Take Your Place….

Being out of place is the most uncomfortable and disorienting feeling in the world. It steals our enthusiasm and frustrates our purpose. It can hurt us and others around us. On the other hand being in place is completely satisfying. There is peace when you are in the right place at the right time.

I think of it like a jigsaw puzzle. You have a beautiful picture on the outside of the box, which all the small pieces put together should make. We have, in the Bible, the picture of the purpose and life that God would have us to live. When we pray and seek God and put each one of those elements, seasons, gifts, talents and abilities together in the right place it culminates in the picture that is our God purposed life. The thing about the pieces to a puzzle is they have one place to fit. We can try to force a piece in but it will ruin that piece and the pieces around it, and ultimately the picture will not look like the front of the box.

Being out of place can bring loneliness, confusion, heartache, and apathy to the forefront in our lives. Moses is the biblical person I think of in this scenario. I think sometimes we put his life in a theatrical box and don’t really understand how he felt. The picture of Moses overall life is definitely the picture of a deliverer. The components of his life put together depict his purpose. His personality, his raising, his very name meant “to deliver” or to draw out.

He was raised in Pharaohs household, God’s way of training him for leadership, however because he was a Jew and Identified with his people, he felt out of place. His frustration and zeal combined to push him to act out that frustration. He struck a blow against tyranny and slavery, but was out of place and time for that blow to be struck. This forced him to run. He knew his actions were ill timed and as a result his life begin to spiral out of control. Was he to be Israel’s deliverer? Yes, but this was not the place or the time. God had not finished training him. Inexperience and immaturity will Cause us to act out of frustration even in the direction of our purpose it will put us out of place, as it did him.

Moses, then found himself on the back side of the desert. Even then we see him trying to be a deliverer. There were some young women trying to water their father’s flocks and were being bullied out of the way. Moses stepped in and stood up for them and brought them to the front of the line. He met his wife in that interaction and married, and took on the trade of his father in law. He became a shepherd.

It seems that Moses had resigned himself to his new life. The zeal to deliver seemed to be lost to him, and his people dead to him. We can deny our purpose, we can act like “our life is fine,” but in truth we are hurting and miserable. The way you see it in Moses is in the name of his child. In their culture your name many times held great meeting. Moses named his child just as his mother named him, except she named him in faith. She named him the future deliverer of his people. He named his child to declare his miserable state. He named him Gershom which means Expulsion, or a stranger there. He was practically screaming “I am out of place!” My life was not supposed to turn out like this. It’s not that he wasn’t happy with his wife, or his child, or even his life or occupation, what was missing was the God component, purpose.

It’s very interesting to me that he knew he was out of place, but when God called him, he made excuses, and asked God to get someone else. Sometimes even when we know we’re out of place and in our heart of hearts we’re miserable, missing that one God component, we still make excuses. I think we get comfortable. After all, my life’s not so bad; I have a great life, a good career, a great spouse, wonderful children, and good friends. No more excuses! It’s not about whether or not I have a great life or whether or not I enjoy my life, it is about whether or not I am fulfilling my purpose. We can’t get comfortable with life in the wrong place.

When Moses finally surrendered God gave him the courage to act on his purpose by delivering the Israelites out of the hand of Egypt. He broke the generations free from the shackles that held them. What significant thing is yet to happen as a result of your purpose or dream? It’s going to happen if we get in place. Moses wasn’t meant to be pharaoh’s son, nor was he to be just Jethro’s son in law the shepherd, He was meant to be Moses, the deliverer of the people of God. He found meaning when he found his right place. Find satisfaction, peace and the realization of God’s purpose in your life as you take your place.

David

Ethiopia….

I have started this blog several times and not been able to finish it.  I guess because of the images i have seen, the people in such desperate need, your mind says, this can’t be true, there was a moment that i was overwhelmed and my mind said this is too much, there is no way to fix this.  However as I watched my friend Pat and the different leaders of the medical clinic and the feeding centers and the ministry to prostitutes it caused me to realize, what I have been saying is true.  We can’t do everything, but we can do something, and what we will never do is nothing!

Engacha Ethiopia is the most inexplicable place I have ever seen.  It seems to be ripe with resources but because of a lack of education on how to use the land, and a lack of money to resource education, and medical care and day to day living, this place for many is a nightmare.

My friend Jennifer wrote a while back, after she had visited this place, that it was one of the most difficult things she had ever seen or done.  We literally have to choose the worst of the worst to help, because they are all in a bad way.  You have to turn off your mind, which says, “There is too much need, what can we do?”  It says, “I can’t take this, I will put it out of my mind.”  We don’t want to know that there are people living like this, starving, dying of malnutrition, dying of disease and sickness that would not kill them if they had proper medical care or could afford any kind of medical care.

So, I am shouting it from the housetops, don’t turn your head, don’t act as if it’s not happening, do something, pray, give, go, do something.  People like Pat and ICA need our help.

It’s the same problem that we have in getting people to decide to help fight human trafficking.  It’s not that people don’t care, it’s not that people are unwilling, I truly believe that in our pristine world we just can’t fathom that there are people who buy and sale humans for the purpose of perversion.  We want to think that people who are being prostituted are choosing that life, and that somehow gets us off the hook from helping.  When we find out that these are little girls 4, 5, 6 years old and up are being sold, or tricked, or kidnapped for the purpose of prostituting them for people who are so depraved that they would have sex with a child.

Its ugly, we don’t want to see it or know it.  There is an indictment on the church, and that is we are condemning not caring. What if a person has chosen this life?  What if they said I want to do this to make money, would we then say, you deserve what you get, or would we try to reach them with the love of Christ?  What did He do with the woman at the well, the woman caught in the act of adultery, or Mary Magdalene, he didn’t disqualify them from his love, they all made choices, but he loved them any way and helped them.  Let’s not consign people to the dark while we are holding the light, even when they are guilty by choice.  I know that I was guilty by choice, and Jesus reached me, and I know that you were guilty by choice but he reached you.

