Keep Your Eyes on the Prize!!

When you see a man walk free,
It makes you dream of Jubilee.

When you see a child walk free,
It makes you dream of Jubilee.

When you see a family free,
It makes you dream of Jubilee.
Keep your eyes on the prize,
Hold on.

Have you ever heard of Sara Groves? If not, you have GOT to check her out! She has an incredible voice, but what's more is she has a sincere, down to earth personality and writes honest lyrics about every day things that you and I struggle with. Drew and I have both seen her live on more than one occasion and she is just as real and honest in person!! She is one of our favorite artists.  

Just recently, Sara wrote a song specifically for International Justice Mission! She is a great supporter and proponent of IJM and we immediately fell in love with the song, "Eyes on the Prize" that she wrote for them. Here is a little snippet of the song:

What an encouraging message! So often we get bogged down with looking at the here and now that we cannot see any hope for the future. Drew and I are struggling with this right now! Sometimes we feel hopeless that we will raise 100% of our support in time to get to Uganda by June 1st. We let the unknowns and uncertainties overwhelm us... Will we raise all our money? Where will live when we get to Uganda? How will we deal with seeing orphans and victims of violent oppression on a daily basis? Will our adoption go smoothly? Where will we live and what will we do when we come back to the US? Sometimes things seem impossible. BUT NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH CHRIST!! Through this song, God reminded us to keep our eyes on the prize! We are not to worry about the potholes and roadblocks on the path. We are going to take one day at at time, keep our eyes on our goal ahead and let the Lord worry about the rest!

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:33-34

If you would like to listen to the whole song you can do so here (I really encourage you to- it is beautiful!):

By the way, on a side note, my incredibly sweet, romantic, and thoughtful husband e-mailed Sara to see if she would call me on my birthday earlier this month. While she didn't get the e-mail in time to call, she did e-mail me for my birthday!!

Amber,

Your sweet husband sent us a note that your birthday was coming up November 5th!  Well, I missed it completely, and I'm sorry, but I thought I would still send a note and word of encouragement to you as you guys take on this big move to Uganda.  I learned about the work of IJM when I was 33 and had two children and a full career - if I had learned about their work when I was in college (not to date myself, but they had not started back then : ) I would definitely be signing up to join this incredible team!  I know no organization is perfect, but the gospel brought in this way, in defense and protection of the most vulnerable, is a beautiful thing.  I hope you had a great birthday and that you are encouraged as you raise funds to take this next step in your life.

Grace and peace in Christ, and Happy Birthday!

Sara Groves

If you are interested in hearing more from Sara I encourage you to check out her songs: Generations, When the Saints, and I Saw what I Saw.

Our Time in Florida

As our time in Florida comes to a close we'd like to write a little update to let you know how our first month of fulltime support raising went. Can we just say that God is AWESOME?? He is so faithful and we have seen Him move in amazing ways since we started our journey to Uganda. Here are a few updates:

• We have raised almost 25% of our financial support!!
• We have many people committed to praying for us during our time in Uganda!
• We have been able to introduce many people to International Justice Mission and see them get as excited about their work as we are! Some have expressed an interest in working with IJM themselves! How cool is that!
• We have been able to spend alot of quality time with friends and family which has been fun and refreshing!

Our booth at the FBC Jax Mission Fair!

Drew could talk about IJM all day long! =) We are both so passionate about their work!

Bowling with Isaiah's Great Grandma (Gigi)

Isaiah's first birthday party

We brought our little pumpkin to the pumpkin patch!

As we prepare to head back home on Monday morning we'd like to say a big THANK YOU! to every church that has allowed us to come and speak, every Bible study and Sunday School that has listened to our presentation, every family who has invited us into their home or taken us out to eat and listened to us speak. We have enjoyed fellowshipping and sharing with each and every one of you! Thank you also to all our friends and family for blessing us in more ways than we can count since we have been here! We have truly been confirmed about our calling during this last month and we look forward to watching God at work in the months to come.

May The Lord Be Praised!

Drew, Amber, and Isaiah

Fun with some of the family!

Celebrating Amber's birthday

We discoverd that Isaiah is quite the dancer when we went to BJ and Katie's wedding!



