Lorie Newman

Loving the Lord 24/7

This upcoming weekend I'll be speaking with the All For His Glory Speaking Team.  I can hardly wait to see them all!    I get to pray with them each Tuesday night, but only through a conference call, not in person.  Just to be able to pray with them FACE to FACE will be such a blessing!

The retreat's theme is 'Loving the Lord 24/7' and 156 women are registered.  I'll let you know how it goes when I get back!

All For His Glory Ministries never charges churches for their speaking and equipping services.  If your church has a need for a speaker for a women's event, visit the AFHG website for more information.

My Heart-Cry

This video needs no introduction.... it is raw.  It is real.  And it is truly my heart-cry.

Defending the Forgotten

The Hope For Orphans workshop on Saturday was so inspiring.  Over 30 churches were present, which represents 30 different orphans ministries from all over the southeast. 

It was a privilege for Biltmore Baptist Church to host the event for the Hope for Orphans team.  Paul Pennington and Jason Weber once again did a fabulous job of igniting the Body of Christ to battle on the front lines on behalf of the forgotten.

If you would like more information about how your church can start or better your church's orphan ministry, visit hopefororphans.com. 

 

Hope For Orphans

This Saturday, Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, North Carolina will host a Hope For Orphans workshop.  It was created for those who want to start or better their church's orphan ministry.

There is still time to register!  Click here to register online or to get more information.  Walk-in registrations will also be accepted.

What- Your Church and the Orphan

Where- Biltmore Baptist Church   35 Clayton Rd. Arden, NC

When- Saturday, Feb. 21  9:00am- 4:30pm

Cost- $20 per person  This includes lunch and workshop materials.

Valentine's Day at.... the Newman Cafe???

Saturday, I knew the kids were planning Valentine's Day Dinner for Duane and me, because they gave me a list of grocery items to buy the day before.  But I had NO idea what they were REALLY up to! 

They instructed us that dinner would be served at 5pm sharp and at 4pm they told us to go into our room and not come out until 5:00 wearing fancy clothes.  When we came out of our room, Jacob and Grace met us at our door both wearing a white shirt and black pants.

I nearly cracked up when Jacob put his hand behind his back, bowed, and said, "Reservations for two?  Right this way, please."  As he led us to the dining room table and pulled out my chair, my mouth dropped open!

There were candles everywhere!  The lights were dim and they had decorated the table with tiny hearts that were cut out of construction paper.  Marc had even drawn a huge picture of a bouquet of flowers for the center of the table.  Alyse had even created the most elaborate menus for us!  And romantic music playing!

Grace was the waitress and she took our order and brought us everything from salad, to lasagne, to red velvet cake on my very best china dishes!  Of course, Jacob served us our drinks and even asked us if we wanted sparkling cider to drink. 

It was the best dinner ever!  When Jacob brought us our bill, we opened it to find that it said "FREE!"  Wow, what a bargain!  He told us it was because we donated so many groceries to the restaurant-- I had to laugh!

Enjoy the pictures of the 2 chefs, the waitress and the waiter.  They were quite a team!  And we didn't even have to tip them!

Dear WACSN Parents- Day of Prayer and Fasting

Dear fellow WACSN adoptive parents,

 

As my husband, Duane, and I await God's timing for our call to travel to WACSN and get our two new Liberian children, we have felt somewhat helpless with the news that the adoptions have been put on temporary hold. We are trusting the Lord to get us and WACSN through this trial and we are convinced that there is an unseen battle raging amidst this adoption hold. 

 

Like you, our arms ache to hold our new children and rescue them from poverty and the abandonment they have experienced.  As I prayed this morning, the Lord prompted me to call all of us adoptive parents to a day of fasting and prayer for our children and this adoption hold. 

 

Please join me and my husband as we fast and pray on this Sunday, February 15, 2009.  Will you specifically pray Psalm 12:5 on that day?  It says, "Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them."  Those precious words are the Lord's words.  He WILL ARISE on behalf of the weak!  He promises it!  Let's shake the gates of Hell with our battle-cry on behalf of these orphans who are at the very heart of God.  Praise Him!  He alone is the Defender of the Weak and the Father to the Fatherless!  Glory!

 

Marching Beside You On the Battlefield of the Forgotten,

Lorie

Asheville News Anchor's Adoption

Each morning I wake up with Victoria Dunkle and Jay Siltzer, news anchors for Asheville's News Channel 13.  But right now, Jay Siltzer and his wife are in Ethiopia adopting their new baby boy, Malachi.

It was actually Victoria who told me about Jay's adoption.  She was in a class that I taught back in the summer and she told me all about Jay and his wife adopting Malachi.  I've been following Jay's blog postings from Ethiopia and yesterday's blog was a tear jerker for me.  I thought I'd share it with you....  If you would like to see all of his postings and follow his adoption homecoming later this week. Click here.

The Best Coke Ever
February 11, 2009
Jay Siltzer
Anchor/Reporter

Malachi is warming up to me, allowing me to hold, bathe and feed him. Fortunately, I didn't have to bribe him with a Coke.

But my own supply of Coca-Cola, brought from America, ran out on Monday. Anyone who knows me realizes I can't function in the morning without my Coke. It's a not-so-great habit I began nearly 25 years ago in college and haven't been able to break.

I ventured out from our guest house down the streets of Addis to a small store to find a Coke. I stopped at a shack with an orange canopy, held together only by rope and bamboo. The store would be condemned in America, or at least blown away in a mild thunderstorm. Yet, the storekeeper took great pride in his business. Everything was perfectly arranged and he was dressed in a suit. He greeted me in fluent English and helped me find the baby formula and supplies I needed for Mally. Preparing to pay, I asked for a Coke. He replied, "Coke comes only on Tuesday from Cairo."

