Today, I wanted to share about some of my heroes. Most are people who
exceed expectations the world has put on them.
"Exceeds Expectations"
Usually you would see this term on a report card from school. It's equal
to that "4" or that "A" that most students strive for. But the term can
be used for people too. A better way to say it is to "defy
expectations". I have some peoples' stories to share with you, about
people who defy the worlds expectations on a daily basis.
On May 19,2001, a boy was
born. His mother put him up for adoption, and the child's aunt and uncle
adopted the infant Christopher. Now, this was a special boy.
Christopher's mother had not been very healthy, and he was born blind
and later diagnosed with autism. But his adoptive parents believed in
him. At age four, he went on his first mission trip. It was then
discovered that Christopher was a singer. Since that, Christopher
Duffley has performed for the president, sung the national anthem at
many sports games, and preformed with his favorite artists, like Paul
Baloche, writer of "Open The Eyes Of My Heart", Chris' favorite song.
There's a video of him singing that song, he is amazing. But none of
that would have happened if his parents hadn't taken that leap of faith
and adopted him. What if Aiden has that hidden talent? Maybe he's an
amazing singer. Maybe Zack, he's a computer kind of kid. Or maybe Theo is an amazing painter. Whatever their talents are, they probably won't
be discovered by them sitting alone in an orphanage. He needs a family
to help him discover that potential. Christopher defies expectations in
his own way. Would you expect a blind, 11 year old boy with autism to
blow you away with his voice? Imagine Brody, and the potential he has!
Next is someone I "discovered" about two years ago. He is a indoor kite
flyer, who has epilepsy. He took this talent and actually tried out for
America's Got Talent. And he got in! He got called back at the wild card
show. I hadn't really seen the show before, but I stopped to watch it.
The first performance I saw was Connor Doran doing his act at Wild Card
week. I couldn't look away. He was so captivating to watch. If you
haven't seen it, look at the video below. It was the most inspiring and
captivating thing I have ever seen.
The last is possibly someone you have heard of. In 1982, in Brisbane,
Australia, without any medical explanation or warning, a baby came into
the world with neither arms nor legs. Imagine the shock his parents felt
when they saw their first-born brand new baby boy for the first time,
only to find he was what the world would consider imperfect and
abnormal. A limbless son was not what nurse Dushka Vujicic, and her
husband Pastor Boris Vujicic had been expecting. How would their son
live a normal happy life? What could he ever do or become when living
with such a massive disability? Little did they or anyone else know that
this beautiful limbless baby would one day be someone who would inspire
and motivate people from all walks of life. God uses Nick to touch
lives and bring the hope of Jesus Christ to people across the globe.
Throughout his childhood, Nick Vujicic dealt not only with the typical
challenges of school and adolescence such as bullying and self-esteem
issues; but also struggled with depression and loneliness. He
constantly questioned why he was different than all the other kids
surrounding him; why he was the one born without arms and legs. He
wondered what the purpose behind his life was, or if he even had a
purpose. According to Nick, the victory over his struggles throughout
his journey, as well as the strength and passion he has for life can be
credited to his faith in God. His family, friends and the many people he
has encountered along the way have also encouraged him.
After school, Nick went on with further study and obtained a double
Bachelor’s degree, majoring in Accounting and Financial Planning from
Griffith University in Logan, Australia. By the age of 19, Nick started
to fulfill his dream of being able to encourage other people and bring
them the gospel of Jesus through motivational speaking and sharing his
testimony about how God changed his life and gave him a future and a
hope. “I found the purpose of my existence, and also the purpose of my
circumstance. There’s a purpose for why you’re in the fire.” Nick
wholeheartedly believes that there is a purpose in each of the struggles
we each encounter in our lives, and that our attitude towards those
struggles, along with our faith and trust in the Lord can be the keys to
overcoming the challenges we face.
Today, this limbless young man has accomplished more than most people
accomplish in a lifetime. Nick made the massive move from Brisbane,
Australia to California, USA in 2007, where he is the President and CEO
of a non-profit organization, Life Without Limbs. Since his first
speaking engagement back when he was 19, Nick has traveled around the
world, sharing his story with millions of people, speaking to a range of
different groups such as students, teachers, youth, businessmen and
women, entrepreneurs, and church congregations of all sizes. He has
also told his story and been interviewed on various televised programs
worldwide. “If God can use a man without arms and legs to be His hands
and feet, then He will certainly use any willing heart!”
Next is someone I have mentioned
before. His name is Luke Everett. He's the pastor from
Rancho Sordo Mudo, a ministry for the deaf orphans in Mexico. He told us his life story, which was pretty amazing. You can hear it
here and his message
here.
He went lost most of his hearing when he was little. His dad was called
to be a missionary in Mexico, and they packed up their family and
headed south (they lived in America). If you haven't seen the movie,
"Hearing Everett",
I suggest you do. It's about Rancho Sordo Mudo, and how his family was
lead there. He's now in his 50s.
