Wednesday Thursday update

Wednesday & Thursday – Worship in Spirit and in Truth

I'm catching up on yesterday since we didn't get to post and were working on finding an alternate method of getting the blog out. We met with the leaders of two leaders of very special ministries. The sensitive nature of their ministries are such that unfortunately, we can't give any details here (we'll love telling you about it when we return), but suffice it to say, God is mightily at work in ways we cannot imagine!! Unprecedented encounters and a coming together of people groups never before seen! We discovered more of what it means to truly worship God in Spirit and in Truth, not the outward motions, but the inward motive. What we learned was both challenging and exciting. Again, our view of God is enlarged; He is so much greater than our finite minds can grasp.

Last night our group split up to meet with three home Bible study groups from BEZA. All the groups study notes from the sermon from the previous Sunday, discussing how to apply it to their lives. Our group began with a time of praise and worship, sharing prayer requests, and then dove into the scriptures. We felt instantly comfortable with the group; we commented that you could have picked this group up and placed them anywhere in the US, and they would have fit in. There was no awkwardness at all; they have delightful senses of humor, and you could tell that they enjoyed a very close fellowship, but also welcomed others in without hesitation. One lady from the US is part of the group; she has been here for 5 years working with CMF and has a number of "adopted sons," street boys that she works with along with her other work. One of the boys came with her. Another girl from the US has been here this year, teaching English at a private school, but also volunteering with BEZA. She is soon to return home for a few months, but is eager to return in the fall. The rest were local believers of various ages. One of the local young women is an attorney and is heading to the University of Michigan for an advanced law degree. It was an interesting mix, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. We discovered that legalism is very engrained in the culture here. It was interesting to hear them talk about going to a movie, even a Christian movie, and hoping no one would see them in the ticket line because going to a movie is considered sinful by most. So living by grace is an important issue for them, and they are learning about the freedom we have in Christ.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnacrews1/EthiopiaVisitingBoysHomeAndGovernmentOrphanage

Today we joined with the US Ethiopian group to visit a boy's home for street kids and a government orphanage. We were totally blown away by the boys! Three young men were touched by the plight of boys living on the streets 20 years ago, subject to violence, abuse, addiction, and began to build relationships with them. That led to them getting a house and taking them in, discipling them and guiding them to be trained in a vocation and be able to live independently. They now have a transition house where the boys live for about 6-12 months, then they transition to another home where the focus is on discipleship. This was the home we visited, now housing 33 young men ages 10-20 (approximately; it's hard to tell ages, and most of them don't really know how old they are). Each boy came in with his Bible, and one by one, they stood before the group, read a portion of scripture, and then expounded on what that scripture meant and how it applied to them. The insight and depth of thought was astounding. These boys haven't been there all that long (they stay at most, a year), so what they have absorbed has come quickly and set in deeply. Each one gave thanks to the Lord for his mercy and grace in their lives, admonishing one another and exhorting each other to praise God for his forgiveness and new life. Some of their comments were:

"If we have accepted Jesus, we can't just give him lip service. We have to give Him all of ourselves."

"You all know what I was like before, the awful things I did, but God forgives every sin; we are completely forgiven, and now we have to tell others."

"God has saved us for a reason; we have a purpose now in life, and we must live it."

"We have to walk like Jesus; we must finish our purpose in a strong way and not fall back."

"God loves everyone. He takes people like us off the streets and can use even us."

Talk about humbling! We spent the afternoon at a government orphanage that was dismal at best. Poor accommodations, feeble attempts at sanitation, these tatteredly dressed children were nonetheless smiling, singing and playing. They are so eager to grab your hand and just hang onto you. How we wish we spoke Amharic! But a lot can be communicated without words. We loved on them as best we could, aware that a little joy for them can go a long way.

http://picasaweb.google.com/johnacrews1/EthiopiaDinnerWithStreetBoys

We have adopted Birukti, a BEZA worker, who has an incredible testimony herself. I'll save that for another time, but she has also reached out to a group of street boys living under a bridge. She started visiting them under the bridge, sharing what she could with them, and now has a pretty regular little group of guys who meet to play soccer (another BEZA friend helps with the soccer), just be with them, and she saves her money to buy them dinner when she can. Tonight we got to host Birukti and about 15 of her guys at a nearby outdoor restaurant. What a group of guys! Even with the language barrier, we enjoyed connecting with them with hand games, pantomime, and bits of English. The best "prop" you can have in most countries is a camera! These kids, like most we have encountered, love to have their picture taken and then see the image on the screen. Of course, they want to take pictures as well, and as cameras found themselves in their eager hands, flashes abounded. There has been no electricity today for the most part, so we were eating in the dark (interesting!), so the flashes were particularly bright. Ethiopia generates electricity by hydro-power, and there has been little rain, so electricity has been tightly rationed. Lately they have had power about half of the time. We have had a number of outages, but haven't really noticed it too much since we are usually outside. You would have not known some of these boys were from the streets, apart from their ragged appearance. Alex, a 14 year old who sat next to me, showed more manners and consideration that you would see in many kids anywhere. It was amazing to see how they constantly looked out for one another, shared everything, didn't grab or look out only for themselves like you might expect. They brought the boys' food before most of our dishes were ready, and we knew they were starving and could hardly wait to dig in, but Alex insisted that I eat some of it first, the traditional injera bread and assorted "dips" that I can't really tell you the contents of. When I got up to take some pictures and left my purse hanging on the chair, he quickly said, "Mama, your bag." I haven't been called Mama as many times as I have today in years! Gray hair brings some perks here; it instantly makes you Mama or Mommy, and they want to take care of you!

It was wonderful to see the boys heartily enjoy their meal, laugh, cut up and "just be boys," but so hard to see them walk back into the night, knowing they were going to a shelter of a plastic tarp propped up on sticks. It has gotten much cooler here, especially at night, and the beginning of the rainy season has made the ground damp and cold. This is their life; this is reality for so many here. Birukti is looking for a place to rent to shelter these boys. Though she has very little money herself, she has such a heart for these young guys. They are trying to figure out a way to provide for these boys, give them the chance that the boys at the home we went to this morning have had. We saw evidence of what can happen in the lives of the toughest street boys; total transformation! We are thankful that they are sleeping with full stomachs tonight, and praying for the Lord to protect them as they huddle together under the bridge. Pray with us that soon they will be off the streets, with a roof over their heads, food to eat, clothes to wear, but mostly, that they will know that they are deeply loved, specially created, and are precious in His sight.