World Changers

Esther. Nelson Mandela. Saint Nicholas. Eleanor Roosevelt. Louis Armstrong. Steve Jobs. Billie Holiday. Ella Fitzgerald. Leo Tolstoy. John Lennon. George Washington Carver. Carol Burnett. J.R.R. Tolkien.

All these people have two things in common:

They are all talented people who have used their gifts to change the world.

They are all orphans.

And there are many more like them. Some world changers are known far and wide, and some are known only by those lucky enough to be in the same corner of the world.

I can't help but wonder how many world changers are sitting in orphanges today. How many children who were created to be freedom fighters are being held in bondage of child slavery. My heart breaks as I wonder how many talents are being smothered by the cold and vulnerability of the streets tonight.

Orphaned by bereavement or death, it is a lonely, broken, and vulnerable place to be. But we must remember that it is in brokeness that Christ makes whole. It is in weakness that Christ is strength. It is in the lonliness that Christ is Love.

Each of these precious ones were created with unique talents and gifts that no one else can give the world.

So, I ask, how are you being the hands and feet of Christ to the 143 million orphans in the world today?

Here are just a few ways you can support these children in reaching their full potential:

Adopt
Become a foster parent
Advocate for an orphan
Become a Prayer Warrior
Sponsor an orphan through Compassion International
Give these girls in India a Home for the Holidays
And, as always, you can share Bethany's link to help me find her family, or make a donation towards the cost of her adoption.

Have any more ideas? Please share.
Oh, and happy National Adoption Day!

“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him."
-Derek Loux

 

Why Diamonds are NOT This Girl's Best Friend

Diamonds.

They are rocks.

Rocks that men use to swoon their women.

Rocks that women use to flaunt their wealth, or their man's wealth.

Diamonds hypnotize the masses and delude the hoards into believing they add some kind of value or meaning to their life, therefore convincing them to pay ridiculous prices for appearances.

But the biggest price, the real price, is paid by the innocent. The innocent whose only crime is being born in a place where diamonds are found. The innocent who are forced to work in the diamond fields under horribly violent conditions, for no other pay than being allowed to live.

And sometimes they are not even given that.

Diamonds have fueled injustice throughout the world from the funding of corrupt causes, to exploiting the weak, to in itself creating conflicts. In 2000 there was a great awakening to the human rights issues surrounding diamonds, and as a result the Kimberley Process was created and in 2003 began regulating diamond production and trade.

In the last eight years the Kimberley Process has done much to prevent human rights violations due to the diamond trade, but the process has in no way vanquished the problem. Smuggling is still a problem, as well injustice slipping through the cracks. And in the end, the Kimberley Process has little control over how the  funds a country recieves from its diamonds are distributed.

Yesterday another leak in the system was revealed, as the Marange Fields in Zimbabwe recieved approval through the Kimberley Process for their diamonds to be exported and sold in major markets throughout the world.

Zimbabwe estimates 2 billion dollars in revenue from these diamond fields, which will surely create even greater disparity between the abundant wealth of Mugabe and his loyalists and the majority~ a severely impoverished population.

In addition to this, approval of diamonds mined in the Marange Fields for international trade is a scandal in itself. Reports say that the approval of Zimbabwe diamonds was a "compromise" to end a deadlocked vote. The US "compromised" by abstaining their vote. Morally they (we) knew that the reports made by several human rights groups condemning the brutality and violence used in the mining of these fields were true. So in good conscience we couldn't vote for the approval, so we compromised our opportunity to stand up for the powerless and chose silence instead.

But what it really comes down to is that we have compromised human rights to make women around the world look pretty.

We have compromised integrity to fill the wallets of the greedy.

And we have compromised the lives of many ...for mere rocks.  

Diamonds are only as valuable as we make them my friends. So ask yourself, is that rock worth someone's life?

Oh, The Sweetness

Remember my angel girl Bethany? Well, I clicked over today to check up on her profile, and there was this beautiful new picture of her:

She is the sweetest.

 Don't you just want to hug her? Can't you hear the way she laughs?

If you haven't already,  help this beautiful girl find her family by grabbing her button for your blog or website, and sharing her profile on Facebook or Twitter using this url: http://reecesrainbow.org/12312/bethany1606.

Her forever family is out there.

Could it be someone you know?

Could it be you?

 

<br /> <a border="0" href="http://reecesrainbow.org/bethany1606" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x376/shebecomes/Bethany2.jpg"/></a><br />

I am linking up with Forget Me Not Friday. I encourage you to check out Flight Platform Living, where Jane is hosting an awesome giveaway to raise money to go towards her sweet Francine's adoption. I am crossing my fingers and hoping I win a piece of her beautiful artwork!





God Bless,