THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012

This past Sunday, the Ethiopia mission team had the honor and privilege of packing and praying over all the gifts, letters, and pictures you put together for your sponsored child.  Our hearts were so touched by the love and generosity that so obviously went into each one of these packages!

We are so excited to hand deliver these wonderful blessings!
We look forward to sharing pictures and experiences with you.

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Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:17

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012

The Flamingo Restaurant!

 Here is the team! I am so blessed and amazed by each and everyone of them. Our team meeting last week was at this quaint restaurant ran by two amazing women who have a story to tell like most women of Ethiopia. It was a fun night as the girls were able to experience something new, and talk about details of our trip. I love this team, and the love each one has for each other. Each brings something different to the team. I think we all feel blessed. :)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

We have our first Mission Trip Team planned for November 6th to the 16th. I am so excited about this team and how God has placed the very people together He desired to make an impact on our women and Sponsored Children. :)

We have a team of 12 women!! Funny really, how this was open to all, but God led 12 of the most amazing strong, and gifted women to our team. This confirmed that God wanted to focus on the Women and children this trip. We are already seeing His hearts desire for us as a team and for these women and Children. It is fun to see the team bonding already and know this is going to be a powerful dynamic team of Women.

We will be doing a two day Women's Conference and two days with the Orphans doing a mini VBS. We also are being blessed with the Police Officers that went last year to do the Police Conference. (see earlier posts) They will be doing a 2nd Conference and so we will also have a focus on the Police Department. The focus for the Police Department will be to do a follow up of the Ethics classes they gave in February as well as a First Aide course. Most importantly to continue relationships with Commander Adise and the Police Department as they seek to make a continued impact themselves on other communities bringing the passion and love of Jesus to other Police Departments. Wow!! It is seriously amazing seeing God change the way these Police Officers do what the do in the name and love of Jesus. Lives are changing.

We will be going into the Mens and Women's Prison as well and possibly speaking in the Sunday Worship Service in the Prison. We will also just be blessing and loving on the women and children of those who are in Prison with their mothers.

Please keep us in your prayers and we continue to plan the conferences and that we would be listening to all the Lord has for them. We desire for Jesus to be the center and for us to not get in the way.

We will also be doing some assessing on our next trips. What the needs will be and how we can best create a Kingdom Culture in Hosanna!

Our next trips will be the end of April with an emphasis on a building team to build a kitchen for the children's meals, and a second team focusing on basic medical needs and assess possible further needs.

Our Itinerary is as follows:

Itinerary

November 6 -Leave Minneapolis


Wednesday 7th -Arrive Addis Ababa, get settled into Guest House, and set out to do Ministry to sick in Homes.


Thursday 8th- Leave for Hosanna Ethiopia Check into Hotel and have dinner with Worship/Prayer and prep time to follow.


Friday 9th -orphans


Saturday 10th -orphans


Sunday 11th -Worship Service (speaking at) at Addis Kadan Baptist Church, Prison Visit, Police Conference and passing out packages for orphans.


Monday 12th -Women’s Conference and Police First Aide Conference


Tuesday 13th -Women’s Conference


Wednesday 14th -Leave for Awassa check into Haile Salasse Hotel


Thursday 15th -Debreif and Relax day


Thursday 16th -Leave for HOME


Friday 17th- arrive home  

August 2012 - 

300 children from Hosanna, Ethiopia were sponsored at Hosanna! Church on Saturday, August 25 and Sunday, Aug 26, through Children's Hope Chest.

We are extremely grateful for all of the wonderful volunteers and sponsor families who made it possible to change the lives of 300 precious children. Thank you very much!

If you would like to learn more, or want to email your sponsored child, visit http://www.hopechest.org/community/hosanna/.

For the last year we have been working with Childrens HopeChest and Hosanna Lutheran Church in Lakeville to build a partnership with Hosanna Ethiopia and Hosanna Church. It has been fun to watch the church get excited about these precious children and the possibility of having our church building a bridge with this community. "From Hosanna to Hosanna!"

