The next step in the journey.

Daily I feel God challenging and stretching us.  Sometimes it feels exciting, sometimes – terrifying, but all the time I know that He is refining and preparing us for the next part of this journey.  You see as I read His word and spend time with Him in prayer I am more convinced than ever that this life is so much more about His glory and so much less about our agenda.  We want to know Him, to hear His voice and to join Him in what He is doing so all may know and experience the good news.

Our passions, priorities and desires have so changed over the past 18 months as we have seen God moving in our lives and are amazed at how that is rippling through our family.  I have seen firsthand the desperately poor, lonely and needy.  I have held children in my arms that were nothing more than a skeleton covered with skin.  I have seen a widow struggling to know how to feed the many mouths crying out because they are literally starving to death.  I have watched naked children playing with trash because they have nothing to resemble what we know as a toy.  And I have put my arms around dirty, filthy, disease ridden orphans who have just been swept off the street because they have no home, no food and no one to care for or love them. 

My heart aches and tears fill my eyes as I even sit here writing this now.  Because you see, once we have seen and felt and touched and loved even one of these children… we CANNOT forget or ignore their plight.  There is no going back to ‘life as usual.’  God LOVES them – each one of them, and He commands us to “look after widows and orphans in their distress.”  God’s heart breaks for the orphan child and He is calling each of us to be His hands and feet to a dying and lost world. 

My agenda is becoming His.  It is as if I have put on a pair of glasses that I cannot nor want take off.  What used to matter so much, what used to consume … is fading.  God is challenging us… stretching us in every direction.  He is calling us to sacrifice and serve the least of these.  He is calling our family to once again lay down our time, energy, resources and safety at His feet … to show His love, and give HOPE to the hopeless.

This summer we will be working with the same Christian non-profit organization, Visiting Orphans that Bret, Liz and I served with last year.  Our family (all five of us) will be joined by 22 others in July as Bret and I lead a team to Nakuru, Kenya to serve at several orphanages.  Our mission will be to invest our time and earthly treasures and BUILD HOPE in those we encounter there.  During our time in Kenya we will be based at an orphanage named FIWAGOH – a mission, home and school to over 180+ amazing kids.  We will have the privilege of living in the orphanage for 12 days - cooking, cleaning, singing, studying God’s word, going to school, playing, loving and completing several projects … right alongside of these children who have become ‘family’.

At FIWAGOH we will be constructing a playground for the children to enjoy some much needed exercise.  We will also be partnering with two smaller, nearby orphanages.   Haven of Hope is home to over 30 infant – 6 year olds.  We will be brightening up their nursery with fresh paint and wall murals.  We also have the opportunity of taking shifts holding, bathing, playing and rocking little ones so that Nelly (their mama) can get some much needed rest!  In addition, we will be providing and installing a new water holding-tank at VISOI Children’s Home located in a village where there is no running water. 

 God has brought together this team from all across the country with different skills and abilities, yet one unified purpose - to bring LOVE and HOPE to these amazing children.  Please join us in what God is calling each of us to do by supporting our team in one or more of the following ways:

                                                                                                                                                                                         

PRAYER – this is our first and foremost need as we go.  We see God at work comforting and drawing these children to Him.  Pray that above all they will come to know the hope that defies explanation . . . that despite their present circumstances they can know and be adopted by a heavenly father.  Pray for us as we step out in faith … that we will grow in our knowledge of Him as He works through us for His glory.  We humbly ask that you join us in prayer as we focus on trusting Him and obeying what He is calling us to do.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT – for our family and for the projects the team will complete while in Kenya.

In order for Liz, Ethan and Emma to join us we need to raise support to cover the cost of their travel.  As trip leaders the costs for Bret and I are covered by Visiting Orphans, but as the Lord continues to draw our family towards greater involvement in this work we believe the next step is for our children to join us and see firsthand the calling He has for our family.  We need to raise approximately $8000 for the kids to join us. 

DONATIONS – can either be made specifically toward our kids or you can designate your gift to the projects the team will be completing.

