Fundraising opportunity

We are very excited that the ministry, 147 million orphans, that we have partnered with to bring our girls home is now allowing individuals to place orders online and we will still receive the proceeds. So, regardless of where you live you can now support our adoption and their ministry to orphans and widows and raise awareness in your area!! And it is just in time for Christmas, so please take a minute and click on the 147 MO banner to the right of this post and look at what they offer. You need to click on the banner from our blog and shop that way for us to receive credit. Thank you to everyone who has supported our adoption and cares for orphans all around the world.

P.S. Will is working on changing the banner so it fits properly on the blog, it is driving me crazy as large as it is.

P.S.S No news from Ethiopia, in His time...

Noah waited, I can wait too

Noah had been on the ark for over a year, trapped on a boat with the only other 7 human beings alive at that time and countless animals. The conditions were not the best to say the least, not exactly the cruise of a lifetime. The entire earth's population had been destroyed, Noah and his family must have undergone tremendous mourning for all that had been unwilling to head the warning of God. And here they sit, on an ark that is full of life stock and wild life. Noah had sent out ravens and a dove and on the last test the dove did not return. At this point in the story I had imagined that Noah and crew ran off the boat and prayed they would never have to step foot on an ark again, at least that is what I would have done. After over a year, seriously, the dove did not come back, we are good, lets go. But Noah was far more patient then I, he waited for another 2 months and then he heard the voice of God, "Leave the boat, all of you-" (Genesis 8:16) and they obeyed. He did not beat it out of the boat at the first sign of dry land, he waited and waited and then waited some more. He was waiting to hear the voice of God, he spent over a year on an ark and he was still patient.

We just reached the year mark on our adoption journey, I was quite hopeful that the girls would be home by now but instead we wait for our first court date. But as I read the story of Noah I thought at least I am not on ark with the only other 7 people alive! My conditions are incredibly comfortable and blessed. So, we wait to hear the voice of God - "Leave the boat Ruppels, all of you." And we wait and we pray and He is teaching me to wait and pray with patience and thanksgiving in my heart because I wait to hear His voice, what could be more incredible then that?! The voice of God finally calling me off my ark. So, I am waiting, right at the door with bags packed and ready to go but I will not settle for anything less then the voice of God. His voice calling me into this crazy love thing called adoption... His voice calling me into doing more for the orphans, widows and the lost... His voice calling me into East Africa to do whatever He asks of me.

But, in the past I have tended to jump ship to early, to say no worries God, I am good, I can swim! And He has kindly bailed me out just as I was going under, put me back on my ark and told me I had a few more survival skills to master before I walk off my ark. So, please pray for me that I will be patient like Noah and that I will wait with thanksgiving in my heart and praise on my lips. And I will pray for you ~ that when your call comes from the God of the universe, when He calls you off your ark that you are waiting at the door with your bags packed.

Please watch the above video before you read this

If you have not watched the video about Africa please take a minute and go back and watch it.

I have asked God countless times why I live with such blessing and luxury and billions, BILLIONS, live with such lack and heartache. I spent years asking, sometimes I asked Him politely, sometimes I was not so polite. I knew that the answer had to lie somewhere within us, I knew He would answer me if I continued to pester Him long enough and He did. He began to point out that more often than not our excess of luxuries was doing nothing but killing us; killing us through addictions to food, drugs, alcohol, pornography, and that list goes on and on. Killing us through our greed and materialism, killing us through mountains of debt, killing us through broken relationships that have splintered and fallen apart because of our constant need to please ourselves. He pointed out that our abundance was actually hurting us so I began another string of questions ~ why then give us so much if it is only killing us. Why allow Satan to kill them by their lack and allow him to kill us by our abundance? Billions have too much and become their own ruin and billions have too little and waste away, Why??? And then, He explained that our abundance was meant to meet their lack, it is killing us because we have greedily held it as entirely our own. We have gripped so tightly to our things that we are squeezing the life out of ourselves and those that desperately need what we have are dying every second of every day. He gave us so much, He gave to us so freely that we would give so much and give so freely. So, the answer is simple in His eyes; we must give everything we have to meet their needs, we must give everything we can to save them and in doing so we will bring salvation back into our own lives, our own families, our own churches. The gap between our two worlds is HUGE and they can not bridge that gap, they can not bridge the gap because they must strive every hour just to survive. No, the burden falls on us to bridge the gap and then we will see that it was not just "they" that needed salvation but us that so desperately needed salvation. It is so profoundly simple, it is so God. I need Africa more then it needs me ~ I hear Him say "bridge the gap" everyday. We need it with the same intensity that they need it. Satan can not kill us with our abundance and them with their lack if we give it all to level the playing field, if we bridge the gap.

Did you know that 40,000 children under the age of 5 die everyday due to malnutrition? Bridge the gap...

Did you know that almost 2 billion people, about 1/3 of the world's population have not heard the Good News of Jesus Christ? Bridge the gap...

Did you know that there are 147 million orphans worldwide? Bridge the gap...

Did you know that only $1 dollar out of every $100 dollars goes to this 2 billion? Bridge the gap...