SERIES: THE STORY OF A LIFETIME SESSION EIGHT, WINTER 2015 SANDRA CARPENTER ORDINARY FOLKS CAN DO EXTRAORDINARY THINGS EVERYONE IS ORDINARY UNTIL HE OR SHE DARES TO DO THE EXTRAORDINARY. Biographical Notes Sandra Carpenter was born in to a dysfunctional family. Her parents divorced when she was four. Her mother worked long hours managing a resort hotel and as a child Sandra spent much of her time. After being involved in criminal activity, at the age of she was sent to a juvenile program for troubled youth for two years. Thinking about her life and her future, Sandra discovered that she had a concern for people who had everything going against them. She went to college for a year, got married when she was 19, left college, had a child and divorced when she was 21. Uncertain where to go or what life had in store for her, she was sure of this: she didn t believe in. She worked for Eastern Airlines and then for Continental. She met her present husband, who worked in the oil field and who had a child of his own, and they had another child together. Sandra s life changed when she met some parents. Kids without someone to care for them spoke to her heart in particular, children with medical issues. She became the go to person for CPS when a child was born to drugs. With no real training, but with a heart that wanted to help, she took children in the the most desperate situations and nursed them to health. She and her husband were foster parents for 16 years for a total of kids. As her work with foster children continued, Sandra found herself beginning to believe in God. She began to see things she couldn t explain and came to understand that it was God. Sandra Carpenter: I ve seen so many walking miracles; I m kind of addicted to
miracles. She observed that many foster kids were never adopted and she saw what being alone in the world without a sense of family did to them. So, she and her husband started adopting kids. At this point, in addition to their three natural children, they have adopted and one more in process. Sandra Carpenter: I m not perfect at it. I m not there all the time. But they know how much I love them. Angel Reach began when the system started placing children in groups extended family members. But many of these folks had no training and few, and a high percentage of these placements didn t work. It s always tough when a child is moved from a home, but when a relative says you re too much of a burden, it is particularly devastating. Boys who age out of the system with no help within the first year, % are homeless or in jail. % of girls who age out without help get pregnant by the time they are 19. Angel Reach began as a resource center for kinship families to provide clothing and food and other essentials and training for the families. Today, Angel Reach s Shared Treasures Resource Center provides a host of goods for families, including clothes, beds and mattresses. It also provides food assistance for households weekly, reaching 350 people, helps with rent and finding employment, and offers a mentoring program. With the two houses they own and three they rent in Old Town Conroe, Angel Reach has 20 clients living on site, being fed and mentored, and another 27 day clients who live elsewhere but are being mentored and helped by the program. Latest development has 4 acres under contract for transitional living and Angel s Nest which is designated for young mothers with children or young women who are expecting. Angel Reach has 50 volunteers and a budget of $750,000. LESSONS WE LEARN FROM SANDRA CARPENTER S STORY OF A LIFETIME What do foster children need most? Sandra Carpenter: The truth about God and life from a caring adult who will be there and advocate for them forever.
1. YOU MUST BE WILLING TO YOUR LIFE. Genesis 12.1-3: The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Henry Blackaby: Many of us want God to speak to us and give us an assignment. However, we are not interested in making any major adjustments in our lives. Biblically, that is impossible. Every time God spoke to people in the Scripture about something He wanted to do through them, major adjustments were necessary. God has not called all of us to do what Sandra does, but he calls all of us to do something extraordinary with our lives not because we are extraordinary but because the world God loves is lost and hurting. Ordinary men living ordinary lives will never make the world better. But ordinary men who are willing to change their can bring light to those who are in darkness and hope to those who are in despair. God you too much to call you to a life of comfort and apathy and ease. And I believe you re too much of a man to want to live that way. 2. YOU MUST ACT IN. Sandra Carpenter: Doing God s will is sometimes a very wild ride. In this ministry sometimes it s not pretty. It s messy. But knowing what God wants me to do is a great comfort. If I do it, I know he ll be with me. Faith isn t figuring out God s plan, seeing how all the pieces will fit together, or even believing you can change the world. Faith is trusting God enough to what he says and leaving the results with him. Sandra Carpenter: I don t think it has much to do with me. I don t have the strength to do all of this. I just do what I know to do and then I tell myself, God s got this. Sandra Carpenter: A very cool thing happens when you don t have anything but God to hold onto. He takes care of you. And you learn you never have to worry ever again. Hebrews 11.8: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. Abraham set out not knowing where he was going, what would be expected of him, or how God s plan would enfold.
But he began the journey trusting that the God who had called him would him and go with him. What keeps men from acting in faith and going with God into the unknown? Often, it s. God will not limit his work in this world to your zone. This is your comfort, not your abilities, not being able to see how it s going to work, not sizing things up and saying, I ve got this. It s seeing something that s big and frightening and saying, God s got this. 3. YOU MUST. Life has not been easy for Sandra it s a constant juggling act, being pulled in a million different directions, never having enough time. There is also the spiritual aspect of it: young people who have been let down by everyone are on her. People who have trusted her enough to give their money and their time to the ministry are counting on her. There is an emotional burden lives are on the line. Is she ever afraid? Sandra Carpenter: Late at night when the enemy tells me I have gone too far and I m going to fail and let all the people who believe in Angel Reach down. On top of everything else, there is spiritual warfare involved. Sandra Carpenter: Satan says, These are my kids. I m going to destroy them and you re not going to get in my way. But they re God s kids and I can t give up on them. Sandra has found her place; she is investing her life and refusing to walk away because she cares about these young people and she is committed to doing God s will. There is something God wants you to do that will connect deeply with your and give you the strength to persevere something that will make your life extraordinary and your story amazing. Prayer: Lord God, you are my creator and you know me better than I know myself. Reveal to me who I am to be, what I am to do, what message I am to give, what gift I am to bring into the world. Big or small, public or private reveal it to me, and even before I know what it is, my promise to you is: I will do your will.
OPPORTUNITIES Delegate to Texas Annual Conference You and/or your wife. Attend at least Monday and Tuesday, May 25-26, to help elect orthodox delegates to General Conference. In Houston. TWUMC Living Water Trip to Guatemala May 10-16, staying in Antigua, Guatemala and travelling daily to a drill site in a community that needs clean water. Maximum team size is 12. Up to 8 drillers and 4 on hygiene team. Men and women are welcome. Cost is $1929. There are a limited number of scholarships, particularly for first-time participants. For more information you may contact Jim Seamans JSeamans@porocel.com. A Profile of Champions Golf Breakfast Sponsored by Search Ministries, Wednesday, April 29, 2015, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott, 7:00-8:30 a.m. This event will feature 3 Touring Pros playing in the Insperity Invitational of the Champions Tour. During the breakfast they will be interviewed as they share first some inside the ropes stories followed by inside the heart stories about their faith in Christ. This is an excellent opportunity to invite your friends who are enthusiastic about golf but little interested in God or church. The guest golfers will be announced about 3 weeks before the event. Individual tickets: $40; Table (8): $300. For info or to purchase tickets: searchhouprofileofchampions@gmail.com or contact Richard Houston at Richard.Houston@Searchministries.org / (281) 687-0077. Small Group If you d like information about becoming part of a men s small group, contact Rob at rrenfroe@twumc.org. Sexual Accountability Group Join a group of men who are overcoming their tendency to let sexual issues and/or pornography get in the way of their relationship with God and/or their wives. Thursday mornings, 6:00-7:00 am, Lenox Parlor. Email Rob Renfroe if you d like more info. The Woodlands United Methodist Church www.thewoodlandsumc.org