Thorburn Family

On July 24th, after a judge’s decision, our 16 1/2 week old foster baby went to live w/a birth parent.   It’s been quite a ride.

We are thankful for many things.  Mostly, we are thankful that God equips a person for whatever He calls them to do. Living the Christian life is not a call to lunacy, though it may appear so at times :).  He does not say, “Care for widows and orphans in their distress,” or, “Care for the weak,” and then decide to rip your heart out without remedy.  He knows how weak we are and He stands ready to be our strength. He doesn’t leave us w/out tools to figure out how to process and navigate a world, and a system, that seem foreign and wrong in so many ways.   He doesn’t set us up for confusion and despair when we come out of our comfort zones in a faltering attempt to honor Him.  Rather, he’s setting us up for more growth, more confidence in Christ, more ability to comfort and counsel others, more love for Him and His ways, and more love for others.  He’s all about making us part of strengthening the faith of God’s people and confounding a dying world, in the process of simply living life, proving His worth!  We are thankful that God’s grace through Christ Jesus is far beyond the fear or difficulty of any situation.   How we wish we’d learned some of these lessons, and held this confidence more clearly, much earlier in life!   We would go back and change some things. There is still so much for us to learn.   We are thankful for God’s Word, the Bible, which contains all the information we need for learning how to process any situation, emotion, decision, and reaction in a way that pleases God.

One thing we remembered over and over again through this experience is that we were wretched sinners without hope before Christ redeemed us, paid the enormous debt for our sins, through no doing of our own.   On our own, we are no different than any other person who is struggling w/addictions & broken lives, and we were worse.  The only difference is that we were pulled up out of a futile way of life, through the death of One whose life and love was perfect.   This new, victorious way of life that we live now is available to all who know the burden of their sin and turn to Christ for forgiveness and a new life.   Anything we do now to serve God is simply an insignificant token of gratefulness for a gift we could never come close to earning. Our greatest hope is that the baby’s family will know this great salvation and what is “life in Christ.”

Now we are grieving a little bit, just missing this sweet baby who was part of every minute of every day for around 4 months. He’s strong now, healthy, and so very different from the baby who struggled for over a month in the hospital after birth.    He is now a cooing, smiling, laughing, chubby little sweetheart!   We really enjoyed having such a sweet bundle in our home and will keep him and his whole family in our prayers for a long time to come.   The end of this story has not yet been told, and God holds the future in His hands  :^).

Baby Reeve arrived home today!   He screamed the whole ride, but as soon as he was taken out of his car seat, he was happy again   Reeve is 1 month old today and doing a lot better than he was.During our little hospital stint of a few weeks, we felt the Lord’s hand close and dear to us.  I could never list them all, but here are a few of the things for which we are praising God:

1. Baby Reeve’s life; he is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

2. God’s hand of protection upon him in the midst of many trials.

3. Excellent medical care at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.  The nurses and doctors were outstanding.

4. Many, many opportunities to share our gratefulness to God and hope in HIM w/staff and others involved w/baby.  The answer to our hope and strength is simply life lived in Christ Jesus, and the knowledge of all He has done for us.   Forgiveness for sins and being “transferred from death to life” is the answer to all the world’s problems, and the answer for the hope that is within us.

5.  Emotional and physical strength, and the fact that things kept running very well at home!  It would not have been the end of the world if our house and schooling fell apart during these weeks.   But what a blessing that schooling stayed on track, housework got done (including a couple extra projects!), and we remained generally functional and sane beyond our capabilities  That was God’s great grace.  We also were not sick for an entire month.  After a winter of being chronically sick w/everything that came along the pike, we are so grateful that we were not hit w/any colds or bugs that would have hindered our involvement at the hospital.

6. Grace from God in dealing w/the “powers that be.”  We are thankful for trials in this area, as it refocused us on the fact that God alone is in control and holds the “hearts of kings in his hands.”   

7.  The knowledge that God’s will will be accomplished in Reeve’s life.  God will fulfill his purposes on this earth, unfettered.  Whatever happens, whether Reeve is with us weeks, months, or many years, he is in God’s hands.  

“Contentment should be natural to those who are born of the Spirit of God; yea, we ought to go beyond contentment, and cry, ‘Blessed by the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits.’”   C.H. Spurgeon 

We have neglected our family blog in the past couple of months.   Lydia is our primary blog-ress, and while I do a lot of the writing, I don’t usually get around to publishing something unless Lydia is involved, particularly w/pictures.   Lydia has completed her seven weeks in Texas w/my brother Dan’s family, and arrived home a week or two ago.

So, the latest news is that we have a newborn foster baby in the hospital.   He is just wonderful, so perfectly designed by his Creator.   Because he is a foster baby, we are limited in what we can share, especially on the internet, about him and his situation. We can tell you that he is about three weeks old and has been given some significant difficulties early in his little life through no fault of his own, of course.   We expect he will be hospitalized for at least three more weeks.   We are spending a lot of time at the hospital during the day, and have worked out a little schedule that allows school to continue on track, the house to run, etc.   Needless to say, this requires that ALL of us work together and stay on track.   We are thankful that we are in a position to do this, because of the ages of our children and their ability to take care of things here, and their desire to be helpful. This is God’s grace!  Some past experiences with children and medical issues have also been helpful to draw upon in advocating for this precious baby boy.  

We don’t know how long he will be with us.  It could be weeks, months, years.   The “system” seems wholly disheartening, and if we were looking at that, or other aspects of this baby’s world, we would be brought down in despair.  There are moments in which I will start to focus on the wrong things. Our eyes must remain on Christ, who holds the world in His hands, who turns the hearts of Kings, who orders all things after the perfect counsel of His will, and whose ways are higher than our ways. He is not only wholly sovereign, he is wholly good.  

