.Close to Home.

This is a two part series. Part 1 can be read here.

Perhaps it was a test, and if that indeed was the case, it was a very dangerous, very frightening test. But it was almost as if she wanted to see if we would pursue her, or if we would just let her go. In the days following her announcement a million thoughts raced through my mind, some as ridiculous as locking her here and refusing to allow her to leave. However, she is nineteen, and that would never really work. I begged God to find a solution and keep her from this evil. We prayed and cried as we tried to find sleep and her impending departure loomed closer and closer.

And one day we woke up, and it was the last day....

Today I am writing over at our Mercy Branch blog. You can read the rest there.

.The Tension.

It’s been nearly a year. Nearly a year since we landed in Addis and emptied suitcases and threw ourselves into making this place our home. It has been nearly a year since we have begun the laborious process of establishing an NGO here, so that we can actually DO what we were called to do. It has been a year of God growing us, changing us, and pursuing us in remarkable and extravagant ways. It has not been a year without hardships and tears and questioning, but looking back it has been one of the best years that we have ever experienced. We have seen Jesus like never before. We have seen his transforming power, and we have witnessed the Kingdom break into daily life.

We came here desperate to put off any arrogance that we had in preconceived ideas about this culture and about the “right way to do things”. We prayed that God would humble us and make us learners in this journey. He answered our prayers over and over. We thought that the “right way” to do missions was to do business as missions. It is such a beautiful idea, and one that we felt compelled to flesh out. It also, honestly, sounds so much safer and comfortable to be able to support our mission with a business and not have to rely on churches and individuals to support us. We were eager and sold-out on this model, and prayed up, certain that this is how God was leading us. Only to have God literally slam every single door to every single business opportunity here in Addis in our faces.

Every time a door slammed, we heard His gentle whisper, trust Me.

It soon became evident that our ministry plan for street children was wildly different and wildly counter-culture, and radically going to take all of our efforts, all of our energy and focus in order to be done in a way that will bring glory to God. And the truth is, we came for the boys not a business. The business was an aside – it was just supposed to support us, but God has very clearly let us know that at this time, He wants us to trust Him for the support. So here we sit, fully reliant on people across the globe from us. To be authentic, that is scary, and it gets scarier as Jesus continues to whisper follow Me, trust Me.

I felt confident that In order to keep support and gain support, we need to tell stories. We need to tell you about the lives that Jesus has touched this past year. The sad stories, the sad photographs, they tug at people’s hearts, and they share the real need that is here, and I really, really bought into the necessity of them. But sometime this year in the midst of the stories and photos, the pause button was jammed on, and I started seeing things differently and questioning my motives with throwing up a photo on social media of a person in a horribly sad, vulnerable position – perhaps even a person we were able to help out of that position. Something wasn’t sitting right with me. My heart was beginning to feel uneasy. It started to feel a little bit like exploitation, and even objectification. But I knew that it worked. I knew that people across the ocean would be more likely to make a financial donation if I shared the photos of people suffering and their sad stories. If I shared about the man who tried to hang himself and about literally cutting down the rope and tucking him safely into family, about the teenage girl who came home so drunk every night that she had to be nearly carried up the stairs and undressed and cleaned up and placed into bed, about the hours upon hours spent in a hospital and then the deafening screams that came with AIDS diagnosis, about the baby who died from AIDS because we were just too late, and the father who refuses to have her brother tested, because he just cannot bare to know. About the woman who mourns for her murdered son. About the teenage boy who never knew his mother and endures beatings from his grandmother and meals at our table because at least then he gets fed. And even sharing this is making me want to delete the whole post. Because these are REAL PEOPLE, and their story is not my story to tell. I have no right.

And then in the midst of this wrestling one day, our son came to us with trembling lips and big eyes and said, “please do not post photos of street kids sleeping on the streets. It is wrong.” We were taken aback. Street kids is who God has called us to, telling their hard stories seemed like a great way to raise awareness and honestly, money, in order to be able to serve them. But this son who came to us that day, so visibly distraught had at one time, for several years, been one of those boys. He had had countless foreigners come and take his photo, photos of him when he was most dejected, most vulnerable, and still very, very much a child. He had been enrolled in numerous NGOs and his photos were distributed and used and profited on. And he never benefitted from it, and even years later it still hurts to have been exploited at the most vulnerable and challenging time in his life. We listen to this child when he speaks of this, because he knows. God has used his voice to mold and shape many of our dreams for our future ministry with street children. His voice is the same reason that we cannot do a drop-in center and feed street kids only to turn them back out onto the streets, because this exact kind of thing hurt our child more than it helped. It is why we have to pursue family-based care starting with a small number. It is why we cannot do behavioral modification but rather passionate pursuit of the heart of children. Although, there are good ministries right here in Addis with very different philosophies and practices that do great things, we have chosen to join in in a way that looks a bit different.  

So, we are trying to learn a new way. We are trying to be creative with how we share and what we share. It is why so many of our posts lately just focus on our day-to-day family life here in Ethiopia. It is so NOT because there is nothing to share, or we have not seen Jesus in people’s lives, but rather because we are still trying to figure this out. The use of photos and stories of disadvantaged people and vulnerable children to illustrate what we are doing, and what we need to raise money for risks exploiting humans - humans made in the image of God. For right now, we have decided not to take that risk. This creates quite a tension for us as missionaries. It is important that we share what Jesus is doing. People are supporting us, and they need to know how their support is impacting the Kingdom. But I think that people, whether in poverty, whether vulnerable and in crisis or not, have a right to share or not share their story. It is their choice. It is not mine. It is what we have always clung to with our boys who came to us via adoption. Their story is their story for when and if they are ever ready to share it with the world.

