Power!

On our way to Ethiopia, we stopped in Melbourne and dropped into the Ethiopian ambassador to apply for our children’s Visas.  Here I opened a book about Ethiopia and read how the Nile River that runs through Ethiopia has the greatest potential for power source than any other country in Africa.  How bizarre, I thought, as they are not utilizing this potential.  When I was last in Ethiopia, power outages were a common thing because of the drought.  Factories had closed down because they had no sustainable energy to keep them functioning.  People were missing out on great opportunities because they lacked this basic commodity that we have taken for granted in New Zealand.  Generators had been put in place in different hotels and businesses but this was not a long-term solution. 

Yesterday, as we sat around the foster home for New Years day lunch, we watched the Ethiopian Celebration in Addis on ETV (Ethiopia TV that is, not Equippers TV – just in case you get confused).  It was a concert that had different acts and singers on.  There came a conglomerate of items that were a display of the nine regions and cultures that exist in Ethiopia.  Goldy, one of the social workers here, explained to me that Ethiopia has 80+ languages and with each of these there are different cultures. After each region/culture did their performance, a pair from each group got their flag and put it on a board which seemed a bit like a jigsaw puzzle.  There were some amazing displays of colour and dance, song and happiness.  Each dance signified their culture and were easily identified by Goldy before their region was named or flag displayed.  She shared with me different aspects of each region that were known to her and also told me where each region was situated in relevance to Debre Zeit. 

At the end of the last dance, the last flag was placed on the board with all the other flags.  It was then turned around and it displayed a picture of a water dam that had a river flowing through it.  I asked Goldy what this was about.  She explained that Ethiopia are going to build a dam in the Nile River.  This is what the concert was for, to raise money for this dam.  It has taken this long, she explained, because Egypt has always claimed ownership of the Nile River.  The Ethiopian people have never had authority to access the River that runs right through their country because the Egyptians do not want anyone else to affect the benefits that they receive from the Nile.  How crazy!! The whole time Ethiopia has existed they have not been able to access the power source that is within their own country!  It has been taken away from them for so long and their economy has suffered as a result. 

Fortunately, however, the UN has gotten involved and they have drawn up an agreement so that Egypt, Sudan and Uganda all can access their part of the Nile River.  Egypt, apparently has not signed this agreement as they are still afraid that they will suffer at the expense of this release of authority to the other countries.  The UN has still allowed the Ethiopian government to now take control of the Nile River now and so plans are on the way for this dam to be built.  What an exciting time that we live in where the lives of Ethiopian’s are looking up!

This also has an application for our lives.  We all have a Power Source that is available to us.  Like the Egyptians have taken away the ability Ethiopia has to access this source, we are robbed of this source of Power by the Enemy who exists under the same power source.  He does not want us to access the River that can flow freely through us.  If the enemy allows us to have access this Power Source, he knows that it will jeopardize the plans that he has for us.  He doesn’t want us to prosper in life or to have greater access to this Power because this Power, in the hands of a person that realises it’s potential, can potentially destroy him.  We have the greatest potential for source than any other created being.  Why? Because we were created in the image of this Power Source.  This Power is the Power of Holy Spirit.  I have seen and experienced His power in my life and in the life of others. This power is Supernatural and able to do things that human understanding cannot explain.  You should check it out!