Back in Dar enjoying that window near my desk again with that breeze. Thanks to all of you I saw in the USA. I had a great time and appreciate you all. My time in Santa Clarita was a HUGE blessing to me. THANK YOU!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Dutton's- Why Me?
WHY ME??????
WOW!!! The last 4 months was an incredible, challenging, heart wrenching, and growing time for our family. God showed us so much, humbled us, and motivated us to give our lives even more for the plight of the poor and orphaned. As we flew away, one thing that was heavy was the following question:
"Why Me"??? Why did God give us so much? Why are we born in a free country? Why do we have food for ourselves and our children? A roof over our heads? Clean drinking water? Our health? A warm bed? Good food? Why are our streets clean? Why aren't my kids suffering from one disease after another? Why isn't my whole family dying of different diseases? Why aren't the floors of my house mud? Why do I have a place to live at all? Why do I have a kitchen with a fridge, and water on demand, and an oven? Why do I have a bathroom? Why haven't I lost all 4 of my kids to Malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, or water borne illnesses? WHY???
We like to justify all the reasons as to why, (I think it makes us feel better) but honestly, there is not one answer that fully makes sense. To continually walk by suffering, hungry people and then walk into your house and make your children a nice meal, take a warm shower, and climb into bed, day in and day out, makes you say "why me"? To see orphans lying in a crib day in and day out with no one to hold them, or rock them, or feed them and then see your kids so blessed by love is difficult. (Let alone to see so many families able to give them a loving home, and haven't...yet :o) ). To see a mother begging for food, and living in a mud hut that is filthy, and then walk into your nice home. WHY ME???? It's something you can't understand unless you live it out daily, standing face to face with the suffering, and then walk back into your comfortable world away from much of those struggling just to live. At the outdoor market, I walked by a young child. He had no legs, and was wearing a hood over his head, as though he was hiding underneath it. He just sat there begging, a little ball, face to the ground under his hood.
MY HEART JUST BROKE!
I bent down, lifted up his head, and looked in His eyes. Those eyes, WOW, that's another story in itself. I smiled at him, told him Jesus loved him, and gave him some food, and a small scripture card. I then prayed for him, and walked away. But long after I was gone, the image of his face haunted me...for days. Why is he there? What happened to his parents? Where did he sleep last night? How does he get out of the rain? Where does he find food, he can't even walk?
How is he alive???
What about the lady I sat next to with flies all over her, who was dying, and did die soon after. Did she have kids? What about the elderly man who sat there on the street with bloody limbs, hoping for someone to give him some money to buy food. Without a cane, how can he go and get food? Where does he drag himself at night? And the list of stories could go on and on and on...they were daily...
While I could tell you, and do tell you all the amazing stories of what God is doing there, and the amazing miracles happening daily, like the little baby healed of HIV, God has a different message that He wants me to bring. A challenge so to speak. Now before you delete, or move onto the next email, just hold on a bit. Because the message is vital, and it's for you and for me.
Its life and death for those who are on the other end of our faithfulness.
In light of asking myself why, the Lord has so clearly shown me, that it is OUR RESPONSIBILITY to help these people. God hasn't blessed us so we can spend our resources on ourselves while people are dying. He has not given us a great paying job so we can spend our money on nice cars, big houses, vacations, clothes, and toys while many brothers and sisters in Christ are DYING OF STARVATION!!!!
Believe me, I've been guilty of all these things. But, the fact of the matter is, He has given us much so that we would give much to others. We aren't entitled to all we earn. He has ENTRUSTED us with His resources to do with it as HE DECIDES.
"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God"...2 Cor 9:11
This is not to say we aren't allowed to drive a nice car, or own a nice house, etc. What it is to say is this: "Do we spend more on our new car payments than on the poor"... "Do we spend more on our vacations, or remodeling our home, or buying toys than we do on the poor"..."Do we spend more on our kids sports, school clothes and pleasures than we do on the poor"...
Please hear me when I say Im guilty. God has had to remove a lot in our lives over that past few years, to open our eyes to the reality of how we, and most American Christians are living our lives, and spending our resources. My job isn't to judge or condemn, but it IS to challenge and to open eyes, the way that God has opened ours, to the reality of what is happening because we are too busy living in the bubble of the American dream. Yes, John and I used to give a lot of money to the poor, but we also gave more to ourselves. Yes, we spent a lot helping the orphan, but we spent more of our resources on a bigger house than we should've bought. Why didn't we buy a simple place, and give the rest to the poor, or use the extra to build an orphanage, etc.??? Couldn't we have bought an older car, or went on a simpler vacation, or been content with our house in its current condition?