Our friends - Jason and Priscilla

Of course we couldn't come to Florida and not go to the beach!



Our friends - Riley and Casey and sweet baby Maryella



A day trip to Savannah to visit more family.



A blessed family!!!



Fun in St. Augustine with Aunt Joy and Frannie.



ASANTE: An Attempt At Poetry For Am's Birthday

Today is Amber's birthday.

Though I don't claim to be a poet, I thought I would give it a shot by writing a little birthday poem for my dearest friend - Amber.

As many of you know, Am grew up in Africa in several countries. Throughout those countries, a collection of languages were spoken. Although Am is not a multilinguist, she did, however, learn Swahili quite fluently while living in East Africa for over 5 years. In light of this, the title of this poem is called "Asante" which is the Swahili word for "thank you." Hence, this dash of poetry is a compiliation of "thank you's" from me to my wife, highlighting my love for her through grattitude.

ASANTE

Dearest Am,

Thank you for loving me, day after day. Thank you for picking up, even when I call, just to say hey.

Thank you for teaching me how to biblically love. Thanks for always reminding me of the Sovereign above.

Thank you for helping keep me calm in the times I fret. Thanks for reminding me it's the Lord who guides, and not letting me forget.

Thank you for keeping our home so organized and clean. Thank you for being so kind, when I have been mean.

Thanks for having an incredible dinner, nearly every night. Thank you for trying to make peace, when I attempt to fight.

Thank you for following me, even when you thought I may have been insane. Thanks for being proud of me, when I felt so ashamed.

Thank you for loving me as Christ loves His Bride. Thanks to you, I can face any storm if you're by my side.

Thanks for joining me on this adventure called life. Thank you for saying "yes," when I asked if you'd be my wife.

Day in and day out, you have made me a better man. Only God could have blessed me with such a companion.

At the advent of each day, I already look forward to its end, for I know I'll be coming home to you, Am, my very best friend.

Thanks for being you, Am. Happy birthday.

Eternally yours,

Drew

Drew & Am With IJM In Florida: Our Trip Thus Far

* Please view the pictures at bottom of post *

We have been in Florida for a little more then 2 weeks and have been so encouraged to see many people's interest in IJM's work. For those of you who are not too familiar yet with who International Justice Mission (IJM) is and what they do, we strongly encourage you to visit the IJM page on our blog which you can by clicking this: IJM/Hutcheson Headline  or going straight to IJM's website by clicking this: IJM Homepage

In short:

IJM is a Christian human rights agency that brings rescue to victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression.

Our time in Florida thus far has been comprised of meeting with people and differing speaking engagements to advocate God's call to the Church to live out biblical justice as seen in scripture. At the same time, we have been raising financial support and prayer support.

We will be leaving to return to Michigan between the 15-17 of November.

With a couple of weeks left before we return to Michigan, we hope these upcoming days will be full of encouragement and people will want come to see the pervasive evils in our communities and around the world and will in turn, be moved to take action and seek justice with us.

SOME RECENT IJM HIGHLIGHTS:

Since we have been in Florida, IJM has had several recent breakthroughs in their casework, as well as in their advocacy here in the States. Here are highlights and some links you can visit to receive a greater glimps of this world changing work:

Former Slave Rescued By IJM Initiative, Now Government Official

Kutty was once a slave, now free and making a difference.

Music Artist Sara Groves Releases Song "Eyes On The Prize" In Partnership With IJM

Acclaimed music artist, Sara Groves released a new and greatly encouraging song in partnership with IJM to encourage and remind those doing this hard work of justice that it is making an eternal impact.

RAY OF HOPE: In A City Of 18 Million, Looking for 1 Girl, IJM Did NOT Give Up

Suhana was trafficked, rescued, and then deceived again only to be re-trafficked. IJM would not give up on finding her. This is a powerful and moving glimpse at IJM's passion and perseverance - only God could have done this.

A Husband & Father In Prison For A Crime He Didn't Committ

Meet Joseph, who is being illegally detained in Kenya. You can even send him a note of encouragement and prayer, helping him endure this trial until IJM lawyers can secure his freedom.








Our IJM booth at FBC Jax's Missions Fair