I have a friend who I wanted to feature this week, or rather, I wanted to feature her vision, her dream, of helping children who need a loving home. Melissa J. (Missie) actually founded MamaBuzz and stepped down from it when she decided to step alongside her husband, helping him with his business, putting her focus more on her family. Since then, God has really worked in her family’s life, and she and her husband just really have a renewed vision for a dream that God has set before them. However, they need our prayers, so that is why I’m telling you about their vision today.When Missie was a teenager is when God actually implanted this vision within her heart. At first, it was about troubled teens, but now God has started a change within the vision, a dream of opening up their home to children with all kinds of disabilities, diseases, etc. Instead of telling you about the dream myself, I’d love for you to head over to Missie’s blog, Hidden Valley Simplicity, and read her exact words. Through reading her story, I’m hoping that you’ll begin to see Missie and Chuck’s desire to serve the Lord through the ministry of The Meadows. I hope that your heart’s desire will be to join with them as prayer partners. First of all, though, catch the vision:

The Beginning of Fulfillment

What Looked Like an Open Door

If you are a person who could talk to Missie and Chuck or give them helpful advice….maybe you’ve had experience in this field of work and ministry….be sure to contact her through her blog, Hidden Valley Simplicity. I know she’d love to hear from you! Thanks so much for making your light shine!

Jamie is a 7 year old little girl with a vision, a vision to help other kids with epilepsy to know that they are not alone.  Two years ago, Jamie and her family discovered, after a seizure at 5:30 in the morning, that she had epilepsy.  What a scary time this was for Jamie and her family.  When Jamie was visited in the hospital and given gifts and snacks, the idea sprang to life, and Angels4Epilepsy was begun.Angels4Epilepsy is Jamie’s project, in which she aims to help other kids with epilepsy to feel more at home when they stay in the hospital.  From packing up gift bags to delivering those gift bags, filled with all kinds of goodies, Jamie stays busy comforting those who are going through the same thing she’s going through.  Angels4Epilepsy aims to comfort children suffering from epilepsy, but it also aims to educate the community about this condition.  Each major holiday will find Jamie delivering the gift bags to the local children’s hospital, but she also wants other children to get involved too.You can help!  You can vote for Jamie’s project, Angels4Epilepsy on the Pepsi Refresh Project.  If she wins, she could gain $5,000 towards her project, which could help her to gain non-profit status/incorporation, as well as go towards supplies for the gift bags.   So head on over, and use your vote to make a 7 year old’s dreams of helping other children to come alive!  Shine your light!

Sara Groves is one singer who truly inspires me.  After featuring Gabi and Racham Ministries and finding this video once again on her blog, I thought it’d be perfect for SYL.  We can’t forget what we see….we can’t forget the things that we hear….we can’t forget the suffering that is going on all over the world….we must have courage, and we must let the Holy Spirit, even the things that we see….change our hearts.  Shine your light.

The other day I received a comment from Gabi, who also has a blog, Valued Far Above Rubies and Pearls.  When I started reading down through Gabi’s posts, her writing just gripped my heart.  She has such a poetic, amazing style of writing, and you can feel her heart in everything that she writes.  You can feel the love that she has for God and the love that she has for the children of Uganda.  Uganda is her “home away from home.”Mama Gabi, as she is called in Uganda, first went to Uganda in 2009.  She’s a 26 year old young woman who felt the call of God on her life when she was only 10, to go to Africa.  When she finally went to Uganda for the first time in 2009, she knew that this place was home for her; she surrendered to do full-time ministry, starting Racham Ministries. Gabi returned to England, where she is from, but in May 2010, she went back to Uganda, and while there, she found a house that is going to be the center of her ministry with the children of Uganda.

When you read her blog and see the pictures that she shares of some of the children, I hope that it touches your heart.  Right now, Gabi is trying to raise the funds for her return to Uganda in January; she is planning on staying for good.  God has turned Gabi’s life around completely, the details of which are written in her blog, but I don’t feel that I could give justice to sharing them…..her writing says it all.  If you have a teenage daughter, or even if you’re struggling in life yourself, I highly encourage you to read Gabi’s blog and to receive both encouragement and inspiration from her story.  You can also help Gabi return to Uganda and start her ministry there by giving to Racham Ministries through Paypal at dickinsonbarbara@hotmail.com.  Please write “For Racham” in the subject line.  You can Like Racham Ministries on Facebook.

Just to share a bit of Gabi’s heart with you…. (in Gabi’s own words)….I bleed colours of life. I bleed the cries of orphans. I bleed a dance upon injustice. I bleed the tears of girls staring at their reflection and having deception and distortion staring them back in the face. I bleed the empty silences of the ones whose identity has become loneliness. I bleed the hearts of those who have known the crushing pain of betrayal. I bleed the tears of lives bound by lies of unworth. I bleed the brokenness of every heart in pieces by the words of another. I bleed Him for every abandoned child, their only hope. I bleed forgiveness. I bleed outrageous grace, because of Him. I bleed the beauty of life made new. I bleed truth into barren life. I bleed knowing the wonder of each new day as the miracle it is. I bleed holiness, as He has named me holy. I bleed abundant life. I bleed songs of peace. I bleed reconciliation. I bleed a life of restoration. I bleed all my life surrendered to His service. I bleed a sacrifice of praise. I bleed my Everything. I bleed Him.