Friday, June 28, 2013

Operation: Add a Kuhn

Rachel just announced publicly on Facebook that we are adopting and have just finished an approved home-study and are now heading into the waiting stage to be matched. With that info completely public now, here is what I wrote about the process when we were about 5 weeks into actively pursuing adoption, on March 14, 2013.

How did we get here? How did we decide that our fairly comfortable life with 3 boys in a nice house needed to have a baby in it? How did that happen?

It’s quite simple. And quite complex. The simple answer is that God called us to this. The complex answer includes thoughts and emotions, it involves obedience and a couple babies, it involves a sermon and some role models and story sharing. The complex answer is, well, complex.

Last summer Rachel called me from Africa, in tears she told me that God had asked her (us) to say, “Yes.” We’ve tried to make a habit of saying yes. Saying yes took us to Kansas City Missouri right out of college. Saying yes brought us back to Ohio almost 7 years later. But this time we didn’t know what saying yes meant. It was scary and hard.

So we said yes in the little things. We took more time to pray together. We became more intentional about seeking God’s will and saying, “Yes,” in the small things. And we waited.

Then Rachel spoke at a church where a grandmother had guardianship of her 2 week-old grandson, and the entire afternoon Jaquan was either in my arms or Rachel’s. On the way home we looked at each other and said something like, “Wow. We could have just taken that boy home for good. He probably needs it, and we could do that.”

Christmas came around. This season has caused me increasing discomfort in recent years, as I see all the stuff we have, all the stuff that isn’t really used. I hear the boys say, “I want one of those!” and I cringe at the materialistic sound of it. I hear myself say, “Man I need some new running shoes, and lights to run with, and a new phone would be awesome,” and I cringe.

Then Rachel brought up the idea of really giving at Christmas. We took a large portion of what we usually spend on the boys, and we asked them to help us spend it on some kids the school social worker told us would not be getting much of a Christmas. We prayed for the kids and we dreamed of what we could give them. We shopped and purchased and wrapped. Giving at Christmas that year was amazing. It moved giving to the forefront of our minds.

In January our church had a Sanctity of Life service. Much of the service was about why abortion is wrong, and I admit, I checked out a little bit, feeling there wasn't much in the sermon for me act on. Then the Pastor challenged us to make a difference.

“Don’t be obnoxious and picket, be forgiving and compassionate.” 
Ok, no problem- I think.

"Pray for and support the local pregnancy center."
I get those emails. I pray. Money is harder to come by.

"Adopt if you can." 
Whoa! Jaquan immediately came to my mind, and I thought, “We could do that.”

The service continued with the story of Steve and Joy, of their heart wrenching loss of three babies, before their adoption of a little girl. Again I was moved and felt the encouraging thought, “We could do that.”

I was pretty quiet about what I was feeling in my heart. Then in early January, our nephew Parker was born. Unfortunately his big brother, Landon had been through a series of infections and the doctor wanted them separate for a while, so two week-old Parker came to our house for five days. Suddenly we were changing diapers and getting up in the night to fix bottles. Rachel and I looked at each other and said, “We can do this. Again”

A few days after Parker went home, my activator of a wife was checking out adoption agencies online. “We can do that,” had become, “We want to do that,” and “God want us to do that.” As she read testimonials on websites, I repeatedly heard some form of, “Our family just didn't feel complete.” I told Rachel that I didn’t feel like that at all. I don’t feel an empty spot in our family where a baby is supposed to be. I’m not saying that others are not perfectly correct in saying they feel that way. I’m saying I don’t. I just feel God leading us to give, like He did at Christmas. Except now we are to give a family.

Now, every step we take towards giving someone a family feels right, and each leads my heart to having a open spot, a spot for our someday child.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Extreme South America General Assembly Style

Over the last year I, along with an amazing group of talented individuals, have been working diligently on the Extreme exhibit for the 2013 Church of the Nazarene General Assembly event.  Our desire was to show the world what God is doing through Extreme across South America and we succeeded.  Over the week that our exhibit was up, over 3,000 people went through and 1,200 people filled out response cards.  For me this was a dream come true.  Now the work truly begins as we work with those who are called to Go, Give and/or Pray in response to the call that God has placed on their hearts and lives.  My team has a huge job ahead of us. 

























Over and over people came up to me exclaiming that Extreme had the best exhibit in the whole hall.  I would have to agree.  Our replica of a South American city was inviting to everyone who passed by.  They were drawn in by our graffiti wall, our large buildings and they beautiful plaza.  The team was able to connect with people from around the world.  One of the most humbling experiences was to have an African pastor come through the exhibit and with tears in his eyes insist on praying for me and our minisiry.  God is so faithful!
For those of you who were unable to visit us at General Assembly you can go through our booth today!  See me in action :)
http://vimeo.com/69024364
The entire Extreme Team was invited to stand on the stage along side other South American leaders
Before I close I want to give a special shout out of thanks to Ron Wentling (construction lead), Jami Gray (Designer), and Jay O'brien (Graphics Designer) for making this exhibit possible.  Also a HUGE thanks to the Mobilization team for all their hard work!  God is faithful!

Praises:

  1. 3,000+ people were able to experience our ministry
  2. Over 1,200 people responded with a call to Go, Give or Pray for our ministry
  3. One 40/40 Missionary was interviewed and approved during the General Assembly event
  4. Churches and people from around the globe committed to Give to help us build $100,000 worth of Churches in Peru
  5. God is calling his people