• Playground at FIWAGOH – all building material, delivery and additional labor – approx. $8,000-$10,000
• Painting Project at Haven of Hope – all supplies and equipment – approx. $500
• Water holding tank at VISOI Children’s Home – approx. $500

ALL donations through Visiting Orphans are tax-deductible and can be made one of the following ways:

You can donate by CHECK made out to: Visiting Orphans 449 Metroplex Dr., Nashville, TN  37211.  Please make a note in the MEMO line designating where you would like the funds used: 

Diana Perkey – family support                  and/or                   July - Kenya Projects

You can also donate ON-LINE at:

•         visitingorphans.org
•          FUND CATEGORY choose our trip “Kenya  - July 2012”
•          SPECIFIC TEAM MEMBER OR MINISTRY enter one of the following:

Diana Perkey – family support                  and/or                   July - Kenya Projects

‎"Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows what we know, and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

Playing 'Nurse' this week got me thinking....

As I sit for a minute to write this quick post in the middle of my crazy day my heart is breaking.

We are now on day #5 of recovery from tonsil and adenoid removal for Emma (our 9 year old).  I am tired and weary to say the least.  I always thought, "tonsils out, lots of Popsicles and ice cream and you are good to go."  Not so!

I had NO idea the amount of recovery involved.  I guess if I had every really taken the time to think the surgery through, I might have had a different perspective.  Of course there is major healing and pain involved with literally cutting parts out of your body!  The pain and fear that Emma has experienced the last 6 days has been at times - overwhelming.  As a mom the LAST thing on the earth that you want to experience is your child in pain, fear or any type of serious discomfort.  And so I set my alarm and get up every 3 hours around the clock to prepare ice chips and multiple medications, smoothies, jello, pudding, and really anything that I can possibly get my daughter to swallow.  I check her throat, her temperature, her pain and her hydration level constantly - because I want to do everything I can to insure that she heals quickly enduring the least amount of pain.  I do all of that, weary to the bone... because I LOVE HER!

And when my thoughts turn to pity myself, think of how incredibly tired I am, and how frustrating it can be to deal with her incredible mood swings...

I am reminded that.....

"More than 26, 500 children died yesterday of preventable causes related to their poverty, and it will happen again today and tomorrow and the day after that.  Almost 10 million children will be dead in the course of a year." - R Stearns

Why is it that we barely even blink when we hear those statistics?  As Americans we have so removed ourselves from the realities of what is happening around the world, that we hardly feel anything for those who suffer.  "Perhaps one reason is that these kids who are dying are not our kids; they're somebody else's." - R. Stearns

Think about the way we react... as I am this week... when our own children are hurt, in pain or suffer in any way.  "You see our problem is that the plight of suffering children in a far-off land simply hasn't gotten personal enough for us.  WE may hear about them with sorrow, but we haven't really been able to look at them as if they were our own children.  If we could, then we would surely grieve more deeply in our spirits.  We would weep for their parents, and we would respond with far greater urgency." R. Stearns

For me, my heart breaks... because I remember what it felt like to take little 4 year old, Liticia, into a very crude clinic in Uganda and hold her screaming body as they tried to insert an IV into her tiny arm to give her some medication for her fever and cough.  I remember the feeling of holding a limp 6 year old, Vivian, burning up with fever from Malaria as I put her to bed one night.  I have helped a sweet 10 year old boy, Joseph, count out his pile of pills he takes each morning to control his HIV - praying he doesn't contract a simple cold that his body may not be able to fight off.  These children have faces and names and feel like they are mine... just like my own 3 children here at home.

They don't have a mother to set her alarm and get up every 3 hours around the clock to give them their meds. They don't have someone making sure they get plenty of water -- safe, clean water to keep them hydrated.  Many of these children have NO ONE and very little medicine or food to help them survive.

It makes me take a deep breath and thank the Lord that I have the PRIVILEGE to LOVE on my little girl and watch her around the clock, but it also makes me want to stand up and DO SOMETHING about those who are suffering and in need!  We CANNOT sit by and hear those statistics and think they mean nothing to us.  God commands each of us to "defend the cause of the fatherless and the widow."  Duet. 10:18

What is God calling YOU to do to love on, reach out to and support those who are suffering all over the world?  We CANNOT turn our backs because they are "not our own".  They are HIS... and we have the PRIVILEGE of being HIS hands and feet.

