Our Sweet Sleep Journey

Last summer (2011), our church was attending CentriKid Camp and Jon Merryman was our Camp Pastor. One day during worship, he shared a video and spoke about Sweet Sleep and how we could get involved and even customize a trip of our own. Immediately after the worship time was over, there were 3 young ladies (who had come to camp as team assistants/sponsors) who were overwhelmed with excitement and ready to go and provide beds to children. 

Our prayer/commissioning time for our team from this past Sunday morning's worship service.

So, in August, we began making phone calls to Sweet Sleep, our church began praying, and by December, our trip was being planned. In January, we had our first formal interest meeting, and God began building our team.  Over the past 7 months, we have truly come together and seen God’s hand in every aspect of our planning and preparation. 

When we began, many of us were merely acquaintances, but as we have prepared for this journey, we have seen how God has woven us together, with our varied talents and abilities, to serve Him in Uganda. As a team, we have already become close friends, and by August 2^nd when we return, we know that we will have an unbreakable bond as brothers and sisters in Christ that we hope will overflow into our entire church and community.

                                                                                                   By Kelzye Isham and Renee Russell

Sharing Jesus Globally

Our friend Eddie Humphrey at First Baptist Chuch in Belton, Texas serves as the minister of Childhood Education.  Read along as he shares how partnering with Sweet Sleep for their VBS has opened their children's' eyes to serving orphaned abandoned children on the "other side of the globe!"

" I became aware of Sweet Sleep for the very first time in October 2011 at the LifeWay Kids Ministry Conference in Nashville, TN. The volunteers at the informational booth were very helpful and were able to verbalize the Mission of Sweet Sleep quite easily. I knew right then and there that this was going to be the focus of our upcoming VBS 2012 Missions Offering. 

A portion of our church’s mission statement is to, “Share Jesus Globally.” I believe that donating money to help provide beds for orphans in “far away” places was both an important and easy vision to share with children in our community. The mission of Sweet Sleep, specifically Build a Bed, was going to be a perfect fit in challenging our children and their families to consider helping others whom they probably will never meet and who live on the “other side of the globe.”

Our VBS took place this Summer from June 18-22^nd. We took a daily Missions Offering in our Opening Assembly. We challenged the boys and girls to bring as many coins as they possibly could. We would then take the buckets of coins and weigh them on our “Scale of Wonder” to determine who gave the most weight in coins each day. The winning team had the opportunity to eat their refreshments first during Snack Time. 

We had two goals for the week. The first goal was to raise enough money to provide (60) beds for orphans in Northern Uganda, or $3,000. If we met this goal, then a portion of my Staff would have a “Hair Raising Experience” LIVE on Stage during our Closing Rally on Friday (spray painted hair, hair cut and a marshmallow shampoo). Our secondary goal was to raise $4,000, enough money to help (80) children. If we achieved this goal, then I would have my head shaved on Stage, in front of everybody! 

I am so happy to share with you that God truly blessed our Offering efforts. The boys, girls and families of our church were quite generous and sacrificial in their giving……..we raised $5,000. (His head was shaved!) Since the cost per bed in Northern Uganda is $50, that means (100) children will receive a bed, a mosquito net and a Bible because boys and girls in Central Texas were gracious enough to give to Sweet Sleep. I look forward to partnering with Sweet Sleep in future VBS Mission Offerings.To God be the Glory!"**

Eddie Humphrey

**stay tuned for pictures of this week of VBS!

Eyes to see, Ears to hear.

Sweet Sleep was honored to share our mission with our friends at Living Springs Baptist Church in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee and receive a check for over $500 to help supply life-saving mosquito nets to children suffering in malaria stricken countries!  Jason, their children's minister and VBS director, shares their story...

I have been directing VBS at Living Springs Baptist for 13 years, and in previous years, we gave our offerings to the church.  In the last few years, wanting to know what more we could do to get the kids to be more eager for missions and giving, we started redirecting the offerings to different organizations such as the TN Baptist Children’s Home.  We usually have some sort of a contest between the girls and the boys, with the amount of offering given and the weight of the offerings to get them motivated.

Last Fall, I attended a Lifeway Children's Conference and met a few ladies from Sweet Sleep who had been personally affected by your ministry, “Nickels for Nets”.  After hearing them speak, I felt led that this would be great ministry for us to use as a future missions project. It would be a way for our kids to see their mission giving at work like I did, so we decided we would use our VBS missions offerings this year to give to Sweet Sleep and see how many nets we could provide.  The kids really enjoyed it, and we also included the entire church for a month before VBS, then continued the project on into VBS week.  It worked great, and we actually doubled what we normally collect during VBS!