He's had a lot happen to him. But despite everything that has happened
to him, he still has hope in Jesus.
Aiden, Zack, Brody, Frank and Theo have so much potential! All of these
people I told you about have something in common: they don't let a
disability get in the way of their abilities. Christopher is a singer. Connor flies kites
and inspires people everyday. Nick is an inspirational speaker. Luke is a
pastor and runs a ranch in Mexico. Frank could be one of them. He just
needs a chance.
I have some more heroes. So many people in this world inspire me.
One is someone I have mentioned multiple times: Renee. She is in country
adopting Rascal, and instead of complaining about how badly her son is
being treated there, she is fundraising for Everett and Olson to get
them out of there! She has already cleared out an orphanage, and is
working on another! She is an amazing women of God, and he has blessed
her to be a mighty writing warrior (me, not so much)! And she never
takes the credit for clearing the orphanage, it's all Jesus! She is
amazing, and it scares me to think what would be happening over in 39 if
she hadn't gone over. Alexis, Tyler, Pryce, Patti, Carter, Marcus,
Bernie and Mason probably wouldn't have families coming for them.
Bernadette, Mason, Clarice, Greta, and Mabel wouldn't have even been
listed. Moxie would have been transferred. She is an inspiration, and I
hope God will bless me with her writing ability.
Next is Andy Finch. If you are a snowboarder, you have probably heard of him. Here's his (or his dad's) story in his words:
"A little over 2 years ago my father started acting very out of
the ordinary, very strange. My dad is my childhood hero and I have a
great respect for him. My friends call him perma-grin because he was
always smiling. He had no criminal history, but in mid September
something went haywire in his brain and he lost all sense of reality. To
him everything was normal and “The rest of the world was just acting
crazy!” He felt threatened and the last two days before the accident he
started carrying around a gun.
Due to the stress he was putting on the family, I did a last
minute 8 hour round trip to Fresno to see if I could help my father in
any way before I headed to Europe for 3 weeks. After sitting down with
him for 4 hours I realized there was nothing I could do and I told my
wife that it was going to end up in the hands of the police. Cliff was
doing things that are just not acceptable in our society and for good
reason.
My wife had just met me in France for a week vacation after I had
just competed in Switzerland. She had been on the ground for about 5
hours when I received a text saying, “emergency! Call now!” I knew
instantly something bad happened with my father, but never could have
imagined what I was about to find out.
I called my mom who could barely talk. She told me my father had
been shot 6 to 8 times and docs didn’t think he was going to make it.
This call was right when I was about to go to bed. Well no flights were
leaving till morning, so my wife and I just started praying. The next
morning with no sleep God gave me a peace that I would see my father
again alive, if only for a moment. I was strangely calm as we bought new
plane tickets home on the first possible flight. Family picked us up in
SF and drove us straight to the hospital in Fresno. The first thing
they told me in SF was that my father had opened his eyes. On the drive
down I got the whole story.
Cliff had gone to my uncle’s house looking for my mom, but was in
a very angry mood. He brandished his 9 mm as he searched aggressively
through the house. My uncle frightened by what my father might do,
called the police. When the police tried to pull him over, they were led
down a high-speed chase down a main street in Fresno. The Police did a
P.I.T. maneuver and put him into a ditch. Approaching his car, two shots
came from my dad’s vehicle, than 18 rounds were returned into my
father’s truck. Police pulled him from the vehicle and had to revive him
5 times. No one besides my dad was hurt in anyway except a dent in the
police vehicle that spun out Cliff’s truck. That was miracle number one!
When I finally saw my dad, at I can’t remember what time of
night, I could barley recognize him. There were multiple bullet wounds
to his face and everything was swollen. A sheriff sat next to my
unconscious father while he was chained to the bed. That was quite
possibly the hardest thing for me, seeing my father treated as a
criminal.
Still not knowing if he would make it, we started praying
like never before, as did everyone that heard about it, which was a lot
of people as this was a high profile accident, with the news covering
every detail.
