April Showers Bring May Flowers: Showering Ethiopia with Prayer

I would like to call all my friends and family to join me on a month-long prayer journey. God is working great things in Ethiopia, and I think it would be appropriate to shower the work over their with prayer. Prayer over the people; over the ministries; over the ministers. Prayers to bless; to care; to give hope.

Each day I will post either a link to a story about an individual or family, or I will write up a little bio-article. Please join me in this prayer journey. It should only take you five minutes to learn the story, to learn the persons, to learn the struggles. It should only take you a minute at a time randomly throughout your day to lift these persons up in prayer to God.


Showering Ethiopia with Prayer: Day 1
Praying for the poorest of the poor.

Click here for the worst Jonnett has seen.


Here are the names again for you to pray for:

Fasika Girma (Girl, 9 months old)
Meseret Girma (Girl, 8 years old)
Elias Sintayehu (Boy, 5 years old)
Weynishet Girma (Girl, 10 years old)

Remember to pray that God will provide money for food and shelter, as well as sponsors to take on sponsoring these precious souls.

Memories

I realized I've posted very few times on actual parts of my trip to Ethiopia. It was either all just a passing mention, or something else. I don't think I really posted anything of a journal-essence.

Activity Day #1

This is where I finally understand what it means when memories fade and regret splashes on me. My memories of this day (and probably all if I think about it) are attached to photos. If there are no photos, then I probably don't remember it. (Though, that's not always the case.)

Well, the day began with us leaving the guest house to make it to the church. A lot of the kids were already there playing on the playground. Jonnett and I went to the main building to set up, but the door was locked so we just chilled with the families on the porch. This girl is Belean, if I remember right. She one of a couple sets of twins in the 5 churches. *If I remember by the end of this post, I'll share a completely unrelated story that happened with Jonnett, this child and her twin, and me.

 Activity Day officially started with Nigist welcoming the children and beginning the day with some songs and prayer. Introductions were made, explanation of the day's events given, and then we split up. One group for crafts and Bible lesson. And the other for game time.

 We played many games. One was Cats and Mice, where kids-cats chases kids-mice and turned them into cats.
We also played an interesting game where we would walk in circles, and whenever the leader called out a color, we would do something (Netch[white]--touch teeth; Semiawi[blue]--point to sky)

 The kids really enjoyed playing on the playground equipment. They would pile onto the see-saw and see how many could get on.

 Sometimes they would be so piled up that they would slip down the poles and needed to be held up by others.

 At every Activity Day they serve meals to the children.

Yegele really enjoyed his food. (Follow that link to learn more about him! )

 At the end of the day, I spent some time with new friends. This is Abraham, and he loved to hold on to me and follow me wherever I went.

Once Abraham left, I began to play with a little boy, Yohannis. (Or maybe this is Yabsira. I didn't catch his name, really...) He liked my sunglasses and wanted a photo of him with them on. :)

Follow, Obey, Surrender.

God...may I never do things because I want to. May I never not do things because I don't want to. May everything I do and refrain from be done because You ordered it. Help me hear the voice of my Master and Shepherd and follow You. I was bought with a value worth more than gold--I was bought with the lifeblood of your beloved Son. And with that knowledge...I must realize I am your slave, your servant. I am ordained to follow you, obey you, mimic you. My emotions, desires, or goals are completely irrelevant in light of Your emotions, desires, and goals for me and mankind. Help me be true to my slave-hood. Help me be an instrument to your work, not the Master Worker, not the Conductor, not the Master.

God has his own thoughts. God has his own plans. Such is clearly seen in the Bible.

Psalm 40:5 "You have multiplied, O LORD my God,    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;    none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them,    yet they are more than can be told."

Psalm 92:5 "How great are your works, O LORD!    Your thoughts are very deep!"

Psalm 33:11 "The counsel of the LORD stands forever,    the plans of his heart to all generations."

Isaiah 25:1 "O LORD, you are my God;    I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things,    plans formed of old, faithful and sure." 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare [38] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

 And I have my own thoughts. My own plans.

Psalm 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart!    Try me and know my thoughts!"

(They can be just, pure thoughts...)
Proverbs 12:5 "The thoughts of the righteous are just;    the counsels of the wicked are deceitful."

(Or they can be an abomination to God...)
Proverbs 15:26 "The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD,    but gracious words are pure."


But all in all, my thoughts are not God's. My plans are not God's.

Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,    neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts."


