I Want to Know Your God

As I write this, and am overflowing with excitement! This story is incredible! Let me slow down and tell you from the beginning...

My wife and I visited this woman when we were in Sendafa in January. She and her husband have HIV and are currently on anti-retro viral drugs that we are providing to almost 500 people in the village of Sendafa. Their two children also have HIV.

She is a stay at home Mother and her Husband has no full time job. He works wherever and whenever he can find odd jobs to do. He also rents some weaving equipment and makes beautiful cloth (she is holding some in the picture), but he cannot afford the supplies that he needs to make enough to sell in the market.

Shortly after we left, the PAAV (Project Adopt a Villeage) staff contacted the man and told him that we could help him with a small business loan in order for him to purchase the weaving equipment (rather than rent it) and get enough supplies to begin weaving full time.

He was elated and immediately began weaving full time. He and his wife now sell his fabric in the market and make enough money to support their children comfortably. He has even been able to open a small savings account in the village's new bank and is making payments on his loan already. When he talked to Dr. Frew he said that he was so proud and happy "because my children are no longer hungry". (Bianca and I wept when we heard this)

But wait! ...it get's better! When Pastor Steve Almquist was telling us this story this morning he also shared the best part: Two week ago, as Dr. Frew was leaving the clinic, this man was waiting for him outside the gate. He said that he did not have an appointment, but wished to speak to him. He then thanked Dr. Frew for all that we had done to help him, and told him "I want to know your God. I want to worship the God that you worship. Please tell me about him." As Doctor Frew told the man about our God, he accepted the Lord as his Savior on the spot! He then asked the Doctor to come talk to his brother about Jesus too. The brother has not yet accepted Christ, but with our prayers and your prayers, I have a feeling that he will soon.

This family attended Church last Sunday for the first time in their lives and they plan on attending regularly. God is so good!

It is so encouraging to hear how God is working in the hearts of these people in our village of Sendafa, even while we cannot be there. Please join us in prayer that may Ethipian's will come to experience the over-whelming grace and love of God and will invite Him into their hearts.

God bless you, and God bless Sendafa!

This previously unreleased footage was shot and edited by Clifton Kern.

(see his website here)

Please keep your heart open while watching it.

God bless Sendafa.

Push Back The Darkness

This month at Living Word Community Church, we are presenting our Global Missions Focus. As I sat and listened to the guest speaker yesterday morning, one thing that he said kept ringing in my head. This morning and throughout the day it continued to echo in my head over and over. What he said was: "Push back the darkness!" The way that he pronounced it, it was almost a rally cry or a command. Maybe that it why in embedded itself so deeply in my mind.

One scripture that the speaker focused on was Romans 10: 13-17.
  
¹³For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
 ¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
 ¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

I love these verses. Contained in them are a promise, a logical progression of thought, a conclusion, and a statement of the reward that comes to those who reach out to others with the gospel.

Of course, other that the promise of Salvation, the most important message in this passage is the question of how shall people hear the Word without a Preacher. A Preacher can be anyone. You do not need to be ordained and licensed to tell others the Good News. This is why Missions is so important. By supporting missions, you are indirectly reaching people that you would never have the opportunity to speak to.

I encourage each of you to give to your local Missions programs through your Church. Please also consider supporting Ethiopia.

New Slideshow

I hope you enjoy the pictures in the slideshow below. The song is "My Own Little World" by Matthew West.

God bless you and God bless Ethiopia.

Life Without Grandparents

Imagine your life without your grandparents. They may have passed on by now, but chances are you were able to spend time with them at some point. They held you on their laps, hugged you, and spoiled you.

Many kids in Ethiopia never even get to meet their grandparents. Why? Because the average life expectancy for a man in Ethiopia is only 52 years and for a woman it is 55 years. The main reason for this is sickness and HIV AIDS.

