Statement of Faith
We believe there is
only one God, eternally existent in three persons – Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. (Genesis 1:1; Matthew 28:19)
We believe in the deity of Christ (John 10:33), His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:35), His sinless life (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26), and His miracles (John 2:11).
We believe in His death, which completely paid the debt of our sin, (I Corinthians 15:3; Ephesians 1:7), His resurrection (I Corinthians 15:4; John 11:25), His ascension to the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19), His personal return in power and glory (Revelation 19:11)
We believe in the absolute necessity of new life by the Holy Spirit for salvation because of the exceeding sinfulness of human nature, and that men are justified on the single ground of faith in the blood of Christ, and that only by God’s grace through faith alone are we saved. (John 3:16-19; Romans 3:23; 5:8-9; Ephesians 2:9-10; Titus 3:5)
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost, they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28-29)
We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. (I Corinthians 12:12-13; Galatians 3:26-28)
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit whose indwelling empowers the Christian to live a Godly life. (John 16:7; Acts 1:8)
I couldn't refute any of those statements. I started thinking more about it. Would I want my children to experience hopelessness or the love of a family if only for a small amount of time? Would I want my children to not know what a fraction of Christ's love is like or feel a small amount of Christ's love outpoured from a Christian family if only for a small amount of time? The more I thought about it the more I realized I was excited about what New Horizons for Children was doing. They were bringing the mission field directly into the home for five weeks during the summer. The hosting family becomes mom and dad, sisters and brothers to an orphan who otherwise might never experience a stable, loving Christian family. A family who will not only supply them with love and care but provide basic needs like clothes and shoes.
Let's be honest for a minute. I am a full-time working mother. I rarely have time to go to the bathroom alone, so how would I leave my family at this point in our lives and spend a week or two on the mission field ministering to orphans across the world? Well, I guess if God called me to serve in that way it would all fall into place but right now I haven't felt lead to leave and serve in that way. But I have a lovely new home, a wonderful husband, a lot of extra love and space in my heart, and so much more that I could give to an orphan.
The next couple of days after this epiphany I kept stalking the website and looking at the kids' pictures. I told Josh all about it and he thought it sounded like a cool program and would definitely consider participating in the future. I agreed that I thought it was something we should prayerfully consider FOR THE FUTURE! : ) We had always wanted to do foster care and have never been opposed to adoption. At the end of April a blog entry was posted on their website, I was keeping up to date at this point in my stalking habits!
The blog entry was titled the Joy of Uncomfortable Love written by Hyacynth Worth. This woman's words unraveled every last string attached to FOR THE FUTURE that I had woven around my heart and mind. Below are a few excerpts from her blog:
"Hosting asks a lot of us.
It asks us to trust in God’s tug on our hearts and in his leading.
It asks us to set aside our fears.
It asks us to rely heavily on God for all kinds of provision — financial, emotional, spiritual and physical."
"We lay down our lives for others in the truest sense when we are willing to risk vulnerability, discomfort, inconvenience and even rejection to love someone.
If God’s been breaking your heart for the orphans who break His, let’s be willing to do three things this summer:
1. Let’s get comfortable with being uncomfortable because Love once was uncomfortable for each of us.
2. Let’s show up and allow God to use our little bit of willingness and watch Him supply us with the rest.
3. Let’s live like heirs of God."
I was at work on my lunch break while reading this. I knew in an instant this wasn't FOR THE FUTURE, it was for NOW! That night I whispered to Josh in bed that I thought God was calling us to do this now. He replied something to the effect of let's do it next summer or later, now isn't the best time with everything else we have going on. And at face value, I completely agreed with him and still do. We just moved, there are still boxes that need unpacking. We have just come off of a long stressful few months with selling and buying a new home. We have three children, one of who doesn't like to sleep, like EVER! We are sleep deprived and busy. It is an awful time to welcome an orphan into our home but yet I felt the strong push that my timing is not His timing. The next day I sent the link to the blog post to Josh. A few hours later I received a text from him that said "I'm all in for this summer! Let's see what next steps are."
CRAZY! This is what this whole thing was. I filled out the initial form and submitted it and received an email from our area coordinator. It was exciting but in the back of my fear filled mind I still knew it was no commitment at this point, it was just an inquiry. A few days after getting the email, I called Linda. She was super nice and I kept thinking according to the website, selections for who you wanted to host was on May 4th and all the money was due May 15th. This isn't going to happen now, we will have to wait until Christmas or next summer to host. No big deal, at least I followed God's prompting. I secretly was relieved. But Linda assured me we could step forward in faith. It wasn't too late.
This brings us to right now, today. I will wholeheartedly admit that fear hits me several times a day and I find myself muttering that we are insane. Then, I pray. I feel calm and reassured that we aren't making a colossal mistake and God will provide the remaining $1800. That's a lot of money and I am a control freak who is so out of control right now it isn't even funny. My first lesson of depending on God and not myself.
We have chosen a beautiful 16 year old girl from Ukraine. For security purposes we will just call her "L". She is breathtakingly gorgeous. I can't wait to wrap her in a big hug. I am scared senseless at the same time. This is going to be hard. This isn't going to be sunshine and roses. Josh and I know we will have to experience a whole new level of parenting. It will challenge us individually, it will challenge our marriage. It will challenge our little girls to learn more about loving unconditionally. It will teach them to share mom and dad a bit more. I hope they will see God move in our family in new ways. More than anything I hope that "L" learns about God. I can't keep "L" with our family at the end of our hosting experience. She will go back to Ukraine. I will have no control over what horrible things may or may not happen to her in the years to come. But if she comes to know the Lord, she will always be protected and feel His love. If she doesn't come to know the Lord, at least another seed will have been planted into her heart and our family will continue to cover her with prayer.
So yes, we have about 11 days to raise $1800. Yes, we need family and friends to help us out with that. I know God will work in the hearts of others just like He is working in our hearts to provide "L" with a loving family this summer. We are prepared to step out in faith to be stretched and grow and love. Are you willing to help support us?
If you feel lead to support us financially please visit our YouCaring page and make a tax deductible donation at the following link: http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/e0002-kunkel-family-fundraiser-new-horizons-for-children-/346448
If you feel lead to support us through prayer please send up prayers for the following things:
-we will meet the funding deadline
-prepare the heart and mind of "L"
-continue to prepare our family for the joys and trials we will face this summer
-pray for the other hosting families and orphans who will be joining together this summer
Thanks and Love from the Kunkel Family
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