5 million.... a really big number for a really BIG God!

5 million seems like a lot, a really big number, a number I wouldn't want to count to.  A number I can't imagine, I've never seen 5 million dollars, what does 5 million grains of sand look like or 5 million leaves blowing in the wind?  or 5 million children, 5 million orphans in one country, 5 million orphans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, many of them victims of a 10 year long civil war. To put that in perspective, we live in a state (Wyoming) with a population of about a half a million.  The Denver metro area has a population of about 3 million.  Miami has a population of 5.6 million.  In the United States there are over 400,000 kids in the foster system.  If I think about these stats for too long, I can become depressed and overwhelmed and then I'm reminded that there is a father to the fatherless that already knows all of this.

Father to the fatherless, defender of the widows- this is God, whose dwelling is holy.  God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy 

(Ps 68:5-6, NLT)

He knows the magnitude of the crisis.  He loves these precious little ones, not only does He know ALL 5 million orphans in the Congo but He knows the number of hairs on each of their little heads.  That is a special kind of knowing.

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.  So don't be afraid; 

you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows 

(Matthew 10:31, NLT)

He longs to see them loved and ultimately to know him.  

For The Lord your God is the God of gods and The Lord of lords.  

He is the great God, the mighty and awesome God, 

who shows no partiality and cannot be bribed.  

He ensures that orphans and widows receive justice.  

He shows love to the foreigners living among you and gives them food and clothing 

(Deuteronomy 10:18-19, NLT)

He knows that my heart is heavy with a longing for these little ones to experience a family.  

If you claim to be religious but don't control your tongues, you are fooling yourself, 

and your religion is worthless.  

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means 

caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.  

(James 1:26-27, NLT)

He knows that my house will not hold 5 million children, but it can hold 2.  Our focus can not be on the 5 million, it must be on the 2, the 2 that we are bringing home.  The 2 little boy faces with sad eyes and sweet smiles, the 2 little boys who don't know their daddy and whose mommy has left this earth.  Those are the 2 we are focused on.  These 2 will one day call us daddy and mommy.  They will rely on us to feed them and nurture them and to walk through their grief with them.

We still need your help.  In the next few weeks, we will be needing to make a payment of $13,100.  We need about $10,000 of that still.  You can help by being one of the 60 to give $500.  You can do this by donating through PayPal, Continuous Worship or by personal check.  You can also use the amazon link to make purchases on Amazon.  We get about 4-5% of what you purchase.  It doesn't seem like a lot but it adds up.

You can also purchase coffee and apparel   through Just Love Coffee our storefront url is  https://justlovecoffee.com/Braddy.  Using this link you will end up in the Braddy Adoption storefront and a portion of your purchase will be donated towards our adoption.  I can't tell you how much we appreciate your contributions towards this adoption.  Just last week we were mailing in some paperwork and faced with the enormity of this task.  But it was this same day that God laid it on the hearts of so many of you to donate $500 or more.