Coming to Florida - FBC Jax Mission Fair

Amber and I are excited to be arriving in the Sunshine State tommorrow! While the temperature continues to drop here in Michigan, we'll hopefully bring back a Florida tan to the midwest upon our return.

We will be in town sharing about International Justice Mission and informing people of how they can become involved with this growing movement. We will also be raising support for our year abroad in Uganda with IJM - will we be seeing you?

FBC JAX 2011 Mission Fair
While in town, we will also be participating in First Baptist Church's annual mission fair. For details, please visit this link: http://www.fbcjax.com/events/missionfair This will be a great time of fellowship with others in overseas Christian work, as well as meeting people who would like to become involved.

We would enjoy visiting with you while in town! If you would like to get together, please give us a call and let's see what we can arrange.

We also wanted to let you know we are now on Twitter. This has been a great way of connecting with people, giving real-time updates, as well as informing others of what we'll be doing in Uganda. Our Twitter name is: drewhutcheson. Send us a tweet!

If you would, please pray for our journey down to Florida, that as we drive, we will arrive safely and swiftly.

See you soon!

We're Adopting!

We have some exciting news to announce:

We are adopting! 

Yes, you heard right! We are adding to our family through adoption. We are SO excited about beginning this process and can't wait to see how the Lord will work!

God placed adoption on our hearts and minds when we first got married (actually we talked about it while we were still dating but didn't feel God's confirmation until later). Ever since then we have been discussing the idea, praying about it, and looking into the details of how to go about it. Over a year and a half ago, when the Lord first called us to Uganda, we decided that while there we would like to pursue adoption. After many months and much prayer we have finally begun the process and started the paperwork (the mountain of paperwork I should say!) to adopt from Uganda.



The orphanage my sister Janae was adopted from.



Janae

The orphanage my sister Adelynn was adopted from.

Addie



Janae and Adelynn today.

We will be adopting indepedantly while we are in Uganda. This means that we will not be going through an agency for the adoption but instead will be visiting the Ugandan orphanages ourselves, choosing our own child to adopt, securing our own lawyer, and figuring out things like visas, birth certificates, paperwork, and legal requirements on our own (with the help of our attorney). My parents adopted my two little sisters independantly from Uganda and we have many friends who have gone through the process so we feel confident that we can do it with their help!

Last Saturday we had our Home Study done. We got to meet Mary, a very nice lady from Families Through Adoption, who came and interviewed us and examined our home. She is now in the process of writing our Home Study approval. When that is written we can apply for the I-600A which will be the written approval from the US government that we can advance in the process of our adoption. We can take that approval to Uganda when we move there in May and we should be all set to bring a child into our home soon thereafter. There will be much work and paperwork after that in order to finalize legal guardianship in Uganda and later the adoption in the U.S. but we will take it one step at a time! The Lord has already proven himself faithful over and over again and we are trusting in Him to continue directing our path.

It's strange to think that our baby may be born already, may be being born right now as I type this, or may be still in his or her mother's womb. In any case, we have begun praying for our precious child, that wherever he or she may be they would be safe and loved. We do not know how old our child will be, whether we will adopt a boy or a girl, or even how many we will adopt! But the Lord knows and He does all things well. We trust that in His timing He will bring the right child/children to us and we will know that they are ours!

If the Lord brings it to your mind please pray for us as we travel this exciting road He is taking us on! We will keep you updated as things progress and hopefully by summer of 2012 we will be able to introduce you to the newest member of our family! =)

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He [Jesus] has done all things well."

Mark 7:37a

Sending Bad Guys to Jail, Defending the Orphan & Widow – IJM

Sending Bad Guys to Jail, Defending the Orphan & Widow – IJM   

International Justice Mission’s (IJM) quarterly newsletter just came out and it gives a great glimpse as to why IJM holds criminals accountable for their actions by prosecuting them and sending them away. But hold on a second, you may be wondering, “Isn’t IJM a CHRISTIAN agency?” Yes, undoubtedly. “And they’re sending people to prison for years?” Indeed.

This is one of IJM’s most central hallmarks – perpetrator accountability – which really makes societal structural change in a location IJM works in possible. Now, why is this such a cool and amazing work? Because, for quite some time the need for the church to truly embrace and live out the call to DEFEND the orphan and widow has gone unanswered. It’s a difficult objective to carry out tactically. But now, it’s happening. Working in developing countries, IJM is there rescuing and defending the oppressed from all sorts of oppression; be it forced labor (slavery), rape for profit, illegal property seizures, and other sorts of injustices. In order to do this, IJM must prosecute the perpetrators to bring an end to the oppression occurring in the community. God’s call and command to defend the orphan and widow is being answered!

In IJM’s recent quarterly update, Gertrude’s story is highlighted. Gertrude is a victim of illegal property seizure. After her husband died, her husband’s brother made it clear he was going to take her property. When Gertrude would not willingly give up what was legally hers, the man went from threatening to using violent force. Gertrude was dragged from her home and beaten in front of her daughters and granddaughter. The only way to stop such violence is to punish those who cause it. By doing this, “suddenly,” as Sean Litton (VP of IJM Field Operations) has said “the weak have a voice and hope for a community where they do not need to live in fear anymore.”

Often times these are our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering.

When a criminal in a community is sentenced to time in prison, it sends an alarming message to those who are also involved in the same violent work: there’s consequences for what you’re doing. Stop while you still can.

God smiles upon this, as His gospel and call to execute justice on behalf of the oppressed is being embraced and lived out. It’s happening, now, in this generation. May it be so, o Lord, that the dark oppressive forces that exist shall dissipate from an onslaught of the light of justice. This is world-changing work. This is the work of IJM.

Justice has been served - Gertrude's perpetrator is in prison. Now she can return to living a life without fear!