This is why the Adopt a Village program is so important. Our church is helping raise the standard of living in Sendafa, Ethiopia one person at a time. The clinic that is made possible through this funding helps dozens of people every day with a wide range of illnesses. We now have 500 women on our drug program who are receiving Anti-retroviral at no cost. In many cases, not only do these drugs extend their lives, but it allows them to become productive members of the town again.

 My hope and prayer is that through our support and love for the people of Sendafa, we will begin to see children with grandparents in the years to come.

God bless Ethiopia, and God bless Sendafa!

The Children of Sendafa

 Another day in Nigeria the children beg for bread
The crops failed, the well ran dry
When they lost the watershed
A baby dies, its mother cries the children gather 'round

They're wondering what the day will bring
Will they be the next one found
Do you dare to look into their hollow eyes
In the crowded sheds the children lay their heads
To escape the Haitian heat

The hunger pains drive them to the street
Wondering if today they'll eat
Some found food in the refuse heap
Others find disease

Some find it harder just to live
When they can die with ease
Do you dare to look into their hollow eyes

The least of these is hungry
The least of these is sick
The least of these needs clothing
The least of these needs drink

The least of these knows sorrow
The least of these knows grief
The least of these suffers pain

Lyrics from "Hollow Eyes" by Petra - describing the life of children in third world countries and challenging us to do something about it.



Click here to hear the song on Youtube.

Compassion

Before our trip to Ethiopia, I had an entirely different definition of this word. Compassion. What is it? Let's start with Webster's definition: "sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it". Keep that definition in mind for later...

In America, we have so many programs, charities, and services that provide for our poor and suffering, that it is very difficult to find someone who does not truly have their basic needs taken care of. America's most poor often have more than some the majority of people in third world countries. So we have devoloped this attitude in our society that our poor do not really need our help. It is easy to dismiss them as we go through our day to day lives. Afterall, our government has what I refer to as "mandatory charity". You contribute to programs and services through your taxes whether you choose to or not.


Ethiopia has no such programs. Folks who lose their means of support who cannot beg, borrow, or steal, often waste away into nothing and die. Their hungry and homeless do not need signs to draw your sympathy. Most times it is pointless for them to beg anyway, because those their are providing for their families do not have any extra. Have you ever heard anyone say that they "are just surviving"? In Ethiopia, this could not be more true for most folks. They are not worried about being boring, how to entertain themselves, or how they are going to get their next thrill. They are just surviving.


What did Jesus have to say about the poor?

Mark 10:14b: "...Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God."


Jesus had a tender place in His heart for the poor and he an even more tender place for the children. Maybe this is why we are so drawn to the poor children with those large, innocent brown eyes.

 This man's image will be permanently etched into my mind. He met us three days in a row where we unloaded the vans each day and split up into teams. He kept asking us for money, hold a 50 cent piece in his bony outstretched hand. His feet were a horrible sight, mangled from walking through the rocks with no shoes. He was blind in one eye and looked as though he would crumble at any minute. 


We were not allowed to give out food or money, because would cause a mob scene that could injure us or the people. Any money or supplies to be distributed to the poor must be given to Dr. Frew and he distributes as he sees the needs arise. He knows who is the most needy.


On our last day in the village, we were passing out a case of cheese crackers amongst the team, because we were planning to have a late lunch. I saw this man standing in the middle of us, staring longingly at that case of crackers without saying a word. I was glad to see that the girl who was handing them out silently slipped him a pack and I was almost drawn to tears as he sat down immediately on the edge of the sidewalk and ate those crackers. I was heartbroken when I recalled an recent incident in Baltimore when I tried to give a bag of Fritos to man with a "will work for food" sign, and he rudely refused them.


Luke 4:18- "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised..."

My first day back to work, I had to go to Baltimore, and when I stopped at a traffic light downtown, a man approached me with a sign that said "homeless" and a large cup. I couldn't help but notice that his clothes were far nicer than the people of Sendafa that did have homes were wearing. As I pushed a dollar into his cup, I winced when I realized that the amount of money in that cup could feed an entire family in Ethiopia for a month. I was angry and confused... the though haunted me the rest of the day.

