Making Change for Orphans

  I'm so excited to share with you what our church's preschool ministry is doing - we're making change for orphans!!  Show Hope is Christian singer, Stephen Curtis Chapman's, adoption and orphan care ministry.  It's an Ah. Ma. Zing. ministry.  They do all kinds of great stuff for the cause of the fatherless.
  Right now, they are trying to mobilize - get people to MOVE - for orphans by encouraging individuals, churches, and communities to do their own fundraisers to send in to Show Hope.  It's a great way to get everyone involved in adoption and orphan care.  So, our preschoolers are collecting loose change for the months of May and June to send in.  Guess what the goal is?  $2,000!! And I totally believe we will pass that!!
  I'm so excited about this because 1) it's advocating for and helping babies, children, and teenagers who don't have a mommy and daddy & 2) because it's teaching our young, moldable children how to show God's love to others.
  So how is this impacting my family? Well, given that my kids are 3, 2, and 7 months...we have 3 prechoolers in our churches ministry!! So, we made a change bucket that we keep on our kitchen counter.  We'll toss in our loose change and I'm encouraging the girls to keep a lookout for pennies in the parking lot and stuff (but I'm picking them up!!). 
  But I also want our girls to "own" this project for themselves.  I don't want Jacob and I to do all of the change collecting and then just hand it to them to put in the bucket at church.  I want them to learn during this ministry project.  I want them to learn how to work to help others, how to sacrifice a little bit of their time for someone in need. 
  Even at 3 and 2, our girls have things they are responsible for...they put their dirty clothes in the hamper after bath, pick up their toys, and put their dishes in the sink after each meal.  These are not hard tasks.  But we're also giving them the opportunity to earn some change for their bucket by doing extra stuff...if they pick up Creek's toy - they get a handful of change; if they put the clean tupperware away - they get a handful of change; if they help me fold the towels - they get a handful of change.  Today I went to mow the yard, but first about two dozen toys had to be picked up.  So, they ran around the yard picking them up so I could mow - and they got a handful of change. (I don't usually mow, but things have been crazy busy again and I needed a workout!)  We let them get a handful of change because, well, their hands are really small and we don't want to be stingy with the change! Plus, it was too confusing to come up with a "this task gets this amount of change" system. 
  We've talked to our girls about orphans and the reality of the lives they live.  And how they need our help, our love, our home, and to be part of our family.  We've shown them pictures of friends who have adopted children and watched "coming home" videos over and over again.  My heart leaps with joy when I hear them pray "for the orphans that their mommy and daddy will find them real soon."
  So, I guess another reason why I love this ministry project is that it is getting our family involved together for the cause of the fatherless. 
  What about you? Could you collect your loose change for the months of May and June and send it in to Show Hope?  You could play a very real part in there being one less orphan in the world - forever united and home with their mommy and daddy. Visit showhope.org to find out more!