Matthew 25

This week a passage of scripture was made so clear to me that I can’t help but tell everyone when I get home what a huge blessing it has been for me and Brant to feed, clothe, and care for Jesus through our time here in Ethiopia. 

Please don’t skip over this scripture passage and read the rest of this post. Even if you don’t have a relationship with Jesus this passage is key to understanding how much joy has filled my heart through what God has given us the opportunity to do.

Matthew 25:31-40

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in’ I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to me.’

                Then the righteous will answer Him saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ And the king will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’”

                I never realized how this could be true but yesterday (Thursday) Brant and I went shopping with the social workers for three separate families. For one little girl who is very sick with swollen feet and hands, we bought shoes that will put very little pressure on her hurt feet as well as new clothes, because she only had 2 sets of clothes to her name.

                One family we helped was a mom and her two daughters 6 and 7 years of age. This mother does her best to provide for her girls, she teaches the younger one at home because she can’t afford school and she does whatever work she can to make money for food. This family was so sweet and on our way to their house for our final visit we bought them food for a month, oil and shoes and socks for the two girls.  When they saw us the girls ran to us and kissed our cheeks. It filled my heart with so much joy to see how $40 dollars brought huge smiles to the girls’ faces and relief to the mother’s.

                Our final visit was the visit that made the passage above so real I will never forget it. We went to visit a young girl, Ayu. She is 7 years old and both of her parents died of a sickness so her aunt took her in. Unfortunately her aunt has no work and is lucky to have a roof over their heads. She also has a 13 month old baby to care for. The baby is so small and undernourished it breaks my heart. She is about the size of a 7 month old and can’t walk yet because she has no strength for lack of food. During our visit Ayu’s social worker informed us that they had no food in the house. Brant and I were not going to leave that house without feeding all three of the girls and clothing the half naked baby and the girl with one pair of pants. So we set out with Ayu on our laps and bought Ayu and the baby clothes and shoes. We then proceeded to buy 6 boxes of baby cereal and 30 eggs for the baby to eat. We bought 25 kg of teff (to make injera) which will give Ayu and her aunt enough food for one month. We also bought3 liters of oil (2 months worth) and 10 loaves of bread.

                The most amazing part of all of this was that all of that food and clothes amounted to less than $70 US dollars. What do I spend $70 dollars on at home? The money I earn at home will now be so much more precious to me. Even though I am a poor college student I can afford to set aside $30 dollars a month so a child can go to school, or have enough to eat. Instead of going out to eat for $30 I will remember the faces of precious Ayu and her aunt when we arrived at their home arms full of food and clothes. How grateful and thankful they were. I should have been the one thanking them. Their undying faith in the midst of a most difficult situation, their selflessness in preparing coffee and popcorn for us when that was the only food in their house will stay with me every day. God is SO good to me and he blesses me not so I can buy unnecessary things for myself but so that I can use what he has blessed me with to shower his blessings on others.

                I ask you to pray for my new friend Tigist. She is 19 and is one of the social workers that has been with BCI for a few months. She has 11 children from her church that are newly added to BCI. Tigist’s and now my prayer is that each of their 11 children would be at least 1/3 ($30/month) sponsored before September so that each of them can start school. Pray pray pray for the hearts of those who are blessed to see that their blessing is to share what they have with those who don’t have.

Everything is Smaller in Ethiopia

Something Brant and I have noticed over the past few weeks is that everything in this country is smaller. The people are smaller, especially the children! The cars are smaller. The vegetables are smaller, especially potatoes.  The Cows are 3 times smaller. The cats are tiny! The roads are smaller (But in much better condition than the roads in Missouri oddly enough) The busses are smaller. The notebooks are smaller. The coffee cups are smaller.  The Soccer balls are smaller. The chairs are shorter. The list goes on.

                There is one thing that is much bigger here than in America and that is selflessness. Even though the people here have very little the first they do is give you whatever they have when you visit their home. Sometimes it’s bread, or seeds or popcorn or coffee or tea but they offer whatever they have. They also give the guest the best seat in the house and constantly ask if you need anything. They also will always help a neighbor. Several times we have been in a home where the mom has told us that her neighbor has lent her money for medicine or rent. They also don’t pester the family to pay them back.

                Something else that is smaller here is crime. Since we have been here I have not seen or heard about a single crime, small or big. The people her e are very respectful of one another. They are also extremely fair. Here is would be really easy to rip us white people off but they always give us correct pricing and change even when we are alone.  I wonder how different America would be with the crime rate they have here and the willingness to help a neighbor out.

                During our last week here I think I will be teaching in the morning and hopefully going on a few homevisits in the afternoon. We also have activity day on Thursday which should be the best day yet since all of the kids will be together to have fun.

Pray for safe travels next Monday and that we would continue to stay healthy. Also pray for more sponsors. One of the social workers has 11 kids and out of her 11 kids only 2 are 1/3 sponsored. Pray that people would be willing to sacrifice to send the kids to school, fill their bellies and keep them healthy.

