Break My Heart For What Breaks Yours

After we had decided we were going to go back to Ethiopia, I started looking through all of our paperwork from the adoption, searching for emails and phone numbers from people we were in contact with for the adoption (our adoption agency, Birtukan, travel agent, phone number of a lady from our area, who has adopted from Ethiopia and has gone back on mission trips.)   I had questions for our adoption agency, such as, was it safe to bring Mussie back to Ethiopia?  Was he allowed to be in public with us? (for our adoption trip, once we picked Mussie up from the orphanage, we were told to stay at the guesthouse for the safety of him and us.  We were not to be out in public with him, for fear of being approached by other Ethiopians who might harass us.)  Was it ok to visit orphanages with him?  Our adoption agency assured me it was safe for him to be there and we can take him anywhere.  Restaurants, markets, orphanages.  She says things have changed in Ethiopia over the last couple of years and they are hearing that more and more adoptive families are going back with their adopted child to his/her home country.

 I also started researching on line different areas and orphanages to visit while staying in Addis.  I grabbed my pen and paper and started listing all the of places that I found  but there were only a few I was able to research.  After looking up on line and reading about some of  these places, the area that stuck out the most in my mind was a village called Korah. I do still have that piece of paper, but never went back to it to research the other areas and actually I don’t even remember anything about the other places or villages that I read that day.  Korah stays on my mind while I focus on other travel plans and  preparations for the trip, and of course, my kids at home, day to day life, school activities, doctors, warts and chiropractor appointments, and the never ending sicknesses we’ve had this winter season.  But mostly, Korah stays  in the back of my mind, not a very strong thought, just there, once in a while.  As the days move along, I start singing this one line from a song that I’ve heard many times, I don’t know the name of the song or other words in the song, just that one particular line and the tune. “Break my heart for what breaks yours” (I’m actually singing that tune now as I write it.)  I just sing it, over and over.  That one line.  All the time.  When I’m just sitting quietly, cooking, running, taking a shower, moving from one task to another, first words I say to myself as I’m waking up.  “Break my heart for what breaks yours”  So those words have me thinking hard about what they mean.  Break my heart for what breaks yours.  What is it?  What are you telling me?

I was up early Saturday, not having slept well (too many kids in my bed, not being able to move, and the many foot jabs to my side all night) and as usual opened my computer to check my emails, and thought,  I’m just going to type those words in to see what pops up -- Break my heart for what breaks yours.  The first two searches were two different songs using those words, but not the song I have been singing.  The 3rd search was a blog from an organization that is working in Ethiopia.  I click on it, read a few of the posts, one of course, using those words, but the last post I read that morning was from a lady working in Korah who treats over 300 children in a small medical clinic and 2 different boarding schools.  Her supplies are running low and she has a list of things that are needed and asks if there is anyone coming soon that will be able to purchase these items and donate them to her clinic.  What!?!  Perfect!!  Because we won’t be traveling with material donations, I have been praying for another use for our money donations that we have been receiving.  I emailed her immediately, expressing we would love to help her!  To make a long story a little short, she has replied to my email and YES! We are going to purchase and donate those items to her!

God is in charge of this trip.  His heart aches for these people.  It breaks my heart now to look at pictures and read about the way these people are struggling to survive by digging through the garbage of others, living and sleeping on mounds and mounds of filthy junk.  Not knowing were their next meal is coming from, or worse having to share their meal with wild dogs and other animals, and to have no other option but to find their meals from the filthiest place on earth, the city garbage dump.  This is an opportunity for us to make a difference in a small way.  We know that these conditions exist, not just in Africa, but other countries as well, including ours!  I have five children and I would never want that life for them.   I believe with all my heart that God placed those words in my mind to play over and over again which led me to a website where there is a need.  God is letting these people know there is a hope and a future for them.  That they are not forgotten!  That He loves them and cares for them and is using us to get that message to them.  I asked Him to lead us where He needs us and we will follow.  He has called us to go and we are going with open hearts and open hands.  I am feeling a tug from God to pray for these children and families, and would love for you to pray for them too!

Thanks to everyone who is making this possible.  Your love and support has been awesome!!  We feel truly blessed and so thankful!!  You are all very special to us!!   Emily started searching for the song that I have been singing,  She found it!  Casting Crowns  “Jesus,  Friend of Sinners.”  We listened to the song and there it was-- Break my heart for what breaks yours.  Thank you, Father, for the answer to my prayer.  I haven’t been there yet, I don’t know what to expect, but from what I read these people are the poorest of the poor.  To look down from heaven and see Your families and Your children living in and around the city garbage dump must break Your heart.  You are STRONG and You are BIG and POWERFUL!  You are GOOD and Your LOVE endures forever!  There is a HOPE for these families in Korah and his name is JESUS CHRIST!   And you know what, after listening to that song, I can’t stop singing the ending.  “You are good, you are good, and your love endures forever.”   I sing it all day, over and over!