Sweet Sleep was great in providing us with an actual bed to display along with a large banner.  The kids were really impacted by this, and, hopefully, we made a difference.  The last night of our VBS week, Stephanie came out to our church, spoke to everyone there about Sweet Sleep, and then we presented her with our donation.

Sweet Sleep is really a great ministry, and there are many ways to involve the entire church.  I am so glad that we were able to be a part of such a great mission project.  Thank you Sweet Sleep!   I would love to see some of the 60 or so kids with the new nets we helped to provide for them!

Jason Smith

If you and your church are interested in getting involved with our program "Nickels for Nets" please visit our website to learn more or contact stephanie@sweetsleep.org to begin saving lives

 one net at a time!

Children burdened for children.

As VBS is in full swing, we have been keeping up with those churches who have chosen to partner with Sweet Sleep this summer!  Several churches across the country have been giving their offerings and sharing the mission of Sweet Sleep through our programs Build-A-Bed and Nickels for Nets through.  

To kick off our story telling of how the Lord is at work through these sweet children, is Phil Hoyt.  Phil is the preschool pastor at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tennessee and we were able to get a recap of their incredible week of VBS.

"2012 was our 2^nd year to feature Sweet Sleep as our designated Mission Emphasis.  We had a great VBS! Our church is large, so we have a special Rally Time each day just for the older preschoolers (3’s through Pre K).

 

Each of the 12 classes collected their money in their metal bucket and brought it to our Rally Time where they got to dump it into the container with everyone’s money. They loved seeing the “pile” of money grow and grow each day.

The children really related to the concept of helping other children have a comfortable, clean and safe bed to sleep in. We have many comments from parents about what their child had learned through the ministry of Sweet Sleep. The children had a genuine burden to bring their offering each day to help us “Buy A Bed.”  We were please and blessed to be able to send $1,629.76 to Sweet Sleep." --Phil Hoyt

Isn't that just awesome: Children longing to help other children in need. The Lord is so good, and we love seeing children burdened by those who are their same age and realizing the need for beds!

The Sweet Sleep team gives First Baptist Church of Hendersonville a sincere thank you from the bottom of our hearts that they would partner with us a second time for orphaned and abandoned children around the world.  Thanks to you there are now children who will most surely have a sweet sleep from this day forward.

Be on the look out for more stories of how the Lord is at work through VBS's all over this summer!

Looking to get your group involved in helping serve the orphaned and abaonded children of the world by providing them with sweet sleep?  Click here to see how you can be a part of being the change!

Blessed to lack. Joyful to suffer.

 “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” – Matthew 25:40.

Recently members of the Sweet Sleep team joined 120 leaders and students in abandoning our food, shelter, and beds in order to sleep “Under the Stars”. 

For one chilly April evening in a Johnson City parking lot, we welcomed thin pieces of cardboard and small blankets as replacements for our usual comforts. As the night progressed we worshiped, studied, prayed, and made small attempts to sleep. We “woke” the next morning with red noses and aching backs, but the most obvious addition to the group’s spirit was thankfulness and praise.That’s right. Thankfulness and Praise. 

It may seem odd that we had joy while clinging to barely-there blankets and cardboard beds, but it wasn’t what we possessed that made the difference– it was what we lacked. For example, while praying we heard only the hum of car motors in the distance, but not LRA soldiers. While sleeping we faced only the mild threat of an ant marching across our bare arm, not malaria-carrying mosquitoes. 

However, the children of northern Uganda do not lack these challenges. What God reminded us at “Under the Stars” is that we serve a Lord who does not overlook displaced individuals. Our Lord does not forget a single orphan or widow living in this world. So, how then as Christ’s body can we believe that we have the option of forgetting them? How can we not see it when the things that we lack are blessings? 

The students of Boone Trail Baptist Church have not missed these truths. These students raised $2804 on the night of the Under the Stars event to add to the $8,000 raised at their March Spring Conference. This impressive total of $10,804 will fund the resettlement of 216 kids in northern Uganda. 

 

216 lives intricately and perfectly designed by God. 216 names, personalities, and small hands/feet/hearts that the Lord desires to bless. 216 displaced children that we are lucky enough to serve.  How awesome is it that the Lord protects each of these children intentionally through our giving?

Thrillingly, the impact of the Under the Stars event was not limited to 216 children in a country far away from the parking lot where we slept. In fact, the lives of many of the students present were impacted. Some students professed a new passion to spread the mission of Sweet Sleep and even donate from their personal bank accounts. 

