Praying for the Innocent

by Brandi Banks, Contributing Blogger

The innocent whose innocence has been stolen. This makes my heart weep. I grew up in a very safe home. My father, who is in law enforcement, did experience many threats on our family, but I never knew about any of it. Why? Because, by the grace of God, I had my parents watching over me and protecting me.

These innocent orphans, however, because of the depravity of man, have been subject to fear, disease, and violence. Their parents have been taken from them, and they are left with the responsibility to grow up quickly, care for their young brothers and sisters, and be supernaturally courageous. I never knew this kind of fear or responsibility as a child. As an adult however, the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes and heart to God's order that we care for these orphans. I hurt for them, and it is my desire to do what I can to help them. When I can give financially, great. But, more importantly, I CAN PRAY. And, there is no circumstance that prevents me from that ability.

It's easy to see pictures of orphans and keep them two-dimensional in our minds. We must realize these are individuals that are uniquely created by God. We must be mindful of their souls and the eternal significance of their lives. I pray that these children would thirst for righteousness more than they thirst for water and that they hunger for intimacy with the Father more than they hunger for food. They need help. Let's shoulder their burden and let them be children again. To God be the glory.

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If you have been moved by the Orphans of Zeway or with other orphan care situations, and you would like to contribute to the blog and share your story, please email kouri@austin.rr.com!

Hairstylists in Training

The team arrived in Zeway this morning and they were able to visit a few of the girls who are in job training through the partnership. These girls are learning to style hair. Melkete, whom many have prayed for because she almost lost her home, is one of the girls in training.

A Visit with Eden

The reports from Zeway can be heart-breaking. We know that the God above has placed His people exactly where He wants them to care for these children. It is not within the time frame or with all the measures that so often we would like to see. We are not always called to be rescuers of these children; we are called to pray for them, to advocate for them, to care for their physical needs, to point them to the place of an eternal banquet in which our cups will overflow: at the feet of Jesus.

Keeping all that in mind, still won't make this easy to read:

from Matt in Zeway:

Our first house visit was with Eden, a young teenage girl who is new to the partnership. She is in rough shape. She is HIV positive. Her father died last year and her mother died when she was 3. She also has epilepsy, and about 4 months ago had a seizure when she was roasting coffee and fell unconscience into the fire. She was severely burned on her left arm and leg. Because of our FH partnership and funding, they were able to get her to a hospital for treatment. She is doing better now but still has significant grief.

She opened up to us in an amazing way. Her step-mother who practically raised her refused to have anything to do with her since her father died and since she learned she had HIV. She is so desperate for a family, so much so that she called her relatives from another town and acted like she was a friend of herself and told them that Eden had died, just to see their reaction. They immediately came to Zeway and to Eden's house, but only to collect her things for their own use. When they saw her, they were angry and demanded that she pay for their transportation costs back home.

She wept with us, and when Dawn shared with her a very personal situation from her past, she immediately connected with Dawn, who got up to hug her, and they hugged for a very long time. Each time Dawn tried to pull away, Eden held her tighter. She is so in need of a mother.

We finally left and prayed for her, and we are happy that she will spend all day tomorrow with Dawn and several other girls getting trained on jewelry-making.

There is great sadness and great joy with these trips. Please pray; the Lord will remember His beloved.

Psalm 72:12-14 He will have compassion on the poor and needy. And the lives of the needy He will save. He will rescue their life from the oppression and violence. And their blood will be precious in His sight.

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our sins. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. And by His wounds, we are healed.

Arrival in Addis Ababa

Our team arrived safely in Addis this morning with no glitches with baggage claim or visas.
In Ethiopian time it was evening and since only Rachael was able to manage some sleep on the plane, they went to their hotel to hopefully sleep soundly.

Soon they will be awakened to the sound of the Mosque intercom reciting morning prayers. While the population of Ethiopia is only about 32% Muslim and 61% Christian/Orthodox Christian, the morning prayers still dominate the sound in Addis.

They will awaken to this, if the sound of huge flying mosquitoes don't wake them first! (Matt reported big mosquitoes). Fortunately, malaria carrying mosquitoes don't live in the higher elevations of Addis (can't say the same about Zeway which is near the Rift Valley).

In a few hours the team will be on their way to Zeway. Pray for them as you go to bed and when you awake in the morning!

The Team Is Overseas!

The Zeway Trip Team 2010 made it out of Austin well and they are now on the overseas segment of the flight.

God answered their prayer that the amount of luggage they were taking would be graciously approved at the ticket counter and it was. They paid a little for the humanitarian aid -- but that was over 200 pounds of books for an empty library in rural Zeway. Thanks to some very light packing the costs were minimal.

Even the $200 that was to be paid for the over-sized wheel chair was completely waived. Thank you God!

