Our first week here in Africa, which seems like an eternity ago, we spent the whole week in prayer. We asked the Lord for some pretty big things with expectant hearts that he would move in some pretty big ways. Not to anyone’s surprise, he has answered so many of our prayers and I just wanted to share some of them with you!!
- Working at the refugee camp–When we arrived in Ethiopia our friends at the refugee camp had just moved to Addis and were working on transitioning into a new life themselves, so we weren’t sure if we would get the opportunity to work with them. During the first week, we prayed for the opportunity and after a meeting with the Mayor Gadisa got us approved to start working with them the next week. I can’t imagine what our time here in Ethiopia would have looked like without those amazing people being a part of it. God opened so many doors to make something that seemed unlikely happen so easily and through this experience he has opened so many doors and broke down so many barriers.
- Funding for Testimony– Through this week of prayer, we also prayed for funding for Gadisa’s ministry. Within days, a runner who lives in the states that Gadisa has never met, but knows through connections named Rachel contacted him. She let him know that she was going to run the Chicago Marathon to raise money for Gadisa’s ministry. Also, within a couple of weeks a UN worker here in Ethiopia came to visit us at the camp and emailed Gadisa later that night letting him know that they would love to help his ministry out financially. To top it all off, Gadisa’s church is now going to start helping him financially. This one is just proof that the Lord doesn’t only want to provide for us, but he wants to provide in abundance for us.
- Gadisa’s visa– As another way to begin building up more constant donors for his ministry, Gadisa was hoping to go and see some friends in Italy and do some vision sharing at different churches and events in the area. In order to do this however, he had to get a visa which for a young man in Africa isn’t always easy. Over the course of the past month, he has gone to the Italian Embassy probably about five times for different meetings and we just found out this week that he got his visa!! He leaves on Tuesday so prayers for that journey will be much appreciated.
- Prime minister– Here in Ethiopia, there is a lot of political division. Gadisa, for a long time, has been praying for a good Christian prime minister to bring the country together and he brought us into these prayers. A couple of weeks ago, a new prime minister was elected and sure enough he is a great Christian man who is already leading the country so well. As he continues to lead with the Lord as his motivation, I can foresee some pretty amazing things happening in this nation.
- Gadisa’s car– At the moment, Gadisa is renting a car, but it isn’t doing the best and he wants to own one considering he is always driving around to different parts of Addis for his ministry. This past week, a Canadian family that currently lives in Scotland came to visit Gadisa at Testimony and see all that he was doing. They decided that if he could pay to get their car shipped to him, they would give it to him. Seriously, such a crazy story!!
- Land– Gadisa has a vision for his future ministry to own a big plot of land with houses on it, so that he can live with the kids that he sponsors and get more time with them. Here in Ethiopia, getting land is so hard and extremely expensive, however when meeting with the mayor, he shared his vision and she gave him a plot of land for free. This is totally unheard of and totally a blessing from the Lord.
So, long story short, the Lord answers prayers and the Lord ALWAYS provides what we need to help further his kingdom and then some. These prayers have all been answered within a single month and I know the Lord has so much more in store for our time here. He is always faithful and always has our best interest in mind. When we are close to the Lord and our hearts are lined up with what he has for us, he never fails to provide what we are asking for. Sure, some of our prayers have yet to be answered, but I have full faith that the Lord will continue to provide. I have full faith that he wants what is best for us. I have full faith that if he says no, he knows better.
Jesus, thank you so much for a time here in Ethiopia of so many answered prayers. Thank you for always providing enough for us and then some. Thank you for being a Lord of true abundance. I pray that as we go into the last few weeks of the race you continue to answer our prayers, but I also pray that if you don’t answer right away we don’t lose faith. Help us never to value the gifts you give over our relationship with you and never forget to give you all the glory. Thank you Jesus. Amen.
