Wednesday SHINE.....

Today's Reading: John 15

Happy Worship Wednesday, SHINE girls! Today is the day we intentionally WORSHIP our man, Jesus! Sing to Him, dance for Him...worship Him in all you do today!

I bet He just loves to hear your pretty little voices in tune, or like me, out of tune! Just worship Him!

We are continuing on today with our SHINE girls serving stories. Aren't you just loving hearing your sweet SHINE sisters stories? Really, we ALL have a story. Yes, even YOU! :)

My precious friend, Rebekah, is posting her story today. Rebekah truly has a servant's heart. She exudes the Father's love in all she does. Really, it's true.

Be blessed by her story, and may it inspire you today!

I love you, SHINE friends!

My Story
by: Rebekah Vepraskas

Hey, y'all! A few months ago, I attended the Women of Faith conference with our SHINE girls group near Atlanta, Georgia. During the conference, the soloist, Sandi Patty and her daughter, Jenn, were telling of all of the World Vision kids that they have sponsored through the years. I believe their family has sponsored 11 children. (Wow!)

They showed a video of her teenaged son, Sam, finally meeting his own child sponsor in Africa and not being able to communicate through a common language, instead they played soccer and communicated in their own way together. They had exchanged pictures and letters for years and were so excited to meet in person for the first time.

My thoughts immediately were of our sons, Jack, Bodie and Sam, who are soccer players, too. I had always wanted to be a World Vision sponsor, even as a little girl. I remember seeing all of the commercials about sponsoring children in poor villages all over the world. “For about the cost of a cup of coffee a day…” I remember the words well and I remember those little sad faces of the children.

I was trying to talk myself out of my intense urge to sponsor a child. I thought, My twin sister, Mary, has been doing this with her family for years. Don't wait another day, Rebekah!

I know what you’re thinking; you’re thinking $35.00 per month is a lot of money. It is! 

But, in my heart I knew that to us it is a Mexican dinner for our family of 5. The frivolous way we sometimes spend $35 made me know that we could make $35 really count to a child in need. I heard the Lord say to me, “I have given you so much, this is about $100 dollars a month and it will help my children.” 

I turned to my friend, Kelly McLeod, and she enthusiastically agreed to go out into the lobby and help me find us 3 new brothers for my 3 boys. She got the bug too and we were off... :)

The World Vision staff has to be the nicest group of people I have ever worked with. They were so sweet and supportive when I told them that I needed to find 3 boys close to my 3 boy’s ages. They said we could find little boys with the exact birth dates of our boys!? Wow! And, we did! Kelly and I searched through all of the cards on the tables and then on the World Vision website. http://www.worldvision.org

It all came together and we are so excited with these perfect pairings for us! Jack(6) is sponsoring Samuel from Ethiopia. Bodie(4) is sponsoring Thokozani from Malawi. Sam(2) is sponsoring Dieudonne from Burundi. These 3 sweet boys are all the exact ages of our sons (with the same birth days!) and they are in our prayers and on our hearts.

 This way to serve is so exciting to me and our family! I think I am so excited because I have wanted to do this for 30 years now, finally, we are actively participating in a "life change" for these 3 little boys, their families and the villages. These little boys are learning about Jesus...

They can do so much with so little and now these boys and their families have access to:

Clean water, food and basic health care are now going to be available to our African brothers.

We are only a few months into our mission, but we will see it through. Thank you to Kelly and Mary and World Vision for helping to make my little dream come true. Thank you to Jill for giving me the chance to toot the World Vision horn. It is really a wonderful feeling.

Happy to help :),

Rebekah Vepraskas