Africa slideshow 2014

Here is a slideshow of pictures from our time in Ethiopia this week. I stand in awe of God for all he is doing there, and I am thankful he has allowed me to be a small part of it.

Enjoy....

Ethiopia 2014 - thank you

Four ministries in five days. Games. Music. Crafts. Sports. Hugs. Laughter. Tears. Sharing God's word. It has been an amazing week.

Tomorrow is a getaway day, so our work here is done for the most part. And so I want to take the opportunity to thank some awesome people for heeding God's call to Go.Be.Love this week. I have loved every minute of serving side-by-side with them.

Thank you, Clark, for your sharing your heart for reaching the nations with the gospel and choosing to focus that passion on these children in Ethiopia. You are an encouragement to me and someone who keeps me I the right path because you know me so well. And it was a joy to watch you use your language skills to bring the gospel into conversations.

Thank you, Trisha, for coming back with us a second time, and taking a leadership role on a critical aspect of the trip - activities for the kids. I don't know how we could have done that without you. And you did it all with a heart of love. And thank you for bringing...

Danny; I appreciated your servant heart and ability to take charge when something was needed. Whether it was blowing up soccer balls, playing with the kids who love sports, hauling food to feed kids, or changing a tire, you were right there. And you were a servant not only to our group but the children.

Chasya, I am so thankful that God led you to our team. You had no previous connection so I know the Lord's hand was in every aspect of that decision. I don't know what it was, but children just flocked to you. It was hard to even get a good picture there were so many around. God blessed the kids of Ethiopia through you - count on it.

And all of you: You really loved each other well. Jesus prayed for the world to see the truth by watching his people love each other, and that prayer was answered in this team. You just can't fake that. Because we grew together this week, God was glorified 24/7.

I will miss you all. But more than that, I am excited that The Lord brought us together for a special purpose. Well done, friends.

Day 4 - Happy

How are these days going by so fast? We come to the close of another day here in Addis Ababa and I can't believe that we'll be gone in less that 48 hours. The rest of the team is off to bed (surprise - I'm a night owl, ha!) and I'm sitting here reflecting on the wonderful things God is accomplishing.

I guess the big thing today is that it was the second of two full days with a ministry that is new to Visiting Orphans. Mercy Ministries Happy Children's Home is a place that provides an opportunity for children in its neighborhood with the greatest need - often single parent families where there is significant risk of them being orphaned. They give the children a year of preparation for school, and then after that they come back each year when school is out for a summer program. It was the summer program kids that we were spending time with.

I can't describe how it was to be with these 50 or so children. So I'm not going try, I'm just going to let the pictures (along with the ones in yesterday's blog post) speak for themselves:

Tomorrow we will spend the morning with No Ordinary Love, and then wrap up the week back at Korah to help feed the kids there a sheep/goat meal. Today we picked up the sheep and tok them to the site, and that was an interesting hour!

This amazing group of five individuals is really proving to be what Jesus had in mind for his church when he prayed in John 17:23. More on that later. For now, just suffice it to say that going out tonight with these brothers and sisters for some tractional Ethiopian food and culture was so much fun. Come to think of it, working with them has been so much fun.

On to the final full day...

Days 2 and 3 - being love

As our time in Ethiopia moves along way too rapidly (I can't believe it's already Thursday morning), we have been so blessed to see God working. The time Tuesday with kids from Embracing Hope and Out of the Ashes gave us opportunities to show love to children for a second time. Also, we had two more home visits, which are some of my favorite times here.

Then yesterday (Wednesday) we got to visit with the children of Mercy Ministries Happy Children's Home. This is the first time Visiting Orphans has sent a team there and so we didn't know quite what to expect. What we found was what we find everywhere - children whom God loves. We played, laughed, sang, and shared the gospel through Bible stories. I can't wait to go back there today.

There's no way to communicate how God is using this time in words. We just wanted to give you a glimpse...and ask for your prayers as we move through the rest of the week.

Thursday...let's do this.