by Victoria -

Fostering and Adoption – doing good

Originally published in The Lynn Haven Ledger/Gulf Coast Gazette , September 7-21, 2018 issue.  The purpose of the article is to raise awareness not only of the massive need for foster families, but a way for others who can’t foster to come alongside and help those who do.

Some of us find our calling at a young age, and some when we’re older. The key is to find it. Cathy Harcus was seventeen when she knew she was called to foster. It wasn’t until years later, after she was married, that she and her husband made fostering a reality. Kristen and her husband have been fostering for just a couple of years, and she became interested when she talked to and got to know some fostering families at her church.

Both Cathy and Kristen are excellent examples of how anyone can make a positive difference in a child’s life.

So, how does it work, you might wonder? Kristen explained that after you attend QPT (Quality Parent Training) classes, have a background check done, and have your home inspected, you get certified as a foster parent. You can stipulate the age range you’re comfortable with, and you can say ‘no’ to a call, although it doesn’t happen often.

As Kristen told me, this is basically how it happens. Your phone rings, a question is asked, and you say ‘yes.’ A couple of hours later you open your door to a child such as Sophie, a tiny three year old with dirty, ill fitting clothes, clutching a new handsewn bear just given to her, close to her chest, with eyes large and bewildered and filling with tears. Your arms reach out to her and you hold her close.

Over the next days and weeks and months you provide her food and clothing and shelter and lots of love and hugs. She misses what she knew, even though it wasn’t safe there, and when you hear her crying out for her mommy, it breaks your heart into a million pieces and you vow to never let this beautiful child down.

Because you have a full-time job, you get help from the Early Learning Coalition who pays for most of the daycare for Sophie. After 4 months, Sophie leaves your home and is placed with her grandparents, and your heart is broken again because you grew to love this defenseless child. But you know there are many more children that need a place of safety and stability, so you say ‘yes’ again and again because you know “there are many more joyful and heartwarming experiences than there are sad ones.”

As of 2018, both Cathy and her husband have been licensed foster parents through Life Management Center for 14 years, with fifty precious children coming through their home during that time.   They adopted two sons.   She was recently appointed the Program Director for Foster Family Support at the same organization they’ve fostered through. As Cathy says, “I’m now working my passion to recruit, license, support, and retain quality foster parents.”

There are six counties in Northwest Florida that the Life Management Center provides behavioral and mental health care services to: Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson, Holmes, and Washington. Of these six, Bay County has the sad reputation of having the highest number of needy children and the fewest foster homes available. But the good news is it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Cathy has been working hard, coming up with ideas to encourage more people to get involved with either being a foster parent, or coming alongside and helping those who do. The Coffee Talk is the new way to find out, in an informal setting, just what fostering and adopting is about and get your questions answered. There’s at least one location in each county, so you won’t have to travel far. As Cathy explains, “we go over a list of common barriers that people face as well as the rewards you can expect.  Some common questions we are being asked are:  Can I foster if I’m single?  Am I too old to foster?  May I still have firearms and foster? The Coffee Talk is also designed for people who know this is not the right season for them to foster, but they still want to be involved in the mission.  We give them lots of ideas on how they can get plugged in and supporting the families who do foster.”

Cathy told me there’s an 81 year old lady who is still fostering, and another lady in her eighties who makes handsewn bears so each newly fostered child will have a gift of love to bring with them to their new home.

You can find out more by visiting their Facebook page: Life Management Center of Northwest Florida, or stopping by their office at 525 E 15th St in Panama City, or calling Cathy on her cell at 850-628-4744.

You can become part of a special group of wonderful people who help provide Welcome Baskets for newly fostered children, and loving on foster families by giving dinner sponsorships, and so much more. The opportunities are many and the need is sometimes overwhelming.

