A Promise Fulfilled

"But thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called you by name, thou art mine. When thou
passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not
overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee."


At the age of 17, while going thru a difficult time in school, with friends and life in general,
God gave me this passage through my mother that has been my life-line. Ever since then, God has used this portion of scripture to encourage and bring life to me during difficult times.Recently, I was speaking with a friend and we were discussing this passage and it was such an exciting
experience and revelation we had, I have decided to share it.


So, what does it all mean? when we walk through the waters? and the flood? and the fire?


"...when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee"


In Exodus 14, we read the account of Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea. God said to Moses, that He was going to fight for them. God Himself was there when they went thru the Red Sea, when they passed thru the waters. The God of the universe came down in a moment of need and did not allow the waters of the Red Sea to drown His people. "The Lord Himself shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." Exo. 14:14
A promise fulfilled!


"...and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you"


Another instance we can read in Joshua 3 of the Israelites crossing over the Jordan River. The priests were told to go ahead of the people and enter first. Now, imagine with me for just a moment and see the priests, who were carrying the Ark, they were to step into the river first. Another thing to notice is that the Jordan was overflowing its banks, that means that there was so much more water around plus the currents were a lot stronger at that point. But still God wanted them to move first, then He would perform the miracle. God was calling them to believe, to have faith that would move the situation they were facing. The Bible states, "And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap." In Isaiah's words, the waters were not going to overwhelm them. The Jordan at the point where they were crossing was deep enough to have them all drown but it never happened, because God was with them. A promise fulfilled!


"...when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burn, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee."


Daniel 3 tells us the story of the three Hebrew boys who defied their king by not bowing down as the law commanded. These boys had a decision to make, they either bowed or burned. They decided to obey the God who had their lives in His hand instead, they knew the difficulty of their situation and they were prepared to suffer whatever consequence. My favorite verse in this chapter is, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." What a way to trust God, whether he answered their prayer or not. They were going to trust in God and obey Him no matter what the outcome was. And He did it, God blessed their audacity and faith! They did not burn, in fact they did not even smell like fire. A promise fulfilled!


What about me? Am I going to trust him when He says clearly:


I will be in Your situation myself and not allow it to drawn you, overwhelm you, stress you. You will hold Your peace and I will move.


or maybe He is asking me to go ahead first, to move in faith and He will move, like the priests and Joshua.


Or like the three Hebrew boys, I can be confident that whatever the outcome is I will not be moved and trust Him. Because of this faith in God, He moves! He stops the fire, but allows the king to see that there is no other God like Him. My circumnstance and situation will have to bow to the One True God, the One who holds my world in His hands.

Zambia is calling and we must go!

Got up this morning, thanking God for bringing us closer to our departure date and yet still 30% short of our support raising goal. Vicky, the kids and I gathered to rend our hearts to God about all the things He has done and is continuing to do and to thank Him for his wonderful grace and mercy. As everyone jumped into the days schooling activities, I decided to catch up on what's going on in Zambia and found this waiting for me: Did you hear what I heard? I will tell you what was loud and clear to me. Zambia is calling, the children are calling but most importantly God has called and we must go! You can help make this happen by sending a one time or a recurring gift to help us get to our goal of 100%. We miss them, they miss us, we must go…

Carr Family Update | September, 2015

A recent message at church became a pivotal moment for our family as we are back stateside, gearing up and preparing for another season in Zambia.  The speaker talked about passing through Gethsemane before going to Calvary as it pertains to the specific call upon our lives.  

Jesus and His disciples all went to Gethsemane, but only Jesus went to the cross at Calvary.  At some point He kept His friends and family engaged but then there came the time of going it alone with the hope of His family and friends’ prayer, watchfulness and support.  

We have taken the opportunity to update many of you as to what it is we do and how very much we need your prayer, watchfulness and support.  Our Gethsemane is here in America, this is where we get to talk about the amazing work of Family Legacy Missions International as it engages families with God’s heart for the orphans of Zambia. 

We can say Zambia is like our Calvary, where we keep dying many times to our own selves and desires; we also die to the idea of being close to family and friends.  We love what we do and would do nothing other than serve the orphans and vulnerable children of Zambia.

What is Happening at the Tree of Life Children’s Village?

The 2015 CampLife season is over and for us it is as if a new year has just begun.  Well over 7,000 kids came to Camp and I dare say that about 1/3 of them  are not sponsored, many in this number are in need of serious intervention that will bring them to the homes of the Tree of Life Children’s village. 
Seven new homes were opened between June and July and that equals to over 70 new kids to our village.  There is already a need for child sponsorships and for new homes for the children coming to us as a result of this year’s camp.  We will also need to add more classrooms to our ever growing school population as well as build our hospital.  

As you can see because we have new children, we need more homes, classrooms and our own hospital to treat our village of almost 700 children.  This all points to one thing – time!
Time is vital to us and to this ministry.  We would like nothing more than to be able to get back to Zambia and put our hands to the plow and faithfully and joyfully continue to serve the precious children God is allowing us to work with.  

Many of you have already joined us by sending a one-time or recurring donation.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generosity.   Many are still praying and asking God if this is where He would have you join Him.  

Can we say yes for you?  

The Bible states in James 1:27 that pure and undefiled religion is to look after the fatherless and the widows.   When you join us in this ministry you are doing just that.  You too are plowing with us; you too are allowing one more child to have a chance to a better future.  We ask you because God has asked us to join Him.

We have to raise 100% of our monthly ministry and family expenses to return to Zambia.  Living in Lusaka is not as inexpensive as one would expect for an African country.  The World Bank estimates that the cost of living in Lusaka is 30-40% higher than Washington, DC. The Zambian economy may be growing at a respectable rate of 6% but that is mostly because Zambia opened the worlds biggest copper mine just as world copper prices were going through the roof. 

Zambia is expensive because the labor market is rigid – a 15% annual increase in wages is customary. Transportation cost bumps up the price of everything else—Zambia is a landlocked country with little domestic manufacturing. The cost of finance is high—banks charge up to 35% and in some instances 100% interest rates.  

Please consider our giving chart below and see where you see yourself:

Needed Monthly Number of supporters needed:

$1,000     2 donors 

$500        4 donors 

$200        10 donors 

$100        20 donors 

$50          30 donors

James 1:27