Ethiopia Nov 2012

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Ethiopia Nov 2012

Click here to view these pictures larger

We created a link for you to be able to see your sponsored child. Click on like below and look for your precious one. Enjoy looking at them, and know that each child received a package. Thank you so much for your love and generosity to your children. It was such a joy to love on them, get to know them and see them open their packages.

Ethiopia Nov 2012 - Hope Chest Children - #2230686288 - Picture This Photography's Photos picturethismn.smugmug.com

Our team came up with this mission statement describing our time together on the,               

                   

                    2012 November trip to Ethiopia.

Witnessing the women and children and their dependence on Jesus for their strength in everything and thru our own experiences we too have learned to be dependant on Jesus in our own need and weaknesses. We have found a new understanding of God’s unspeakable joy, simplicity, flexibility and unity that comes from Him alone. The knowledge we have gained, comes from speaking and declaring the instant freedom of his spoken word. We only need to ask.

Isaiah 40 :28-31  ''Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; There is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.''

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my WORDS remain in you ask whatever you want in my name and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this; that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

                                                  

Our team came up with this mission statement describing our time together on the,               

                                       2012 November trip to Ethiopia.

Witnessing the women and children and their dependence on Jesus for their strength in everything and thru our own experiences we too have learned to be dependant on Jesus in our own need and weaknesses. We have found a new understanding of God’s unspeakable joy, simplicity, flexibility and unity that comes from Him alone. The knowledge we have gained, comes from speaking and declaring the instant freedom of his spoken word. We only need to ask.

Isaiah 40 :28-31  ''Do you not know? Have you not heard? Yahweh is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never grows faint or weary; There is no limit to His understanding. He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless. Youths may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint.''

John 15:7 If you remain in me and my WORDS remain in you ask whatever you want in my name and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this; that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

It is always hard to put into words the bigness of God. How I wish I could give a decent glimpse of our time with the women. I will try.

We had two days to be with the 80 women that were once working the streets of Hosanna. We as a team have worked for several months to plan what it was that God wanted to do and specifically say to the women. In fact it was part of my last Potters Wheel contract. For the last 6 months of school I researched what God was saying and speaking to other leaders who worked with women across the world. I knew that God wanted to change mindsets and barriers that pain and mistreatment has caused these women.  My desire for the last 3 years was to see them walk in the freedom of who they were in Jesus. There was a definite hardness, an anger, and lack of knowledge of the preciousness they possess.

Our theme was "Making Me New" based on the song "Beautiful Things" by Gungor. Regina Kehl started us out by walking us through the stages of a butterfly. In each change, each stage, God has a plan. To keep walking in Him for He has new things for us. His desire is for us to not be confined to one stage. He wants us go from one stage to the next until we are the beautiful butterfly He has designed us to be.

We then introduced the song "Beautiful Things" to them, teaching them the meaning of the song and motions to it. LOVE!

One of our favorite memories from this trip was here, when we had them make their own crowns. It was pure joy for them as they were able to use their creativity as women to be "crafty". The delight on their face as they tried to figure out how to use a glue stick, some plastic gems, glitter and Burger King Crowns to make something beautiful. They wore them proud as Gina talked about Esther. "You were created for such a time as this." "You are precious and created for something very important." We could see the slumped over positions they came in and blank stares start to change.

As they sat there with their crowns of splendor on their head, I read to them a blessing over them of what Jesus desires for them in their life. A chance for them to hear the truth  of what they were meant for.

A women named Joyce made 130 royal purple scarves for the women. We handed them out as Lynn talked about Lydia and her heart being opened by God. From Acts 16:14. It was a sight I will never forget. A crown, a purple scarf and promises of truth spoken over them. Like the stages of a butterfly change was happening.

The next day we were greeted in the morning before the women joined us by the Mayor of Hosanna, the church staff and Hope Chest Team. They thanked us for all we are doing in Hosanna. The Mayor promises to help us further our vision in anyway he can. Amazed to say the least. So many confirmations and next steps and connections were made again on this trip.

Before meeting with the women we were also greeted by a friend of mine who we went and visited three days earlier to pray for her as she had fallen off a ladder and had a severe cut on her forehead. We prayed for her, as she was in significant pain. She lifted up her bandages to show us her stitches... my stomach turned as I saw the severity of the wound. When she came to greet us this morning for the women's retreat she came to show us her stitches were gone and no scar was to be found. What a miracle, what a faith builder as we started our final day with the women as we were talking about the healing God wanted to do in the hearts of these women.