This is an ongoing conversation. We continue to press into Jesus and into the people He brings to us, and we continue this dance of knowing when and how to share with you. I believe that the answer is creating an avenue for their own voices in their own time and of their own free will. How? I don’t know. What does it look like? I have no idea. But there has to be a way, and I am desperate to figure it out. We still have so far to go, and so much to learn, but until then we press on keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus 

.Confessions of a Rookie Third World Missionary.

My family and I have now lived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a little over a month. It has been everything and nothing like what we have expected, but slowly, surely it is becoming home. Here are a few things that I have experienced, learned, and observed along the way.

• ·      The weather is absolutely perfect. I have always been one to embrace season changes, and I become as excited as my children over snow days. However, to have this consistent, warm weather every day, to see the sun shining warmly in my bedroom window every morning at 6 AM is amazing. We are experiencing Ethiopia’s summer – their dry season. There has not been a hint of rain since we arrived. Of course I will miss the snow days and the magic they bring to the holidays (Elvis Presley Christmas music playing in my kitchen is helping some), but to be tanned and warm at the end of November is pretty lovely.
• ·        Nothing is easy here. I prepared for this and expected it, but honestly there is no real preparation for living it. Every menial task takes at least three times as long. Sometimes that is due to power outages or water outages, sometimes it is due to lack of convenience products, appliances, and sometimes I just have no explanation for why everything takes so long and is is so hard. It just is. Traveling is hard. Shopping is hard. Cooking is hard. Cleaning is hard. Communicating is hard. Life really is harder, BUT, even though we are probably still in the honeymoon period, I dare say it really is sweeter. Accomplishing any task is so fulfilling and rewarding. I fall into bed so happy when I know that I have washed, dried, folded and put away a basket of laundry AND cooked a good, safe meal for my family. I am sleeping better than I have in years, because I am so exhausted. Life here is difficult. It is hard. It is rewarding. It is worth it.
• ·        Now I say nothing is easy here, but to be completely honest, I make things harder on myself (big, fat surprise to those of you who know me – snark, snark). The majority of Americans that we know (missionaries included) have hired domestic staff. There are so many reasons for this; one is respect for the culture and to give back to the culture and economy by hiring Ethiopians. Another reason is because, as I mentioned, everything takes three times as long, and in order for most people to come and do what they are called to do or hired to do, they have to have help with the day-to-day tasks, or else there is just literally not enough hours in the day. But my first priority mission field is my husband, my children, and my home, so right now that is where I pour all of myself into. Because of this. we have not hired a full domestic staff, however, we have hired a part time housekeeper that will help me with some of the cleaning, and we plan to hire a nanny for Jamesy. Once I start homeschooling again (we are still on our summer break) we may have to reevaluate and hire additional staff – specifically a cook. This is hard for me to let go of, though, and I am really praying through what God is asking of me as we live here. And so, right now I do a lot of the stuff that staff would typically do for foreigners living here.
• ·        The city has really been built up since we were here two years ago.  There are stoplights and traffic signs and things are becoming more modern. Police (or “traffic” as most people here refer to them as) are everywhere. They seem to be quick to {try to} pull people over, but I am learning that most people just duck their head, avoid eye-contact and drive on! It is pretty wild to see. Driving in general is wild and crazy. I am really proud of my husband for getting his license and driving all over the city. I, on the other hand, have no plans {ever} to get my license {shudder}.
• ·        Produce here is plentiful and cheap. We load up on produce every week and really love the availability of so many fresh fruits and veggies. Being from upstate NY, there are only a few months of the year that we were able to have access to fresh produce. Most of the time, it was shipped in from other climates and sub-par. Most of the produce (save watermelons, but perhaps we got a bad one) taste better here, too. The oranges are actually not orange, but greenish, yellow and they are so sweet and juicy! It is time-consuming, but for our safety, all of our produce has to be very carefully sanitized before consuming or really even handling too much. With the amount of produce we purchase, this is an all-afternoon task for me, but once done, we really enjoy grabbing fruits to snack on, and I love the abundance of veggies to cook with.
• ·        Hyenas are very, very loud. I never knew the noise that hyenas made, but every night around midnight they travel to our neighborhood and howl and yelp for about an hour. It is quite an experience to hear, and because we live in the mountains, the echoes are eerie. One of these nights, we are going to take a spot light, go onto one of our balconies and try to shine it on the pack of hyenas to see them.
• ·        Spiders are everywhere. Every. Where. Every night I check my bed for them. They are huge and gross. I have bites all over my body, and I am trying to just pretend they are normal mosquito bites. And I found a HUGE mouse (maybe rat) on my stove burner. Enough said.
• ·        My children are awesome. I already knew this, but seeing the way they have acclimated to a new culture and to so much change is amazing. They are resilient and strong and encourage me every single day. They are doing so great and loving so big. I am so proud of all of them.
• ·        We could not just land in Ethiopia and immediately begin our mission work. This has probably been one of the toughest things. However, the government is really cracking down, and we must follow all of the laws, so that we do not ever have to fear being permanently banished from this country. So we plug along, working towards our NGO status, then work and residency permits. Thankfully, we found out today, we are here on the right visas to do this and should not have to leave the country for two years as originally planned. This whole process goes back to what I said about everything takes T-I-M-E. But in the in-between God is already giving us opportunities to build relationships and love big on people – we don’t need a work permit to do that, and I believe that even during this space and time God has plans for our family .So we forge ahead learning how to just live life here and sharing the love and mercy of Jesus with whomever it is that God places in our path on a given day. We are living life on mission, and I could not love that more – every day is truly an adventure!
• ·        God is here in this city. He is working and moving and His Kingdom is being built. He didn’t need us to move here to accomplish His work, yet He invited us in. I am truly thankful and excited to see what is ahead!

