Acts 17:26 "From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places they should live."
God places us at specific times, in specific places. While our time and place right now is in New Zealand, we have a vision for where and when God wants us to be next year. And it is in the land of Ethiopia!
After Asaua returned from his short trip to Addis Ababa in April this year, he announced that we need to go back. I couldn't have agreed more! I too felt this was the will of God for our lives. There is peace in this decision that is unlike any other decision we have made. Though not everyone will understand the logic behind wanting to take five children to an unknown land, giving up the comforts of living in such a beautiful country, we know that we know, that God is calling us to GO! and calling us to go to this specific country.
There are so many reasons why we believe this. So many subtle hints God has placed along the way, accompanied by confirmations through people, through His Word, through circumstances that throw Ethiopia in front of our face surrounded by flashing lights. There is something that has drawn our hearts to this country that we couldn't even fathom the preperation God was doing until we placed our feet on it's soil.
Most people know that I (Michelle) told my mother at 6 years old that I wanted to go to Ethiopia one day as a missionary, but now looking back, I know that God had to do that because He knew he had more preperation to do in me- He needed to get in early! Asaua too has had dreams of working in this country but knowing that God brought us together, that He created us both to look Ethiopian in some strange way, and that He has given us gifts that can be used for Him to a population of 80million people- that is Divine Intervention!
So the question we had to ask next was, What exactly Lord, do you want us to do? Well, to cut a long story short, we searched, tried to figure it out ourselves, googled, emailed, and then gave up. Discouraged and confused, I asked God to show us. I decided to just do what needed to be done here, in this season, in this place, and God showed up.
We came across, just randomly, this ministry in Debre Zeit. A city just an hour out of Addis Ababa. The name of this ministry is Blessing the Children. (check out there websites: blessingthechildren.wordpress.com or http://www.blessingthechildren.org/) They are an organisation that does so much and that have facilities to host a family like us. The vision they have is the vision we have- to work with street kids, get them off the street, help meet their social, physical and spiritual needs. They work alongside Ethiopian communities to empower them and enable them to make changes in their lives. They plant churches and train pastors. They have built a school and a Children's Centre that meet the needs of children in Debre Zeit and the surrounding areas. The coolest thing (well not really the coolest, but it's still cool) is that I had a dream about this city long before I even went there. When our team drove through there last year on the way to Nazareth in Ethiopia, I recognized it from a dream I had had.
We are just really , really excited and humbled that God would use us in this AMAZING country. A country that has a long history and so much culture. A land of beautiful, friendly, loving and sharing people. We just can't wait!
So, please pray for us. Our intention is to head over there to start an internship with them next September 11 (which is their New Year). We will do a One year internship under Blessing the Children then work with them after that to keep building what they are doing right now- building the Kingdom and building leaders in their nation. Pray for direction, wisdom and for God's favour on all we set out to do! Pray for protection of our family and for provision. Follow us on here and we will keep you updated :)
Monday, June 21, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Time for change
I really do need to change the title of my blog. Blogging is really all new to me but if it's what gets the message out, then it's all good!
Well, since our last entry, a lot has happened. After a 21 day partial fast and praying about what God wants us to do, we settled back into our normal routine - Asaua started work, the kids started school and I started my new journey at Bible College. This was a big decision for me as I didn't understand how it could work - financially, family wise and time wise. On the first week - the Thursday of our first week to be exact, I get a text from our neighbour during our Prayer and Spiritual Warfare class to say our house had been broken into. They had taken our TV and the police, our real estate agent and our neighbours were all having a good nosey around our house while I was stuck in the city.
Then, that Sunday night, our eldest son was playing outside church with a rock and a broken piece of wood and the piece of wood flew into his eye, rendering him blind and knocking him out. This turned into a distressful evening and an eventful week. I had to leave my son in the hospital by himself that night which was the first time I had done that. I sent out a text for people to pray and just waited for God to bring a miracle. In the morning I got a message on my phone saying my mum was in hospital. I could hear the ambulance in the background asking her to respond and I just got this aching feeling that this might just be all too much. I drove to pick up my son, thinking I would have to spend a whole day with him in the hospital, but arrived to find out that his vision was coming back and that he could come home. This would mean I was going to miss out on some of the foundational classes of my Bible College. Through that time, however, I got to stay home and really spend some time on my knees.
I asked God (like you do) WHY this was all happening, and as usual, I asked Him to speak to me through His word. I opened my Bible and it opened on Jonah. Jonah is a story of a man appointed by God to go to a specific country to preach His message of Hope. Jonah, was a faithful man, his life was in check and he had a gift, obviously, to be able to accomplish such a task. But what Jonah did wrong, was run from where God had appointed him to go. So God, in HIs loving nature, sent a storm to the sea on which Jonah's runaway boat was on, and everyone realised that there was someone on that boat that God was not happy with. Jonah drew the short straw, they threw him off the boat and got swallowed up by a whale. Jonah's disobedience not only affected him, but also affected the people on the boat - the innocent by-standers. God has often showed us this story in relation to our life, but at this time in our life, I felt that this was the answer to our recent dramatic events.
When we planned to go to Ethiopia in December, we were really retracting what God had already said, and were making statements like, "we're going to see IF God wants us to go to Ethiopia long-term." But what we needed to be saying was "Yes, we are going to go to Ethiopia long term, we are going to ask God what, when and how." That week, I realised that I already sort of know the answers to that question. It really is just up to Asaua now. So using the money we had raised last year, and what we had raised this year, we agreed that Asaua would go by himself, booked his ticket and he is off next Thursday!!