Ryan Epps, Pastor to Students at Boone Trail Baptist Church, who was the visionary and event coordinator behind this particular evening was moved by the effect he saw. “God is causing a radical stirring in many students and adult’s hearts. I truly believe a movement began that night and it will be awesome to watch how people jump on board to be on a mission to see the Great Commission carried out”. 

As Christ’s body we are called to recognize need through His guidance and then to act. On this night, there was action followed by obedience and as a result there was supernatural impact. As a body we are to serve the hurting world around us, and the Lord that knows the desires of our hearts does not call us into this without intention to bless us through it all. How wonderful that we have the chance to glean immeasurable joy that comes from walking with Him in service. 

For more information on how you can host an "Under the Stars" event click here and share with your youth the need for every child to sleep sweetly.

Local Need Local Care.

As Sweet Sleep continues to serve orphaned and abandoned children overseas, let’s not lose site of what the Lord is doing right here in the United States through Sweet Sleep!  Children within our own context are without beds due to bed bugs, abandonment, or lack of space. Beds are a huge need and we eagerly wait on the Lord as he continues to open doors wherever he leads.

Rees Greenman, a Linkage Coordinator from the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services (DCS), took some time to share of the partnership that has been formed between DCS and Sweet Sleep.

I got involved with Sweet Sleep through The Middle Tennessee Orphan Alliance also known as MTOA.  Whenever we have an "out of the box" need for families struggling with poverty issues such as beds we tend to send them to MTOA.  Beds have been one of those reoccurring needs.  With bed bugs running rampant through Middle Tennessee it has been a need that has been increasing every year.  Donations of beds have been harder to find because fewer locations take beds due to bedbugs.  We had a lead a few years ago from a hotel who wanted to "donate" several hundred mattresses to us but after doing some research we found that they were bed bug infested and were trying to just get a tax right off.  So finding beds for families has been very difficult. 

 Last year we received 67 mattresses in June or July.  By March they had all been given out to families in need.  These mattresses have helped families prevent having their children come into state custody or have helped children exit state custody and get to go home.  Beds were one of the puzzle pieces needed to prevent or reunite a family.  Beds alone are not the only reason why children come into state custody.  It can however be a reason why children can't go home or go stay with family or friends while the parents work on issues around reunification. 

The day(s) that we received mattresses this year our primary volunteers on the first day I like to call Shane Pass day (Shane Pass is the children's minister at Clearview Baptist Church, Franklin, TN).  He single handedly got a group of about 6 or 7 volunteers to help with 2 trucks and 1 trailer to move mattresses.  We also had a box truck that was donated by a local moving truck rental place.  He is also a recent adoptive father.  It took nearly all day to move about 300 mattresses and I could not have done it without their help.

The next mattress moving day I received a ton of help from Showhope's "The Movement"  These are high school age youth who want to make an impact in orphan care/foster care.  There were 9 youth plus their leader extraordinaire Chris Wheeler.  We moved 150 mattresses in a matter of about 2 and a-half-hours. 

Since receiving these mattresses we have been able to, in the words of Karen Purvis, say "Yes".  Whenever there has been a need for a family in DCS's attention or not who needs a bed we have been able to say yes, come and get it.  We have moved the blessings of mattresses as far as Robertson County and some more in Cookeville.  We have given mattresses to organizations that say "Yes" to families in poverty that we are unaware of through Madison 7th Day Adventist Community Center and Lake Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Antioch. 

The need for beds here in Middle Tennessee is larger than I would have every guessed.  Who knew that Case Managers would drive an hour and a half for beds for their clients?  We are appreciative of our relationship with Sweet Sleep and are forever grateful for Sweet Sleep making it possible for us to tell families, "Yes" your children can come home.

Thanks Rees, for your friendship and partnership with Sweet Sleep.  Knowing Sweet Sleep is being used to help children right next door is something to Praise the Lord for.  Join us as we pray for more opportunities to share with children right here in our own area the joy and contentment of a good night's sleep.

6 churches. 6 weeks. one mission.

PVC pipes. Color Coding. 6 churches. All with one common goal:  To share the mission of Sweet Sleep in a unique and different way with children in Oklahoma and Arkansas this summer!

Alyson Walker, from Oklahoma, shares of how her, her friends at South Tulsa Baptist, and 5 other nearby  churches have chosen to partner with Sweet Sleep this summer! They are in the middle of a 6 week journey of "building beds" and sharing with kids the need for a good night's sleep!  We will continue to keep you updated on this ongoing and awesome journey of theirs!

"Sweet Sleep and Oklahoma!