There is so much more that I could write, but for now this will do.

Wifi is pretty sketchy, but I am hoping to get this to publish. Thank you for your continued support, prayer, and encouragement – we feel it!

.So You're Moving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia? {links to help with preparation}. Part 1

We have been preparing for our move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a year now. It's hard to believe that it has been a year already! When it comes to planning and making lists and charts and preparation, I am type A, all-the-way. (Strangely that does not carry over into all areas of my life.) Being such, as soon as I knew we were moving our family of six over to a third world country to live, I began scouring the internet for advice on moving  and life in Ethiopia in order to start planning. I kept thinking that I wished I could find a place that had everything I was looking for compiled on one website or blog. Now, I know that not very many of my loyal readers are planning to move to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but I am compiling this blog post for the random reader, who is moving there that might find me via google. Here are the very best of the best links to help you navigate and prepare for your move (this is part 1 of 2):

Go to guide for Everything:

The absolutely BEST resource that I have found is this "Welcome to Addis Guide" published by the International Community School's PTA in Addis. It is AMAZING!! If you don't feel like clicking on any other link, then this one would be pretty sufficient for your preparation. It is full of great recommendations, tips, immunizations needed before travel, and the reality of life in Addis, hospital and physician information, the best grocery stores, leisure activities, taxi services and tons of phone numbers for each etc. It is just massive (at over 100 pages) and so full of valuable information. This is from their table of contents: general information, before you arrive, getting settled, getting around, health/medical concerns, medical practitioners/facilities, Addis with children, shopping in Addis, services in Addis, leisure in Addis, inconveniences, exploring Addis and beyond. This is such a gold mine for me, that I have talked my husband into getting it printed and bound, so that we can have it at our fingertips in country!

Organization:
5 tips to organize for an international move
Moving Checklist

Packing:

Health items to pack for Ethiopia
CDC's Healthy Travel Packing List

General Packing Lists
Peace Corps Packing List for Ethiopia

A packing list and general information about moving your family to Addis. (I love this blog! I believe the woman's husband works in the US embassy. She has great tips and beautiful photos.)
Our Yuppie Life - Moving to Addis Ababa

Practical tips for packing
Packing Tips for Moving Overseas (find this by scrolling down to the bottom of the post)

Infographic for packing
How to pack your luggage right (the second infographic on the site)

How to fold shirts military style
Efficient Packing

Preparing your family for the move:

8 ways to help toddlers and young children cope with change and moving overseas

Preparing kids for moving abroad

3 ways to care for the heart of your missionary kid

3 ways to care for the heart of your third culture kid

Moving abroad with older kids

What I wish I knew before moving overseas

Top 10 rules for helping in Africa

How to transition to the foreign field and not croak (part 1)

How to transition to the foreign field and not croak (part 2)

.The Importance of a Calling.

I am not a theologian, so I won't pretend to be one. I am simply a Jesus follower, who has the same Holy Spirit living inside of me that a theologian has. That's my only qualification for writing this post; that and my own life experience. As we get closer and closer to our move to Ethiopia, I have been reflecting a lot on our calling. When I say calling, just so that we are all on the same page, as the term tends to be interchangeable and muddy, I am referring to God's intimate, individual invitation to a person, to partner with God in His Kingdom work here on earth, by carrying out a specific task. I don't want to spiritualize the definition or get too churchy, so let's agree on this definition for the sake of this post.

I have shared so many times here about how God drew our family into this specific calling, so I don't want to rehash too many of the details. However, it never gets old for me to look back and see how God has slowly, graciously, and beautifully been whispering His invitation to me as far back as I can remember. When, as a little girl, I sat in AWANA mesmerized by those missionary stories read to me, He was whispering. When a little later I felt my heart race as I listened to missionaries who shared their experiences. Or how on every single spiritual gift assessment test that I have taken in my lifetime, my gift always comes up as "mercy", and how I was born loving the broken, underdogs, and rejected people in this world. More whispers. So many whispers, from being drawn to Africa in college and considering teaching in the Ivory Coast, to finally landing on Ethiopian soil for the first time and feeling a peace in my soul that I had never, ever felt before. In realizing when being in Ethiopia those first ten days, that although I was experiencing the worst pain that I had ever imagined, as my eyes were opened to incredible needs and I entered people's stories, that I was also the most content that I had ever been in my life. And the whisperings continued. There were moments, when I knew that I knew that God was moving us to Ethiopia, and I would have an amazing peace, only to have it quickly snatched away by fear and doubt. This happened over and over for three years after landing in Ethiopia. For three years we found very good, logical reasons to say "no" to God's calling - his invitation to join the work He was doing in Ethiopia with street kids.