I have had to reanalyze my personal definition of compassion. While I feel brokenhearted for the people of Ethiopia, I cannot let this harden my heart against our own poor and hurting souls in America. Whether their signs advertising their status are legitimate or not, it only hurts me when I refuse to help. If it takes donating to ten posers to help that one person who legitimately needs help, I will be better for it, and God will judge those who take advantage of my generosity.


Any thoughts?

Now for some cool pictures...

View from 7th story of the Semien Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

A little artwork that I played with from the picture below. (also how I made the Blog title picture)

View of the Northern side of Sendafa from atop the water tank.

View of the South side of Sendafa from the lower water tank

Black and White of the North side

Day 5- Completing Projects and Sharing a Bond

Ethiopian Praise

This morning Mike Parthree invited a group of young people from Ethiopian Outreach Ministries (EOM) to lead worship for us at our morning devotions. They sang two traditional Ethiopian praise songs, and then we all joined in on the last song in English. It was so powerful to be on the 7th floor of the hotel, viewing the entire city, and the sun came up, and praising God with these brothers and sisters from halfway around the world. I could almost imagine God looking down and smiling and nodding His head. (I bet He was tapping His foot too)

I felt privileged to work with these men.

Back in the village, we headed back to the water tank to wrap up the structure. The concrete was cured, and the mason had cemented in the main support poles for each corner. A few minutes after we arrived, the mason arrived with a crew of two men and a woman (the same woman who helped him with the cement a couple days ago)

No girlie-men here!

We got right to work putting up the rest of the frame and cutting everything to length. None of the workers spoke English, but it was fun communicating with them non-verbally. We all had a common purpose in mind, and by the time the project was complete, we had a sort of bond between us.

The completed structure atop the water tank.

We finished putting the last piece of steel up just after noon or so. It felt so good to have completed the project. Even though we would not be installing the actual chlorinating system on this trip, we were so much closer to accomplishing that goal than we were five days ago. As I looked around at the Ethiopian workers, I knew that they had the same sense of pride and accomplishment in a job well done as we did. I didn't need to speak their language to see that. We said our goodbyes to the construction crew after giving them all of the snacks and water that we had with us, and headed back to the Sendafa Hotel to meet the rest of the team for lunch.

Dr. Frew had left in his truck to bring out team leader to a meeting, so we walked back. It was about a half mile walk, and we really enjoyed it. Walking down a dusty road under the bright sun, sharing smiles and waves with kids as we pass by... there's nothing like it.

Dr. Frew Tangene and I

Later that night at dinner with Dr. Frew and his staff, I had to opportunity to learn a lot more about his program that ministers to prostitutes in the red light district of Addis Ababa. He helps them with vocational training so that they can get new jobs, and helps with tuition so that their children can get a good education and not have to resort back to that way of living. I will tell you more about the ministry in another blog. Dr. Frew is a good man, and I enjoyed getting to know him this week.

Day 1- The Start of a Heart Transformation

The sun rising over Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This morning we met on the seventh floor of the hotel as a team for devotions. The view of Addis was amazing! We talked about how blessed we are and how rather than feel guilty about it, we can use our wealth and talents to help others, as God would want us to.

Soon after the meeting, we gathered our supplies and left for Sendafa. The van drivers were members of the PAAV (Project Adopt a Village) team, and some of them doubled as translators. When we arrived in Sendafa, we were immediately struck by the level of poverty that the village was steeped in. I mean, you see those things on television, but when you see it firsthand, it really hits you hard.

Two boys watching us work on the water tank

The children are what really breaks your heart. Those dark, innocent eyes staring up at you, untouched by the hardship surrounding them, as they smile at you and try to hold your hand. It is so heart-wrenching. You want so badly to help each and every one of them.

We split into five teams of five people each. Two teams distributed ionized salt in one kilo bags to the people in the village with children. This is one way of getting them the healthy minerals that they need and that we take for granted. Two more teams went to visit single Mothers with AIDS. While they were visiting, they laid vinyl on the dirt floors and stapled fabric to the mud walls. This gives them a huge improvement in quality of life. They now have a surface on the floor that they can wash, and the bright fabric patterns on the walls lift their spirits.