As the preschool minister at South Tulsa Baptist, I attend LifeWay's Kids conference.  In 2009 I came across the Sweet Sleep booth in the exhibit hall at the conference.  When I heard about what Sweet Sleep does and saw the old nasty bed and mattress I was floored!  I had never thought about how and where children around the world were sleeping before.  The Children's Minister and I said right then and there our VBS offering should go to Sweet Sleep!  So that next summer it did.

I started following Sweet Sleep on Facebook and got more and more information about Sweet Sleep. Then in 2011, we did it again during VBS and our offering went to Sweet Sleep.  But by the time of this VBS, I had gone on my first Sweet Sleep Journey to Uganda and saw first hand what Sweet Sleep means to these children!  I was forever changed and convinced that Sweet Sleep is doing some amazing things. Actually, I should have said God is using Sweet Sleep to do His Amazing work!  I have now been on 3 Sweet Sleep Journeys and I pray many more to come!

Because of all of that, I of course love to talk about Sweet Sleep. So all of the area Preschool & Children's Ministers have heard my heart for Sweet Sleep and they have also jumped on board. We have a summer kids camp we call KMAK (Kids Mission Adventure Kamp) we have 6 weeks of Kamp and churches from all over Oklahoma and a few from Arkansas come. We have a mission focus each day and last year one was Sweet Sleep. We showed a video and then we made pillows. We made close to 1,000 pillows.

This year we are doing Sweet Sleep again but instead of pillows we are giving each church a puzzle. This puzzle is made out of PVC pipe. They don't know what they are making but they work together and when they have finished they have put together a bed. Then we will show a Sweet Sleep video and share w/ them the fact that there are children who do not have their own bed to sleep in. Some might have to sleep w/ 6 or 7 others in a twin bed. They will have that "twin bed" in front of them to actually see what it might be like to have 7 people in one bed.  Each child will get a bank they can take home and fill up for Sweet Sleep & they can give any money left on their canteen card to Sweet Sleep. In one week we collected $310.

Now normally the last day the children will spend all of their money left on candy. One little boy gave his card to this weeks director and said he spent half on himself and wanted to give the other half to Sweet Sleep!

I'm excited that we still have about 2 more weeks of Kamp to go!!  The Lord is doing some great things through KMAK for Sweet Sleep and doing great things through Sweet Sleep!!  Every penny counts and we are seeing that this Summer!!!

Alyson Walker <> Tulsa, Oklahoma"

Have you chosen to serve along side of Sweet Sleep in a unique and creative way?  

If so please email us and tell us how!  We are always looking for ways the Lord chooses to use people to step out and be advocates of orphaned and abandoned children!

Servitude with Love

Freedom.  A word that carries so much meaning:  dignity, deliverance, safety, salvation.  When asked to write about freedom in light of our country’s Independence Day I cannot help but think about those who make that word a reality.  

You see, my sister’s brand new husband is currently in Afghanistan, serving faithfully to protect the freedoms we celebrate this week.  He is a Marine.  He left weeks after his wedding to my baby sister.  Through tear-flooded conversations with Shelby, and via snapshots of skype calls, and grainy-brown photographs taken of a sweet young man standing by a tank thousands of miles away, I am witnessing the sacrifice both Matt and Shelby, and thousands of other men and women, spouses and children, parents and loved ones are making to protect the freedoms that were given so long ago when their predecessors first fought and sacrificed…

But while we will always have to fight to protect our physical freedom, our spiritual freedom has been forever paid for by the blood and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Freedom.  In Christ.  

In Paul’s Letter to the Galatians he says, “So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.”  Galatians 4:7  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5.1

But there is more.  Just as our physical freedom comes at a cost: Matt and thousands others are fighting and have fought to protect it; our spiritual freedom comes at a cost as well.  “For you were called to freedom brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another.”  Galatians 5:13.  

Freedom through Christ yields servitude through love.  And that is what God has called us to do; wherever he has us.  For me, it is in devoted service through Sweet Sleep.  For Matt, it is through selfless bravery in his Marines deployment.  This holiday week I pray that we express our freedom and through love, be servants of one another.

Freely yours,

Madelene Metcalf
Trips Coordinator

Who’s Free?

 When you watch a young grandson explore his world of creative energy and imagination, it’s interesting to contrast his view of freedom with yours.  He loves his play through toys, movies, an ipad, food, and even light “jobs”. He may not want to learn the most basic things like “potty training,” yet he loves to have his “computer time” where He loves to learn new things. His freedom is both limited and expanded by the environment his parents and siblings build. What makes him free when he doesn’t always have a choice of what he can do? And how is that freedom different from a child, whose parents have been killed in a third world country living in new limited reality as an orphan?