Even when we witnessed the miracle of redemption in our home with our son, who was a former street child, and understood that we had discovered a great purpose in discipling him and sharing the love and mercy of Jesus, and what it means to live in a family with him, and how God had uniquely skilled us for that task - even when we let ourselves think about how we might use those very same skills for other children in Ethiopia we said "no". Even though, this very "work" of joining God in the transformation of a street child felt so good and right (even in the hard moments), and without a doubt I now know, this is what we were meant to do; we still said "no". Even though we felt the most purpose in abundant family life, and discipling others to find that same joy was the beat of our heart; we still said "no". I am so thankful for a God Who is so patient with us, and just waited and continued to quietly invite us to say "yes", and I am thankful for the people in our lives who saw the invitation long before we did and upon hearing the news exclaimed, "what took you so long?" Such sweet confirmation. God's calling started years ago, it wasn't something that we suddenly woke up and discovered, it was just something that we finally had eyes to see and recognize.

Some may wonder why a call is so important in the first place. Why does it matter if you know you are called, as long as it is something you have the desire to do? And although desire does have a place in the call, desire will not be what sustains us. It is with certainty that I can write that there will be hard, excruciatingly painful, taxing days, weeks, months to come for our family in Addis Ababa. God doesn't invite people to comfortable; He invites them to share in His suffering. There is nothing easy or comfortable about moving a family to a third world country, and this is not me being a martyr or looking for a pat on the back - this is just plain reality. We are walking in, having counted the cost, with the full understanding that what we were invited into will be hard. However, I have great hope, that on those discouraging days, when we are homesick, when we make mistakes, when we lose a supporter, when nothing is going the way we planned, the certainty of this call on our life will sustain us, and the very One Who called us will walk the hard with us.

Adversity is sure to come, because the adversary does not like Kingdom work. The adversary is a pro at planting seeds of doubt, but remaining confident in the truth that we have been invited into this work will keep us grounded. I love that a call always invites us into what God is already doing. His Kingdom advancement is not dependent on us, yet He invites us and carves out a place where the talents He has gifted us with can be used. One thing that God keeps bringing to mind, through various resources, is that there are people that have gone before us in Addis and will come after us, we have no superman complex, we are simply linking arms with what God is already doing. It is an exciting thing to know that we are being invited into this!

I am really thankful for the peace and confidence that this calling brings to my life. To learn more, click here. The creativity and intimacy that He pours into His calls are inspiring. I love hearing the many, many different ways that He is using all of us to advance His Kingdom. Please feel free to share your calling in the comments below. It's part of your story, and part of the Great story He is weaving together. I can't wait to hear yours.

.Homestretch.

First we targeted January, and then June to move our family to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. But God still had things for us to learn in the here and now. He was still preparing our family - tweaking us here and there  - and growing us as we realize this too is part of the journey. We continue to push and pray and trust His timing, although it's not always comfortable or easy, and some days we just plain don't like the timeline we are on, and honestly feel as if, at times, we are being yanked around. But in the still quiet moments, when we take the time to really search our hearts, we know that He is here and has allowed us to remain still for a reason and a season - for a purpose. We trust that. And in this moment, we have been present for so much, for our baby girl to attend her first (and perhaps last) ever year in a traditional school, for our oldest son to get to experience another year of soccer here in America and recent surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus, for the death and funeral of my grandma, the birth of our niece, the moment we got the call that my sister had suffered several strokes and God had spared her life, for Jamesy to grow and thrive and develop his communication skills in huge ways, for Scotty to participate in soccer for the first time, for moments spent with extended family that otherwise could not have happened, and for all of the in between moments that we will tuck into our hearts and carry across the ocean - moments that will sustain us on those days when we are so homesick and question what we have done - for those are sure to come.

It's been a little over a year now since we said "yes, we will move to Africa, yes, we will sell our belongings, yes, we will leave behind our family and the life we have built here, and yes, we will devote our lives to sharing the mercy of Jesus with children living on the streets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia."

Sell everything and go.

It sounds so easy and simple, but the actual reality of it is long and arduous and sometimes hard. We are living this right now, and it takes a toll in huge ways. But in it all we continue to see God's hand, His confirmation, and amazing ways in which He is moving in order for us to be able to move.

In the midst of the questions and conversations, we see Him.

We have counted the cost so many times - the physical, relational, and mental costs. We have prayed over the safety of our children and we have mourned all that we leave behind and all that we will miss.

the births
the deaths
the birthdays
the holidays
the phone calls
the drop-ins
the luxuries
the conveniences

And everything in between.

It's a complicated season - a complicated dance - a choice to continue to say yes, to continue to obey and put one step in front of the other, even when those steps seem to still be so far behind the finish line of actually moving. We are fleshing out this call of obedience to the children of Addis - even here in the wait and the pursuit. We are in the reality of the flippantly used phrase "sell everything and go". A phrase that has taken us a year to live out and begin to understand.

And in the hard, there have been tears, frustrations, mourning, questions, restlessness, and uncertainty, but there has also been determination, grace, mercy, peace, laughter, hope, expectation and no turning back.

We're in the homestretch now. We're not the same people that we were a year ago when we set out on this adventure, and a year from now, I hope the same will be true. This all has been part of the beautiful story the Author is writing over our family. His pen is poised over the next chapter, and we are ready for Him to scratch out this next part.

With pounding hearts, a little fear, a lot of hope, and open hands, we are nearing ready.


[To learn more about how we hope to partner with God in building His Kingdom in Addis Ababa, please visit our site here.]

