"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
As a child I read the Acronym for FAITH
Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him.
It is something that I have remembered at various times as questions of faith arise.
This last month a lot of the ministry staff, us included have learnt new lessons on faith. Mostly this has been through the adoption of a 15 year old ministry girl to an American family. There were many obstacles and setbacks and the process took more than 4 years, from when it first begun. This year Carlos and I became more involved in the legal process and the last few weeks as the go between the family and the government adoption department. Three weeks ago our director told the girl that the family had for various reasons stopped the process all together.
Many tears were shared and questions asked. Had God told us that the adoption was to occur? Yes, he had. Where was our faith in what He said? It’s not the circumstances, the obstacles in the way or our timing. It is all about God and Him doing his work. Nobody but God can take credit that today the girl flew to the USA with her new family. Fully adopted by the family that had said no just a few weeks ago.
One of the many lessons that we learnt was that our Faith in God can move mountains. If you know anything about red tape, international laws, government officials, where everything is done by the book, kids are just case numbers not individuals. You would be astounded to know that in two weeks, what normally happens in 3 months was completed.
I wrote a project nearly 20 years ago, about coming to Bogotá to work with the street children. In the evaluation part, one of the ways of measuring the effectiveness of what I was doing was “when red tape was frequently broken and that we had favor before the eyes of government officials”
These last two weeks has shown that we are being effective in what we are doing. It is at times like these that we know it is worth all the effort.
Forsaking
All
I
Trust
Him.
It is something that I have remembered at various times as questions of faith arise.
This last month a lot of the ministry staff, us included have learnt new lessons on faith. Mostly this has been through the adoption of a 15 year old ministry girl to an American family. There were many obstacles and setbacks and the process took more than 4 years, from when it first begun. This year Carlos and I became more involved in the legal process and the last few weeks as the go between the family and the government adoption department. Three weeks ago our director told the girl that the family had for various reasons stopped the process all together.
Many tears were shared and questions asked. Had God told us that the adoption was to occur? Yes, he had. Where was our faith in what He said? It’s not the circumstances, the obstacles in the way or our timing. It is all about God and Him doing his work. Nobody but God can take credit that today the girl flew to the USA with her new family. Fully adopted by the family that had said no just a few weeks ago.
One of the many lessons that we learnt was that our Faith in God can move mountains. If you know anything about red tape, international laws, government officials, where everything is done by the book, kids are just case numbers not individuals. You would be astounded to know that in two weeks, what normally happens in 3 months was completed.
I wrote a project nearly 20 years ago, about coming to Bogotá to work with the street children. In the evaluation part, one of the ways of measuring the effectiveness of what I was doing was “when red tape was frequently broken and that we had favor before the eyes of government officials”
These last two weeks has shown that we are being effective in what we are doing. It is at times like these that we know it is worth all the effort.
OUR KIDS WITH THE NEWLY ADOPTED GIRLWe are truly thankful that God has allowed us to serve these children and to see them become restored and placed in families. Many who are reading this are a part of making this possible. To you thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your prayers and financial support. You are making a huge difference not only in our lives but in those we serve.
Family wise:
Alex and Simon continue to enjoy drum lessons; Alex has also started learning the keyboard. They both are excited about playing drums at the school´s Christmas musical. Simon is keen to read, he is learning both English and Spanish at the same time so it slows the process down a bit. The important thing is that progress is occurring. Gabriela is doing well. She is making new friends. We are praying for the finances so that she can start preschool in January. In August she will start at the big school with her brothers. She needs to start getting used to school life and not being with her parents all day. Otherwise it will be too big a change when August comes, as they leave home at 6:45am and return at 4pm. A very long day for a girl who will just turn 4 years that same month.
Carlos is finishing translating a book about Faith in his free time (“Re-Discovering Faith” by the USA Today best-selling author Myles Munroe). An apt subject for what we have been learning lately.
THANKSGIVING DINNER AT THE MINISTRY FARMWe have our Christmas tree up, as has most of the city. We really enjoy this time of year as not only are there Christmas decorations and lights everywhere but also many beautiful nativity scenes.
Merry Christmas to you
and Happy Birthday to Jesus.
Love The Paez family