And that's the crux of everything. God is, if we put things in a down-to-earth scale, up there at the top of the Empire State Building with His thoughts and plans. We, on the other hand, are the same distance the other direction; we're plowing into the mantle. It's not comparable. His thoughts are higher than ours--just like the sky is higher than the earth.

That's why I am His servant (purchased by Christ) not the other way around. That's why He calls the shots. That's why He is the Shepherd.
God desires the whole earth to be saved. He desires every tribe, every tongue, every people to testify to His love, to grow in Grace, to be redeemed. He knows the future; He knows everything. He sees what I don't see, He knows what I can't comprehend. For that reason, I ought to forsake everything that promotes me as the one who calls the shots.

And it's all so crazy. I wish there were a better word than 'crazy', but that's the best I can come up with. It's just crazy to think that God takes the time to redeem me* and to think thoughts towards me, to have plans for me, to desire my well-being, to gift me with desires so that I can follow Him in joy and peace.

*And it's crazy how much is packed into that word 'redeemed'. It means I'm saved, forgiven, loved. It means that God believes in me; that He sees my potential in Him so greatly that He granted me His Spirit so that I can carry out His will in my own individuality but in His strength and power. 



Everything nowadays is drawn back to Ethiopia. It's the desire of my heart. It's my thought; it's my desire; it's my plan. When reflecting in hindsight my sinful heart, my oppositions to Christ and the Spirit, I often follow the trend of "If I keep this path, I won't be able to go back to Ethiopia--what's the sense in living for God across the world if I can't live for God in my life in my home?" Sometimes it's more than logistics, it can go to thoughts of disqualification, becoming unfit as the vessel God wanted me to be used for, etc.

But is that really the thought pattern that is just? Is that the thinking that will get me into the will of God? My head says no.
Sin should never be viewed solely as consequential to the ministry. Sin should be viewed as drifting away from God.
Drifting away from God should never be viewed as detrimental to the ministry. Sin should be viewed as detrimental to my life.


But, Ethiopia. What if...I'm hyping it up in my heart? What if I want Ethiopia because it's a hip thing to do? What if I want Ethiopia because I simply want an avenue of service to God? What if I just want a pat on the back? What if I just want recognition? What if I just want change from the norm?
Those are all horrible reasons to want Ethiopia in my life. And I shouldn't want to go back to Ethiopia because I want it. I shouldn't want Ethiopia because I want it. I should want to go because God wants me to go and is sending me. I should want Ethiopia because God wants me to want it.
It should have zero things to do with me, and everything to do with God.

I'm the slave; He's the Master. I'm the forgiven; He's the forgiver. I'm the lost-now-found; He's the Seeker. I'm the redeemed; He's the redeemer. I'm the clay; He's the Potter.

God wants what is best for me. He wants what is best for you. He wants what is best for the children of Ethiopia. He wants what is best for the people of the world. And God knows what I can and cannot do. He's the One who gave me my likes and dislikes; my strengths and my weakness; my abilities and disabilities; my knowledge and lack of knowledge. He created my personality. He created me.

It would be crazy for me to call the shots. It would be crazy to pursue my own thing. It would be crazy to plan my life.

God...you have plans for me. You have desires for my life. You have my future already prescribed. You already know what you want me to do and where. Help me be fully surrendered to you. If you send me to Ethiopia, help me go. If you send me to another place, help me go. If you send me here, help me stay. Help me be focused on today's decisions, not tomorrow's dream. Help me be so close to You that I hear your small, still voice; that I feel your impulses; that I can feel your heart beat. Help me feel your pain; feel your joy; feel your power. Help me forsake all that is me and run after all that is You. God, I need you to fill be with Your Spirit to control me. I need Your love to fill my heart. I need You.  Help me surrender all. 

More

These are real lives.

These are real humans.

These are real people.

These are more than faces.

These are more than stories.

These are more than charity.

They are like you, but orphaned.

They are like you, but poor.

They are like you, but unschooled

Imagine yourself stripped of your parents, stripped of a good role model. Imagine yourself to live as an adult from an early age, taking care of your younger siblings and perhaps even your sick, bed-ridden mother, aunt, or grandmother.

Imagine yourself living with four other people in the space of the average, middle-class family's living room. Imagine yourself owning only two other shirts, one other pants, and one pair of shoes.

Imagine yourself in the midst of all that, and yet maintain humanity's rich characteristics of hope, dreams, ambition, zeal, happiness, love, joy. These families have poverty spiritually and physically thrust upon them, but when squeezed produce sweet nectar of spiritual richness.