.Connecting the Dots.

Our church is working through a series on justice, and what God has to say about it, and what that means for us as followers of Jesus. Our hearts became open, as a family, to the Spirit's leading and conviction in this area a few years back, but this is the first time that we have been given the privilege of sitting under leadership and wrestling with this subject inside of a faith community. And it's pretty wild. There are well over 2,000 verses in the Bible that touch on justice. In Hebrew the word justice and righteousness are translations of the same word. Somehow many of us have missed that! Justice and righteousness mean "to make right", and we have all been invited to partner with God in this.  So many followers of Jesus squirm at the idea of "social justice" , and it has become a controversial issue inside of Christianity - another issue in which we can separate over and judge one another. I am afraid that we have forgotten or ignored that the gospel of Jesus addresses the whole man - not just the spiritual man. Look at the life and posture of Jesus, He was constantly addressing the needs of the whole person - yes, the heart - the spiritual, but think of how many times he also addressed the physical needs as well. Jesus fed the hungry, He healed the sick, He stood up for the rights of women, He defended the oppressed, He loved the outcasts and the sinners. He engaged the whole person and their needs time after time - the heart, soul, mind, and body. We are supposed to imitate Jesus. That is what we have been called to do. So we are wrestling through this as a faith community, and I am so thankful to be doing so.

Last night our church hosted an opportunity for us to watch the movie Nefarious: Merchant of Souls




This was a documentary that exposed the very real truth about sex trafficking. While slavery is something that Jim and I have had our eyes opened to in the past few years, and have changed some of our purchasing and spending habits, so as not to add to the slavery pandemic, this movie still took my breath away. I don't think I can ever "get used to" this kind of injustice. I pray that I can't.

But it also connected dots.

I was watching the movie last night with tears streaming down my cheeks, thinking that we had to do something and feeling that familiar guilt begin to creep into my heart - because I am such a bleeding heart and cannot ignore this stuff. It changes me and moves me to action, which can be so good, but can also be so exhausting. So, as I was sitting there, with mascara smeared under my eyes, and feeling a bit panicky wondering how we could tackle this issue of sex trafficking, as well as what God has called us to with street boys in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, God sweetly and gently breathed grace over me and connected the dots.

Justice issues are all intertwined. I think I understood that better than ever before after last night. Jim and I, and our non-profit, Mercy Branch Inc., have some big dreams for Ethiopia, and for the street kids there. The dreams are expansive and God-sized, and we are placing all of our confidence in God and partnering with Him in these dreams. Yes, we have been called to street boys - our hearts are for these specific children. We are em-burdened with a passion to see them grow into godly men and leaders and fathers and change their country - bringing justice to it - setting things right. But last night, I realized how our calling to these boys is part of a much bigger, broader story that God is writing - because again - justice issues are all intertwined. Many boys end up on the streets of Addis because they were stolen from the countryside and forced into labor. After years of abuse and labor, many of these boys, eventually find themselves abandoned to the streets. Other boys are forced onto the street for other reasons - sometimes by their families who are trapped in desperate poverty. The family forces the boy onto the street to work and bring back income to the family. Some boys are prostituted (most girls are). Sexual abuse and exploitation of these boys is a growing problem in Addis Ababa, because of their living situation. Street children are the primary victims of sexual assault in Addis Ababa. The magnitude and gravity of sexual assault on boys is increasing in the city at a frightening rate.

Part of Mercy Branch's dreams are to find at-risk families - families that are very close to pushing their children onto the street - and empower them to be able to sustainably meet their needs, disciple them into a relationship with Jesus, and foster a whole, healthy family relationship. This is street child prevention, and it is vital.  Another aspect is discipling street children back into their families, and when that is not possible discipling them into domestic adoption. Our hopes and dreams is that families can be preserved and that men can be discipled into godly leaders, husbands, and daddies who fight for justice - who understand the value of family and seek for wholeness in family. If more godly men stood up for this in Ethiopia, than the number of children in that country that are sex trafficked would drastically decrease, because the number of street children would drastically decrease. A country of godly men, who seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God could radically change a culture. But is starts small -with one generation - with a few families and a few boys. So, that is where we begin, knowing that God is the One Who connects the dots and fills in the gaps - He is the One setting things right, and we are humbled and so thankful to be invited to partner with Him in this.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

    and recovering of sight to the blind,

    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19 

to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

Luke 4:18-19

To learn more about partnering with Mercy Branch Inc. in bringing justice to Ethiopia, please visit our website here.

.Your Questions Answered Part 3.

I am continuing on with my little series in answering our most frequently asked questions about moving overseas to Ethiopia.  I first answered these two questions: 1. Aren't you scared for your childrens' safety by moving them to a third world country? 2. Your decision to move seems sudden. Why are you moving so quickly? To read these first set of questions and answers go here. You will find the second post here, where I answered the question, why are you serving independently from an agency?

