The Jamaica team has begun our trip. We are headed for Top Hill, St. Elizabeth, on the southern coast of Jamaica. The prep work has begun and all of the materials are there waiting for us. Our flight left from Chicago, O’hare airport at 1:00 PM Tuesday, and our Montego Bay arrival time will be at about 8:30 eastern time, although our flight out of Miami was delayed. We were going to attempt to take the 2 1/2 hour from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth, arriving sometime around midnight–but we’ll see how it goes!

Please pray for our entire team as we travel to Jamaica as well as form and pour a concrete roof for Violet, a widow who attends the Missionary Outreach church in Top Hill. We want to be an encouragement to Violet, her family and the congregation under the leadership of Pastor Bill Perkins. We are anticipating good work weather there on the island. I have been keeping a close look at the possibility of rain on the island which would bring our work to a standstill.

We will be working the old-fashioned way: Mixing concrete by hand, filling 5-gallon buckets with concrete, and pulling the buckets on the roof…of course, by hand. This will be some intense physical labor. Please keep Nancy & Bill, Jason, Mike, Terrell, and myself in your prayers over the next 10 days.

Please also pray for continued financial support for this project. Please also consider whether God might be enabling you to give toward something like this project, if not now then maybe in the future.

God is a merciful and gracious God, and we are grateful for this opportunity to serve Him in this way! May the fame of His name be spread abroad, especially in the country of Jamaica this week.

Dear all,

I want to give some information concerning the Global Grace trip to Jamaica.

We will be leaving Tuesday, February 19 and returning Thursday, February 28. Many have expressed an interest in going, and it’s not too late to help.

Please consider if the Lord would have you travel with us or perhaps support one of the team members financially. The total cost for the mission trip will be $500 for adults and $300 for any young adults who might want to go. The money would be directed to Global Grace, and then Global Grace would cover the following expenses:
1) Airfare
2) Meals on the island
3) Transportation to and from Montego Bay to St. Elizabeth
4) Lodging

This cost does not cover meals on the way down or if we “eat out” while on the island. Also, you may want to bring some “fun money” if we get a chance to do a little sight-seeing or shopping.

Pastor and I brought back photos and an explanation of what we would like to do for a Christian widow named Violet. She is part of Pastor Perkin’s church, in Top Hill, St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Violet’s home was severely damaged in Hurricane Dean. Our goal is to re-roof her house and build out an inside bathroom facility. Listed below is some of the work that we will be doing:
1) Mixing cement (with a shovel)
2) Carrying cement
3) Forming cement
4) Fixing meals
5) Lots of clean-up

Please pray for me as I finalize the trip details. Please call (815.209.8367) or email me (chris@wordcentered.org) if you are interested in going, or in helping someone else to go. Four people have been able to commit, so far, and we are excited about this project for both Violet and Pastor Perkins’ benefit.

Serving Him,

Chris

Alexey Kharlamov (otherwise known as “Lyosha”) is a Russian orphan who came to the United States through the Hope Project in order to receive medical help, familial care, and spiritual teaching. Now there’s a family in Illinois waiting to adopt Lyosha, and Hannah’s Heart would like to help.

Read more about Lyosha’s hope:
http://globalgracemissions.org/blog/lyoshastay.html

We are currently attempting to finish our Global Grace mobile counseling center.  We had an RV donated to us many months ago, and we are currently roofing, painting, and upgrading it so that we can use it for the next trip.  This has been an ongoing project that we really need to finish.  We would like to be better prepared as we potentially face an upcoming disaster, wherever that may be.  Please pray for us as we finish up this project.

 In light of the tornadoes that occured in Lady Lake, FL as well as many other cities, I have contacted four different emergency disaster hotlines to see how Global Grace could be involved to help assist in the efforts of clean-up.  I contacted the state of Florida’s disaster hotline as well as the hotlines of two of the counties that experienced the worst of the storms.  Both directed me to the United Way which was coordinating all of the efforts. 

 I did have a great conversation with one of the directors (who, by the way, thanked me for calling instead of just “showing up on her front porch” as many others did and were then turned away) of the United Way.  She said that all was under control, and that they had all of the items and help that they needed.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to work on some behind the scenes efforts.

 Again, thank you for your support of the Bixby’s through your generous donations to Hannah’s Heart and the Corban Fund.  Corban was experiencing some complications and was rushed to the hospital last week with a pretty severe infection.  He was admitted to the hospital for 4 days and was treated with antibiotics.  Praise the Lord that he is back home and doing well!     

Once again, we praise the Lord for the opportunity to have a part in the adoption of a child into a God-centered home. The Bixbys made a request to God that He would once again shower His grace upon them by blessing them with another child. God certainly showed Himself faithful by granting this request.

