Answering the Call ... Upward

Whew! With the conclusion of our 2008-2009 Upward season at Isom's Chapel, I am back to being able to share the daily happenings with Green, Party of Five. I know that everyone in the adoption community enjoys hearing about the other families and their trials and triumphs. So it has been really hard to not login and write these past 10 weeks. But first, let me explain where we've been...

There were so many tasks for Upward that had to be done this season, it was just hard to keep up. Not to mention that Connie and the girls were left to build a home life by themselves while Austin and I tried our best to answer God's call and minister to the children of Upward and their families. It is very difficult to explain, but when God calls you to do something (direct the Upward Ministry) and it interferes with what you really wanted to do (spend time with my newest sweet baby girl), it is not easy. You end up feeling like you are cheating both. In fact, I'm most certain that I did. I kept asking myself why this was so much work this year when everything seemed to be going fine. And God kept saying "Press on." And so we did.





And then last night, at our Award Ceremony, all the reasons for the hard work were made evident as we were privileged to be witnesses to God adding 23 new names to His book of life. That's right, 23 children in our Upward ministry gave their lives to Jesus this season and committed that to Him last night. Suddenly, all the long nights at the gym and the computer were forgotten. Praise God for His plan and for salvation for His children.

I didn't know why until last night, but it just seemed that being the Director of Upward at Isom's Chapel this season was the hardest it's ever been. Not in a bad way though. Much to the contrary, we had an unbelievably awesome season. God blessed everything we did. As a league, we sponsored a little girl named Shirley in Ecuador through Compassion International and allowed the kids to contribute to her sponsorship. They raised over $600, enough to sponsor her for nearly another two years! They also wrote 88 letters to Shirley - the translators at Compassion International will be very busy for Shirley! I had a fantastic team of five little girls, K-2nd grade, to coach and a great assistant coach to help. We named ourselves the Pandas. We had one Chinese American, one African American, one Phillipino American, one Hispanic American, and one plain ole Caucasion American. We looked like the United Nations! One of the girls returned to the Phillipines during the season and brought me a handcarved desk nameplate. It is beautiful, just like the little girl who gave it to me. Every practice was just simply fun with these little girls.

"The Pandas Getting Their Game Faces On"

We were able to minister to a mother and her three boys who had lost their father, a highly decorated special forces soldier, to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. One of the boys committed his life to Jesus last night and I'm still crying like a baby over that. We had one little girl whose parents have left her to be cared for by her grandmother and who was so devastated that she barely talked to anyone. Through Upward, she is opening up and was nominated for our White Star award for Christlike behavior. She also gave her life to Jesus last night. We had one little boy whose parents abused him and who are now jailed, while he is cared for by a Godly family. Through Upward, he is learning to be more self-controlled and that he can be loved and treated well by adults. He too gave his life the Jesus Christ this season. These are just a few of the stories of our Upward Ministry this season and the reasons why we worked so hard at making sure nothing was left undone.

Lily Grace and Lia Faith earned their very first trophies, as Upward cheerleaders this season. They were part of two devotions during halftime this season and both sang Jesus Loves Me to a gym full of smiling parents and grandparents. Lily Grace did it first, all by herself and the following week, Lia sang the same song, unexpectedly she just started singing it and reaching for the microphone as we talked about her adoption. It couldn't have been more perfect.







Finally, Austin worked just as hard as I did this year and his efforts did not go unnoticed by the parents and coaches in the league. When it came time to give the White Star award for coaches, I was thrilled that Austin's name was called as the Most Christlike coach in our league. For the record, as the director of the ministry, I have no vote in the awards. Austin had always wanted to win the White Star as a player, but never did. Probably that competitive nature that he inherited from his dad. But as a coach, he has come to realize what's important and what's not. His players love him and so do his team parents - they ask every year if he can be their coach again next season!


So, praise to Him for adding the 23 children to His army and thanks to Him for allowing The Ministry of Upward at Isom's Chapel to be a part of it.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five