4. Why did you choose not to go to missionary school or obtain a masters in missions?

Jim and I both attended four years of Bible college, including some "missions classes" sprinkled into those four years. I graduated with my bachelors of science in elementary education and bachelors of science in biblical studies. Jim graduated with his bachelors of science in philosophy (he also took every preaching class/pastoral class offered and many hours of counseling classes, but loved all of the language classes - Greek and Hebrew - with the Philosophy major, so stuck with that major). Jim graduated with highest honor and was at the top of his class, and I graduated with honors. Academics were very important to us - too important. We cared mostly about classroom discussion, reading textbooks, debating theology and our orthodoxy; it was years before we realized that orthopraxy mattered, too, and in that people matter. Our first ministry as husband and wife was camp ministry. Jim became the program director, and I was by his side for six years. It was in this ministry that God got us out of the books and into people's lives. It was there that we fell in love with discipling people, and saw how discipleship can change lives. We were hooked. While in the camp ministry, I also taught in a Christian school, and we worked as youth leaders. Kids and teenagers had become a really big part of our life, and as soon as we started a family with our beautiful Cadence Grace, we also became really, really burdened for families. After six years of camp, Jim became an associate pastor, and God continued to break our hearts for people, for families, and eventually for the outcasts and marginalized. The summer after we brought Jamesy home, we knew that God was calling us into missions. We just were not sure of His timing and logistics. We prayed and discussed sending, at least, Jim back to school. We even went as far as visiting Southern Theological Seminary in Kentucky, and researched their missions program. But school just did not feel right. God never gave us a peace about it, and we loved what we saw and knew of the school! But to get back into the academic world after God had so graciously and lovingly pulled us out was not the right move for us, and we knew that deep in our hearts. So, we continued to take advantage of ministry opportunities and invested time into learning about the world around us, and continually found ourselves pushed toward discipleship and counseling of families and teens. In the process, we continued to travel to Ethiopia, and even were privileged with leading a team there. God was slowly and beautifully melding our love for people, discipleship, families, and Africa together.

Jim and I have gained more hands on experience for our future ministry in these past few years than we would have been able to obtain in school. We are daily living out this discipleship and watching redemption unfold, with our oldest son, who we brought into our home from the streets of Addis. Everyday we are getting hands on training in what it means to love and disciple a child in this way with his background and history. Having been invested in Ethiopia for four years now, we have learned so much about the country, the culture, the people, the religions, etc. We have learned a lot from experiencing it on our trips to Ethiopia, but we have also learned so much by living with Habi and investing in his life. I am a researcher by nature, and I am constantly reading and trying to learn everything I can about Africa, Ethiopia, living in third world countries, discipleship, etc. Right now I have three books sitting in front of me about Africa, from the library, and that is pretty typical. We have invested ourselves in the food, and I have learned to cook all of Habi's favorites. We have incorporated the traditions and holidays into our family, as well as the music. We have dear friends who are Habesha. We believe that the language piece will come with time. Because English is prevalent in the capital city, we will be able to get by until we have gotten a hang of Amharic. We believe that immersion will most likely be the best way for our family to learn, and we have a wonderful built in tutor/translator in our Habi! We feel strongly that we have learned far more about Ethiopia, ourselves and our passions and strengths and weaknesses by living out our life, than we ever could have learned in a classroom setting.

And while we call ourselves missionaries, we really only do that because people can understand and identify with that label. But let me be truthful here - all followers of Jesus are missionaries. We are not doing anything unique in that. We are ALL called to spread the good news, to advance the Kingdom, to disciple, and we have been doing that here as a married couple for the past almost twelve years. We still plan on doing all of that, we are just going to do it across the ocean with a specific group of people - street boys and their families. A lot of families move overseas to do life, and a lot of families don't go to school to do that. Sometimes the very best training you can get is real life. We have been training in that for a long time, and we are really looking forward to the mentor-ship that we will be receiving once in Ethiopia from Trent and Carmen. We will not be alone, and we will be mentored every step of the way. I cannot think of a better "education" - to learn and grow AS we build the Kingdom.

Really we are not just flippantly going to Ethiopia with no training. We have been training all of our lives for this moment. It is really about preparation more than formal training for us. God has been preparing us for this for so many years. We really aren't missionaries - we are just a family who is trying our best to love God with all of our heart, soul, strength and mind and love people, too. We want to follow Jesus, and it just so happens that we are following him to Ethiopia. Following Jesus and loving people big can happen anywhere. We aren't defined by being missionaries, or ministering overseas, or being in "full-time ministry". Will we do it all right? No. Will we make mistakes? Yes. But we are going in with eyes wide open, hearts prepared and ready and willing to learn all that we can. No, we will not be training in a classroom, but we will be training while we live life - for us, for now, this is better than a classroom.

Please feel free to ask your own questions in comments below or email me at amomentcherished(at)gmail(dot)com

.Your Questions Answered Part 2.

I have been answering our most frequently asked questions about our upcoming move and ministry in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This is a continuation to the first questions, to read those questions click here.

3. Why are you serving independently from an agency?

This may be our number one most asked question. I understand why, because historically, missionaries have used agencies for education, funding, help getting on the field, accountability etc. However, in our globalized world today, even the face and method of missions is changing rapidly. When Jim and I were certain of our call to Ethiopia, it was critical for us to determine how God wanted us to go. We took time to fast and pray together, and we sought the counsel of present missionaries, godly men, and financial advisers. We came to the solid conclusion, that for our family, for this time, the Spirit was leading us to work independently from an agency. We also prayed about being underneath a sending church and having a church act as the middle man, like an agency, might do. As we prayed, we went to the leadership team of our former church - the church Jim had pastored at, been a deacon of, and where I was born into - as we assumed that they would be the people that would understand this burning passion and call the best, having been our community for so many years. It became very clear, through the counsel and discernment of a godly business man in our life, that to have a legal sending church would make funding very complicated - for the church and us. We did not want to place this burden on the church, so pulled out of asking them to be our official sending church, but still hoped they would be our main supporting church - in finances, spiritual support, guidance, friendship, community, etc. We are deeply saddened, but at peace, that this was not God's plan.

