Friday, December 19, 2014

My ramblings - what else? ;)


Until you have blown your nose into your bare hands because there was nothing else.

Until you have shaved by the light of your laptop because the light was something else.

Until you have washed your dishes with your laundry detergent because there is nothing else.

Until you have prayed prayers of "Jesus please don't let me poop myself" as you rush to the house because there is nowhere else.

Until you lay in a fetal position with a stomach ache so bad and you're tempted to dream of being somewhere else.

Until you invite children into the house and feed them, love and study them as they eat, knowing they have had nothing else.

Until you have eaten macaroni with ketchup - mix in some hot peppers -because there is nothing else.

Until you have fallen on your face as your heart was breaking at what is around you because it felt like there was no one else.

Until then, do not tell me you are poor because you, friend, are anything else.

Until you can acknowledge "blessed are the poor for they will inherit the kingdom of God" - want for nothing else.

Until you have felt the hand of God on your cheek and smelled Him so sweet you did not want to move as His presence is something else.

Until you know He the Lord our God is near to his beloved and brokenhearted as He could not fathom being anywhere else.

Until you preach the gospel in the streets to people who may harm you because they do not want to hear anything else.

Until you cast demons out and order them on their way "do not bother anyone else."

Until you fight for what is right so they see Jesus for who He is and nothing else.

Until your soul cries "Abba (Father)..." measure yourself against no one else.

Until souls come home dare not speak of anything else.

Until you are a missionary on God's mission, wherever you are, be no one else.

5 year old needs your prayers and a school fee.


Habtamu Adugna is a 5 year old boy with a very cute smile whose parents passed away when he was living in another village 25 km away. He moved here to Debre Zeyit about 1 year ago to live with his grandparents and uncle. The grandfather is a daily laborer as the sole source of income. His grandma, Tsehaye, was the only adult besides his uncle home at the time of our visit.

Habtamu's favorite game to play is football (or soccer) with his best friend named Ashenafi. He likes the color yellow, his favorite animal is a tie between hyena and dog, and when he grows up he wants to (Are you ready for this?) work in a slaughter house. The social worker thinks he made this decision as a choice career because there is a slaughter house nearby the home and it's a part of his environment - perhaps at 5 years old all he knows.

The family is an Orthodox family and upon permission of the household to speak about Jesus, we gave them the truth as Scripture tells us to do and it included an offer of salvation if they had not received Christ's gift. I told them Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that no one gets to the Father but through Him. I told them He never leaves or forsakes us, all He wants is our heart and we begin a daily walk with Him. I said that following Jesus comes with a price but choosing not to follow Him the cost is greater. "What good is it if we gain the whole world but lose our soul?"

I shared with them that one of the things we get to look forward to as followers is sitting in His lap and that His promise is that in Heaven (after we've received Him) the bible says there will be no more tears, crying, or pain. I also told them about hell, as in that is the consequence to not making that transaction because our God is holy and sovereign. I told them He is the hope of the world, and if they were losing hope they could talk to Him.

By the end of our visit, I asked them twice if they were ready to receive Jesus, if this was something they wanted to do. They sat there completely silent. Either they were not ready to accept Jesus or they had made their decision.

Currently one of the needs of the family (aside from Jesus) is money for Habtamu to start school. On the limited income they have, they simply can't afford to pay the school fee. To my understanding, the lack of money is the only thing stopping it.

If you want to sponsor little Habtamu so he can start school, you can begin his journey starting at only $30 per month. Just visit the link: www.blessingthechildren.org/donate. Then fill out the sponsorship form to begin your monthly donation.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

An abandoned mom and her 3 kids need you.

The Gameda Family.


Today I got to visit with the Gameda family. This family of four, mom and three kids, are desperate for sponsorship. The mom, Shewaye, washes clothes when she can but being a single parent makes it hard to continue working without leaving her youngest (a one year old) to fend for himself. The dad left the family. He met another woman and married her. From my understanding there's no support coming from him.

Dawit (age 12, grade 5 at a public school), Kalkidan (age 9, grade 2 at a public school) and Yabsira (age 1) live with their mom in a very small home at the cost of 100 birr per month (or roughly $5 USD). It was so small we met with the family outside. Of all the kids in the program, this family is among the neediest.

Kalkidan (the 9 year old daughter) was not home at the time as she was in school. I got to meet Dawit (the older boy) as he is a morning student and the visit was in the afternoon after he was out of school for the day, and I saw Yabsira open his eyes from his nap resting gently on his momma before we left. The tiny child was broke out in some sort of rash that the social worker called an allergy. The small red bumps were on his face and all over his body.

Shewaye informed us some people were helping send the kids to school and they bought them uniforms for them as well. When not in school, Dawit likes to play football (or soccer) which is what he had been playing as we arrived at the home. The sweet boy wants to be a doctor, his favorite subject is English, and his favorite animal is the lion.

This family is an Orthodox family. I saw her cross and asked her what it meant to her. (We were now starting to attract other curious people as we were sitting outside). She told us she wore it because it's tradition. I told her it meant more than that to me. It's about a relationship and an experience of forgiveness, not just traditional decoration. Then she said she wears it so others will know she's Orthodox, that she believes the cross. I pray they are in a real-life daily walk with Jesus because a relationship with Him is the only thing that will help them through.


