~Luke 1:37
It's a short bible verse but very important and cannot be overstated how meaningful it is. With God, nothing is impossible. I hear about it frequently and saw it last Thursday as we dedicated the House of Hope AIDS orphan home in Maua. This was my second house dedication and it was just as emotional as last year. The most moving part of the dedication was pastor Kristine Rozefeld's gift and presentation to the new home owners. The gift was a cross stitching of a ladybug that a friend of her's named Dagnija gave her. Dagnija lives in the Hope Center in Latvia. The Hope Center is an outreach program of the UMC of Latvia for underage and challenging girls who get pregnant and want to keep to baby. These girls don't have a support system so the Hope Center teaches them skills and how to care for their child. It says a lot about Dagnija that she took the time to make this item for someone she didn't know so they could have it in their new home.
Below is Kristine and her husband Oskars with Dagnija and her son Kristians.
Kristine (who is a pastor from Latvia) was part of our team this year. Here is what she said at the dedication in regards to the ladybug cross-stitching:
According to the laws of Physics a ladybug (or bumblebee) cannot fly because the body is too big and the wings are too small. The only reason they can fly is they don't know that. You're never too small, God is big. With God, anything is possible. Let us not be discouraged of how little we are. Because or God is big and takes care of us.
My prayer for the home owners is that their home would be a House of Hope for all who enter. Not just for them but for their extended family and their community. I hope that it provides a place for the family to stay out of the heat. I hope it provides a place for the kids of the community to gather and read books and play.
What I know is that it can and already has changed the lives of the family. So how can people from Texas and Latvia change the lives of people across the world in Kenya? It's simple, it's because of the connectionalism of the United Methodist Church. Kristine and her husband Oskars were part of our team because District Superintendent Lisa Neslony was on a mission trip in July in Latvia and recruited them to go to Kenya. Although I'm not sure how much recruiting was necessary. My understanding was that Kristine and Oskars had always wanted to go to Kenya. It's nice when things work out and so they joined our team and now that the trip is done I can't imagine our team without their presence and their spiritual gifts that were added (the Latvian chocolate they brought was just an added bonus and I'm still not sure how they got all the chocolate in their suitcases). They were there as part of our team due to the connectionalism of the global UMC.
The lives of those in Kenya were also changed because our God is so big. I have worn a "God is Big Enough" bracelet on my wrist off and on since Christmas Eve of 2012. There was a sermon series entitled God is Big Enough while I served as youth director in Granbury and bracelets were handed out as a reminder that our God is Big Enough and that with God we can accomplish anything.
How can it be explained that there is a House of Hope AIDS orphan home in Africa that was built by people from Kenya, Texas, and Latvia with a picture made specifically for that home from the Hope Center in Latvia? Simply put, God is big enought. And with God all things are possible.
Grace & Peace
Kevin
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