However, He was not leaving us abandoned to do this on our own - missions and ministry - well, life in general - is not meant to be done in solitude. So, again we talked and sought counsel and  prayed and fasted and we were led to begin our own non-profit. Jim and I have had a lot of experience working under a non-profit in our former 6 years of camp ministry. We became the founders of Mercy Branch Inc. this fall 2013, and we are surrounded, championed and discipled by the most amazing board members in the world - all of whom love our family, love and follow Jesus, and believe in the mission and hopes and dreams of Mercy Branch Inc.. Mercy Branch Inc. has also hired a very wise, powerful, business advocate from Ethiopia. This person is guiding us through the visa process - as well as working on obtaining yellow cards for our family (the equivalent of our green cards here), the legalities of living overseas and running a business, insurances, the paperwork, documentation etc. We are extremely fortunate to have this person partnered with us, as everything is already underway in getting secured for our family, and we will not have to flounder through figuring out everything on our own, with the chance of making mistakes.

Our board provides direct accountability for our finances, our ministry, and our family. They are involved in every decision, and Jim and I answer to these trustworthy, godly men and women. They are our team - our people - and they provide so much encouragement and day-to-day help and support. Many of them are business men and women and really understand the business side of missions, which is a big piece for us. They are invested in Mercy Branch Inc., in the people of Ethiopia, and in our family.

Practically speaking, by not going with an agency, we are able to raise a lot less funds. When missionaries sign on with an agency, a percentage of the support funds that a missionary must raise before going overseas, goes to overhead for that agency. While we understand the necessity of this with an agency, we were not comfortable with this truth. Jim and I are disciplined and self-motivated, we have a very clear vision for our future ministry, and we have submitted to the accountability of our board, as well as other godly men and women in our life. We have seen this approach to missions work really well. Some of our favorite missionaries, right now, use this same model of having a non-profit run by board members - none of these ministries are under an agency and all are being used greatly by God, by partnering with Him to build the Kingdom. Here are a few examples:

• Amazima in Uganda.
• Mercy House in Kenya
• Bring Love In in Ethiopia
• Make Your Mark in Ethiopia
• The Exodus Road  in Southeast Asia, America, and India

We are praying, expecting, trusting, and believing that God has big plans for Mercy Branch Inc. as well sans agency.

The next question that I will answer is why we chose not to go to missionary school or get a masters in missions. I will continue in another post to answer this and more questions. Please feel free to ask your own in comments below or email me at amomentcherished(at)gmail(dot)com.

.Your Questions Answered Part 1.

When people learn about the journey that our family is being taken on, their reactions are varied. Their questions are many. In the moment, I am not good at answering any of their questions. I don't think on my feet well, and although so much time, thought, prayer, and counsel has been put into our decision to move to Ethiopia, the questions still make me feel insecure and backed into a corner. And to be totally transparent, I have a tendency to become very defensive, because this is such a big deal for us - it is our passion, our heart, and we truly believe our life calling. God has been wooing us and shaping us for so many years to bring us to this exact place, and we have gone through so, so much to get to where we are today. (For the record, God and I are working on this defensive instinct - okay let's call it what it is -  pride issue - in my life.) For those who have not traveled this five year long road with us, when I step back and take a deep breath, I realize that their questions are mostly just curiosity and care for our family. So I am writing this post in an attempt to answer our most frequently asked questions in a forum where I am most comfortable - behind my screen.

1. Aren't you scared for your childrens' safety by moving them to a third world country?

Sometimes. But sometimes I am scared for their safety right here in the United States of America, too. God absolutely wants us to use wisdom and discernment, but He does not want us to live in the bondage of fear. We do not want to pass this fear down to our children either, as we believe it is such a crippling heritage. And to be blunt, safety really is just a big, fat illusion. We believe in a sovereign God - One who will protect us and keep us safe if that is what He desires for our lives, or One who will allow us to go through struggles if that is what will ultimately be good for our lives. No matter what, we know He goes before us and stands beside us every step of the way - we are never abandoned. It doesn't matter where our home is - we firmly believe that we can never leave the care of our Father in heaven, and because of our views regarding eternity - there is very little that we can really risk in this life. We know what our ultimate future holds, and for us there is no fear in that beautiful, eternal future. There is no use in trying to take the reigns of this one life, and control it by padding it with safety and comfort (we tried that at one point and finally found freedom in giving our life back to Jesus - it was never ours to begin with) The comfort and security and safety could all be lost in a moment regardless of where we live - there is absolutely no guarantee for tomorrow. There is not guarantee for my next breath. So we boldly step up and out with God, knowing that we are in perfect hands. We move to Ethiopia not to follow the American dream, common sense, or safety, but to follow the call of God on our lives. We are called to follow Jesus. If Jesus followed the way of safety, He never would have died on that cross.

I hope that my children learn courage from this journey, and that some day when God places a dream in their hearts for His Kingdom, that their first instinct is not fear, nor safety, nor comfort, but simply the desire to follow God in that dream,and to follow Him boldly to the ends of the earth, if that is where the dream takes them.

2. Your decision to move seems sudden. Why are you leaving so quickly? 

This answer is lengthy, as there are so many pieces to it. I will try to answer it the best that I can.

