Ministry Changes

I know it’s been awhile since I have posted. . .sorry.  In some of my lasts posts, I talked about change.  Well, things are certainly changing around here!  Mussie and I have left Blessing the Children (BCI).  This is the organization that I first came to Ethiopia with and Mussie worked at for many years.  We have enjoyed serving with them but it is time for Mussie and I to move onto something else, something new.  We have been talking for over a year about leaving BCI but we never stepped out in faith.  When we got married, we had a vision from God for us to serve closely together in a ministry that enabled families to be self-sustainable.  It is scary to step out from under the covering of an organization so that is why we hesitated.  However, you can not live in God’s blessings unless you follow His plan and that is a lesson that we have learned.    

So, what does the future hold for us?  Mussie and I are in the process of starting a new ministry in Debre Zeit.  Our proposed name will be “His Living Stones”.  We picked this name because I Peter 2:4-5 speaks to us and what we see for the people that we serve. 

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Most often, the people that we serve are rejected by their community, viewed as less than.  But God wants to use the least of these to build His kingdom.  We believe that God is building up His kingdom and we fully believe that God has a greater purpose for the ones that we serve.  We very much desire for them to be a part of God’s kingdom.

One part of the ministry will focus on single mothers.  However, we don’t want to be a “welfare ministry”.  This is where we have seen many ministries go wrong.  I believe that if you always treat poor people as if they are poor, then that is all they will ever think of themselves.  We believe in emergency assistance and a helping hand, but these shouldn’t be long-term solutions.  It is hard to balance this and I’m sure we will make mistakes but we want to help these women change their lives and in turn, change the lives of their children.  We don’t want to encourage them to stay in their state of poverty.

We want to see these women rise up and be productive.  God created us to work and to be productive.  We want these women to be able to fulfill the purpose that God created them for, whatever that may be.  We will assist the women however we can to get them to the point that they can work.  This will look different for every woman, but it could include: literacy training, job-skill training, tuition assistance so they can return to school, etc. 

Of course, when you assist single mothers they bring children along for the ride!  We will also give assistance for the children.  This will include things such as: vitamins, monthly food support, education assistance, and healthcare.

Another part of the ministry will be a rehabilitation center for women coming out of prostitution.  This is something that has been heavy on my heart for just about the whole time that I have lived here.  Sometimes it is really hard to wait on God’s timing.  It has been 2 years since I have started working on this and in my eyes, nothing has come of it yet.  This is really frustrating and hurtful for me.  I think about these women everyday.  I think about the children living in brothels every day and it breaks my heart.  I have come close to getting ministries going or working with other similar ministries but for whatever reason, God has asked me to wait.  There have been setbacks, near misses, and mistakes on my part but God is faithful and I know that it will come to fruition in His timing. 

We are still working through the details of this part of the ministry and a large portion of it will be determined by how many women want to leave prostitution.  But a lot of it will look very similar to the single mothers program: literacy training, job-skill training, etc.  But there will be an added aspect of counseling and rehabilitation that will take place for these women.

Access to the Word of God and knowledge of His love and redemption will be key in everything we will be doing.  We will be partnering with a local church very closely.  We want the women to know that they were created for more and that God loves them.  The counseling and rehabilitation will all be centered on God’s love, grace, and mercy.  We know that no chains of bondage could be broken without God’s intervention and we want the women and children to know exactly where their freedom comes from.

We are also working with this same church to get a Sunday School program going that Mussie and I will run.  There are many Muslim and Ethiopian Orthodox children that come to the church, so it is vital that we get a program running for them that center’s on Jesus’ sacrifice.

This is an exciting time for us but it is also a stressful time.  We fully believe that this is the path that God would have us take, but it brings many challenges for us.  Our first, huge hurdle is we need to get all of the government licenses in order.  This is a very difficult and costly process.  Please join us in prayer that this process would go smoothly. 

When we get the licenses in order, the next biggest challenge is financing.  It will not be cheap to provide these families with this assistance but we serve a God of endless resources.  We have faith that God will provide. 

We are praying now for partners and supporters.  We will need monthly supporters who share the same vision as us.  I will post more information about this as we get closer to the point of having a license.

Please pray for us during this season of change.  There is so much changing and happening but we know God is behind us so we are moving forward with the plan in earnest expectation.