It is very easy to see pictures of people in Africa, Russia, China, Argentina, Honduras and see faces of poverty, pain, and sorrow. That very well be what those pictures are of. They may truly be of a child or adult that is impoverished and is in horrible living conditions. Those pictures, though, depict more than poverty. They represent in an image the soul of another human. Despite the fact they are poor, they are humans. Despite their being yet another story in charity's call for love-actions, they are souls that need love. Not tangible love like gifts and money, but intangible like spending time with an individual and allow the bonds of the heart to reach out and attach to their heart.  

I find it hard for myself to see missions photos, sometimes even my own photos, and detach myself from the norm of "Oh, it's just a photo." These are more than photos of kids and people. These are true humans, living just as you are under different circumstances. We share the same hopes, dreams, and goals. Just different experiences.

And that's what we need to realize. A picture is not a sob-story. Big organizations might be like that, striving to better the human race, to fulfill a need of, well, humane deeds. Missionaries on the other hand ((and I'm not bashing organizations at all. They're good, and they're helpful. But the missionary [ought to, at least] has a different mindset.)) aren't all about sob-stories. Are stories sad? Yes. Are they desperate for help? Sure. But they're not about you feeding into your satisfaction as a human or as a "Christian" by 'doing good deeds'.

Missionaries present stories, lives, people to those who are better off circumstantially that are able to help. We as Christians are commanded to help the poor, minister to the "least of these." Missionaries simply present you a means of obeying God. They bring back stories from their world into your world so you can hear, understand, and know how to help. If it's by giving, going, or praying, you ought to be obeying God by doing what you can do help the poor and the 'least of these'.


More than faces. These are lives. 

Random Memories

Whenever I get into an Ethiopian mood (which is very often), I like to peruse Google to find blogs of other missionaries who went there or are currently there. A lot of my research ends up being adopting parents who aren't missionaries over there, or perhaps only have gone over there for sake of adoption protocol. And that's cool and great and all, but I like having that unspoken bond with strangers that ministering to these kiddoes bring. Sometimes my searches come up often--rather, often now that I've exhausted Google's supply. I'm now left with waiting for the "Missions Trip Season" to come and go so that more people will have had the opportunity to go to Ethiopia from around the US or world.

But when I do find blogs, I like to read random things. Like, obviously, their ministries, but also their day-to-day. I try to keep my Ethiopian blog versatile. I don't want it all a campaign pitch; I don't want it all photos; I don't want it all random nuggets of truth. I want it all in a well-balanced medium.

So this entry is simply a sharing of memories. When practical, I'll attach photos so you can see what I saw. I'll try to write descriptively enough so you don't need photos. :)

~~

The night was probably half-way through my trip. Power was out, so I opted not to use my computer so I would be able to have it charged if I really needed it. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but I eventually found myself over at New Zealand chilling with them and playing games. Jonnett and Mussie were in Addis so I was alone. Well, after the party night at New Zealand, I went back to the Guest House to eat supper and get ready for bed. As I was walking back, I began to go through the list of what I could eat. We had a gas stove, so I could still cook. But because it was pitch black, I didn't feel like cutting any vegetables for whatever I could've made (as tradition has it, I probably would've made pasta salad. :P ). So I was like "Guess I'm not eating," then I remembered that I had bought some Ramen noodles in Addis just for this reason when I was hungry but didn't want to belabor cooking.
In the midst of my thinking, a realization grabbed hold of my awareness and pulled me back into reality. There was no moon. And things were even darker. No power--no house or street lights. No moon--even less light. I then began to crane my neck trying to find the moon. Nope. No moon. Now the glistening sky of stars shone even brighter and that caught my attention. So I hurried upstairs to my room to grab my noodles and mp3 player, rushed to cook it, and then went up to the balcony and laid out on a mattress an watched the stars, listening to my music, in awe of God.




Grocery shopping. :) Those were fun times.



Oh. I remember when we were driving to Addis-- either to pick up Jasmine or Dad, or we were going to Addis for our departure-- and it was raining and the sun was setting and it was an amazing picture to take. So I tried to get one from my location, but couldn't; then Jonnett tried, but traffic(I think) was getting in the way. Right when I was about to give up, David (our awesome driver) pulled to the side of the road so I could take the photo.  Unfortunately, though, I still didn't get a good shot because my camera was focusing on the water droplets on the windshield and not the sunset in the distance. :/ Ah well.

