What HOSTING does for YOU!

While hosting is great for the orphan, you need to understand that it's great for you too! Although I believe that we are called to lay down our lives, ultimately I believe that it's for greater HAPPINESS that we choose to do so. By choosing to walk the path of Jesus and follow hard after HIM, we get more of HIM. And, Jesus is the ultimate treasure, more satisfying that anything this world have to offer. So, when I'm encouraging you to care for orphans, I'm going for more than just caring for orphans. I'm wanting you to get more of Jesus, to experience the JOY of caring for one of the "least of these." Now, I know that there are plenty of ways to care for orphans By encouraging you to consider hosting, I'm highlighting ONE of those ways.

So, read on for "What HOSTING does for YOU!"

1. Hosting is FUN! Seeing the wonder and amazement in a child's eyes when, for the FIRST time, they see Christmas Trees, a Live Nativity, a candlelit home is fun. For us, as a family who hosted in the summer time, incredulity erupted with an invitation to play in the sprinkler, splash in the pool, and ride a bicycle.



You'll never view your family traditions in the same way, once you have experienced them through the eyes of an orphan.

2. Hosting expands your world beyond your comfort zone. For three weeks, you will have another little person in your home who has no idea of the "way you do things" in your home. It's a great opportunity to assess the real reasons why you have certain rules, guidelines, etc. as you try to explain them, by charade and example, with a child who hasn't grown up in the environment you've established. However, some rules, like "Seven-year-old girls cannot drive our 12-passenger van" remain non-negotiable.



3. Hosting enables you to trust God with your finances. Who couldn't use $2500 - $3500+ on something for yourself, your family, your home? But, by investing this amount of money in an orphan, you are demonstrating lavish love - like Mary at the feet of Jesus (John 12), and ultimately following in the steps of Christ Himself as He gave the most lavish gift of all upon the cross. Several thousand dollars really isn't so much, when you think about it!




4. Hosting gives you an opportunity to "try out" what it's like to bring an orphan into your family. Perhaps you are considering adoption. By hosting, you could meet the child you'll eventually adopt. It's definitely not a guarantee, and hosting doesn't shorten the process at all, but as one who is close to bringing her daughter home, I can tell you that there's something very nice about her already having been here in our home with the rest of the children.




5. Hosting gives you a platform for sharing the passion that you have for the fatherless with others. Whether you have children at home, a church family with whom you're involved, or simply your neighborhood - when you host an orphan, people ask questions. They're curious. All of a sudden, the orphan problem in the world has a face.



By hosting, you are choosing something that is personally costly. You are choosing to NOT play it safe with your Christmas vacation. You are choosing to be a haven for the fatherless. This gives you a platform from which you can encourage others, most often just by what you're doing, to care for orphans as well.

If you really are curious about the nitty-gritty of hosting, click on the "Summer Hosting" category in the sidebar. I tell it like it really was, for us, when Katya came for nearly four weeks during the summer of 2008. While our experience with Katya was filled with swimming pools, sprinklers, and the 4th of July, yours will be filled with Christmas trees, Nativities, chestnuts roasting by an open fire.

If you have questions, contact KT Bronson, 757.749.3922 or check out the Frontier Horizon website under Host Program. The cost has been reduced from $3,500 to $2,500 for families who are able to pay this full amount by November 15.

And, if you decide to move ahead with hosting, be sure and let me know!