November 23, 2007: Humbled by the God I love

I can’t believe that I return home in a week. I have
entered such a rhythm here and I will truly miss it.
I go to bed pretty early, I wake up early, I go to
Hope school to serve, teach kindergarten, and laugh
with the kids on their breaks or free periods, or I go
to the Hope feeding center to serve, fold angera’s,
and laugh and play soccer with the kids.

Today, Julie and I went to Rogue Village. Before MPPC
(my church) impacted this rural village, there was no
school nor any healthy running water. With the
support of MPPC, they funded the building of a school
along with a well with clean water. This happened 2
years ago and Julie and I were able to see the fruits
of their labor today. It was so incredible to see.

Ethiopia has been a truly incredible experience so far
-- I came with so many expectations of the people, the
culture, what God would teach me while here, what I’d
be doing while here, and it seems almost as if God has
turned my ideas completely upside down. I thought I
would come to impact the people here, do big things,
and it seems as if I have come to see that I am just a
small part (still powerful and important) of what God
is already doing here. Last night, while Julie and I
were having dinner with Zenebe, the head of Hope
Enterprises, my eyes welled up with tears as he was
explaining what MPPC has done for the children at
Rogue Village. I had no idea the mind-blowing impact
MPPC has had on Hope here. And it suddenly dawned on
me while listening to Zenebe that it’s not about me
here, trying to make a difference (although I am), but
that it’s about God and things already going on way
beyond me. It occurred to me that I am just joining
in. I am here to witness, observe, see, rather than
be the one doing the doing for God. I am here just to
take part. Before I came to Ethiopia, I was trying to
control every little detail of how I will do this and
that -- where I will be for this, and what I will say
to this child, that child. But after talking Zenebe,
I thought, “wow, I am just here to see God work.”
It’s beautiful. And I was deeply humbled by all that.


The last time I was in a 3rd world country, I was in
India seeking God, exploring what my life was all
about and what I wanted to live for, and I ended up in
2 monasteries, discovering the grace of Christ. And
although that was an amazing experience, I was
constantly anxious in search of completing some
longing I had for a deep meaning to my life. And I
contrast that with my time here -- I am not so much in
a place of seeking but a place of just being here
where God already is, joining in with His kingdom,
just doing simple things and serving His kingdom. My
awareness here has been so much more focused on being
here -- not on what I will be doing 5 years from now,
not on what job I will take when I return, or not on
some deep question about what the meaning of my life
is. I have just been here, here for what it’s been --
the simplicity of it all, and this simplicity has been
beautiful to me. And I prayed for this -- that God
would give me eyes to see the beauty of simplicity as
my life can get so wrapped up in busy unimportant
complications not so much in all my tasks for the day,
but more so in the cluttering of my mind.

What a humbling experience so far -- I’ve been deeply
humbled by the grace of the people here -- their
tender ways with people, their loving embrace of any
stranger, and their incredible desire to serve and
give even when they literally have nothing. Every
time Julie and I return from our day back to the guest
house, Kidist and Hannah -- 2 servant girls for the
guest house-- embrace us as if we are their children
coming home from a long trip. They truly love us.
And that love has been so powerful and humbling.

God is moving in my life. Teaching me to be of
service. Even with something as small as my desire to
give the big bed to Julie when she came (yes that
sounds silly, but you must know that prior to a
missions trip like this, my sleep would be so
important that I would selfishly take the big bed or
some better “thing” for MY sleep for MY training for
MY soccer.)

I am so blessed to be here. So incredibly blessed.
And this wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t for you
and your support.