A Wheelchair for Ephrem

On Sunday, our Zeway trip team had a conference call to discuss trip logistics as we prepare to leave on July 5. As we discussed luggage, Matt Kouri briefly mentioned we might have the opportunity to fly over a wheelchair for Ephrem, who several from our team met and prayed with last summer while in Ethiopia. Ephrem is on staff with Food for the Hungry (FH) and was severely injured in an automobile accident in Ethiopia a couple years ago.

God reminded me of an acquaintance I met through the adoption blogging community a few years ago while we were in process to adopt our son, Zane, from Ethiopia. Knowing it was a long shot, especially given our very short timeframe (2 weeks!), I emailed Drew and Carey in California. On Monday I heard back from Drew who graciously agreed to help and get in touch with a couple different organizations. By Tuesday Drew emailed saying an organization offered to give Ephrem a wheelchair. We were hoping to find a wheelchair with arms that lowered, making it easier for Ephrem to get in/out of bed from his chair and this particular wheelchair did not have this functionality. However, we felt like anything would be an improvement.

And then came Wednesday. Drew shared Ephrem's story with UCP Wheels for Humanity and they agreed to CUSTOM BUILD a wheelchair for Ephrem, with arms that lowered!! They felt like if we could move quickly, providing photos of Ephrem and various measurements, they could get the wheelchair to me in time. WOW!

God is good, abundantly good!

John Connelly, the FH country director in Ethiopia and his wife, Janice, worked quickly to gather the needed information and on Thursday it was emailed to Drew. Yesterday morning I received an email from Drew asking if we had been able to get the requested info yet. I frantically looked back through my email, knowing I had seen the information zip through my Inbox on Thursday....only to find Drew's email address had a typo. Ugh. My heart sank. I quickly forwarded the info to Drew, explaining the glitch and praying God would provide abundant time to the generous person who would need to build Ephrem's wheelchair.

Monday afternoon - that's right, I typed MONDAY afternoon, the very same day...I received an email from Drew with photos of a gleaming, beautiful, made-for- Ephrem wheelchair completed! Amazingly, UCP Wheels for Humanity had the exact parts needed in stock, and was very kind to quickly put it together. Drew had it packed and mailed the same day.

I awoke this morning to this photo of Ephrem below, minutes after being told about his wheelchair and seeing photos. I think the smile on his face speaks for itself.

God's love is abundant. He has knit together friends, strangers, and acquaintances to bring Ephrem a wheelchair. God did not need me, or any of us, to show His love in this tangible way to Ephrem - but He generously allowed us to play a very tiny part so He could share His joy with us and to bring Him glory.

I can't wait to see what God has in store for us in Ethiopia next week!

Wonderful and heart-wrenching Zeway updates!

Friends of the Zeway Orphan Partnership,

We have received our quarterly report from Dawit and his team in Zeway, and we needed to share some of the highlights with you. Please read them to see how God is moving mightily and how you can specifically pray to Him for these orphans.

Important Updates and Praises:

• 47 orphans are currently fully covered by the program and more are being added, with a broad census of the region to occur next quarter.
• Housing was provided to 10 of them including Ibsa and Cherenet.
• 5 new missionaries (called “holistic transformational development agents”!) we are funding received 15 days of training and were sent into rural areas around Zeway.
• 46 local community leaders (see picture below) were trained on the needs of the orphan-led household, after which participants pledged to help identify and support these orphans.
• The Zeway social workers held a special day of prayer for Grace Covenant Church after Dawit returned from Austin.
• Our mission team of 5 (John and Dawn Patterson, Heather Bauer, Matt Kouri, and Rachael Moise from Austin Stone) is almost ready to go to Zeway for 10 days on July 5^th. Praise God for providing the funds we needed! Please pray for our continued preparation.

CBO Orphan Training

Specific Prayer Requests:

• Lidia, a 12-year old, recently got very sick and when FH went to take her to the hospital, she refused and said she wanted to stay home and die. She has become hopeless and needs the hope only Christ can provide.
• 7 of the 47 children are regularly attending a Christian church (praise God for that); please pray for the other 40, most of whom are Muslim.
• Ibsa is still lonely and somewhat hopeless in that he lives alone still.
• Cherenet’s sister Kidist lives in the country as a laborer and he is concerned with her and wants to be reunited.
• Amanu and Muktar both need new homes.
• Pray for the older girls in the program who seem to be seeking unhealthy relationships as their way out.

Trusting in Him,

The Zeway Action Team

Pictures from Tom's Trip in March

Enjoy a few pictures from Tom's trip.
This is Tom's brother, Stephen. He spent the first day meeting children and getting right at their level to minister and love them.
Tom is here with Dawit (who traveled to Austin in February and spoke at the Missions Conference) Abei is on the far right. He is one of the 5 missionaries that Grace is supporting through the Partnership.Pray for Abei and his family -- they are on the front lines serving Christ!
A picture of the social workers who attended Stephen's class



Tom's brother training the social workers on grief and loss.