The Joy of the Lord

This week we didn’t do anything too out of the ordinary; however we did me an extraordinary young lady. Samira is an 11 year old girl who lives with her mom and older sister. She loves the color purple and wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Her favorite food is meat and she loves to jump rope. I first met her at the school; she came right up to me hugged me and asked me to play with her. On Friday her social worker took us to her house for a home visit. We were greeted by her mom with a huge smile and offered tea and bread. Samira’s social worker brought her a letter and gift from her sponsor, which was very exciting for Samira and her family. Samira’s father passed away long ago and her mom works at a school cleaning. During the home visit I gave Samira a jump rope left by another missionary; so of course we had to go outside and break it in. (I am a terrible jump roper by the way).  When we came back inside Samira sat herself between me and Brant and had fun trying to tickle us and ask us questions about our families and our likes and dislikes.  I remember leaving and thinking that she was probably the most smiley family we had visited yet and that they were truly full of the Lord’s joy. I didn’t realize how true that was until later when I learned that both Samira and her mother are HIV positive. I never would have thought that, based on the way their eyes were lit up and they never stopped smiling. It’s strange to think how small insignificant things can make me unhappy, while this small girl has a life threatening incurable disease and she was full of joy. This home visit made me think about a verse in James that I now fully understand, “My brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of our faith produces patience.” If you are facing a difficulty in your life that seems impossible to overcome, it isn’t. If an 11 year old girl can be full of joy and never stop smiling despite having HIV you can find that joy in the midst of whatever you are going through.

New Shoes and Home Vists

This past week we have been busier than usual. Last week we had two home visits per day. One of our home visits was with a 9 year old boy named Bahailu. Both of his parents have died and he is now living with his grandmother who can’t work and two aunts and two cousins in a two room mud house. He was such a sweet smiley boy J while at our home visit his social worker informed us of the many needs the family had; so Brant and I put to work the money everyone gave us to take on our trip. We bought Bahailu new shoes, pants and a jacket and we also went shopping with the grandmother and bought her enough food to feed the family for close to a full month.  I don’t think I have enjoyed spending money more in my life! And the amazing thing is all of this was purchased for less than $50!

                Another home visits that really touched our hearts was to a 6 month old baby who lives with his mother and grandmother. Natsanet (Victory) has had a very difficult life so far. His grandmother came to BCI afraid for her grandson’s life because of his mother’s instability.  Upon visiting with the mother BCI staff felt a strong urge to pray over her. While they were praying an evil spirit manifested itself. After a lot of fasting and praying for this woman the spirit left her and she accepted Jesus J However, at our home visit the social worker also told us these two women have no income because they do not work and that they are both HIV positive. Praise God Natsanet is HIV free; in order for him to remain HIV free he can’t breast feed. This poses a very difficult situation for his mother because milk is expensive and Natsanet has no sponsors. This boy is such a joy and represents the victory of Jesus of our enemy; Brant and I have decided to sponsor this baby; and our combined funds will make him fully sponsored. God is so wonderful!

                I would also like to tell you about one of my heros. Yabsera Yonas just turned 10. Her father passed away, so now it is just Yabsera and her mother. Yabsera’s mother is very sick and is HIV positive. She is the student I enjoyed the most during our time at the school. She is always smiling and loves to hug, which I am also a fan of. She also speaks decent English compared to her classmates. We went and visited Yabsera at home and when we arrived she greeted us with a huge smile. She took us to her one room house she shares with her mom and invited us to have coffee. Her mom was not feeling well so she stayed in bed for most of the visit, however she did have coffee with us. Yabsera goes to school does the housework and washes dishes and clothes to bring in a tiny income. She cooks when her mom is unable to and does her best to make her mom comfortable. She didn’t have any pants that were long or fit, so we took her and bought her a new pair of jeans and another missionary purchased her new shoes. We also asked her mother if there were any needs she had and she said she needed money to pay back the money her neighbor loaned her for her medicine, Sonia (another missionary) paid for that. The mom also said she needed cooking oil, rice, teff (a light grain) and milk. We bought her enough milk to have 1 liter a milk a day for 30 days and enough food to last a month. It sounds like an expensive gift but the total amount of the food was only 600 birr (about 37 USD).  I am amazed at how many things I take for granted, but one thing I know I will not forget is the look on these beautiful ladies’ faces when we told them we could provide for their immediate needs. I am so thankful that God was able to use insignificant me to ease the burden of this mother and her daughter.

Please pray this week that sponsors will be found for all the BCI children and teenagers like Yabsera and Bahailu. Pray for the many parents her are sick with HIV and pray for the elderly grandparents who willingly take in their orphaned grandchildren. Also thank God for the many many blessings he has given you. If you don’t think you are blessed, remember these stories.