Ethiopia 2013: Thank you!!



Sweet Children in Our Village

Words do not adequately express my gratitude for each of you...your prayers and support!  THANK YOU!!!

During the week that our team was in Ethiopia, more than 3,400 heard the gospel and 76 accepted and made a life changing decision to follow Christ!  It's always AMAZING to see God at work in this way...and humbling to be an instrument in His hand. 

Each year that I have gone, I've had a completely different experience.  For those of you that have graciously walked with me through each of these journeys, I think you would agree.  From an overwhelming "mountain top" experience my first year where I was blessed (and overwhelmed) to see many, many come to Christ...to being terribly ill the second year where I had to miss our last two days of ministry...and now this year experiencing more resistance to the gospel than in the past.  But God in His kindness has used each of these experiences to disciple me.  He's teaching me more and more about Himself while purging the sin from my own heart.  I'm so very thankful for the promise in Philippians 1:6 that He will faithfully continue His good work in us until the day of Christ Jesus.



My Small Team

I learned this year what it really meant that some will "sow" and others will "reap" (John 4) and both jobs are equally important to the Kingdom of God.  While my small team saw very few people accept the gospel in our village, we can trust what God says in Isaiah 55:10-11: "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."  The gospel was sowed; God will take care of the rest.  Praise Him!

Before I close, I want to share an incredible story from the week.  The more I talk about it, the more amazed and aware I am of the sovereignty of God!  As I mentioned in my original email, I was scheduled to meet a 17-year old girl, Sintayehu, that I sponsor through Compassion International towards the end of my trip.  I began sponsoring her two years ago after I had visited her village on the second trip I took to Ethiopia.  So we've been writing for a couple of years.  I was very excited about the opportunity to meet her in person!

Two days before I left for Ethiopia, I saw an article in a magazine (Christianity Today) about child sponsorship and whether it worked.  There were a couple of university students who decided to do a study as part of their course work.  Compassion agreed to provide the data they needed to perform their study.  In separate studies, the results were unanimous in terms of education, jobs, and quality of life.  Child sponsorship, at least through Compassion, has a significant impact on those things.  And when Compassion was given the findings, they shared the reason for this difference was HOPE.  The gospel is shared with these Compassion children giving them hope. And the fact that someone halfway around the world loves them enough to give them this opportunity makes them feel significant.  Cool, huh?

Tsegaye, Our Translator

During the week we were there, on one of the days we were in the village, we were having lunch with our translators and disciple makers.  They were sharing their testimonies with us.  One of our 19-year old translators began to share his story and as he did, tears began to flow down my face.  He came to know Christ through being a Compassion child.  WOW!  I couldn't believe my ears as he shared the details.  He began to weep as I shared with him that I was meeting my child that week.  I told him that God used his story to encourage me and to share with me how important this sponsorship is in Sintayehu's life. 



Finally, the time came for me to meet her.  We had two hours together where talked (through a translator) and shared photos.  During that time, I got to share with her my testimony.  I knew that she was exposed to the gospel through Compassion but did not know where should stood.  So I felt compelled to share the gospel in a personal way with her.  At the end of it all, she prayed to receive Christ!  And she told me "I am so happy."

How kind of the Lord to allow me to be part of that!  He made it really clear to me that THIS was a huge reason why I was in Ethiopia this year.  He had a plan...a PERFECT plan all along.  And I'm still celebrating His goodness!!

Thank you again for being part of this journey with me!  I hope this encourages you and reminds you how great the God we serve!