Updates in Ethiopia

 At the time of writing this newsletter, I am just about halfway through the second phase of my language school. After I finish, I will begin more interpersonal ministry work. I am excited to be able to speak the language and make connections with the children to whom I am ministering—even if the conversation lingers on where their school is, what their grade is, how many classmates they have, and what their name is. In language school, I am building my abilities to story-tell. Daily, I am given a picture book that contains no words and told to describe it and tell the story of the images. I have to explain when a woman is robbed (even if by a monkey), when a boy helps a blind shimagele (older man) cross the street on the way to school, when a siratenia (worker) gets upset by having to carry 3-5 bundles of groceries at once without any help, or when a small woof (bird) finds a new hat but discovers his friend makes fun of it, only to steal it when the woof flies away in shame.

God has given me a skill with languages and I am picking up things pretty well. I look forward to fluency, but am grateful for the level in which I am now. True love is demonstrated by taking efforts to understand. I want my love to be realized by seeing my efforts to understand their hearts and lives through their language—even if I get stuck in the mud in the middle of the conversation.

I appreciate your donations and your prayers greatly. This time in language school will prove to be invaluable to my ministry in coming years. Thank you.

At our monthly Children's Program, we taught thankfulness and encouraged the children to take time that day to thank someone after class. The next day we followed up on the encouragement and found that a good few of them went out and thanked their families for various things.

For that, I'm thankful. ;)

God is amazing, isn't He? His love is indescribable. His Light overcomes the Darkness and His glory fills the earth night and day. Praise His holy name!

There is a beauty in the calling of God's voice. Whatever it is that we are called to do, we can embrace it with full heart. Whether it is working with prostitutes in the Red Light District or whether it is being a lawyer; whether it is working with street kids or working with Elementary schools doing Bible classes; whether it is teaching at a school or a university or being a private tutor. We can embrace God's call for our heart with every bit of it. Not because of indebted duty or because we are bound to the whim of God, but because, from our birth, we have been divinely guided and prepared to devote our hearts to the purpose of God. If God calls us to education now, we will have had been prepared throughout our lives. Perhaps not with an early grasp of teaching skills, but perhaps with a seed of passion. Interests, passions, events, circumstances, trials, and excitements were all used to prepare you to be able to devote your entire heart to God's calling.

All the while, I do not believe God has any specific will for each and every person to the point that if you do not follow it you are living in sin and breaking fellowship with Him. I do, nonetheless, believe that God has a will for everyone in a general sense and turning away from that will of God would result in sin and the breaking of fellowship with God. That will is two-fold: Love God and love others. If you do not love God and love others then you are sinning. With that in mind, whatever you do that flows from that is automatically God's will. If you are working in a community center and loving God and loving others, then you are doing God's will for your life. If you are a doctor and loving God and loving others, then you are in accordance to God's will. God's will is not a mystery; it is plain and simple. The only tricky part is following God's will in the avenue in which He has prepared you for your entire life.

Thus, while you may be teaching a Bible class at an Elementary school with a heart full of love, you may not be doing the task God prepared you for. Is it a sin, then, for you to be teaching that class? Absolutely not. You are loving God and others. Are you a perfect match for it, possibly not. You may have a good bit of your heart in your work, but it may be that not all of it is there; and therefore you grow more weary and lose passion as time goes on. You can stay where you are and be in good communion with God, but you might not be balanced in your heart with your task. Some of your abilities or passions may not be utilized or may be over-utilized.

It is with that in mind that I share with you my plans for the next 6-12 months. My heart and passion is for neglected children. Up to this point, that took the form in various children's ministries where my heart would find attachment to the broken ones or the ones looked down upon. Those that adults would label trouble makers or those ostracized by other children.

When I committed my heart to coming to Ethiopia, I knew I had no definite plans for the entire two years. It was a completely new field in which to follow God. There were no Elementary schools in which I could lead Bible Clubs. When I came here in 2012, I taught at an academy. That was my only “old” area, therefore I chose to rejoin that organization (Blessing the Children International) and teach at their academy. I knew when I chose to rejoin them that I would be doing side things—primarily teaching Sunday School at my church in Debre Zeyit.

My heart still throbs for those that are neglected. I envision, now, working with street children at some point in the future. At this point, that is still at least a year away. But I want to begin the steps toward that. Therefore, I have decided to work with BCI for these next 6 months, during which I will learn the lay of the land and dabble with various organizations in Debre Zeyit or Addis Ababa. I will see what it is like ministering to the children of Debre Zeyit on a personal level and not on a teacher level. I will find out what it takes to gain their trust and learn how others have broken their trust in the past. I will be a light of God's love for them, even if it is just in struggling to convey simple thoughts in their own language so to come to the point of understanding their hearts.

For the next 6 months I will be living off of the funds I raised before coming to Ethiopia. However, after that I will be living off of reserves. I am budgeting between $400-$500 a month beginning around June 2015. That will cover my personal living costs as well as ministry costs. Once I finish the 6 months with BCI, I will begin to take my next step to working with the street children. I will then partner with an existing ministry that works with street children. I will learn how they operate and gain insights. My plan is to find multiple ministries and, throughout the following year, inter-work with those ministries. At the end of that, in the Summer of 2016, I will return to the States and see where my heart and God lead me.

Until then, I will pour my heart out to the children of Debre Zeyit and perhaps also Addis Ababa. I will build bonds with them and reveal to them the love and light of Jesus Christ. Specific actions are unknown, but I do plan on helping a ministry called Unforgotten Faces by being a mentor to the children. I will also eventually (after the 6 month mark) work on beginning a street Bible Club near one of the churches that I will be working with. But those details will come as it gets closer and more solid.

I ask that you pray for me as I embrace God's calling and give Him my heart. I don't know where this all will take me or how it will shape me, but I really just want to give my heart to restoring the hope of these children and allowing them to see the Light that the Darkness of this age tries to hide.

However, I not only ask you to pray, but I ask you to give. It's very easy to throw a prayer in the air just after reading this. I know, for I am guilty of doing just that. For my prayer warriors: I am very grateful to you. The constant, fervent prayer of righteous ones avails very much against the darkness that surrounds my life and God's work. If you pray for me regularly, then you are very much thanked. Please know it.

But whether you pray for me or not, please consider donating to my ministry. Even if it is just $5/month. I really mean that. And, though as not to bore you, here is what that $5 translates into:

First, $5 is *100ETB( Ethiopian Birr, which will be denoted with an asterisk). *100 can buy 10 one-liter bottles of water; 50 packages of cookies for Children Programs; 10 bags of milk; a meal for a family of 4 twice; two and a half plates of breakfast for a mentored child; 14 school notebooks; 25 two-way trips to the area of my ministering; approx. two days worth of travel to and from Addis Ababa; just barely less than the cost of registering a child for school at a government school.

Five dollars.

I understand that you might have school, a family, your own ministry, or other financial burdens. I get that. But five dollars really isn't that much for you, I'd imagine. But it is a lot to me. Won't you consider giving at least that much? Won't you consider going without that latte for just one day and giving that money to God's work here in Ethiopia? It really isn't offensive if you give a little. It really isn't insignificant. It really isn't bothersome. It is rather a beautiful sight to see that you decided to give, even if a little, to the work of Light.

So pray. Consider giving. Pursue love. Join in the fight against Darkness.

|Kevin Barrick|

Paypal: imagoin2heaven@yahoo.com

Address: 919 S. Battleground Ave. Kings Mountain, NC 28086