I encourage you to find a foster family and ask them whether they regret what they’ve signed up for. I’m pretty positive they’ll say all of the tears were worth it, because of the children rescued from terrible situations. Makes me think of what Jesus said – “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Find out how you can be part of the solution.

by Victoria -

Dreams and visions

This was written by  Steve Brown in 2016, on a day when he was praying and meditating.  Used with permission.  You can read about his battle with Leukemia here.

I had a vivid dream the other the day, and in this dream I saw a man walking. He was a person like me and you. But then something began to happen to him. His flesh began to melt away, and his body began turning black. His body became all black except in some areas there were holes, and a bright light shone out of them.

As I kept looking at the body the black areas began to turn red and thorns began to sprout out of the red places where his skin once was. Then chains began to form and hooked themselves to the thorns, and the chains stretched behind this man and lay on the ground.

Attached to the chains were blocks of different sizes and each block had letters on it. I could not read the writing on the blocks. The chains and blocks were black and crimson and varied in size and length.

Then a cross began to be etched in the man’s back, but it was only a partial cross, the whole cross wasn’t etched into his body. In his right hand was a book that shone a bright, projected beam of light, but it also had blood dripping from it. Then a bright light shone from the heavens and covered the whole scene.

I prayed and asked God to reveal to me the meaning of the dream, and the next night he gave me the answer. In this dream a man as bright as the sun came to me and said do not look upon me – it is not time yet. He told me this man I saw in the dream was me as I am now. He said for me to listen carefully and to digest every word that came from his mouth.

He said I used to be dark and black with sin but then I was saved and born again by the blood of the Lamb and his Holy Spirit. He said the red areas on my body are his cleansing blood that cover a multitude of sins, and the light shining out of my body is the light of his Holy Spirit that now resides in me.

He went on to tell me that the thorns are my weakness in the flesh I have not been willing or able to overcome. He told me these will to continue to cause me much pain if I don’t pull them out. He said the chains are the attachments that I have to the world and to certain sins. He said I will never be the effective Christian that I’ve been called to be as long as I allow these to bind me.

The blocks, he said, were weights with the names of the particular sins I have allowed to weigh me down, such as lust, greed, and pride. He said there are other thorns, chains, and blocks far behind you on this path that you can’t see, and these are the ones you have overcome by the blood of the Lamb and your testimony.

The cross on you is only partially etched because it hurt, and you could not bear the pain. The bright light that shone from Heaven is the Father’s light that is talked about in 1st John in which you walk every day.

The book in your right hand is the Bible that flows with my blood from cover to cover and the words are a light unto your path. Farther up the path is a new body and peace and perfection you have never known, but just had glimpses of here in your walk.

Then there is also the Father, and I who will be waiting for you. So, put this world and its enticements behind you, cut loose from the sins that so easily beset you. Take up your cross fully. It may hurt but it will only be for a little while, and take my yoke upon you, for it is easy and my burden is light.

Don’t ever forget that you are our child, and nothing can ever take you from us, not even Satan himself because you have been sealed to the day of redemption and your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

We love you, God speed my child.

Pressing on, Steve Brown

by Victoria -

The Least of These

Originally published in The Lynn Haven Ledger/Gulf Coast Gazette in July 2018 as a spotlight on a local eye technician who travels to Uganda and South Sudan treating eye diseases and bringing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus.

Here in America we’ve not been too happy with our health insurance as of late. Premiums are too high and the deductibles have skyrocketed. Good eye care and dental care can get very expensive as we seek to purchase the latest and greatest contact lenses and fancy glasses frames and bleach our teeth to make our smiles sparkle extra bright.

Larry Morris is a native of Panama City, and a Certified Ophthalmic Medical Technologist. He graduated from the University of Florida’s College of Medicine in 1992 and obtained his national level Medical License.

One day, about 3 years ago, he was examining a patient who shared a need. Someone with Larry’s skillset was needed in Uganda and his patient asked him if he would come with him on a medical mission. Since then, Larry has been back to Uganda about 5 times where he performs eye surgeries, helps locate potable water, teaches hygiene, and, most importantly, shares the Good News of the Gospel with the villagers.

