Ethiopia Trip Update

The past month has been a whirlwind!  I had a wonderful trip to my “second home” in Ethiopia at the end of April.

I continue to see God opening new doors and bringing new individuals and churches to the calling of God to care for the orphan and the widow.  I am excited to see the rollout of 10 new church partnerships in Haiti on June 1st – the culmination of months of work. The way things have come together and the people God has connected in this effort, both large churches like John Piper’s Bethlehem Baptist, as well as small churches with hearts like the Macedonian church in 2 Corinthians 8 giving sacrificially, is nothing short of a miracle.

While in Ethiopia, I had a great time with Pastor Trev and Shaun from our home church, Crossings.  We visited 2 World Orphans partner churches – casting vision for orphan and compassion care and seeing the great work they are doing in their communities.    I also had the joy of reconnecting with the beautiful children at Hope for the Hopeless where Julie and spent a week in Dec. 2008 when we traveled to pickup Wendemagegn and Beza. The children have grown so much – what a special group of kids that have such a deep love for each other and for us “Feringe’s” :-)

As I sat watching the soccer game and reading a book to a couple of the younger kids who didn’t understand a lot of English, I was reminded that love transcends all things – tribes (people groups), tongues (language barriers), nations, distance, time, sickness/disease, heartbreak, abandonment, neglect, abuse. These things can be devastating, but I continue to see the love of God transform and bring hope and joy to children.  God is so good!

One day there will be no more pain, sorrow, tears, and no more orphans. Even though it broke my heart to leave those kids behind once again, I take heart knowing that God is the father to the fatherless and the defender/provider for the orphan and the widow. One day I will be reunited for all eternity with many of those children because they have learned of the love of God through the gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

I look forward to leading another trip back to Ethiopia in early October. If anyone is interested in going to see the work of World Orphans, or if you know of pastors or church leaders that may be interested, please let me know.

You can see more of my trip pictures online.