Living Helpless
Hello Friends,
It’s been awhile since we have updated you up on all things happening at JPM, so allow us to catch you up to speed!
This past week (end of January) we served a cherished group of people at a Mennonite orphanage in Tecate, Mexico. Here we met young foster parents in their early 30’s who care for, foster and prayerfully adopt babies and children from the Cali Baja region of Mexico.
If you have gone through or attempted to go through the process of fostering or adopting children, then you know how painful this process can be. When you open your heart and your home to a child, your goal is to care for them and keep them safe.
We had to witness a devastating, and all too common, situation where the birth parents of one of the foster children wanted their 3 month old baby boy back. This may seem like a great thing that the family would be reunited, but unfortunately, the parents are active drug addicts whose only supply of baby food and baby items would be what the foster parents give them during the exchange.
This precious baby would go back to a shack with no heat or running water. Possibly worse, parents often sell and traffick their child(ren) for drugs/money. Please join us in prayer that God would intervene and rescue this child from any trauma or mistreatment.
Pictured here is the beautiful baby boy who is currently back with his drug addicted birth parents. We can only speculate his current situation, so we pray and plead earnestly that God would rescue this child.
Per the request of the Mennonite foster parents, we prayed during the exchange of the baby from foster parents to biological parents. We prayed with all of them present that God would do what only He could do. We even pleaded in prayer that the birth parents would do the right thing and allow the baby to stay with the foster parents.
We prayed what felt like a helpless prayer, but we know that isn’t true. For “God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me” (Psalm 116:6).
Please also pray for Joey and the team at JPM. They were emotionally exhausted after witnessing this exchange and deeply burdened by the thought of what this innocent life would be put through.
“No matter where you are, I, the Lord, will heal you and give you peace. The wicked are a restless sea tossing up mud. But I, the Lord, have promised that none who are evil will live in peace.” Isaiah 57:19-21 (CEV)
JPM did all we could while we were there. We supplied an estimated 9 family units worth of food and groceries totaling over $1,000. Please pray for this precious community doing the Lord’s work.
I think we can all admit to feeling helpless at times. Some of you are in the midst of a helpless season right now. If that is you, please write to us and allow us to pray for you privately during our weekly prayer time. Click here to email us or reply to this email. Your requests would be kept in complete confidence and are truly for the purposes of keeping you in our hearts and partnering with you in this way. Thank you for trusting us to pray for you.
“The Lord hasn’t lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers.” Isaiah 59:1 (CEV)
In mid-February, JPM will return to Roatan, Honduras. We are bringing food and supplies to feed over 500 families. We will also follow up with the families known to have trafficked their children (see this blog post for reference).
It is crucial that you partner with us to pray for protection for Joey and the JPM Team going to Honduras. There are men who are angry that JPM is trying to stop the trafficking of children in this area. They will stop at nothing to continue trafficking their children as JPM will stop at nothing to end this atrocity
We had originally planned to visit Uganda at the end of February/early March to continue our Drill-A-Well project here; however, we had to postpone due to the conflict, fighting and rebels causing wars and chaos in areas near where we planned to visit. Please continue to pray for Uganda. We desperately want to get to this country as they have a great need for clean water.
Pray (Add us to your prayer list!)
Pray for the rescue of the 3 month old baby boy in Tecate, Mexico.
Pray for wisdom, determination, protection and strength for Joey and the team as they continue to face dangerous, degrading and wearisome situations.
Pray against the rebels of Uganda. Pray that God would clear a path for us to go there and continue His work.
Donate
Donate to our main fund to continue feeding children all over the world.
We are returning to Mayfield, Kentucky in the spring (as early as March). Our goal is to donate 1,000 pairs of new shoes for the families of this area who lost everything in the tornado last winter. If you would like to donate 1 or multiple pairs of new shoes, please email us to request the address for which to them!
Share
Like, comment and share our facebook posts and link to our website! This helps get the word out about the work we’re doing and gives others the opportunity to partner with us, too! We post weekly and sometimes daily updates about what JPM is actively doing in the community and around the world. We aim to be as transparent as possible about the work we do.
On a personal note, Cathy and I are excited to become “Gigi” and “Papa” again! Please join us in celebrating our daughter, Hannah Beth, and son-in-law, Andrew, as they welcome our first grandson in April to join our 5 granddaughters!
God bless you for your blessings & partnership with us!
Many prayers and our love,
Joey & Cathy