Around the same time, I was specifically praying for God to show us what He wanted us to do while we or he was there. A preacher from Australia came that weekend to preach at our church and briefly mentioned that he had gone to Ethiopia last year. He was in a hurry to leave but our Pastor slowed him down by taking him around our building. I walked past him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked what he was doing in Ethiopia and if it was something that we could visit. Turns out that his daughter and her family had just moved over there last year and were teaching English, working with street kids and doing programmes in the University in Addis. He gave me permission to contact his PA to get his daughters email address and I emailed her straight away. After a couple of initial emails and then deciding that Asaua would go by himself, they have asked if Asaua would preach at their Easter Service which is the only Sunday he is there. Asaua happily accepted the invitation.
Our friend Samson who was one of the translators on our trip last year, will be spending time showing Asaua around and hanging out with some street kids, and other projects. Samson is in Bible College, leads worship at his church and many other services and has a real heart for God. I see us working closely with him over there.
God is so good. His ways are sovereign and His plans are beyond our deepest imaginations. I can't wait to see what He will do while Asaua is in that place that God loves so much - Ethiopia. We will keep you posted on what the outcome is. We covet your prayers for direction, protection and wisdom for the future. Thanks for your financial support and your love. We love you all.
PS. My son's eye was miraculously healed. He had to have laser surgery and the doctors couldn't believe how fast he healed after that. They gave him four weeks of what would normally be eight weeks, for his eye to completely heal and it only took two weeks! God is a God of miracles - that's partly why we love him so much!
Well, since our last entry, a lot has happened. After a 21 day partial fast and praying about what God wants us to do, we settled back into our normal routine - Asaua started work, the kids started school and I started my new journey at Bible College. This was a big decision for me as I didn't understand how it could work - financially, family wise and time wise. On the first week - the Thursday of our first week to be exact, I get a text from our neighbour during our Prayer and Spiritual Warfare class to say our house had been broken into. They had taken our TV and the police, our real estate agent and our neighbours were all having a good nosey around our house while I was stuck in the city.
Then, that Sunday night, our eldest son was playing outside church with a rock and a broken piece of wood and the piece of wood flew into his eye, rendering him blind and knocking him out. This turned into a distressful evening and an eventful week. I had to leave my son in the hospital by himself that night which was the first time I had done that. I sent out a text for people to pray and just waited for God to bring a miracle. In the morning I got a message on my phone saying my mum was in hospital. I could hear the ambulance in the background asking her to respond and I just got this aching feeling that this might just be all too much. I drove to pick up my son, thinking I would have to spend a whole day with him in the hospital, but arrived to find out that his vision was coming back and that he could come home. This would mean I was going to miss out on some of the foundational classes of my Bible College. Through that time, however, I got to stay home and really spend some time on my knees.
I asked God (like you do) WHY this was all happening, and as usual, I asked Him to speak to me through His word. I opened my Bible and it opened on Jonah. Jonah is a story of a man appointed by God to go to a specific country to preach His message of Hope. Jonah, was a faithful man, his life was in check and he had a gift, obviously, to be able to accomplish such a task. But what Jonah did wrong, was run from where God had appointed him to go. So God, in HIs loving nature, sent a storm to the sea on which Jonah's runaway boat was on, and everyone realised that there was someone on that boat that God was not happy with. Jonah drew the short straw, they threw him off the boat and got swallowed up by a whale. Jonah's disobedience not only affected him, but also affected the people on the boat - the innocent by-standers. God has often showed us this story in relation to our life, but at this time in our life, I felt that this was the answer to our recent dramatic events.
When we planned to go to Ethiopia in December, we were really retracting what God had already said, and were making statements like, "we're going to see IF God wants us to go to Ethiopia long-term." But what we needed to be saying was "Yes, we are going to go to Ethiopia long term, we are going to ask God what, when and how." That week, I realised that I already sort of know the answers to that question. It really is just up to Asaua now. So using the money we had raised last year, and what we had raised this year, we agreed that Asaua would go by himself, booked his ticket and he is off next Thursday!!
Around the same time, I was specifically praying for God to show us what He wanted us to do while we or he was there. A preacher from Australia came that weekend to preach at our church and briefly mentioned that he had gone to Ethiopia last year. He was in a hurry to leave but our Pastor slowed him down by taking him around our building. I walked past him, tapped him on the shoulder and asked what he was doing in Ethiopia and if it was something that we could visit. Turns out that his daughter and her family had just moved over there last year and were teaching English, working with street kids and doing programmes in the University in Addis. He gave me permission to contact his PA to get his daughters email address and I emailed her straight away. After a couple of initial emails and then deciding that Asaua would go by himself, they have asked if Asaua would preach at their Easter Service which is the only Sunday he is there. Asaua happily accepted the invitation.
Our friend Samson who was one of the translators on our trip last year, will be spending time showing Asaua around and hanging out with some street kids, and other projects. Samson is in Bible College, leads worship at his church and many other services and has a real heart for God. I see us working closely with him over there.
God is so good. His ways are sovereign and His plans are beyond our deepest imaginations. I can't wait to see what He will do while Asaua is in that place that God loves so much - Ethiopia. We will keep you posted on what the outcome is. We covet your prayers for direction, protection and wisdom for the future. Thanks for your financial support and your love. We love you all.
PS. My son's eye was miraculously healed. He had to have laser surgery and the doctors couldn't believe how fast he healed after that. They gave him four weeks of what would normally be eight weeks, for his eye to completely heal and it only took two weeks! God is a God of miracles - that's partly why we love him so much!
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