Sunday, February 24, 2013

sheep for lunch


Note:  the sheep in this story are not the ones being purchased for the families at Yezelalem Minch

Mussie has kept pretty quiet about our trip to Ethiopia.  He has only once said he was excited to go.  But last night before bed he says to me,

Mussie:  “Mama, I can’t wait to go to Ethiopia!”

Mom:  (because he has not said much about this trip,  I’m excited to hear what he has to say)  “You can’t?  What are you looking forward to?”

Mussie:  “Shooting the sheep.”

Mom:  “Shooting the sheep!?!  What sheep?”

Mussie:  “Nathan says we’re gonna shoot sheep and feed it to the kids.”

Mom: “Well no, we’re not shooting the sheep, we’re buying sheep and someone else is going to butcher the sheep, cook it, and then we get to feed it to the kids.”

Mussie:  “Butcher?  What does that mean?”

Mom:  “That means someone uses a knife to cut the sheep into meat just like Daddy brings his deer to someone to have cut up into meat for us.”

Mussie:  “So we don’t get to shoot the sheep?”

Mom:  “Nope.”

Mussie:  “Do we get to eat the sheep?”

Mom:  “Probably not, but we get to serve it to the kids for lunch.”

Mussie:  “Oh.”

Mussie is talking about the sheep we'll be purchasing on our way to visiting the children in Korah.  We’ll be picking up 3 or 4 sheep to feed about 90 children at the center where we’ll be dropping off the medical supplies.  The woman in charge says the kids love when families or teams come with sheep for lunch.  She says it’s a big treat for them because they don’t get to eat meat often.  It’s gonna be a big treat for Nathan, too!  He can’t wait to lasso those sheep, tie them up to the roof of our van, and surprise the kids at the center with them.  This trip is sounding better and better to Nathan everyday!  After telling the kids we'll be buying sheep to feed the kids for lunch, Nate's eyes got big and his face lit up!  "Awesome!!"  he says .  Oh, Nathan will be in heaven!! (Nathan does know that we are not shooting the sheep, that they are going to be butchered instead.  I think!)

Friday, February 15, 2013

GO!


A few weeks ago, Steve asked me,  “How do you know we’re being lead?  How do you know that it’s you God is speaking to?”  I thought about it for a moment, and then a feeling of doubt came over me.  “Is it true?”  I questioned myself.  Am I bringing my family somewhere I long to be?  Am I caught up in my own wants and not God’s desire for our family.  But all those prayers, all the moments I felt I was communicating with God. The tears He’s brought to my eyes!   I started to think back to the many days I‘ve spent reading His Word.  All the prayers I’ve shared with Steve and the many Scripture verses the Lord has instructed me to trust in Him, to understand His heart, to delight in Him, and to know his desires for me and for the people he loves.  But because Steve was questioning me, I suddenly started questioning myself.

That night before I went to bed I asked God “Is it me Lord?  Am I  doing what YOU want me to do?”  I prayed for any sign from Him that what I was feeling was actually Him working in me.  I fell asleep that night hoping to receive a dream from God letting me know it is all Him, that these are His plans and not mine.

Nope.  No Dream.  Never happens that way for me.  The only visible sign that God has ever given me is an opportunity to adopt a little boy from Ethiopia.  To see firsthand,  the hardship and suffering most of the children endure there.  To see their sad, hopeless faces looking up at you.  They all wanted to be held, to be touched, to be loved.  God captured my heart and instantly placed a desire in me to love and care for the ones hurting in Ethiopia.  God has used my desire of serving in Ethiopia(and the adoption itself) to bring me closer to HIM, to know HIM more,  depend on HIM more, love HIM more,  trust HIM more.  In my many moments of quiet time with Him I have learned and often felt His PEACE, His LOVE, His HOPE, His COMPASSION, and His JOY!!

So no dream.  My conversation with Steve was replaying over and over that next morning as I got the kids ready for school.  As soon as everyone left, the house quiet, I grabbed my Bible, prayed and randomly opened my Bible to the last chapter in Matthew.

             "Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
                     in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
                 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.
                    And be sure of this:  I am with you always,  even to the end of the age."   
                                                                                                  Matthew 28:19-20

As I read and reread those words, my eyes began to fill with tears and my heart started to beat a little faster. I knew it was God speaking to me at that moment saying YES you need to GO!!  Go and share the gospel, shine the light of Jesus in their lives, love them the way Jesus loves.

However God wants to use us, wherever he leads us, whatever he has us doing, let the people of Ethiopia see Him!  That He will be glorified.






Monday, February 11, 2013

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!


Saturday, February 9, 2013



We are headed back to Ethiopia!  This time to follow the vision God has placed in my heart to care for the children there.  It is a dream of mine since leaving Ethiopia in March 2011, to be able to spend time with the poor and the oppressed, to love them and to display the love Jesus has for them.

I haven’t always been patient in waiting for this day.  I often thought, why not now, why is this not happening!  I want to go, I want to be there!   But the Lord says in  Habakkuk, “these things I plan won’t happen right away.  Slowly, steadily, surely,  the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.  If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place.”   This trip has always been in my prayers and on my mind, and at times I thought it may never happen.  God may seem slow to us, but he is never late!  It is in His perfect timing that our journey is just beginning.

This trip means so much to me.  Sometimes I am filled with so much excitement, I want to shout and scream with joy!  But I’ll leave that up to Mischa!  Every day she kicks her legs up in the air shouting “I can’t wait, I can’t wait!!  How many more days?”  The countdown is on for the whole family, with Mischa telling us every evening how many more days are left until we leave.  I can’t believe the day will soon be here, when my family and I will get to travel 8,ooo miles to show the children in Ethiopia there is a hope for them.  That they have a Savior whose name is Jesus and He loves them very much.  I’m not sure where we will be visiting or what we’re supposed to be doing while we are there, but I know I want to help.  A journey to the heart of God start's with a single step and hopefully many more.

We are a little family with a BIG heart for the people in Ethiopia.  2+5=7 family members on a mission to serve the Lord in Ethiopia!