And it just got really real

I’m a leavin’ on a jet plane… Sing it with me now!  However, I DO know when I’ll be back again (Lord willing of course).  I took a huge leap of faith yesterday and actually bought my airline tickets for…
 

ETHIOPIA!  Whaaaaaa????  Not the hugest tourist and vacation destination, I know.  Let me back up a bit for you.  I’ll go all the way back to the beginning.

 

Several months back, I can’t even pinpoint an exact time, there were many things in my life that kept pointing to one word.  The word kept popping up and I wasn’t sure why or what I was supposed to do with it.  The word was “Africa.”  For a long time I thought about it and (to be honest) prayed only a little about it.  But “Africa” kept coming up and stirring in my heart.  I let it sit there and simmer for quite a while as I know God wasn’t ready to let me know why He was bringing it up yet. 

In April of this year our church hosted it’s first “Chosen” Sunday where we focused on those in need.  The priority was placed on any person in need from our own church family, to the Buffalo community, and to the entire world.  We had people come to represent the different organizations they worked & volunteered for such as our local Crisis Nursery, Compassion International, the Buffalo Food Shelf and Children’s HopeChest.  We also heard testimonies and personal stories from people in our congregation who have been foster parents, child sponsors, and from others who have adopted children of their own.

As I listened to one gal, Karen, talk about her experience with adopting their two sons from Ethiopia and also about the organization that she works with, something grabbed hold of my heart.  The impulsive part of me wanted to jump up and run to the nearest adoption agency and say, “I want to adopt a child who needs a Daddy & Mommy!  Right now!”  But I knew that that wasn’t God’s plan for us and that I needed to just pray and wait until God let me know what He wanted me to do.  I started really thinking and praying about the next step God wanted us to take as a family and I was pretty sure about what it was.  I needed to talk to Jeremiah about it and so I said, “Honey, I’ve been thinking,” to which he replied with, “Uh oh.”  I smiled and continued, “What do you think about adopting?”  He just stared at me blankly until I felt enough time had gone by for him to feel sufficiently freaked out and said, “Too much?  Ok, well then how about sponsoring a child from Children’s HopeChest in Ethiopia that Karen was talking about a few Sundays ago?”  Children’s HopeChest (CHC) is an organization that our church has been in a growing relationship with for the past couple years.  Jeremiah was on board right away, and was probably relieved that I wasn’t serious about adopting. 

In just a couple short days we were the proud sponsor family to Zekir, a little kindergartener who attends Kind Hearts School in Ethiopia, through CHC.  Our children were excited about “our new buddy Zekir” and were thrilled when we got to go to the store and pick out gifts to send directly to him via one of the mission teams going to Ethiopia a few days later. 

Shortly after all of this I had been praying about what God was doing and what I was supposed to be doing when out of the blue, at a garage sale, my friend Julie said, “Do you want to go to Ethiopia with me in November?”  I kind of just stood there and all I could get out was, “Yes. Maybe.” 

I started praying if THIS was what God was leading me towards.  I talked with Jeremiah and he was fully on board if this is what God was asking of me.  I talked with Karen and got my name on the waiting list (waiting list for a mission trip… what a FABULOUS problem to have!).  I just prayed that God would reveal the plan and let me know how to be obedient.  I was, surprisingly, very patient in waiting for Him to give me the answer and on June 27^th He said, “Go.”  And so here I am, planning to be a part of a mission team to Ethiopia in November, 2013.  While there, we will work with the children at two of the care-points that CHC has- Kind Hearts & Trees of Glory Schools.  Each of these care-points serves to educate, feed, clothe, provide medical care and clean water, and come along side families (if the children have one) in raising up children in this very poverty stricken region.  I will have the privilege of working 3 full days at each care-point, teaching and loving the children there, and also get the awesome opportunity to meet Zekir and his family!

From the time I was in ninth grade and went on my first mission trip, service & mission projects have had a special place in my heart.  It hasn’t always seemed logical or felt like it was going to work out in the way that I thought it should.  But I know that God is bigger than my plans.  Whether it is working in Ethiopia, the mountains of West Virginia, the hills of Wyoming, the plains of North Dakota, the inner city in Minneapolis, or in lil’ ol’ Buffalo, God has called me to care for and love those less fortunate in very real and practical ways. 

If you feel so inclined and have a spare minute or two, would you please pray for me and the team that will be traveling November 14-25, 2013 to Ethiopia?  Pray that God would be smooshing and squishing our hearts so that we feel the burden of the kiddos and families we get to serve over there.  Pray for safety among the team.  Pray for all logistical things to fall directly in line with where they should be.  Pray for health and that our tummies can easily handle the food that will be different to us.  Pray for energy, perseverance, and stamina.  Pray for peace for our families back at home.  Pray that God’s Word and His love would be so evident in all we do that the children and families we are serving won’t be able to miss it and that they will feel the Love of God deep within their hearts!