Do His Promises Still Stand?

I watched Philip roll his backpack across the parking lot, after I dropped him off at the McCallie School. By the time I curved around the parking lot, I could see him carrying his backpack up the flight of stairs to get out of the parking lot and up to the buildings for his first class. I knew that he would have to climb a few more flights of stairs in the building to get to his classroom, and he would do that throughout the day in various buildings on campus. I remember that first day of high school in August 2015 as if it was yesterday. My prayer that day was for Philip’s spine and diagnosis of scoliosis.

“God, I’m just asking for this one thing.  He has to spend four years on this campus, then college.  He can’t just roll a backpack everywhere.  He needs a spine that is straight and strong, a body that is fit so that he can carry things and walk without hindrance.  Help him, heal him today.”

The days, months and years have passed and now he’s in his senior year at the school, and still with the same struggle.  I mean, what have I missed?  What’s wrong with my prayer?  God, do you hear me?

And in this season, I know and I put my trust in God’s Word, because frankly, there’s no other place that will hold me.  Yet, I’m still waiting.  And I don’t understand.  Does His promise still stand?  I teach my kids to study, to meditate and memorize the Word, but I’m still waiting for a Promise to be fulfilled.  Everything I see makes me think that I’m circling the drain and that it will all end, but Does His Promise Still Stand?  

Aaaagh, it’s so easy to say these words, but when everything around you and everything you experience with your senses tells you a hard and difficult story, I pray that you and me will cling to the One whose Words will never fail.  He cannot fail in His Word.  Isaiah 55 tells us that His Word is like the rain that comes down from the heavens and does not return to the heavens, but waters the earth, makes it bring forth, bud, give nourishment.  His WORD is just like that!!  It will accomplish what it is called to accomplish, and not simply return void back to the Father.  His Promise Still Stands.  

And as for Philip, I know the Promises spoken over him will come to pass.  I can understand what I see in the physical, but what I see in the spiritual, and what I know from His Word, that the things that are impossible for man, is possible with My God– this is what I hold to, and renew my mind with daily.

A friend had sent this link to me weeks ago about the story behind the song “Do It Again.” Watch and enjoy! Remember His Promise Still Stands!

With love and prayers,

Susan

Happy 10th birthday, Love Without Reason

i want to give you a quick look back and share a look ahead to the next 10 years!

Looking Back

The vision of LWR is to Love, Transform, and Reintegrate the vulnerable and the victims of human trafficking. During our early years, we realized that children with untreated cleft lip/palate were at risk for being sold into human trafficking networks such as child labor, child beggary, sex trade, and organ harvesting.

To attain our mission of providing cost-free, high quality craniofacial surgeries to children and adults in developing countries, we began work in South India. Our team traveled into the rural areas of India to find the “hidden” children born with clefts, and offer them surgeries. The super-specialty hospitals such as People Tree Hospital, HCG Group of Hospitals, Rainbow Hospital, Aster CMI partnered with us to impact these young lives. Our success in India enabled us to broaden our horizons into Zimbabwe, Africa. In June 2017, LWR completed 58 surgeries in six days, changing the faces of 58 individuals!!

With Project Butterfly, LWR pursues the victims of human trafficking in Mumbai. The red-light district in the suburbs of Mumbai has more than a thousand sex slaves. The Love Without Reason Center is a place of refuge for these women and their children. Over the past two years, the center has helped scores of women learn new skills and helped liberate some women. The work continues in dangerous environments filled with oppression and darkness. However, the message of Love Without Reason will be shared to these women, who once believed there was no hope for them.

Looking Ahead

As we look to the next ten years, the doors to India and the nations within Africa are opening for LWR.  We are called to:

• Penetrate the darkest interiors of Africa and India with hope, health, awareness and education
• Reach vulnerable children born with facial birth defects, and provide life-altering surgery
• Break the shackles of slavery and trafficking
• Plan out international disaster relief response

Friends, as 2017 comes to an end, we want to offer you the opportunity to invest into good ground. We encourage you to sow into this work that sets captives free, liberates the oppressed, and shares good news with the poor!! Thank you for believing in this vision!

Now, as far as gifts for Love Without Reason, how about rebranding and a stunning website. Check out Love Without Reason’s new website at www.lovewithoutreason.org and let us know what you think. 

Our thanks to myheartcreative, led by the amazing team of Vinod and Amy Samuel and Kelcy Thompson for their creativity, hard work and patience (with the Mathews family). There is no better way to inaugurate the 10th anniversary year!  We are so thankful for this team and their dedication to serve. For more information on their work, please visit www.myheartcreative.com. And tell them that Love Without Reason sent you! Feel free to comment with your prayers and wishes for LWR! 