I’ll try to make this short, but there was so much stacked
against my father and our family. I want you to try and realize why my
faith in God is more secure then ever before! First thing we prayed for
was for Cliff to survive. As vital signs stabilized we prayed for him to
be able to breath on his own. 2 weeks after his accident, I put a
prayer vigil together with only a 24-hour notice. 200 people showed up
on the front lawn of the Hospital in a dangerous part of Fresno and the
hospital was nervous because it was sketchy at night. The next day he
could breath on his own. Miracle 3 was when he could talk. Who would
cover the medical bills, which would bankrupt my parents? Would he ever
walk again? Who would defend my father in court, which could also
bankrupt my parents! Bail was set at 2.2 million dollars. Was he
paralyzed? Was his brain damaged from the bullets to his head? Nothing
was moving, fingers, toes or arms. Stood him up the first time 4 months
out. He lived off a feeding tube for 6 months. Was his mental illness
still present? Without my dad, my parents had no substantial way to make
money. 2 weeks after the hospital released my father, my mother went
into the hospital for a mastectomy and lung surgery, that I am for sure
was a result of the stress from the accident. Chemo and radiation would
follow for the next 6 months. Now she could not take care of herself, my
dad or run the business. Fully had to surrender. Amber and I were newly
weds and it was a hard way to start our new marriage. Cliff was facing
life in prison with two counts of attempted murder on a peace officer,
two counts of assault and one count of evading the police. It would take
10 pages to tell you how everything worked out, but believe me when I
tell you it was a true miracle that only God could have orchestrated.
Dads Injuries-
Hit by 7 bullets, 3 in the head (all missing his brain), one bullet
thru his jaw, another through his cheek and hitting his ear drum,
another lodged in his C1 of his brainstem and stopped against his spinal
cord. YES, a bullet stopped against his spinal cord! Try and tell me
that’s not a miracle! Such a dangerous zone that the doctors wouldn’t
risk removing it. One bullet in his left elbow, two in his right elbow,
both blown to pieces, and another in his stomach/ lower back. Was
completely paralyzed for a long time.
Outcome-
Elbows fused, right leg barely works, left leg his only good limb,
left arm works ok, right arm doesn’t work (used to be right handed).
Deaf in right ear. Mental illness under control with medication. Mom got
cleared of cancer a year later. Between the state and my dad’s purple
heart (VA hospital) most bills and court fees were covered. Business
still eeking by. Court stuff- took two years in court, court gave my
father 5 years probation and 200 hours of community service and $5,000
in damages. I prayed for justice knowing God is a just God and that
might mean my father spending the rest of his life in jail.
God put on my heart a week after that accident that he would
snowboard again even with everything he faced. It is a miracle to watch
my father snowboard again! Keep the faith!"
There are some musicians who are also my heroes. Their stories and songs speak to me.
I love music. I feel it can sometimes communicate better than just
words. In my long list of favorite artists (which are all Christian),
Steven Curtis Chapman, Matthew West and Mark Schultz are at the top.
Steven Curtis Chapman is deeply involved with adoption, and had multiple
children adopted from China. He has written so many songs related to
adoption, and good things anyway.
"All I Really Want For Christmas (is a family)" is the letter of an
orphan boy, telling that he wanted a few things, but above that, he
needs a family.
"What Now" is a song about following God's commandment to "take care of
orphans... In their distress", about seeing the need and taking care of
it. It is about the verse that says "you fed me when I was hungry, gave
me water when I was thirsty," and what you do to the least of these we
do to him. This song is about seeing Jesus in that little orphan girl on
the other side of the world, or the homeless child who was sleeping in
the old car while his mom went looking for food. Jesus is right where he
said he would be, we just need to act.
"Meant to Be" was actually written for a VeggieTales movie (I like
VeggieTales, don't judge), but the story of the movie was the story of
two boys on the football team. One boy caught the ball, winning the
game. 15 years later, the other boy is wondering what would have happen
if he had gotten the ball. He has a journey (like the three spirits of
"A Christmas Carol") and realizes that everything happened for a reason.
"Do Everything" is another of my favorites. The story is it doesn't
matter what you do or who you are, "do everything you do to the glory of
the one who made you, because he made you".
Now to Matthew West. I don't know his full story, but his newest album, "The Story Of Your Life" has some pretty awesome songs.
"One Less" is best explained by the first verse.
"There's a child, been abandoned out on the street
Now she's waiting for someone to be her miracle
There's a wife, somewhere halfway around the world
Begging God for a little girl to call her own.
Well, worlds collide, and colors fade, and a man and wife
Brought that little girl home today
There's one less, one less, one less broken heart in the world tonight"
This is also about how God loved us so much that he left his high
heavens in the form of Jesus, and died on the cross so that we could
spend eternity with him. He took that step, and so did the couple in the
song.
"Strong Enough" is also a good one. Though not orphan/ adoption related,
it is about us not needing to be strong enough for every trial, we just
need to depend on God, and we will get through.
Now on to Mark Schultz. Did you know that Mark Shultz was adopted? He
was. He wrote a song for his biological mom, called "Everything to Me". I
just discovered it, and I love it. It is what he would say to her, that
he understood her choices. "You had dreams for me, you wanted best for
me, you made only choice you could that night. You gave life to me, a
brand new world to see, like playing baseball with my dad at night. Mom
reading 'Good Night, Moon", and praying in my room. You worry if your
choice was right, when you gave me up, you gave vey thing to me". When
he sees her in heaven, he will tell her the man he had become, and that
he is grateful of the life she gave him.