It has taken sometime to get to where we wanted, but God did so much in the process. We went from 180 children to 300!! This was exciting. We have been extreemly blessed to be working with the staff from Children's HopeChest. www.hopechest.org  HopeChest, works all over the world taking churches in the US and helping them Build a Bridge from a community overseas to their church.  They start with assisting with a SPonsorship Program and the goal is to work with the community as a whole not just the orphan. The goal for us and for HopeChest is to help these communities get them the start they need, training and the knowledge of the power and love of Jesus. We then help them to thrive and be sustainable on their own so that dependance on us is not needed long term but a life long relationship will be key.

August 25th and 26th was the weekend of our launch. Wow! What a beautiful and awesome time it was. The team from HopeChest came down to do the launch. Wil Crooks, Teresa Brockway and Juree Wilson. We had many volunteers to help with signing up the sponsors! Pastor Bill gave a powerful heartfelt message. Hearts were stirred, Jesus was present and miracles were happening.

I will never forget the excitement that was felt by all when the last child was held up and Wil announced "here is the last child, who wants him?" and a lady yelled, "I'll take him"!! What a tremendous feeling to know that all 300 children will have a sponsor and these families are forever blessed by doing so. A beginning to a beautiful relationship between a church and a community. Many lives will be changed and hearts touched as together we obey a calling only God could orchestrate. Thank you Jesus!!

In August of 2011, Marybeth went to Ethiopia to meet with a couple organizations that specialize in orphans, sponsorship and training women in Ethiopia for us to seek partnership for the community of Hosanna. I meet teams from Children's HopeChest and Children's Home Society and we all traveled to Hosanna together. I was not sure how traveling with both teams would work as I was scoping out the idea of having help on the ground to establish sponsorship programs, feeding programs and training women in SHG Groups. (Self Help Groups)

 I was so pleasantly surprised by the excitement they both gave in seeing our vision for Hosanna.  I shared our vision of working with the orphans, the widows (ex-street women) and Pastors and how we want to have one another working and helping each other to create a sustainable way of living. We would support and send our young men and women to Seminary, they would teach and train our women, and the women would love on bless the orphans.

It was fun to see our vision start to take place in the hearts and plans of our Ethiopian friends. They have seen the effects of their work take place in other parts of Ethiopia, and now wanted to come together as two organizations and with us to help build this community.

Once again, I left Hosanna amazed at what God had done. I seem to always go in with a bit of an "idea" of what we are going to do and God blows us away. Following Gods lead is really simple when you realize your ideas and your ways just are not going to be a sliver to what yours are. He leads, we follow. I picture a daddy dancing and a child standing on his feet. Where are you going next daddy? I so trust you.

 We started working right away on getting permits to work in Hosanna, being established as an organization and profiling the 180 orphans.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2012

In Feburary of 2011, a trip was planned to bring a Police Conference to the many men and Women Police officers in the region of Hosanna. John Bermel with Influence International has taught a Police Ethics course in the United States and in Kenya. Since developing a strong relationship with the Mayor and Police Department, it was surly where God was leading us in these next steps. John and another Police Officer Larry Lotzer were to also go down with Pastor Bill Bohline from Hosanna Church. Unfortunately Pastor Bills dad passed away. At the very last minute I decided to jump on in with them to help out with logistics of the trip.

What a great trip to see Police Officers from the US, connect with the Police Officers of Ethiopia. It was powerful to see what these Police Officers are doing for the good of the people in their community was the same in such far away places. I came away from the conference with a new respect for the Police Officers everywhere and what they do on a daily bases for their communities.

God is at work in the town of Hosanna, Commander Adise has given great efforts to bring Jesus to all the Police. Every morning at 6:00 they start the day with an 1 1/2 hours of worship and prayer before work.  Many of the nearly 500 unmates worship as well, and have come to know the Lord from the efforts of the Police bringing the Power and love of Jesus inside the prison walls. They are changing the town with how they now react to unlawfulness differently. These men and women now fight crime not out of anger but out of a love they themselves are finding in Jesus.

We were able to speak at the service in the Prison on Sunday Morning. It was an eye-opening experience and a very sweet sight to see these inmates worship.

We are very excited about the relationship that our Police Officers at Hosanna! Church now have with the Hosanna, Ethiopia Department. This will be along term relationship that will be cherished both ways.
This relationship we hope to model for other communities and regions of Ethiopia. To train these Officers to go train others.