If you need ideas of ways you can help... message me.  dianaperkey@gmail.com

He promises... HIS PEACE

Our youngest, Emma had the 'pleasure' of making a visit to our Children's Hospital yesterday to have her tonsils an adenoids removed.  We have been preparing for this wonderful event for several weeks.  As the day approached her anticipation turned to worry, fear and tears!  As I laid in her bed with her Wednesday night we were reading a story about a family where the son was fearful of his father contracting a deadly disease and they were reminded to give their fear to the Lord.  Asking Him to be in control of the situation and trusting Him to take care of the father.  We finished our reading for the evening and put the book away.

I looked at Emma as tears began to fall and asked her what was wrong.  She said, "I am scared something will go wrong tomorrow during the surgery."  It was so neat to be able to immediately refer back to the story we had just read.  I asked her, "Emma what did the boy in the story do when he was scared and fearful?"  "He prayed and asked God to take care of it," she said.  So right there we stopped and prayed that God would take care of her and that He would give her a PEACE that was beyond all understanding, so that when she felt it... she would KNOW it was from HIM.

I woke up early yesterday morning with a song immediately running through my mind, "Peace be still, peace be still, please be still... and know that I am God."  A word from the Lord to start my day.

As we were waiting in her room at the hospital for the procedure to take place, Emma was watching a movie.  All of a sudden she sat up in her bed looked right at me and said, "I'm not scared anymore mom", then laid right back down.  I asked her, "Emma do you know why?"  She responded with a little smile, "because God has given me PEACE."

How awesome to see your 9 year old - GET IT!  How awesome to call on the power of an almighty God who moves mountains and parts the seas ... and yet cares about the fear and worry of a 9 year old.  God made Himself KNOWN to Emma in that hospital room.  She honestly was fine... no tears or anxiety even as they rolled her out of the room to surgery.

There was much humor throughout the day as she started to come out of her anesthesia.  She has been VERY emotional to say the least.  On the way home, she told me she felt "trapped in her body" because she isn't allowed to blow her nose or cough for some time.  She was met by special gifts when she arrived home and when I returned from picking up her meds and brought her a balloon and small Valentine snow-globe, she looked at it and started sobbing!!  Oh my,  I asked her what was wrong and between sobs she said, "is this all for me, thank you mom... I feel SO loved!"  Her aunt sent her a video message e-mail and she broke down again.  Her class at school sent home cards they had made, which brought a HUGE smile to her face!!

We are thankful....the procedure went well with no complications.  All of her nurses and doctors were wonderful.  Emma responded very well and had a good day.  The evening even went smoothly with very little pain, but I knew that night was coming and the full affects of the IV meds would wear off and we might be in for some rough waters.  Emma ended up on a make-shift bed on my floor.... snoring so loud it sounded like a freight train going through my room!  At 4:00am - it came to a screeching halt!  Her throat was dry and killing her...  I started in with liquids, ice chips and a popsicle.  Anything to get something cold in there so I could get her to swallow her pain medicine.  When I returned to the room from the kitchen and sat down beside her as she was whimpering... I quietly said, "why don't we ask Jesus to help take the pain away?"  With big tears in her eyes, she looked up and said, "mom, I just did that."  Again, I was humbled and thankful.  That my little girl, in the middle of her pain, knew exactly WHERE to go for help!

This journey of recovery is just beginning.  We have already had a rough morning.  As I type this post, she is finally asleep on the couch after some very good meds taking effect.  I am thankful beyond words for the ways God has made himself known over the past 24 hours for my little girl.  Friends and family have called, texted, e-mailed and stopped by.  Emma has been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern, and I am overwhelmed and privileged to be able to watch as God has seen fit to extend His love, grace, protection and PEACE to this family in very tangible ways... especially to one little 9 year old girl!