Morning Star Baptist Church began a prayer chain specifically for the Bixbys beginning on Monday at 4:00 am and continued to pray throughout the day until midnight Tuesday morning. Again, we began praying as a church on Tuesday at 5:00 am and continued to pray every hour until midnight Tuesday night. God showed Himself faithful by answering our prayers!

On Wednesday night we then had a prayer and praise service where we sang and read many Psalms praising God for His faithfulness to us as a church and for His grace that He bestowed upon the Bixbys! What a great time we had!

Please continue to pray for the Bixbys as they travel back to Rockford from Greenville, SC.

Please consider sending a gift to Hannah’s Heart in order that we might help the Bixbys with costs accrued throughout the past month and a half. Check out “The Corban Project” website at www.globalgracemissions.org/blog/corban.html to make a donation, either via PayPal or by sending a check in the mail.

Praise the Lord for His incredible grace!

Corban was born yesterday (9 January), and Bob and Jennie and Patience were able to take him with them when they left the hospital today. The Lord’s providential timing and miraculous intervention were so evident. Thank you for praying for them.

Hannah’s Heart has seen a little over $2,600 come in toward alleviating the estimated costs ($8-10,000) of the Bixbys’ adoption. We praise God for the great things He has done these weeks to bring Corban into this family.

Learn more about how to help: THE CORBAN PROJECT

Read the Bixbys’ story in detail on their YouBelong journal:
REQUESTED OF GOD [email to request password]

This past May 2006, Shannon and Tricia Brown went to China to bring home a baby girl: Grace Lu Brown. Grace was to be their fifth child, but their first adopted child. The Browns are very normal, human beings who happen to have an extraordinary story to tell - a story almost inseparably intertwined with the story of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We had one name to choose from, and that was GRACE…. Adoption has given us, given my family…a fuller understanding of God’s grace to us in our family, and what He has done on our behalf - how He must feel when a child is rescued into His family, when He rescues somebody. And how He must feel to be able to shower them with love and make them part of His family.”

To gain a better understanding of adoption as a rescue ministry and something close to the heart of God, take the time to listen to this brief testimony of the Browns’ experience adopting Grace:

a testimony about Gospel-centered adoption
(MP3 testimony from Shannon Brown, 7 January 2007)

Journey to Grace (http://www.youbelong.net/thebrowns)
Browns’ online adoption journal
_________________________________________

Beth Murschell is home now in Florida with the Murschells’ new family member: Chloe Jane Yoon Jin Murschell

Read more about the Murschell family and Chloe Jane here:
http://juxtaposition.wordpress.com
http://www.murschell.com

Also, please continue to pray earnestly about the Bixbys’ adoption situation, especially over the next several days.
Bob’s weblog
Bixbys’ YouBelong journal (password required)
The Corban Project

What a great opportunity Global Grace is having just this week to help someone in need! We received an email tip of a local need in the Rockton, IL area. Our very own Ed Foster and his son Joel are laying laminate flooring for a widow who recentlyl lost her husband. We are helping by meeting some renovation needs that her house has needed for some time. We will be continuing the work for the next two days.

We know that the Scriptures clearly teach according to James 1:27 that, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” (NASB) We are attempting to “flesh out” our love for our Lord by loving our neighbor and meeting a need that is evident.

Please pray for our efforts. We are certain that this widow and her sons do not know Christ as Savior. Again, what an opportunity for us to show the love of Christ.

For those of you who have been asking about the Murschells’ little girl, Chloe Jane, for whose adoption referral fees Global Grace / Hannah’s Heart helped to raise financial support, here is an important update: Beth Murschell is on her way right now to get Chloe Jane and bring her home! The Murschells couldn’t afford to take the whole family to Korea (although they’re already seeing some possible reasons God in His providence did not permit that - for one thing, Andrew got hit with the Christmas flu that’s been going around). So Mick and Chloe’s siblings-to-be have gone to South Carolina to celebrate Christmas, and Beth boarded a plane on Christmas day. She is en route to Korea (by way of an unexpectedly long delay in Japan). You can keep up with the Murschells’ latest news at either of the following websites:
http://juxtaposition.wordpress.com
http://www.murschell.com

And Bob and Jennie Bixby left for South Carolina a couple of weeks ago to attend Bob’s sister’s wedding and to await the arrival of little Samuel Corban. After a couple of false alarms, they are just praying Corban will arrive soon. Bob flew back to Rockford for Morning Star’s Christmas Eve services and is now back with Jennie and Patience in South Carolina, awaiting Corban’s imminent arrival and enjoying the company of their family members. Please pray for the Lord to continue to work out the details for Corban’s adoption, and pray that the Lord would use this time to prepare and bless the Bixby family. You can keep up with their baby updates at either of the following websites:
http://www.youbelong.net/requested (password must be requested)
http://weblog.wordcentered.org
http://rbixbyfam.blogspot.com