From an outsider's perspective, this choice probably does seem sudden and rash, but for even my long-term blog readers, I am guessing that you saw this move coming years ago. The truth is that God began growing this seed for missions when we were both children, but he really began intensely watering that seed back in 2009. When Jim and I were between ministries for a brief time in 2009, we casually tossed around the idea of missions, but because my heart could not fathom even moving a few cities away from my family, the yes was just not ready yet. I still had a lot of growing up to do, and Jim and I still had a lot of growing together to do. God had so much work to do in us, and so much to show us. We had grown pretty cozy in this life here, but slowly over those years, God was drawing us to finally say yes. He did it in such a perfect way - He knows us and loves us so well - so perfectly.  Jim and I both knew in our hearts, in January 2010, that God was calling our family to Ethiopia (we whispered the truth of it well into the dawn almost every night that we stayed in that beautiful country), but something happened when we returned home, because of fear of man, of our family's reactions, of leaving our comfort, we continually squelched that call - over and over and over, and we became stuck where we were. It was not until God brought us to a place that we were so miserable being stuck, knowing that we were not doing what God had created us to do, that we knew that we had to stop, be still, and listen to the dream that He had been fertilizing for so many years. It was a scary, beautiful time, and so SO much peace came crashing into our lives when we finally surrendered that yes last summer. I wonder if God was thinking, what took you two so long?! (Scroll back through my posts for the past 5 years, and the wrestling and pressing of the Holy Spirit for this decision to move to Ethiopia is startlingly clear. The angst is easily read in almost every post. I just didn't acknowledge it then - I was not ready.)

Last summer when God swung open wide the door to Ethiopia, we were to take over an existing Guest House for a family friend - this was "the bait" that God used to get us to finally agree to missions overseas. God knew that Jim always wanted to do business as missions, and that this would open up some big possibilities for our family to actually be able to do this. In order to do this, we were told at first, that we would need to be in country by October 2013! Now THAT would have been fast. Looking back we can now see that much of the occurrences of all the beginning time line was just for God to get us to finally give a firm yes and for us to actually step out of the boat. For the past few years we have been saying we would move to Ethiopia - it's easy to say that, but then we would just leave it all up in the air. We talked about maybe going after our children had grown or when Habi had graduated high school - everything was always theoretical and in the distant future - it was nice and safe left there. In my heart, I knew that without a firm departure date, I would get cold feet, and we would find any excuse to stay - whether it be fear of family, fear of what people would say, fear of failing, or fear of finances.

So God orchestrated things to allow us to give a firm yes. We were told that we needed to get to Ethiopia as quickly as possible in order to take over the Guest House, so we sold our home and most of our earthly possessions in order to do so. Things changed with our family's friends' Guest House, and while we will still be running one - it will be our own from scratch - so the time-line changed and stretched and we stretched with it. In praying and fasting about the timing, knowing that with our personalities we needed to have a targeted date, so as not to stay comfortable in limbo forever, we strongly felt the Spirit urging us to target this summer as a departure date. So we plod forward with that date - pushing and praying while continuing to be sensitive to the Spirit's leading. It is a tender, vulnerable place to be in. Again, I do believe that none of this was by accident. God knew that we needed a reason to actually act on His call, so He gave us the reason (the Guest House and a deadline of being in country), and we stepped out in faith. This is how God has historically worked in our family's life - because of our personalities when God moves big in our life - it is always fast - He is the one that intimately knows Jim and I and knows what we need. Some people believe that if it looks crazy, if it looks fast and impossible or dangerous even, then it can surely not be from God! For us, when it is fast and furious, and looks way too big for us to handle, that is when we know we are on the right path in following Jesus. Because Jim and I are usually planners who are methodical, careful, cautious, etc. when left to our own devices - we are not innately spontaneous, risk-takers, so when something happens like this, we can be certain that we are being led by the Spirit and not by our own flesh. And those who loves us, and have watched us go through moves of God in the past will agree that this is true of our lives.

It's messy. It is hard. I would prefer to take my time, make a checklist, weigh all of the risks, plan, research, analyze etc. And if I did all that, I know in my heart I would never, ever be ready to leave - I would stay stuck right here. This is right where God wants us - following Him when it looks crazy - pushing and jumping into the unknown - our feet are right smack in the middle of the Jordan - and there is no going back. The only real peace we have is about going, and so we continue to take steps to GO.

We also feel a tremendous urgency to go. It's not because we are running from something, or because we cannot serve God here - because we have and we do - it is simply because this call on our life is so real and so all consuming. Again, our life is just a vapor, and we are not guaranteed tomorrow - we get one shot with this one life - we believe that the great commission is a priority, and we are so excited to participate in the Kingdom work that God is doing in Ethiopia. We know that He doesn't need us - we are not rescuers - but we are so thrilled that we get to participate! We are anxious and eager to begin doing life in Ethiopia - our lives have been pointing us there and God has been preparing us for years. We are at the point where we are just feeling tremendous urgency to finally GO. It is so, so hard to put even into written words the divine compulsion that burns inside of our hearts day and night - it is a passion that is impossible to resist. And I have no doubt that this urgency and passion was placed inside of us by a God who is gently and clearly drawing us to Ethiopia. Our eyes are fixed on Ethiopia and following God there.

We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work. John 9:4

I will continue in another post with more questions. In the meantime feel free to leave your question in comments or email me at amomentcherished(at)gmail(dot)com