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 :)