The first chlorination system mock-up

I was on the fifth team. We are working on a chlorination system that will make the city water supply safe to drink without boiling for the first time… ever. We dry-fitted two chlorination systems (one for each water tank) to determine the dimensions of the block building that we would build atop the tank to contain the system. We also needed to ensure that we had all of the parts that we needed. After that, we went out to purchase enough cinder blocks to get started on one of the structures. We also hired a local mason to help us (mixing concrete is a little different, since they do not have bags of ready-mix in Ethiopia) and a horse-drawn cart to deliver the blocks to the tank.

After a late lunch, we all headed back to our hotel in Addis Ababa to inventory and seperate all of our supplies that we would need for the rest of the week. (we brought a couple dozen suitcases full of vinyl and fabric from the States)

Pile of dung patties

One thing that I saw today that I will never forget is this lady that we saw working near the water tank. In Sendafa, there are a lot of cattle, and not a lot of extra to use as fuel, so people use dry dung to burn for cooking fires. On the way to the village this morning, I noticed there were nicely shaped dung patties of uniform size stacked in piles for sale along the road. I knew someone had to have formed them into patties, but I had no idea how… until I saw this lady. She had a large pile of dung to which she would add some water to small amount of it at a time and pat this dung mixture into “cakes”… with her bare hands. You read that right. Bare hands. No gloves. She had dung covering her hands and halfway up to her elbows. After the patties dried in the sun, she would stack them to sell and make another batch. This is how she made her meager living.

To think that we complain about our cushy 9-5 jobs or our long commutes, or that we shake our fist at some jerk that cut us off and delayed us by about 2 seconds…

This was day one of a painful yet cleansing heart transformation process.

The only difference between them and us...

A family in Ethiopia makes an average of 25 American dollars per month. To put that into perspective, a new pair of pants would cost them around 12 dollars.

In Sendafa, a village of around 2,000 people, nearly 50% of the village has HIV / AIDS. Without proper medication, the adults are soon unable to work, which leaves the young teenage kids to provide for the families.

The homes are made from whatever materials that can be found. Most of them are made from corn stalk or straw and mud with only openings for doors and windows. The roofs are rusty, leaky corrugated steel or thatch.

In America, the average family makes in excess of $50,000 per year, placing them in the top 5% wealthiest people in the world. A family making $80,000 is in the top 3% wealthiest in the world.

So what is the difference between us and them? It's as simple as where we were born. That's it.

It is humbling when you think about it. The important thing to remember is Luke 12:48: "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more."

In other words: He whom much is given, much is expected. Are we living up to God's expectations of us?

Packing Day

Today we had our final team meeting before D-day. (departure day) It's hard to believe that next Sunday morning we will be leaving on our 7,000 mile trip to Ethiopia!

The main purpose of the meeting was to get all of our supplies packed into bags. Since each of us is allowed two checked suitcases and a carry-on, we take only one personal bag and pack the other one with supplies we will need for the trip. Most of what we packed was vinyl for the floors of the homes we will be visiting and fabric for the walls. We also had to pack the tools we will need, food for our bag lunches, and vitamins for the kids. With a fifty pound limit, we made good use of each bag and packed each to the max. We utilized a digital scale and got most of them in the 45+ pound range. I saw several that were 49.5 and 49.7 pounds.

Out of the 17 team members from our church and 5 from another local church, at least 8 were trip veterans who have been Sendafa 4 or 5 times already, so they had a lot of good advice.

Next Sunday we will meet at 10am and load up for our trip down to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. Everyone is welcome to join us for a send-off prayer just prior to 11am. If you cannot attend, please be in prayer for us at that time or anytime that day.