It was Monday. I suppose he saw the disappointment and/or exhaustion on my face. He remarked, "New father?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Then you need a Coke," he said, pulling one from hiding beneath the counter.

"I was taking these three home for my family," he said. "But you can have this one."

His kindness is indicative of the people here. They have little, but will share even that with a stranger. I'm going back to his store, after our meeting at the U.S. Embassy, and taking him my dress outfit. We're about the same size. I hope he won't be offended. I believe he will accept it and wear it at his store.

I walked back to our room, put the baby to bed, and opened the Coke for Kelly and me. It's the best Coke I ever drank.

"Excuse Me, Mrs. Buffington, But I Think You Are Mistaken."

I was asked by Diane Harris, author of Stepping Into the Light, to be a guest blogger for her website.  Pretty cool!  You get a sneak peak today at what I wrote. 

The topic was, What has astonished you the most in your relationship with Jesus?  I entitled it "Excuse Me, Mrs. Buffington, But I Think You are Mistaken."  I'll let you know when the blog appears on her site.  For those of you who know my heart, you can probably guess exactly what I wrote about...

For me, being raised in a Christian home meant attending church every time the doors were open and bible stories being embedded into my mind before I could walk.  I can even remember Sunday School as a very small child.  I remember Mrs. Buffington putting pictures of Jesus on the felt-board each Sunday as she taught us about miracles and God’s love for every one of us.

In my mind, I can still see the tiny felt pictures of a dark-haired Jesus with an outstretched hand.  Oh, if I could just rewind my life back 35 years for just a moment and go back to that small classroom, I’d have to politely raise my tiny three-year old hand and say, “Excuse me, Mrs. Buffington, but I think you are mistaken.  That’s not at all what the real Jesus looks like.”

Little did I know 35 years ago that I would one day see Jesus.  And I haven’t just seen Him once, but many times.  Oh my sweet friend, I have seen Jesus.  Although, the bible is not clear about the details of the physical face of our Savior, in Matthew 25 the bible clearly explains that we will see Him when we minister to even one of the ‘least of these.’  “Whatever you have done unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.”   

The most powerful lessons about Jesus that I have learned have not been through a godly friend, through a powerful Bible Study lesson, or even through a motivating sermon.  They were learned through the eyes of the poor, the outcast, the widow, the forgotten, and the orphan.  And it was there, among the least of these, that I have seen Jesus. 

I have seen Jesus in a little boy with AIDS in an abandoned baby refuge center in Swaziland whose smile lit up the room and lit up my heart.  I blew soapy bubbles and played pat-a-cake with him until my hands ached.   

I have seen Jesus in the face of woman dying of TB in a hospital in Africa.  She was alone and afraid, so our team prayed over her. 

I have seen Jesus in a homeless man whose story broke my heart.  My family ministered to his family on Christmas Eve one year.  It was one of the most memorable Christmas seasons of my life.

I have seen Jesus in the eyes of both of my adopted children the first time they called me “mommy.”  It is hard to believe they were once malnourished and abandoned in third-world orphanages.  Now they thrive with so much life.

I have seen Jesus in Maria, a Liberian woman who left “the American dream” to live among her native people in extreme poverty so she could save abandoned babies.

I have seen Jesus in the smile of an orphaned girl in South Africa who had just been given her first pair of shoes.  I had to hold back tears as she held those shoes like they were her most prized possession.

This revelation of what Jesus looks like has been the most astonishing aspect of my Christian walk.  What about you?  When was the last time you saw Jesus?  Perhaps you are looking in the wrong place.  Sometimes you have to get out of the Sanctuary and the comfortable pews to really see Him.  But when we as Christians walk among the poor, when we minister among the homeless, the outcast, the widow, and the orphan, we’ll see Him.  Oh, He may not look at all like you expected, but you will see Him.  And friend, you will never be the same.

Where Has the Time Gone?

On Friday, my twins had their 12th birthday.  Where has the time gone?  It's hard to believe they are twelve!

Marc had two friends over and they "camped out" in the den for the night.  At midnight when I went to bed, they were still playing the Wii and when I woke up at 7am, they were playing the Wii.  Hmmmm.... they assured me that they did get a little bit of sleep. 

Alyse had her birthday at a Japanese restaurant with two of her friends and her sister.  It was so fun! The girls had a great time getting all dressed up and being treated like queens at dinner.

Enjoy the pics!

   

 

His Eye is on the Sparrow

Today, I was watching some birds outside my window.  With four inches of snow on the ground, they were flocking all around my bird feeders.  Some were on top waiting their turn, while others pecked around on the ground for whatever tiny seeds had fallen into the snow below.

I stood there watching them for several minutes and I had to smile at the way a couple of them perched themselves on top of the feeders and were sweeping the snow away with their feathers.  Yeah, yeah, I know they are just little birds, but somehow they actually seemed to be having a great time playing together in the snow!

As I watched them carry on with what seemed like a tiny "bird snow party" I thought of that old hymn- His Eye is On the Sparrow.  I sang the chorus out loud as I watched out my window--  His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches over me.

How true that song is!  I even got out my bible and looked up Matthew 10:29-31- "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?  And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will.  But the very hairs of your head are numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." 

As I read that verse and then looked out at those tiny birds, I thought about how God even knows when one of them falls to the ground.  How amazing.  Those little birds don't scurry about with worry for anything. 

And how much more, the bible says, does the Lord know and love each one of His children.  He even knows how many hairs are on our head!  He even numbers them! 

Are you worrying today?  Are you scurrying about with an anxious heart?  Relax in the care of your Master, my sweet friend.  He knows your situation, because He loves you so intimately.  He will care for you... in fact, He adores you! You are the apple of His eye, and He delights in you- today and everyday!