And They Jumped to Their Feet

Many of you were praying for us Monday evening
 as Dw and I had the unbelievable privilege of
sharing a brief snippet about our new ministry
Our new church, Phoenix First, has hosted this 
Pastor’s Conference for 35 years and 
pastors come from all over the world.
There are many things pulling for center stage, 
so when we were asked if we would 
share a brief bit about IVO we were humbled and thrilled!
As we prayed about what to share, 
the Lord impressed on us exactly what 
would have the most impact.
The evening starts with the famous Parade of Ministries. 
Ministries of all sorts carrying signs and 
cheering as they walk/run across the stage….
the energy was contagious!
Phoenix First has ministries of all kinds and let me tell you, 
each one was out in full-force!
Ministries to: those handicapped
 {people in wheelchairs, stretcher-like apparatuses, etc.},
 Foster care, post-abortion, crisis pregnancy, 
prison, former-prostitute, Dream Center, marriage {NAME}
and the list went on – over 250 ministries! 
 It was truly amazing!
Then Pastors Tommy or Luke Barnett 
interviewed a small handful
of the highlighted ministries.
International Voice of the Orphan 
was the last ministry to be interviewed.
We had a long banner made which the kids were carrying.
I held Ruby – who was wide awake 
{and dressed adorably I might add!}
Josh and Savannah walked with us as well.
When our opportunity came, Dw spoke first for a
 moment about the orphan crisis translating to 
163,000,000 orphans globally.
Then he handed the mic to me.  
I said, “We would like to introduce you to 
one of the 163,000,000.  
Because it is all about just one.”
The picture of Emma holding Ruby went up on the 
jumbo screen.  I continued, “Dw and Emmy, our 18 year old, 
found this little girl last June lying in a corner 
of an orphanage.  She was almost a year old 
and weighed just 6 lbs.  
Just 6 pounds.”
The crowd literally groaned.
Their groan echoed across the entire auditorium 
as the thousands of pastors and leaders 
gathered took in what exactly six pounds and
 being almost a year old would mean. 
I went on, “Dw began to advocate for care for this little girl.  She was dying!  Before long the director, seeing our deep love for her, asked if we would be willing to adopt her?”  
At that point I turned Ruby around and said, 
“We brought her home!  Please meet Ruby,
 the little girl in the picture.”  
Without warning, 2/3 of the crowd jumped to their feet on the floor seating and they jumped to their feet in the first  balcony…everywhere…and began cheering and clapping!
It was deafening!
Our hearts were overwhelmed at the outpouring of 
love and joy for our precious little treasure!   
Later Pastor Luke said privately to us, 
“You moved their hearts.”
Yes, indeed, our once-emaciated-dying-little-treasure-saved-only-by-the-grace-of-God-turned-miracle completely and utterly 
stole the show!!
Who would have guessed?
What God can do when He saves, 
restores and redeems!
Our prayer is that Ruby’s picture and beautiful 
face will never, ever be unforgotten by those 
in attendance and that God will continue to 
work on hearts around the globe to compel each to do something! 
To visit the International Voice of the Orphan 
website, look here
For those interesting in adopting an orphan in 
prayer through Elijah’s Hope, click here.
We have an IVO blog now…which you can find here.

28 thoughts on “And They Jumped to Their Feet

  1. oh my! my husband and I were part of the LA Dream Center for years and have memories of pastor's school. how wonderful for your family to be planted under Pastor Tommy's leadership. How great to get the word out about your ministry at such a huge event!!
    blessings, will be in prayer,
    adri ramirez

  2. I just knew God would use you and precious Ruby Grace! Thanking The Lord he did! Now they know! Yippee Jesus praying for an out pouring of LOVE for the orphan.

  3. Oh Linny I am sobbing like a baby right now! What an amazing story!!!!! I prayed so hard that night that hearts would be open and willing to listen to your message. God went beyond and moved them to their feet!!!!!!!! WOW WHAT AN AMAZING GOD we get to serve!!

  4. Oh Linny,
    What an incredible response and opportunity!!! Hearts were broken… and we now what happens next…. hands and feet in action!

    Okay you've made me bawl too many days in a row. Can you post something lighter next?!?!?! No cancel that. I always want my heart to be broken for the things that break His!!!

    Love, Lisa K.

  5. tears streaming down my cheeks, praying that every person in that room will reach out in love for the orphaned, the forgotten. Praying for ripples to be made worldwide!!!

  6. me here again, I just wanted to share something very interesting, the word verification I got from my previous post was "aconven signify"

    and it reminded me of a convention, and signify… which is directly related to your post…

    from http://www.dictionary.com

    convention:
    noun
    1.
    a meeting or formal assembly, as of representatives or delegates, for discussion of and action on particular matters of common concern.

    signify:
    verb (used with object)
    1.to make known by signs, speech, or action.

    Isn't that awesome or what?? it's like, the fourth or fifth time I've had word verifications relating to His Word… I think, our Sovereign God, is saying, verifiying… that what you're doing is significant and it's something that action will be taken on!

    πŸ™‚ πŸ™‚

    p.s. I was reading Lynda Hunter Bjorklund's book about making the Holy Spirit home in our hearts… how the Lord backs up with logos what He has been revealing (rhema). Awesome! πŸ™‚

    p.p.s I took a screenshot of the word verification, if you would like to see it, email me and I will send a picture of to to you (if want) πŸ™‚

  7. Oh my gosh. I have almost forgotten this picture of Ruby, she is such a beauty now! Praise God for moving hearts! I'm praying that he will keep working mightily!

  8. I know you don;t know me but I stumbled upon your blog and I am so encouraged and inspired by yall's ministry IVO! Im going to Africa this summer and I cant wait! thank you for sharing your heart and for pressing into the lord to adopt and glorify him! its super encouraging to see the Lord working in others! (:

  9. I know you don;t know me but I stumbled upon your blog and I am so encouraged and inspired by yall's ministry IVO! Im going to Africa this summer and I cant wait! thank you for sharing your heart and for pressing into the lord to adopt and glorify him! its super encouraging to see the Lord working in others! (:

  10. AWESOME!! You had me in tears and I already know of her miracle, God's miracle. I am SOOOO happy that their hearts were stirred for the orphan. I've been thinking about approaching my own little church about speaking on behalf of the orphan, but I'm not sure where to begin. This gives me some ideas though. Thank GOD for people like you! PTL

  11. It really is about just one. People hear the statistic "163,000,000" and they get defeated by the sheer numbers. But one, can you adopt/help just one? Yes! If most people are truly honest with themselves, they will realize they can do whatever the Lord asks of them for that one.

    Praise God for His goodness!

  12. So wonderful to hear!!!! That's great news and it's so encouraging! What a little life changer your little Ruby is! God has used her so much already, it's really truly unbelievable. I just love her to pieces! Praying that those in attendance won't forget. Thinking of Prov 24:12 and praying the leaders who were there will feel the wait of responsibility to do something – anything to help.

  13. Amazing!! I re-read this 3 times and each time as I read of you 'turning around' with Ruby in your arms, 'God bumps' covered my arms and tears flew to my eyes!

    My your heart for orphans to back to those thousands of churches!

    YOU have made a difference because you listened to God's call!

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