We should arrive in Sendafa Monday evening where we will settle into our hotel and get for our week in the village. I think I can speak for all of us, when I say that we are honored and humbled to be afforded this opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus. My prayer is that the people of Ethiopia see Jesus through us and we are able to share about our Relationship with Him.

Vitamins!

Anther bit of news that we just learned about our rapidly approaching trip is that we will have the opportunity to visit some of the kids that are on our vitamin program and help distribute some of the vitamins.

Bianca is very excited about this opportunity. She cannot wait to see those smiling little faces and share some love and hugs. Can you blame her?

Chlorination!

We just heard the exciting news! After months of trying, we finally were able to get the chlorine into Sendafa for the new chlorination system.

Last year we completed drilling a fresh water well that adequately supplies the village with water, only to find out that the water contains over eight times the acceptable level of bacteria. The clinic doctors say that 80% of the illness that they treat is due to ingesting contaminated water. To solve this problem, we purchased a chlorination system, but we unable to install it due to the unavailability of chlorine in the area. In fact, we could not get any in the entire country!

A few weeks ago, we were asked to have a couple of the more mechanically-inclined members of the team on standby in case the chlorine arrived in time for us to set up the equipment. I was excited, because from what I've been told, this is the first system of it's kind in the entire country! Well, I am sure that God shared our enthusiasm, because He opened doors in customs and allowed the proper chemicals to be cleared after months of trying. I am very excited to have the privilege of helping out on a project of this magnitude.

Introduction

My wife Bianca and I have had a burden for Mission's work for quite some time now. In 2008, we moved to York, Pennsylvania, where God blessed us with an amazing church. Living Word Community Church is a place full of grace and generosity and love. We were immediately struck with the love of God in the faces around us from our first Sunday visit. It felt like home. Months later, I know that God brought us here for a reason. As we became more and more involved in the ministry, the uniqueness of this Church in sharing the love and beauty of God's Grace became more and more evident. We have met the most amazing, caring, genuine people here that I have met in my entire life.

One of the things that I that I love most about LWCC, is that this is no Sunday morning church. Living Word is the most active and generous church that I have ever been a part of. The impact that they have on the immediate community and communities all over the world is very significant. All of these things guided us towards our decision to join a Mission's trip.

We became members of LWCC in April of 2010. In August, we were sitting in a service that was dedicated to sharing the stories of a recent medical Mission's trip to Sendafa, Ethiopia. My wife and I felt as if every person who shared their story was speaking directly to us. Halfway through the presentation, Bianca and I looked at each other and both mouthed the words "We're going". Immediately, I felt a sense of calm wash over me, and I knew that God was in it, and He wanted us to go.

That same day, I filled out the applications for the trip, and within a week we were having a sit-down meeting with Andy, the Mission's Team Leader. He told us all about the trip scheduled for the last week of January. Our Church had adopted a village through a program call Project Adopt a Village, or PAAV. Andy said that we had been approved to join the group. I cannot express the excitement and anticipation we felt. The more we learned about all that our Church was doing to help those in Sendafa, the more excited we were to be a part of it all. You can read a full write up of all of the programs here.

Andy explained that we schedule three trips per year. A medical trip, a lady's trip, and a visitation trip. The January trip would be a visitation trip. We would divide the team members into groups of four or five people, each with an interpreter. We would visit people in the village of Sendafa who are inflicted with HIV/Aids. (Pastor calls Aids the modern-day Leprosy, and we all know that Jesus had a special place in His heart for those people) While we visit each home, we bring along fabric and vinyl (similar to a pool liner). We put the vinyl on the dirt floor and staple the fabric to the mud walls. From what I have heard, this is a major improvement in the quality of life for these people, and it costs us less than $20 per home. Our main purpose is to share the love and grace of God to each of these people that we visit. Our ultimate hope is that in showing God's love, we will be able to arrange a meeting with the One who has extended this same love and grace to us.

I will be providing more information in future days, and I hope you will all check back often. Bianca and I will both be keeping daily journals of our trip, which I will post here, as well as a few pictures of our trip. We leave in just 15 days on January 23rd, 2011.