Here Am I. Send Me.

A recent letter that was emailed to our close friends asking them to support us this summer as we venture out in a wild journey of faith:

“How are we going to explain THIS without all our friends thinking we are nuts?”

These were Bob’s exact words as we were brainstorming ways to let you all know about the AMAZING opportunity that God has plopped into our laps!

You are our close friends so you know how the Fitzpatrick’s operate. You are accustomed to our “spontaneity”!

Here goes: In July, our family is going to serve at weekly summer camps for orphan children with Bring Me Hope ministry!

Oh, and these camps are in China. :)

The first camp begins on July 5th and all SEVEN Fitzpatricks plan on being on the coast of China in Yantai to work as volunteers at BMH summer camps for orphans.

Our sole job description is to love orphans.

When it comes down to it, Jesus defines religion really simply: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27

Really, Jesus wants us to be loving orphans and widows no matter what longitude and latitude we are in. So saying “yes” was not a hard decision for us. Nope, deciding to go was easy. Getting us there—now that is more of a challenge.

But NOT FOR GOD!

It all started with a tap on our shoulders in church two Sundays ago. Our friends asked if we would join them as their family goes for a month to look after the ones that God has given them such a tender heart for. The Bolt family loves China, orphans, and families.

That is how Bring Me Hope ministry began—in the heart of this family. If you want to find out more about the family and their ministry, check out: http://www.bringmehope.org/ or http://www.bmhnews.blogspot.com/

We are going to serve alongside them by swimming, crafting, hugging, laughing with, playing with, crying over and loving children. Chinese orphans.

We can’t wait! Unlike our recent separate trips to “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation”, this summer we are so thrilled to be serving as a family in China. Together. Shoulder to shoulder. Heart to heart.

There are a dozen different things we could share: mind-boggling details, faith-deepening facts, about how God has brought this about so suddenly. But we think the best thing to add here is that God has made the way straight and opened all the doors for us to go. So we go, in faith.

Here is where you come in: God has provided passports, visas and many of the practical things necessary to make it clear that He wants us in China serving these children whom He loves. What we really need is your prayers. Lots and lots and LOTS of them.

This will not be an exotic vacation or a refreshing family camp. Going will require something of us that we don’t possess apart from His Holy Spirit: Christ’s Love. That “stretched out to its farthest limits, laying down your life” kind of love. We can’t go in our own strength, with our own limited brand of love. It will hurt those children and our own hearts too much that way. But if we love them with the Love Jesus has for orphans, then the cost will be worth it.

If we love these kids like our own and with His Love, knowing they will return to their orphanages after only one short week, it is sure to be painful. But that pain should not keep us from loving them while we can. And we can.

So the Fitzpatrick Family is going to China in July 2010. To love the least, the last, the lost.

Will you go with us in prayer? Will you join with our church family at Temecula Hills Christian Fellowship and our hearts as we ask the Lord to do incredible things in and through us? As we seek to love these unwanted children and show them that they have worth and that they matter to Someone, will you intercede for them? Will you pray that the children He brings to the BMH camps will see Jesus’ love in real, tangible, expressive ways through us?

We have been told that it will be a great benefit to these children to witness an intact family interacting and loving each other; they do not have this modeled in their orphanages. Please pray that they would see His Hope for the family—even though ours is so flawed and imperfect. We want to bring Hope to these children.

Will you help us?

Please reply to this email TODAY if you are willing to join our team of people praying for us, the Bolt Family, Bring Me Hope staff, our Chinese translators (we will share a close relationship with these students while in China and hopefully in the future when we return!) and the precious orphans He brings us to love. In this way, we can keep you posted on particulars and plans so you can pray specifically.

Thanks for letting us share this burden with you…to pray…and carrying it with us.

In Christ,

The Fitzpatrick Family

Bob, Kelly, Reilly, Kate, Samuel, Aidan, and Peter

For some awesome photos of last year's camp:

http://www.bringmehope.org/media/?cat=3

Wanna join us on the wild ride of living dangerously surrendered to Christ? Comment with your email address and we will add you to our support team! :)