To my understanding, these three kids are so new to the BCI program they do not have any sponsors yet. If you feel led to sponsor Dawit, Kalkidan, or baby Yabsira Gameda, please visit www.blessingthechildren.org/donate to begin your monthly donation.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Activity Day Success with Homemade Playdoh: Fun for all Ages as we learn we are New Creations

It's the first Saturday of December 2014 on the American calendar (it's March 2007 on the Ethiopian calendar) and we are bringing it in in Ethiopia with style: food for our bellies, food for our hearts, and tons of fun. Activity Day began with songs of praise followed by an opening prayer where we thanked Jesus for our day and asked Him to help us learn something new. I talked about being new creations out of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and continued through verse 19 on reconciliation. I asked the room full of kids of all ages how we think God makes us new. We received answers that God makes us new by asking Jesus into our hearts, that it's through our faith, and then I asked them to raise their hands to show me if they know in their hearts they are a new creation, not just head knowledge but heart knowledge. (I wanted to know if this truth had sunk deep within them). The entire room did and I talked about a little of God's unconditional love, that even when we pick bad things, we are still made new through His Son. We just have to go to Him and we give Him our old junk and He makes us new.

After hearing from God's Word, we split into two groups. The older children we sent to the school's library for a showing of the movie God's Not Dead. The younger children ages 3-11 stayed with us in the cafeteria for a craft. Our craft (thanks to Brad and Christi Bennik from Canada) was homemade play-doh. We decided the kids could make whatever they wanted to with it and we explained it was not food. The kids were given a choice of yellow or red dye for their small round ball of doh and then after it was thoroughly mixed, we gave them the choice to add glitter to make it shine. They had the choice of purple, blue, or green glitter for their creations. Catch a glimpse at some of their work!








Nearing the end of our craft time, the Lord showed me and told me to share with them that this is how He works. Modeling a play-doh heart, I asked them to take a look at it. (I wish I took a picture). I said, "It's looking a little pre-Jesus, you think? It's cracking and look here, it's broken," as I pulled the two sides apart. I grabbed the red dye. "But this is what happens when we ask Jesus into our hearts," I said, as I poured the red dye from top to bottom over the heart.

I asked them what they thought the red dye stood for after telling them to pretend it is Jesus. A child answered it was His Blood. I said "yes" and I explained this is what happens as He makes us new creations. We are washed of all our junk and then I said "Sometimes life happens and say there's a car accident, or we go to the doctor and we get a diagnosis, and we pick bad things... Sometimes we think it isn't different." I pulled the heart's sides back apart breaking it. I asked if God went anywhere and some looking at the heart, others looking at their own creations, and they said no. The red dye didn't go away just as He does not go away. We are still new and we are still His. God never leaves His children. We just get to keep going to Him, trusting Him and leaning into Him. The kids wrapped up making their new creations and the Benniks led them in a new game: balloon volleyball.



The fun and chaos continued until the movie was over and the food was ready to eat. After everyone was served their food, stomachs were full of injera, Activity Day concluded and the kids were taken back to their homes via the BCI Academy bus. Thanks to all generous donors for making a day like this happen in Ethiopia.



  



Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Growing in Talent and Potential: Help BCI Mom Strive to Thrive

Wolela Tsegaye, the mother of one of BCI's sponsor children, Eyob Teklu, has been fairly consistent in coming to one of our income generating projects learning and continuing to improve the skill of making paper bead jewelry. If you have seen one of our child information books, you may or may not have read about Eyob's story. Eyob's father passed away and his mother was very sick with tuberculosis. Her TB is no longer active but the illness has left her with a severe cough with which she will have coughing spells so bad at times I've personally wondered if she would ever catch her breath. Even so, she continues to show up for class.

Wolela Tsegaye, center on couch, October 2014

 
I have seen her continue to improve with each new week, becoming more creative and more innovative coming up with new designs, something I tried to instill in the women when I arrived back here in Debre Zeyit nearly 3 months ago with the beads I learned how to make with permanent marker, paper, toothpicks and a bit of glue. When the class started after I arrived we had nearly 15 women attending and as of late, Wolela has been sometimes the only one to show up which shows me she enjoys the art, she's dedicated and the heart is in it to make her life better.
 
 
Wolela was the first to venture out in making cross designs after seeing my own playings with a paper bead cross pendant. I tend to favor hers more as she gives it that African jewelry touch and she kept toothpicks inside of hers to make it stay straight rather than using only the beading string like I did. You can see her modeling one of her first cross designs below.

She as well as the other girls would often ask for supplies to take home so they could work on making more and below is a photo of the next class when she brought in a couple attempts at tiered necklaces.

November 2014

A set of earrings was our next design. I have not personally made earrings before but given that she is trying and I see her potential, we need more supplies. The more practice she gets the better she will become. We need earring hooks as the metal she used is actually not the safest as it will rust, more paper, more markers for designs and more glue.
 
First set of earrings


Latest bracelet creation, End of November 2014
 
If you would like to donate toward helping our income generating project of paper beads to continue, please visit www.blessingthechildren.org/donate to make your one time donation.