One of the things I love about the freedom we have in Christ is that children can be free no matter their country, culture, environment, or family. When is a person is free in Christ they are “free indeed”. Freedom in Christ is not only an expression that is lived out in the American dream. It’s possible (and maybe more probable) in countries, families, and schools, where it may not be exercised.

Freedom in Christ provides the opportunity for every child to love, trust, and obey, which is the essence of spiritual growth. A child of God can experience love in the best sense. She can know the love of God and how He gave himself. A child can learn to trust—to extend all fears and reach out and be cared for—to have a place where they can be assured. A child can learn to obey—to follow direction and instruction.

Freedom during this Independence Day season is a good time to reflect on our freedom—to imagine what our lives would be like if we were not born into the country and family we have. It gives us the opportunity to also love, trust, and obey. We can share the love of God. We can help children trust their heavenly Father. We can help others learn discipline and obedience in following God’s direction. This day helps us think about what we have. It also helps us to own the responsibility to help others realize they can have freedom in Christ, no matter other freedoms available.

One of the things I love about Sweet Sleep is that it gives me a tangible way to share our freedom with children, one at a time. To help them have rest in their own space. To help them tangibly understand there is a Father looking out for them. And that He wants them to experience His love; learn to trust; decide to obey; to be free in Christ.

Take-a-ways:

·       - My grandchild is very blessed. He is making choices and learning in a great home environment. I want others to have that opportunity.

·       -- Freedom in Christ is possible globally, in every part of the world.

·       -Our spiritual freedom is given as we love, trust, and obey.

·      -  Freedom implies responsibility.

·       - We can make a difference in every child’s life, especially those that need to know the Father’s love. 

     Gary Hauk

Because of Christ..

Because I am filled with joy, motivated by love, and redeemed, I know that I am free. Because I shook free of the chains clinging to my frame and now run, I know that I am free. Because Christ gave his life and took the weight of my sin, I know that I am free. Praise Him!

My Lord allows me to do as the woman in John 8 did and leave my life of sin, without condemnation. He not only suggests that I don’t look back at my mistakes, but commands me to flee them (Gen. 19:17). For me freedom in Christ is justification, transformation, and redemption.

I used to grope in the dark for some semblance of meaning and happiness. I dwelled in darkness, I purchased the counterfeits placed before me, and I loathed myself because I had allowed the sin to become my name. Then, He entered and interceded for me. In His glory I shed the layers of my sin like an onion peeling back and blossoming into a flower -- an impossibility made possible only through the love and blood of Christ. Glory to Him! Now, I get to walk forward in the Spirit and live as a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). I have a chance to be who He created me to be, and have real relationship with Him every day forever. Freedom.

I was reminded of what this looks like practically as I sat amidst a mountain of covers in my cabin bedroom located in [somewhere] Alabama. It was the third night of camp and I was reflecting on the teenagers that I had seen worshipping, that I had formed relationships with, and that I had watched question, learn, and move in the Spirit. Suddenly great joy swelled inside of me and I began to audibly laugh. Spontaneous worship in the form of prayer spilled from my lips as I marveled at His grace. I had spent the week leading others towards Him, through Him. I never would have thought that I could do this a year ago.

Just one short year ago I was still carrying boxes and boxes of shame. Even after what I had considered rededication I had not surrendered all of my shame. I held onto the hurt. The fear had sunk its hooks far in my heart, and I had begun to believe that I could not be truly redeemed. Rather than soaking in the healing only He can provide, I attempted to stuff my sin further and further into my heart. I believed that if I could hide the shameful places in my life I could force them to fall away. I did not realize that I was actually planting the sin, watering it with my shame, and harvesting it in the fruit of my actions. Enter a downward spiral. Enter months of searching for happiness in all of the wrong places. Enter a loss of identity, confusion, and rock bottom. Then enter intervention.

God’s hand was upon me the entire time. I have no doubt of this. He was chasing me, looking for me as the father awaited his lost son (Luke 15:11-32). So, when I began to seek, He opened his arms wider. He drowned me in grace. He overflowed me with His presence. He whispered words of comfort to me; he brought back my joy, melted my cynicism, rejuvenated my dreams, and redeemed me. Even when I didn’t want to believe I could be forgiven and I brought my mistakes to Him sobbing again, and again He said “Daughter, I don’t even see what you are so worried about. It’s already gone”. Now I can serve, love, write, live, and dream as a new creation. That is freedom. I promise, you are never too far. Praise Him, Glory, Giver of true freedom through grace. Praise Him.

Jessica Auville