Keep in prayer the next team going to Zeway! They will be departing the first of July. Click here for more information on the trip and how you can support them!

Caring for the Widow and Orphan

Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27

Bridges of Grace has used the command in James 1:27 as a foundation for their ministry. There are orphans ministries and non-profits all over the country that have sprung up in the past 5 years toting 1:27 on their banners.

And yet, there is a piece of it that seems like we've missed. We are to visit and care for orphans AND widows. We've moved forward to care for the orphan, but what about the widow? How can we use James 1:27 so diligently as the backbone of our ministry when we have chosen one vulnerable people group, but not the other?

Now we have justified this because the needs are so great, how can one ministry tackle the global orphan crisis AND widows in their distress? It is overwhelming enough to take in the numbers of one group of "the least of these" let alone to add widows as well. We do believe, however, that focusing on this one group, orphans, is not just justified, but right thinking. We all have God-given passions and talents, and we are finite beings in our time and ability to care, so singling out one group of people to care for is how we manage in this flesh.

But God is not going to allow our inability to care for both widows and orphans to limit His work. He is not allowing our susceptibleness to be overwhelmed by the suffering to single out just orphans in the Zeway Partnership.

We are rejoicing that God is allowing us to expand our care circle to include widows. Single parents who are dying of HIV/AIDS and who will not be there to parent their children within the year will now be a part of the Partnership outreach. God is allowing us to support the social workers and the Zeway Church body so that they can care for these dying mothers and fathers.

Here are some of the reasons why this is a desirable opportunity:

• These dying men and women need care and love. They need to hear about the peace and comfort of our Savior through the social workers and Zeway church members.
  

• In an environment where children of parents with HIV/AIDS are outcasts, these widows desire to know that someone will watch over their children.

• The orphaned children will not go one day without knowing there is an adult who cares for them and is advocating for them after their parent dies.

• There will be a transfer of trust as the child watches the social worker and parent forming a relationship.

• The orphaned children will be admitted into the Food for the Hungry programs with little to no gap between losing their parent. They will not spend months or even years fending for themselves.

We are rejoicing that we will be able to care for orphans and widows as well. It makes sense that these two groups of people would go together in a circle of care, and we are blessed that God showed us His ways again through this Partnership!

Trip Update from Tom Sanchez

Tom Sanchez, the Global Outreach pastor of Grace Covenant, went to Zeway with his brother who specializes in grief and loss counseling. As part of the Partnership, we are to provide a variety of training for the social workers and staff. Read below from Tom:

On April 11^th, Stephen, my older brother, and I arrived in Zeway, Ethiopia. We spent the evening visiting three of the child headed households that are the primary target of Grace’s partnership with Food for the Hungry and the Zeway Evangelical Alliance of Churches. The purpose of these visits was to expose Stephen to the actual living situations and stories that the social workers with Food for the Hungry deal with day in and day out.

On Monday morning, Stephen began a 4 ½ day seminar on Trauma, Grief and Loss for 50 social workers from three different ministry centers in Ethiopia. Although most of these social workers have college degrees, they have never been exposed to specific training regarding grief and loss in children. Since this has been Stephen’s specialty in his career as a school counselor for the last 20 years, his teaching was filled with real-life examples and stories that took it out of the theoretical arena to the very practical. The comments of some of the social workers at the end of the week demonstrated what a huge unmet need this had been and how very grateful they were for the training Stephen brought.

Meanwhile, I had a chance to interact with 9 missionaries that have been sent out of the Zeway evangelical community to mostly Muslim villages in the larger region around Zeway. One of these men is named Abei. For the last 10 months he has been spending eleven out of every fourteen days in a community about 15 miles out of Zeway. He is homeless, has no job, and carries a small leather bag with his personal possessions and a well worn Bible. His wife and children, Marta, Abram (5), and Lydia (6 months), live in Zeway. Marta shared with me that after he spends a weekend at home, on Monday morning she has his bag packet with clean cloths and she pushes him out the door, eager for him to return to the mission of carrying Jesus Christ to this community. In 10 months, Abei has seen 20-25 people come to faith in Jesus. He is considered a holy man in the community. He was asked to deliver the commencement speech and pass out diplomas at the local k-8 grade school. The “chief” of this village, a Muslim, has given him land for the purpose of building a church that will also function as his home.

I was deeply humbled by the price both Abei and Marta are paying with joyful hearts in order to fulfill God’s call on their lives. They are one of five missionaries that are supported through the partnership we have with this city and Food for the hungry. Praise God for the opportunity that He is giving us to be part of the miracles happening in this place.

Thank you Tom and Stephen for giving of your time and talents. Pictures from this trip will soon be posted!