While I'm learning to not feel guilty for enjoying his blessings alltogether , God has taught me that I must first seek His kingdom, help His people, and be faithful with His resources, and then AFTER I've done ALL THE LORD HAS REQUIRED WITH THE THINGS HE'S ENTRUSTED ME WITH, I'm free to enjoy the remaining amount on all the wonderful things He has given us. I'm free to enjoy going out to eat, or buying a new outfit, or take a vacation. But most importantly, I must be faithful to Him and to those whose lives depend on my faithfulness, with what God has blessed me with.
There is so much need, and we can do nothing less than give Him our all: our resources, our time, our material possessions, our everything!!!
Will you join us?????
"And now, O LORD, I have brought you the first portion of the harvest you have given me from the ground.' Then place the produce before the LORD your God, and bow to the ground in worship before him"...Duet 26:10
NEEDS:
- Funds for the girls shelter- We are hoping to open the girls shelter immediately and need $5000 for the first 6 months of rent, and to purchase beds for the girls. The girls are already being solicited so its important to get them off of the streets ASAP.
- Personal needs- We need funds to help get settled back in the states. We left a lot of our items at the guesthouse in Ethiopia, and are also still figuring out how we will get to Ohio at the end of this month
- Prayer- We need to be covered in prayer as a ministry and as a family. Please pray for his protection, provision, and wisdom for both the ministry and us. Pray for our missionaries and for Gods continued leading in every area of our lives.
To Donate visit our website at http://www.duttonfoundation.org/ and click on the donate page.
Thank you all so much for your love, prayers, and support. We are so grateful for every one of you!!!!!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Kathy Keller- Prayers for 2011
 Dear Friends, Thanks again for your faithful prayers and support. I appreciate you! Thanks for praying for me as I was in Michigan for three weeks learning so much at a growth retreat to help build my skills as a leader. I am praying that God strengthens me as a person and as a leader through all I learned. We studied many topics, some of which were stress management, burnout, communication styles, conflict management, goal-setting, Sabbath, parting well, facing adversity, third culture kids, depression, joy, forgiveness, anger, loss and grief, community, positive parenting and the list went on and on! Let’s just say that I definitely learned a ton! Pray that I will both apply all I can to my own life as well as be better equipped to helping others who are going through all kinds of joys, sorrows, culture shocks, adjustments, and such on our team. Please keep praying for me as I am still working with potential candidates to help them decide if joining our Training in Ministry Outreach (TIMO) team is a good fit for them. Pray for the folks who are interested in our team and going through the process of applying. Pray God would clearly lead and direct all of us involved. Pray for us as we are preparing for the September 2011 start date. We have decisions that need to be discussed with our partnering missioXn, homes to find for our new teammates, and ongoing ministry to boot. We are excited about receiving two teams this summer, both of which are from teammates sending churchXs (including mine!). We are facing a few roadblocks in terms of scheduling with schools, timelines the teams are on, and our team timing as well. Pray that we can work all of this out. One thing I took away from the three weeks was to make sure that we have margin within the boundaries that we believe God has set for us. Pray for us as we live in a world that is not as scheduled and regimented as the USA and our desires to have these boundaries and margins often get blurred. Pray for Claudia right now who is holding down the fort for the next few weeks in the midst of lots of communication with leaders in our community. I am going to visit my sending church next weekend during their missioXn month. Pray that God will bless that time together. I depart for xxxxxxx on February 19th. Please pray that I can get lots of work done in the states that is easier to do here, as once I leave I do face some limitations—i.e. having good conversations with potential future teammates, sending out packets of information to them, and so on.  As I am sure many of you who have followed my letters closely for the past five or so years have noticed my pictures have often had a little dog in them (Goose). Pictured above, Goose is spending time with one of our IndiXn families and on the lower right he is acting in a Bamba skit (he had been to all five Bamba Camps!). He has been a part of many kid’s lives. He sadly died on December 31st. I can’t tell you how many parents would come up to me and tell me their kids just loved Goose, or how many times I ran into someone on the street walking him and ended up building a relationship. I am thankful for the time that he was able to be part of our lives and ministry. I know many children and youth are going to miss him (they tell me on Facebook!) and of course, so will I. J Thank you God for your blessings that come in all shapes and sizes! Well, I do look forward to hearing from you too. Drop me a line when you get a chance. In His Grace Alone, Kathy Keller |
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Travel Immunizations- February Schedule
Travel immunizations are available twice in February from the Siskiyou County Public Health and Community Development Department Clinics.
The first clinic is February 8th, Tuesday, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm at 411 Ski Village Drive, Suite C, Mount Shasta.
The second clinic is February 24th, Thursday, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at 810 S. Main St., Yreka.
To schedule an appointment, call 841-2134.
The first clinic is February 8th, Tuesday, from 2:00pm to 3:00pm at 411 Ski Village Drive, Suite C, Mount Shasta.
The second clinic is February 24th, Thursday, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at 810 S. Main St., Yreka.
To schedule an appointment, call 841-2134.
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