This picture has nothing to do with the above memories, but I felt like posting a photo. This is from my last activity day. I miss them...

Service vs. Relationship

I know it's weird to think think anything different to the pattern of "I'm serving Jesus, that's good enough."

But it isn't good enough. When we serve so much to the exclusion of being close to God, spending time with Him, things become counterproductive.

Take for instance Mary. She had a very expensive perfume that she used to get down to Jesus' feet and wash them. She was given flack for not using the perfume as means of providing for the poor. But Jesus commended her actions saying that, in essence, she ought to focus on Jesus more than the poor.

Another instance was when Mary and Martha had Jesus and the disciples over to their house. Jesus was teaching and Martha was busy catering to them. Mary on the other hand was sitting by Jesus listening to what He had to say--and that frustrated Martha because she was left with all the work. Martha goes on a rampant to Jesus about how she's doing all the work and that He should tell Mary to help her. Jesus rebukes her, saying that Mary chose the good thing, not her.


So here's what needs to be said. More for my sake (and it helps to vocalize thoughts), but for yours as well.
Don't be so caught up in service that you neglect time with Jesus. You preach, teach, minister to children or the elderly, host Bible studies? Great! But spend time connected to God so everything you do will prosper--so that you will not faint and that you will grow.

Booti Gedion--Sponsorship Highlights

The building resembled a small plaza. There was the room you entered from off the streets, then a family room, then a small bedroom, then a door that led outside to their kitchen and another small shed-like building. That was all that was visible of the house. My first home visit to this house introduced me to a grandmother/guardian who took care of 7 children, ages ranging from 3 years of age up to around 15 years of age.

The room in which I first met the family was dark. No artificial lights shone in the house; the only light present was whatever spilled in from the faraway doorways to the outside sun. Having no flash to my camera at that time, no suitable picture could describe what I saw and experienced. It was a family of mix-matched individuals. There were some cousins, some siblings, and even one orphaned neighbor. They loved each other and viewed each other as full siblings.

My visit began as a quiet one. Most of the children were shy except for a couple I had been teaching in my music class. Booti was especially shy. He sat with his brother, shyly eying the new foreigners. His social worker caught wind of his shyness and pushed him out of his comfort zone slightly and had him sit by me. In a matter of minutes his shy shell shattered, and he lost control of his heart-piercing smile. Giggles resonated throughout the room from him being tickled or played with.

I visited Booti three times during my time in Ethiopia and never could I resist responding with my own smiles in reaction to his bubbly spirit and broad grins. God has protected his spirit from the stains of bitterness that far too often poke at the spirits of children and adults alike in Ethiopia. His story is hardly different than the rest of the children (his father was shot, and his mother had a break down and left him with his grandmother), but he maintains his high spirit.

Booti is currently only one of two children in that household sponsored through Blessing the Children International. Neither of the sponsored children is even fully sponsored, and yet it is through these two children's sponsorships (and whatever income the grandmother can earn through her in-house cafe) that they survive. Eight people living off of the partial sponsorships of two children is hard to accomplish, but God is sustaining them.

Would you look into the life of Booti and consider sponsoring him? He is presently at the 2/3 mark; so he only needs $30/month to be fully sponsored. Won't you be the one to fully sponsor him?

Please pray, seeking God's will in this matter. It's literally one dollar a day that can bring this family the hope and provisions they need. --A dollar a day. Think about it. A soda is at least a dollar at restaurants; a single new garment could cost at least that $30. So you could, if God lays it on your heart, go without soda each time you eat out so you can sponsor Booti; or you can withhold purchasing that new piece of clothing each month; or you can lower your cable plan and save money that way. There are a lot of things we take for granted—a lot of things we needlessly have that we could give up if we are willing.

Please, pray it over for two days whether it is God's will for you to sponsor Booti.

After reading this article, would you pass along Booti's message? After praying for two days, could you send out the message again if God isn't the one calling you? You may not be the one to give the money for Booti's sponsorship, but you may be the person that shares his story to the one who does sponsor Booti.

Thank you for sharing his message. Thank you for praying.

For further information on how to sponsor Booti, email either email me at kevin2ethiopia@yahoo.com or Melissa Strawn at Melissa@blessingthechildren.org or call her at (989) 667-8850. Or you can even go to BCI's website at BCI's Sponsorship Page.

1 John 3:17-18But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.