In case you need a refresher course, let me catch you up on why I love Ethiopia so much!
The opportunity came for me to go to Ethiopia in December of 2011. At the time I was really digging into my faith and building a solid relationship with the one and only JESUS CHRIST! I've always been a believer but in my more recent years, I became more of a drifter. I was blessed to plan an amazing trip with 4 other amazing people. This trip changed my life. I've always been a lover of people but I never knew the extent. I'm 1 of 8 children in my family, OF COURSE I like kids. Ethiopia brought out this insane overwhelming LOVE for precious little nuggets (nuggets=children). While in Ethiopia, Jaime said it best. She said Ethiopia's outsides looked like our insides. Dirty and Neglected were the first words that came to my mind. Sin had consumed my life. I had neglected my relationship with God. I had failed to love my neighbor as myself. It's amazing to me that someone who is so poor can still be so appreciative and grateful. There are families that can barely feed themselves and only have 1 outfit and here I am having the toughest time deciding which T Shirt I'm going wear to the village. These beautiful people live with less and LOVE so hard.
The first day I was in Ethiopia, one of the first things we did was visit a Sunday school. I was so awkward. The teachers asked me to share with these beautiful little nuggets about Jesus. I said "Do you know what Bapitsm means?!" They looked at me like an alien. I replied with..."Ok great...Jaime's going to tell you!" FAIL. By the end of the visit, I was getting the hang of it. I didn't need to memorize the bible or know every little detail about the Christian faith. I just needed to be a light for God. So what'd I do? I loved on as many little nuggets as I could. We blew bubbles, we jump roped, we hugged, we laughed....well mostly they laughed at me. When it was time to go, they were hugging me so tight and thanking me. I cried. I could have stayed there with those nuggets for the next 15 days.
On the 2nd day of our trip, we went to the Guennet Church. It's a large church with more than 500 attendees. As guests and speakers, we got to sit in the front row. I love the front row! On the right side of me there was a small room with a big open window. This is where the kids sat. They stared at us the whole time. They smiled and waved and giggled. This is what they do when they see weird Jesus loving freaks like my group of 5. At the end of church, several nuggets came up to me and hugged me and kissed my cheek. Could you imagine a random child coming up to you and hugging you and kissing your cheek? Normally, I'd be a little concerned. In this case, I just cried more! These children have a beautiful ability to touch my soul. Here I am trying to be a light for them and the whole time they were being a light for me.
I'm a really big fan of Craig Groeschel. I just finished reading his book Weird and it pretty much rocked my world. The last few chapters really stuck out to me because Craig talks about blessings. Craig says, "...a moment when God blesses you with a divine burden: something that bothers you so deeply, you're moved from complacency to action. I'm going to ask God to bless you with something that unsettles you, disturbs you, upsets you." This sounds crazy right?! Who would want to be unsettled and disturbed? He goes on to say that "if you listen, God will show you something that makes your heart ache on behalf of his. He will bless you with a burden." God is funny like that. Ethiopia is my burden. God is the same God in Ethiopia that he is here. He is doing beautiful things in Ethiopia and I want to be a part of it.....therefore...dun dun duunnnnnn.....I'm going back. For TWO whole months! HOLLER! Jaime and I started a non-profit when we got back from Ethiopia in June. Its called Two4change. Our goal is to be game changers for Jesus. We want to clothe nuggets, love nuggets, provide for them, and show them God's love.
This blog is my journey. I hope you follow along and decide to go on this crazy but fulfilling and exciting journey with me. I have a lot of exciting things planned and I want YOU to be a part of it. Stay tuned :)
In the 1st picture, this is part of our team. We're awkward.
The first sunday school we went to. When I got done being awkward, we had some fun. I miss these faces!
The Guennet Church. SO many people!
My team!
That little room that the kids sit in during church. NUGGETS.
Beautiful girls :)
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