Friends and family!
I wanted to give you all a quick update on how this month is going. Wifi comes in spurts so communication will be a little sparse this month. But so far, things have been tough.
This has by far been the most challenging week and a half for me on the race. Dealing with the pressure of responsibilities, the language barrier, the cultural differences, the poverty, the constant begging as you walk down the street, the homesickness.. it all starts to take a toll on you. And I'm feeling it. I've thought about how nice it would be to see the faces of my family and close friends almost daily. But as I listened to a sermon by a pastor from my hometown on maturity, true maturity, I realized that this is exactly where the Father wants me right now. Weary and homesick, I'm learning how to abide in Christ, the true source of life and strength, and I'm continuing to learn that if I'm at home in God, I'm at home. As Dallas Willard said, "You want to know where God lives? God's address is at the end of your rope". So I'm being refined, stretched, challenged.. pushed to limits I'm not used to physically, emotionally and spiritually. But it's in this that I'm finding Jesus, undeniably calling out to me, "Come, my yoke is easy, my burden is light". How else is our God to deal with us who have become experts at living the self-life? It's never fun to die, as Tozer puts it. To die to your rights, your preferences, your expectations,to the consumerist lifestyle we've grown so accustomed to.. It's not fun. I'm learning to forfeit these so called "rights" though. As an "American" or a "college student" or anything else that gives me an excuse to live so selfishly at times, I'm learning to put that to death. So as tough as some days are, I'm learning. And I believe I'm growing more like Jesus. I have to believe that God is committed to my growth, He is as committed to re-creating me as He was to creating me, if not more.
The challenges of this month have not come without moments of great joy though. We've been working with street children, young boys who literally don't have a dime to their name. Some were born on the streets, others have run away from abusive fathers, and others just don't have a choice but to beg. One of the nights as I was sitting in their "home" (just a few cardboard boxes under a tree at a bus stop) one of the boys told me he'd rather be dead than have to live this horrible life. I did all that I could do in that moment. I just listened. I listened to their sorrow, their jokes, their complaints, their stories of survival. I taught them English, they taught me Amharic, they laughed at me trying to speak Amharic. It was fun. I asked them if I can share a word with them, they said yes. I talked about Christ and how he would understand their lives much better than I ever can. We talked about this man named Jesus who lived a hard, lonely life. But what he taught us was that, in spite of our circumstances, there is hope. Hope in a God who we can call Father and the hope in a future Kingdom where we can trust the King. And hope that, with His power, we can begin to live in that Kingdom now with great joy and love. With their arms around one another, I told them to continue loving one another and looking out for eachother. I told them how much respect I had for them to be living in the conditions they were living in. They said they didn't understand why I was sitting with them in the streets well past 10 at night, but they enjoyed it. And they respected me too. "I love you!" one of the boys shouted.. They all laughed. Some sober, some not, we had a great time together nonetheless. One of the boys named Ishlei, who I've grown close to, asked to play soccer one on one. If he won I had to buy him some soccer shoes. If I won, he'd be shamed in front of all his friends. I'm looking forward to our match next week.
Please keep praying for me friends. Not so much for alleviation of my discomfort, or for no more homesickness, but for faith. Faith that is sure of the fact that God is who He says He is. And He does what He says He does. And that I would learn to put to death the old nature in me where I consider myself the king of my own life. I want to be one who walks with the burning love of the Father because He sits on the throne of my heart, not me. This week I'm leading a team to visit 3 prisons here in Ethiopia and share a simple but powerful word.. "Christ in you, the Hope of Glory." (Colossians 1:27). I'm excited. And I am close to my deadline for December! Only $60 away. Thank you all who have been supporting me, very very very much. Love you all! (especially you momma pops and Jess.)
Joe