Kenya on our heart

Santhosh and I were blessed to attend this year’s Global Missions Health Conference in Kentucky. While there we connected with other organizations, relief agencies, ministries working to expand the Kingdom by their service. We met people from Kenya and listened to their stories. We have always been told that the northern region of Kenya has little to no health care services at all. We could not imagine what was happening to the children born there with craniofacial differences. What has become of their lives?

One young woman, Michelle, from Hope Matters International shared her story. As a nurse practitioner, when she first arrived in Kenya, she was placed in the labor and delivery room to assist the physicians and midwives. Because of the lack of resources and finances, the clinics were ill-equipped to deal at full force with a new life entering the world. For those newborns who were not breathing on their own, and who remained blue due to lack of oxygen, Michelle was instructed to turn from the baby and focus her strength on saving the mother. The baby would not survive, and there was no incubator or respirator to help in any case.

Our hearts were broken to hear this. I remember immediately after Philip’s delivery, he was suctioned and his breathing reflex kicked in. If a baby like him was born in Kenya, he would drown in his own secretions.

Friends, we cannot pretend ignorance on the need any longer. How many children like Philip are being born every year in Kenya, and never open their eyes to the light? Per the Healthy Newborn Network, 39% of Kenyan newborns die of congenital abnormalities and pre term complications.

Santhosh was able to visit Nairobi, Kenya in November to meet leaders and see the hospitals. God willing in 2018, LWR will return and join the efforts to bring the newborn mortality rate down in Kenya. You may not be able to come to Kenya yourself, but you can send LWR. Partner with us!

We must continue the work, Until The World Is Cleft-Free!

My “FORCED” restful Birthday Week!

If you have seen any Love Without Reason social media in October, you would know that on October 21, there was a fundraiser for LWR called the SHINE fashion show! For an event of any magnitude to be successful, you need a mass of volunteers, planners, organizers, workers, idea-producers and etc!! This event was no exception…

The challenge was coordinating a mission trip to Zimbabwe, planning a surgery for Philip in India in July, and returning to school and all extracurricular activities while preparing for an October event. By the time October 21 midnight arrived, I was exhausted!! But then I was also frightened. I was the last person to handle both Santhosh and my phones at the event. And I believed I had packed them in a box, and sent it with one of our friends to their home. Unfortunately, the phones were nowhere to be found!

Sunday and Monday were a little frantic in trying to find our phones. And at the same time, there was peace. No calls to answer. No emails to respond to. No complaints to acknowledge (at the moment). Plus Santhosh’s reassurance to me that the phones would be found at the ChooChoo itself. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, peace.

The amazing staff at the venue for SHINE, a historic hotel called the Chattanooga ChooChoo, found the bag that had our phones in it, and then began the calls. Monday evening we also received entrance in the RUACH 2017 conference at Redemption to the Nations Church. One of our close friends from NYC covered our entry tickets to the conference and demanded that we attend the events Monday to Wednesday evening. Speakers came from around the country, just to pour into the attendants. The worship, music, prayers and Word was like a cool drink of water after a marathon in the hot sun!

Friday we were finally able to take advantage of the “Married and Still Loving it” prize package that we won in February 2016. The prize was a weekend getaway to the Whitestone Country Inn in Kingston, Tennessee! As we drove the scenic highway and cut through the colorful mountains, it truly seemed like the Lord was wrapping His arms around us. “Come apart, and rest for awhile,” He once said to His disciples.

Well, we did just that. We drove through the retreat area, walked, prayed, shared and enjoyed our time together. It has been quite awhile since we took time for ourselves, without a coordinating mission trip, or event related to the ministry. God knew we needed to be at a place that was known as a “sanctuary for the soul.” It was as if the chapped skin of our souls received balm there at the Whitestone Inn. The service, the staff, the smiles all brought rest to our wearied bodies.

As I look back on that week, I can’t help but think how the Lord orchestrated this time. People on my planning team told me that God Himself hid our phones from our eyes for those 2 days. God Himself sent us to a conference for refreshing. God Himself arranged a weekend getaway to renew ourselves for the journey ahead.

Nothing is too small for God. Even before we think our thoughts, Psalms 139 says He knows my thoughts. My physical needs are on His radar. Though it seems so insignificant a request, for my God, he arranges everything beautifully in His perfect time.

And now, ONWARD for the journey ahead! 🙂

Susan

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