers, highchairs, and this week we are paying someone to paint the walls a light green color to brighten up the room.

Thank you for reading this blog. Thank you for your prayers, your support, and your encouragement. You’ll never know how much it blesses us on the other side of the ocean.

Thanks for reading,

-Lindsey

Road Trip!

I would like to start this post off by saying that I am an absolute failure.
Now, don't try and comfort me! It has been five days since I posted here.
Failure!

Who would've thought that keeping up with a blog would be so difficult? It's not that typing is hard, or that my fingers are too weak to click the mouse. I don't know why it is hard. But for me, it is.
And, on top of that, I realized that I didn't post a picture of one of my previous outfits. Gah!

So, today, I present to you a smattering of pictures from the day of the Forgotten Outfit, which was actually a terrific day.  :)

Me and my friend Maggie had a mini road trip! We decided to go down there together and visit some old friends of ours from high school.

Finding parking there was a nightmare! lol. But we finally did it. And Maggie conquered a demon known by the name of Parallel Parking. *shudder*.

We met up first with our friend Rachel at a fro-yo joint called Red Mango. It was awesome! But I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures of that part. :(  My bad. But then, Rachel had to leave for work and so, we gave my sister Lea a call, and she came down to the Red Mango and criticized my frozen yogurt concoction. The graham cracker crumbs were for texture, Lea! But, you're right. Yours was a lot better.

Then we decided to stretch our legs and visit some of Lea's favorite stores in the area. First, we went to a used book store.

Used!

Books!

Also, I really liked that yellow chair.  :)

And then we went to a handful of other stores, mostly selling overpriced clothing.

And we posed like dorks in the neat-o fitting rooms.

While on-lookers looked on.

And then we drank coffee. And got lost in the building where Lea is supposed to live. (We were looking for our other friend, Lewis.) And received a lovely, albeit round-about tour of the campus. We saw old ball rooms turned study spots, several dorm floors to us, previously unbeknownst, and some inappropriately shaped rock formations which I regret not photographing. 

It was a lovely lovely day! And so good to see people I have missed.

Me and Maggie can't wait to do it again. 

This is the "Grandma Rogers" pose.

Adieu, farewell, and all that stuff,

-Lindsey.

Uncle Rico and Two Cents.

The "Uncle Rico" Pose

Now that I have you all calm and thinking about floating in the ocean surrounded by tiny seahorses...do you feel like donating? :)

I hope yesterday's post got everybody thinking.  These orphanages have so far to go and everybody there would embrace the help we can extend. If you are just stumbling across this blog or reading it for the first time, I encourage you to go back one post and read Lisa's* story.  God can be a father to the fatherless but it is hard to meet peoples' spiritual needs if their physical ones continue to go unmet. It's Maslow's basic hierarchy of needs.  Jesus understood this when he was preaching to the 5,000 and he fed them all! Kids in these orphanages go hungry all the time. Workers are spread too thin. Please, if you feel moved in your heart, would you make a donation? Would you pray for these children and the workers that care for them and for our contact?  Let's cover them all in a continual blanket of prayer.  To all the followers and supporters of this blog thanks again, a million times over. 

Well, that's my two cents for the day.  :)

Sweet dreams to all,

-Lindsey

For the orphans, a family.

Hello, my good people. I am happy to report that our contact is back on her feet again! Yay! And, she has a story for us. None of that based on true events, Hollywood adaptation stuff.  This is the real deal.  Crazy stuff happens in this world.

This is the story of our contact's good friend, who spent the majority of her life in an orphanage.  Read on...


Meet Lisa*. Lisa's mother never married her father (they were actually from different countries). She never knew her father and her mother raised her alone. Her mother was always poor and never had quite enough food or money to take care of Lisa properly. Lisa remembers as a young girl that the husband of her mother's friend would often come over demanding money. He would almost always be in a drunken rage. Lisa's mother would not have any money to give him, therefore he would beat her ruthlessly. Lisa would watch in horror. Her uncles would come over from time to time in a drunken rage as well and do horrible things to Lisa and her mother. Lisa recollects one time when her uncle held her out of the third story window threatening to drop her. The other uncle ran into the room and grabbed her before she plummeted to her death.

Oftentimes Lisa would have to go out on the streets and beg for food and money for her mother and herself. At one point they were so poor they didn't even have a place to live. They slept under the stairwell in an apartment complex and lit candles for light.

One particular day the husband of her mother's friend came, like so many other times. He was drunk and demanded money she could not give, yet again. In a rage of anger he beat her so badly she was knocked unconscious. Lisa cried hysterically while trying to wake her mother. The man kept telling Lisa to stop crying, but she couldn't. So he beat her and then left them both. Lisa ran to her neighbor's house for help. They called the police, who then came over to find Lisa's mother dead. Lisa never saw her mother again, and was taken to an orphanage.

After a few days she tried to escape from the orphanage. But they found her and brought her back. To punish her for running away, they beat her every day with a chair for a month, and only gave her a little bit of bread for that month as well. She never ran away again.

Lisa grew up in two different orphanages until she was old enough to leave. A local ministry running a safe-house for young woman brought her under their roof. Many grown up girls leaving the orphanage end up living in prostitution or are sold into human trafficking, therefore the safe-house ministry seeks to find these girls before they are taken. It was then that Lisa was introduced to Jesus Christ, and she accepted Him as her personal Savior and gave her life to Him. The ministry asked her what profession she would like to pursue, and she chose housecleaning. They paid for her to receive special training at a prestigious hotel, and then they found jobs for her within the homes of Americans needing a house helper.

That is when I met Lisa. We moved to Central Asia last year and were looking for a responsible young woman to help us clean the house and look after our daughter from time to time. We don't trust just anyone with our daughter- we hardly ever leave her with anyone, ever! We talked with other American families who employed Lisa and we spent much time with her before we decided she would be our helper.

Our lives in Central Asia would not be complete without Lisa! She has become much more than a house helper, she has become our sister. Whenever she comes over we laugh, drink tea together, eat meals, and help each other with language skills. (She helps us practice the local language and we help her learn English). She is one of the sweetest, most humble and caring people I have ever met in my entire life. She never complains about her life. She has absolutely no family members left that she knows of. All she has is the safe-house workers and the Americans who employ her. She said that most girls want to get married for silly reasons, but one of the reasons she longs to be married is that she will finally have a family to call her own. She has been pursued by several men in the past few years, some Christians and some not. She has kindly turned them all down because she knew none of them was the man God has for her life. She doesn't want to settle for just anyone. She is waiting patiently and praying that Jesus will bring her the man of her dreams.

Will you remember Lisa in your prayers? That God would provide all her needs, emotional and material. That He would prepare her future husband and bring them together when the time is right? You see, God loves orphans even more than we do. Lisa was an orphan. But in my opinion, the day she accepted Jesus Christ in her life she no longer was an orphan. God is now her Father and she has brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow believers and followers of Jesus! We love Lisa like family and are willing to help her in any way possible, and desire to see her blessed in this life.

God sees every orphan and the tears they cry. He saw Lisa as a young girl watching her mother die right before her eyes. He had a plan for her life, and knew that someday she would find Him and the peace He brings.


*Lisa's real name has been changed for security purposes.

" I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live."  John 14:18-19

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Thanks for following,

-Lindsey