Good for Your Character

Firstly we want to apologize for the lack of "Just a Thought" over the last month. With the girls being here from Moldova we have been traveling almost non stop and it was hard to have the time to sit down and write. We also had been discussing the possibility of changing "Just a Thought" to a video format, and today we are proud to say that from now on you will be able to watch a new "Just a Thought" hopefully every week. We hope you enjoy the changes, and pray that God blesses you as you watch.

~Philip Cameron Jr.
Media Director for PCM.

Orphan Spirits

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father."

Romans 8:15

Twenty years ago, we adopted a little boy from an orphanage in Romania. The hungry, filthy, little waif peered over the metal bars of his crib. He had no idea that walking into that room (Salon Nr 5 in Orphanage II) was the miracle of his life. He couldn't have planned for it, and he certainly never could have imagined it. But as the big stranger reached over the bars of his prison, an orphan was becoming a son.

The Bible speaks of us as outcasts alienated from the Father. But one day, someone we never knew showed up at our crib and lifted us up and made us sons... daughters.

It amazed me as Andrew grew and I saw the damage orphanage life had worked in his heart. One day, while I was in his bedroom, a piece of plastic bag sticking out of a drawer caught my eye. I pulled open the drawer to find a bag of bread he had hidden away... just in case the blessings he had been receiving would come to an end. I took him by the hand and into our kitchen. I opened every cabinet and pantry door and our fridge, which has double doors. I said to the little soul, "All that I have is yours."

I have been ministering now for 42 years, and am amazed by how many orphan spirits there are in the church today... sitting, enjoying praise and worship, hearing the word of God on a regular basis. Yet inside their heart of hearts, they think they don't deserve what they have, that it is all going to come to an end, "I don't deserve this." And ironically, this kind of thinking is the very thing that will sabotage the blessing of God in your life.

Andrew is now 23 and a college graduate. He is (in an every increasing way) becoming more responsible for the miracle unfolding everyday in the lives of the orphan boys and girls that our ministry is touching.

So, my lovely friend. Your adoption has not taken place on your merit. You are adopted because He wants you to be His. You cannot make yourself one iota more precious to God than you already are. You can't be smarter, cuter, richer, taller, thinner. None of it matters. He loves you just because He loves you. So today after you read this Just A Thought, sit down, put a smile on your heart, and say out loud, "I am my beloved and He is mine. His banner over me is Love."

A Giving Heart

We've had an incredible week. We took the girls to the Forward Conference with Jentezen Franklin in Atlanta. It was a an incredible event. If you have youth, I highly suggest that you send them there next year.

On Thursday evening, Jentezen presented us to the 10,000 youth there at the conference. The girls were so nervous, but the love that was felt fro the audience was palpable. But that is not what I want to tell you about. The next night, they showed a video of the horrendous conditions in Haiti. One of our newest girls, Natasha, sat and wept as she saw the images on the giant screens. What she did next left all of us speechless...

The week before, a church had sent each of the girls a one hundred dollar offering. This is more money than many of them have ever seen in their entire lives. In the poor villages in Moldova, you can hire a man for an entire month for as little as fifty dollars.

An offering was taken at the conference. Natasha Berejnaia gave away every thing she had!! I would think that this was the first money she had ever had in her seventeen years and, from a heart that has been redeemed from hunger,loneliness and..hopelessness she gave to those in need! God keeps accounts... She had borrowed a guitar from someone in the church the girls attend.. She is desperate to learn. For hours in Stellas House I saw her strum on this old beat up guitar singing in Romanian, melodies from English praise songs.. On Sunday... She got a beautiful guitar given to her!! God knows..God rewards! In three days she gave away more than she could have ever imagined and was given MUCH MORE the she has ever dreamed!

I think we can all learn from Natasha!!

Letter from the Prime Minister

Here is a letter I just received from the Prime Minister of Moldova. It is thanking us for the help we have given to the children of Moldova through the various works we have ongoing in his country. He is also asking for help… There is an orphanage where small children live, and it has no heating. The Prime Minister of an entire nation is asking us, the Body of Christ to help!

When I first went to Moldova, it was a strict and dangerous Communist country. At times I wondered why God had led me to this place… It was very hard! Last year there was an election. It was so badly rigged that the people revolted, burned some government buildings and forced the Communists to hold another election… which they lost! So now the new Government is more open, and desperate for our help! The Scripture tells us to be “salt and light,” but many times we are caught up in smallness, and our vast power is wasted in pettiness. It has taken 20 years of consistency, being there, when at times I wanted to scream at the insanity of their world. But God honors faithfulness above all else! Whatever you are called to do, take the long view; let His voice be your guide and, one day, your “letter” will arrive!   

See Through Their Eyes

If you could only see through their eyes! The photo is of the new girls from Stella's House in a shuttle train at Frankfurt airport. We left at 4:45 am and had to be at the airport two hours ahead of departure, so they hadn't slept all night. Yet, as we waited for the plane for Atlanta, they wandered around as if they had been sleeping for a hundred years and had awakened to a brand new world! We got them to our home here in Montgomery and they stood huddled close together, looking at everything, whispering and pointing... Amazed! The dishwasher, trash compactor, our fish tank, tv, each thing was a discovery... a miracle!

The next day we went shopping. Chrissie helped them get shorts and swimsuits and other girlie stuff, and again the look of joy and a bit of sadness was so touching. They have spent most of their lives as captors in a cruel, cold world. Most had, until we came, never heard the words, "I love you!" They have been given commands to eat, study, sleep, but have rarely ever heard a kind, gentle word in their direction. The realization of the years spent just existing is only now beginning to dawn on them... It's very bittersweet.

But what about us? We live in this world of plenty, jammed full of things, every convenience at our hand, yet it seems we can be more deprived than they. At least when exposed to this amazing world we are blessed to live in, these orphan girls can see with crystal clear eyes the countless things they've missed. We, on the other hand, have had it all, all the time. The Psalmist David said "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." (Ps.19:13). He's talking about the sin of taking things for granted!! Is it better to have been deprived of blessing for a season, to then marvel in it's existence, than to have had abundance all the time and have never seen it? Hot water for most of the world is an unheard of luxury; clean clothes, unpolluted water to drink, the list will never end... Be thankful!!