"He's My Son" always makes people cry. Although not a strictly orphan/
adoption song, I think of it as a really good song to advocate with.
It's about a father, praying to God about his son, to help him, because
the father can't do anything else. The father wants to take the son's
place somehow, because "he's not just anyone, he's my son". The father
is just asking for his son to be able to grow up, and live without being
scared. The song doesn't mention why the son is scared, but some people
use the song for music dedications to their sons who have/ had terminal
diseases or died young from a disability. Others use the song from
Mary's point of view, as Jesus died upon the cross.
What's the point of all this? Well, first, I wanted to put some of my
favorite songs out there. And second, there's so many messages in them.
"What Now" is about taking God's love to the least of these,
specifically the widows and orphans, but it extends to everyone. I know
it's summer, but think of that kid at your school, or coworker who
always sits alone. We need to extend our love to those least of these
too. Marcus, Carter, Patti, Pryce, Tyler, and Alexis, they are the least
of these. Thankfully, they have families coming for them. Zack and
Aiden and Brody and Frank and Theo, still needs his family! He needs a
momma to read him stories at night, a dad to play baseball in the yard
with. International adoption can be daunting, I know. Reece's Rainbow
tries to help out by raising funds to help with the cost. I know that
$24,000 is a lot of money. 143 million orphans is too.
Have you heard the story of the starfish? It is a story used a lot in the adoption world. Here's how the story goes:
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, "What are you doing?"
The youth replied, "Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them back, they'll die."
"Son," the man said, "don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can't make a difference!"
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said:
"I made a difference for that one."
That is how every orphan will be saved. One at a time. One dollar at a
time. There's a shirt I really want to get , it says: "How do you save
143 million orphans? ONE AT A TIME." and that is exactly how we plan on
doing it.
Let's rally together and save these boys! Because it matters to this one!
Asher
Tyler- HOME!
Frank- MFFM!
Zack- MFFM!
Brody
Theo
Pryce- HOME
Marcus- FAMILY FOUND
Alexis- HOME!
Greta
Mabel
Mason- HOME
Aiden- MFFM!
Clarice
Carter- HOME!
Bernadette- HOME
Ulysses
Meet Frank. He’s 12 years old, and is curious, busy, fun happy and bright. He has a mental delay, but that doesn’t stop him from being friendly, engaging and kind (plus he can rock a batman* hat!). He’s also an orphan in Eastern Europe. This means he is in an institution. If he is not adopted by age 16, he will be thrown out on the street with nothing but the clothes on his back and his “disabled orphan”status. Let me tell you more about Frank.
He’s little, about the size of a 7 year old. And he’s smart. He is in a group with teenage boys ages 16-24. He does puzzles and he attends school. He does his chores diligently. He is very kind to the younger children. Frank is friendly and engaging. He likes being with the boys, but is happy being alone too. He plays appropriately with toys and is “all boy”. He could very easily function in a family. Frank is curious, smart, fun and sweet. He likes to play in the dirt and jump on the trampoline. Frank is independent, a good eater, is happy and content. Frank is physically healthy. He walks, runs, feeds himself,speaks, does puzzles and interacts with others well. He's a sweet boy who seems rather unaffected by his surroundings. He has no future where he's at, and without help, he's never getting out. Institutions are a one way ticket to nowhere. And this little boy deserves a future. This little boy will be a blessing to any family.
He needs a family. But international adoption is pretty expensive. His adoption would cost about $25,000. Reece’s Rainbow is an organization that helps with this cost. They set up grants for children in 25 countries around the world,and any money that is donated to these funds is given to the families to help with adoption fees.
During this Christmas season, Reece’s Rainbow sets a goal,for every child on the “Christmas Angel Tree” to have an Angel Tree warrior.This warrior’s goal is to raise $1,000 or more as the adoption grant for their Angel Tree child. This is my goal. So, I am selling duct tape wallets to help fill Frank’s freedom fund (adoption grant), and help get him freedom and a forever family! 80% of the funds from these wallets go to Frank’s fund. The other 20%is used for supplies so I can continue to fund raise for Frank.
Meet Frank. He’s 12 years old, and is curious, busy, fun happy and bright. He has a mental delay, but that doesn’t stop him from being friendly, engaging and kind (plus he can rock a batman* hat!). He’s also an orphan in Eastern Europe. This means he is in an institution. If he is not adopted by age 16, he will be thrown out on the street with nothing but the clothes on his back and his “disabled orphan”status. Let me tell you more about Frank. 
He needs a family. But international adoption is pretty expensive. His adoption would cost about $25,000. Reece’s Rainbow is an organization that helps with this cost. They set up grants for children in 25 countries around the world,and any money that is donated to these funds is given to the families to help with adoption fees. 
