Heart

Not long before we left New Zealand I was asked what it was that attracted me to Ethiopia.  I felt almost dumb-struck by this question.  Just on the weekend, my niece, also asked me why we came to Ethiopia.  And so without sounding super spiritual, I often find it hard to explain WHY exactly why we decided to do something crazy like leave our beautiful country and come to a country that is displayed on the media as drought ridden and poverty stricken.  And why we would leave our families and friends to go where we know virtually nobody.

But this morning during my talk at church, I was able to articulate to the people there why we came to Ethiopia-something which I have found hard to do in the past.  Two years ago I came to Ethiopia for two weeks and a year ago Asaua also came.  On our visits here, we both returned feeling like we had to return. 

My way of explaining what happened came to me as I sat in church during worship.  It was almost like God took all the love he had in heaven for the people here, and poured it into our hearts.  So much love He had for these people- that for us to contain it was difficult. 

So we went back to New Zealand full of love for Ethiopia.  Like a bottle that was about to explode, overflowing with no appropriate outlet for us to let out what was in our hearts.  God wanted us to come to Ethiopia and share that love with the people he intended it for.  This for me, explained why it was so hard for me to stay in New Zealand after that, and why at every mention of delay of our return I felt like a pipe that was about to burst. 

I also explained this morning to the congregation that for us to come here, looks like a sacrifice to most– but actually for us to stay in New Zealand would have been a greater sacrifice.  For to stay in New Zealand would mean that we would have been sacrificing something that is far greater than material possessions- it would mean sacrificing our dream.  This is not your typical dream, of course.  Most people dream of luxurious lifestyles and jobs that bring great success and fortune, but our dream was to outpour the love that was placed inside us for the people here.  Sacrificing that would be too much to bear. 

So right now, we are in Kenya, desperate to renew our visas to get back in and stay in Ethiopia.  The mission is not accomplished yet.  There has been some relief in our love pipe as we have shared some love, but there is so much more to give.  Please pray for us to get our visas this week.