Cataracts and Trachoma are the main conditions Larry treats while he’s there. Trachoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world, and in third world countries where there is no medical treatment of any kind available it’s a huge problem. Conjunctivitis in one eye, left untreated, often spreads to the other, and, over time, blindness results.

While Larry is there, he sets up a temporary clinic where he performs cataract surgeries, removes foreign bodies from eyes, growths from eyelids, and treats Trachoma.

Because of the poor hygiene issue, he also shows the Ugandans how to make soap from animal fat and ashes, how to wash their faces, and safe food handling and preparation. He told me that in Uganda they grow many different types of fruit that are healthy and good to eat, but you should never accept an already cut up piece of fruit. When I asked him why, he told me “they may use the same knife they just cut off the head of a chicken with, and then turn around and use it to slice fruit.”

But that is Uganda. This past May, Larry journeyed for the first time to South Sudan’s refugee camp at the UN’s express invitation. And it was an experience unlike any other he’d had up to this point, and he thought he’d already had some pretty intense experiences.

“The first thing that hits you is the 115 degree temperature, and then the stench. You look around and everything is burned and torn down and riddled with bullet holes.” South Sudan in the UN refugee camp in Malakal was one of his most difficult missions to date. Once you reach the camp, “the sounds hit you. There are people everywhere screaming, and weeping, and wailing.” There’s a lot of violence in the camp with the air itself feeling electrically charged with volatility.

You might wonder how he was able to afford such a trip? The UN footed part of the bill into South Sudan, with the remainder covered by friends and colleagues with a generous heart. His employer at Eye Center of North Florida has provided supplies, equipment, and sponsorship many times. It’s very difficult to get from Juba, the largest city in the Republic of South Sudan to Malakal where they did their work. You have to have a letter of invitation to get in, such as from the UN, World Health Organization, Samaritan’s Purse, or Doctors without Borders. You have to come in under an NGO – non-governmental organization, or you may be killed outright. Although, having the official papers don’t guarantee your safety.

Once on site, the workers are put up in a separate part of the camp, where it’s relatively safe as long as they don’t venture out on their own.   Where Larry stayed they were provided running water, although not water you’d want to drink, and a commode, and a very rudimentary shower. They also cook for you and the food is served at specific times, so if you aren’t there when it’s ready, you’re out of luck. They serve a lot of goat soup, rice, and potatoes. I asked Larry if they were able to raise any animals or grow crops. “No,” he told me. “Everything is brought in. It’s a desert.”

There are many tribes represented in the refugee camp, and violence can erupt at any time, so there are guards stationed throughout the camp from every country on earth. Sometimes their authority is recognized and sometimes it’s not.

Larry set up his equipment in a tent using a generator for power, and proceeded to perform over 200 surgeries. Because of the time constraint and limited supplies there is a finite number of surgeries they can do.   Since all of the equipment is run by generator, it can get difficult to keep everything all powered up. Sometimes, right in the middle of a surgery, the generator goes out and everything shuts down. “It gets very interesting,” Larry said.

I asked him what he took away from this unique mission trip. “We are a very blessed people. A lot of people just don’t see how blessed we are. The access here is so different from there. There is nowhere for them to go. We stay focused on what we can do because it’s easy to get overwhelmed.”

I also asked Larry how the people he was able to help responded. “They are genuinely grateful. They’ll even kneel down and hug your feet.”

I mentioned earlier that for Larry’s most recent trip, and because he was expressly invited by the UN, they paid for a portion of the expenses. In order for Larry to go on any of these missions of mercy, it costs money, and he’s grateful for all his colleagues, friends, and family who’ve become sponsors to make these trips possible.

In our world, we stress over how long we’ll be sitting in traffic in our air conditioned car. In other worlds mothers and fathers stress over their children’s suffering, knowing they have no place to go for help, and no funds with which to pay for their treatment. We could use more servants like Larry who are willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus in some of the most inhospitable places on earth.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40