And if we are supposed to reach those who are guilty by choice, then we definitely have a responsibility to reach those who are captive to injustice.

The good thing is that someone is doing something about it.  There are great people in this world, who are giving their lives to the cause of Christ.  They are praying, giving, going, and changing things to reach those who need our help.  In Engatchah, they have put in a new clinic that is seeing lines of patients a day.  The doctor their used to live in this community he got out and the opportunity to go to university and was at the top of his class, he could have chosen a lot of posts, but instead he said I want to go back to my home and help my people.  There are people who are manning these feeding clinics, who are building orphanages who are planning to teach community farming that will help them find their own solutions and bring dignity to their world.  Pat would not want me saying this but he is a real hero, and he is doing something to change the world.

They all love him and respect him for what he has brought to this area.  He has made a way for people to have a changed life.  There is a local governmental leader whose name is Ababa, and he has done so much to help ICA because they are helping his people.  He said, “I am so happy these things are happening for my people, and I would rather die, than think that this change was not happening.”  He said he would rather die, then live and know his people were not being helped or learning to help themselves.

Oh God let us say with the passion of our hearts that we would rather die, than to live and know that nothing is being done, about starvation that nothing is being done about human trafficking, that nothing is being done about the injustice in the world.  Please, I mean this please pray for Ethiopia, pray for Engatcha and hosanna Ethiopia.  Find a way to help, there or around the world in other works that we are doing.

Find a way to help right here in our own community.  Does it really matter how people got in the situation they are in, or do we just need to do something about it.  I will not stand before God and say, I would have done something but they chose that life; imagine if Jesus had said that.  Remember our light can only shine its brightest in the darkest of places.  Remember John 3:17 For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

This is only the beginning and I am going to put one picture on this blog that can give you a bit of an idea of what it was like, I really don’t know how to put it in words, but it should inspire us to say, right here in my own city, in my own neighborhood I will find a way to help people who need help.  Whether it is just love or acceptance they need, or whether it is money or resources they need, or just dignity or education or food, or someone to care.  Please, please get it in your heart, get it in your mind, its not enough to know God, we must make Him known.

David

A Special Family…

Alex was the young man of 24 years whom we met at his shoe shop on the strip not far from the house we were staying in.  When I say shoe shop, it is a small area in front of a store front.  He started with 3 pairs of shoes and now has about 15 or 16 pair of shoes.  a good day is if he sales at least one pair, two or three pair would be a great day for him.

Alex, became a follower of Christ about one year and a half ago.  He was totally changed.  We saw pictures of him from before Christ and he doesn’t look like the same person.  Ive never seen anyone so physically changed as a result of conversion.  He looks mean and hateful before and now has visable joy and such exuberance in following Jesus.

He has the responsibility to care for His 18 year old sister, his 67 year old mother and his 10 month old daughter.  He was married but as soon as the baby, “praise” was born the mother ran off and they have not heard from her sense.

After doing ministry on the streets that night, he asked if we would bring a bible to his mother and share Christ with her.  We did so and took the a lot of food.  We road the botah (motor bikes) to their home, down some fairly treacherous roads, in the drizzling rain.  We arrived and walked down the alley, and into their home.  It was a small one and a half room home, but they were so proud to have us there and kept a very nice home.  We came in and brought them some food like sausages in a can, and crackers and cheese, as well as some sweets, and candy.  They were very happy.  There is not a lot of money to go around so sometimes they have days where they cant eat.

We gave them some other gifts as well.  His sister “Lukiah”  was a beautiful young lady and had a brilliant mind.  She spoke fluent, and articulate English.  I ask her what grade she was in and she said she had completed secondary and had tested to go to university, she had high marks and was accepted at the highest level.  I asked her when she started, she looked sad, and said, “no money.”  I was so upset, in this nation it is very important and really the only way above poverty is to get an education, which is a no win situation because the people who are in poverty can’t afford an education.  There education to us cost very little.  I was heartbroken, here is this brilliant young woman who is stuck.  She said, its ok, my brother, and she spoke of him and looked at him as if he was the worlds greatest hero, is looking out for us and if he can do that, i can watch the baby and take care of mother.  She had been going to school, but has had to come home, as a result of mom not being able to work because of health reasons, and this has truly effected their finances.

So Tyson gives her a bracelet, and then several more and said, “these are for your friends.”  She immediately dropped her head, began to cry and said, “i have no friends”, she explained to us that when she had to drop out of school all of her, “friends” began to make fun of her and not hang around her anymore.  There is a real stygma with being poor not getting an education.  They said she was cursed.

she really began to cry, She said, its ok, and she pointed to praise, who was sleeping in my arms, and said “praise is my friend, the baby is my friend.”  She said we will make it.  You must understand this girl was really sharp, she was so dynamic, so strong, Tyson and I were at our wits end to see her future robbed from her.  We said we will be your friend, which is little consolation.

So we all prayed together, and of course we are going to try to help her.  We had a chance to bless the mother and share the love of Jesus with her and she was so responsive, praise God.

In this nation, if she gets her education it could really change their entire situation.

So when you think about it, you might say a prayer for The mother, Lukia, Alex and Praise.  They are trying very hard, and working very hard, and I believe that God is going to bless Him and he is going to use us to do it.  Remember there are a thousand cases just like this and there is hope for the people of this nation wrapped up in the arising generations, lets do what we can to help them take that next step.

Lets not let poverty rob them of their future.

David