Rich and I always wondered how we would “process” a situation like this if it ever came up. We’d said in the past, “We just couldn’t deal with that, it would be too hard, too discouraging.” Seeing the general results of a world that does not love or obey God, in this situation and others can start to be overwhelming, but we don’t want to hide ourselves from it either. “As your days, so shall your strength be;” He gives grace to keep our emotions straight day by day. We reminded ourselves recently that our duties remain the same today as any other day:  to “do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God” for His glory on the earth, no matter what happens.  Pray for us to keep our eyes looking up and to not “lean on our own understanding,” but to “acknowledge Him in all our ways, trust in him w/all our hearts,” and to “be still and know that He is God.”    

In our quest to learn how to “reach the world from our living room,” we have looked to older, fruitful families for ideas and inspiration.  This week, our inspiration and instruction have come from orphans, and we’d like to share their story with you: 

Every day, children from the streets come to the gate at a certain African orphanage for a little food, and sometimes to have their picture taken, hoping to some day be allowed to live within its walls.  The residents of the orphanage are also children who once lived on the streets.  Because of the giving of their sponsors, they now receive three meals a day, clothing, medical care, and spiritual training. 

One week recently, thirty-seven children from nearby towns died of starvation, and the  children in the orphanage heard of it.  They called a meeting.  All children who were aged fourteen and above attended; no staff, no adults.  A little while later, they emerged with their solution. 

The teen orphans decided that they would, from that day on, skip one meal each day, and that those meals would be delivered to the children on the streets.  Most of the children who died were between ages three and seven, so they decided to target that age group.  The teen orphans also haul water for them, and make sure they are fed.  Some spoon-feed those too weak to feed themselves.  While their stomachs are growling from missing their regular meal, these young men and women are serving others. 

The pastor who is running the orphanage wrote, “Without my knowledge or understanding, God is raising up missionaries right here in our orphanage.  I have done completely nothing to make them missionaries for God.  It is God doing it.”  I thank God for this.  Let us put them in prayer.  Tell their sponsors [what is happening].” 

How do teen-aged children whose needs are met become compelled to give.. not just give, but sacrifice to give?It is probably because they remember their previous state.  They were once starving children in the street, waiting at the gate for something to eat.  If it were not for their sponsors’ giving, that is exactly where they would be today, if they’d lived at all. 

For those of you who have personally tasted what it is to go from being spiritually starved (dead, really), living a futile life, burdened by sin and without hope — to being saved by God through Jesus Christ, you understand this phenomenon.  It has radically changed your life.  We have been transferred into a life where our sins are forgiven, and we are not longer enslaved without hope to serving ourselves and our own desires.  Eternity in heaven is secure, and it’s all through no doing of our own!!!!   It’s the most radical, amazing thing ever!  Our “Sponsor,” Jesus Christ, has met ALL our needs, and it’s a done deal.  We can’t possibly stop there.  You hear of people “on the street” and your heart is burdened — you remember your previous state, and that we could do nothing to help ourselves, and that we were rescued!  There is nothing we can do with this information and transformation, except to go forward to do “good works which He has prepared beforehand for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).  Feed the children, be the “sponsor,” miss a couple meals :-), rescue those who need rescuing, witness the gospel.  We cannot save everyone.  There is much work to be done and we each cannot do it all.  But we absolutely can do whatever we should do.  Seek God with us to always know what it is that we should be doing, for those who live far, and those in our own communities.  

If you aren’t 100% sure this radical change has happened in your heart, and you don’t see the evidence of this supernatural change in your life, please see the page entitled “The Main Teaching Of The Bible” on this blog to find out how you, too, can be free.  There is a Sponsor who gave His very life to rescue YOU.

I’m excited to tell you about a special place in Welkum, South Africa, in the Matjhebang region of the Free State: The Pines is a Christian Care Center for children who have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 

In 2005, long-time missionaries David (now home with the Lord) and Sally Seefried, initiated the start of a compassion village for orphans, and have seen God bless the effort. Now, Amber & Louis O’Tool, and Lois & Brian Neihoff are serving full-time at The Pines.

By God’s gracious hand, the old Harmony Gold Company donated property and buildings, which continue to be renovated to house children. Each child is placed into a “family” with a carefully-chosen house mother who is a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. The children are cared for physically, spiritually trained w/sound teaching, well-educated, and raised within their South African culture but within Biblical principles. Imagine what some of these children can do for their ravaged continent in the decades to come!!!! As they receive funds, apartments or flats are built and furnished for 6 children and a house mother. As God provides, they open another flat, and accept more children. People from the USA often do short-term missions trips there to help with building, tutoring, etc.

The only answer to the AIDS pandemic is lives changed by the gospel. The need there is simply staggering. One worker there said, “Sometimes, we feel like what we are doing is just a drop in the bucket.. Then we remember that God holds the bucket.. and it’s HIS bucket.”If you would like to help fill that bucket and contribute to what is going on at the Pines,visit http://www.niehoffsa.com/, http://www.otoolsa.com or http://www.myaimi.org/thepinesIt costs $30 or $40 to support an orphan for a month. 100% of the money goes to your orphan. Check back to our blog soon for some ideas for how to make responding to these opportunities possible for your family, even on a very limited budget.

Whatever we do, whatever the mission, let’s live radically, passionately, intentionally, and intelligently to honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only Answer, not only to the AIDS pandemic, but for each of our own lives and eternity.

I have great news to share.  The three sisters that I mentioned before have now for sure found a host family in the USA for this coming March trip!  This is great news.  Praise God with us.  As far as arranging a group of Russian orphans to come here through the Lighthouse Project, I am waiting to hear more details from the director.  I won’t be moving fwd until we have a few things nailed down, and then will put out feelers for interest.  Thanks, Anna