With crowns on the heads and scarfs adoring the women, they enter the church with expectant smiles. We again sang "Beautiful Things".

I then began my talk about how God has designed us to walk in freedom from the chains that bind us. Freedom from anger, bitterness, pain and unforgiveness. I demonstrated how satan wants to keep us thinking that we have no power to change these mindsets. I talked how when my kids are struggling I ask them to write down how they feel and what they were struggling with. Then I ask them to write down the opposite. We then just declare the opposite and we start believing it and we are able to shift our thinking and change our circumstance and above all our heart. When we are pointing out our problem God is pointing out our promise. The enemy wants us to focus on the problems in our lives. This gives power to the problems and we hold on to them like a "friend." I took two chains a real chain and a paper chain. Demonstrating how we give power to a "chain" when we give it to God it is as easy as pulling apart paper. I also showed them how we think we can keep it all together and "hide" all this pain. I dropped a ping-pong ball in the water and held it down, dropping one after another I could no longer keep it all together and they were visible and not able to hide. I removed the balls and all that was left was the pure water. This is what we can be to others if we allow God to free us from these chains and mindsets. I had them think about what lies they had been believing and then to allow God to show them what the opposite of that was. I told them to find a partner and declare that to them. I encouraged them to continue to do this in each others lives. Speaking the truth out loud and speaking scriptures over each other, themselves a in their children.

We then had three stations for them to go to.

 One was a Mother/Father blessing we were able to pray a blessing over them standing in the gap for what they may not have received as children. Freeing them of the orphan mind set and being able to pray this over their children themselves.

The second was face washing. Is 61:7 "Instead of shame you will have a double portion and instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion. Therefore they will posses a double portion in their land and everlasting joy will be theirs." This was read over them as they washed their face in water and given the clothe to remember.

The third, they wrote on a piece of dissolvable paper someone they needed to forgive. As they put it into the bowl of water it was gone, just as the pain caused.

Women were weeping, and shouts of Hallelujahs were in the air. Pain was replaced with Joy and and hope restored. "Making me new." Thank you Jesus that you make beautiful things out of us. Out of pain and brokenness you can make all things new.

We ended our time with worship song and dance.

As we were preparing to leave a women approached us. We had seen her several times through out the last few days. She had a very large goiter, almost the size of two grapefruits. Our hearts went out to her. Many of us prayed at several different times for her. She came back it took us awhile to realize that it was her because it was practically gone.

We began our day at the women's retreat with a miracle and ended it with a miracle. As we drove away we were beyond amazed at ALL God had done. These women were transformed. They were changed, we are confident God did His work here in the women and in our team.

...Blessed!!!

Have had a wonderful time relaxing the last couple of days. Debriefing and sharing about what God has done on this trip. Leaving tomorrow night after I meet with Hope Chest Team in Addis and a new organization we are looking to hook up with for training and teaching the women in a trade to become sustainable.

...Blessed!!!

How can I even begin to describe the beautiful and busy Sunday we just had?

This morning all fourteen of us from Hosanna (Lakeville, MN) participated in a service at the children’s center; Larry and John spoke the message, Marybeth said a prayer, and the women all sang ‘Hosanna’.

After that, all the women headed over to another church service, where all eleven of us sang ‘Hosanna’ again, followed by ‘All My Fountains’. Marybeth gave the message and spoke about following your God given passions and dreaming BIG with God.  The unique part of this service was that a couple from the church also was married at the end of the service, so we were guests at a glory-filled Ethiopian wedding! Meanwhile, the three men went to the prison with the commander and visited with some jailed police who really impacted the Hosanna (Lakeville, MN) men with their story; they were imprisoned for protecting themselves - here in Ethiopia, you can only defend in the means you have been attacked.

All this made for a very touching beginning to what would become a very long day.

After the services, the women went back to the children’s center and passed out as many gifts as we possibly could before the sun set, and then had to call it a day. It was a very strenuous process, being that all the sponsors created one individual bag per child, and each had to be distributed to the correct one! Needless to say, with 300 children to hand out gifts too, we had a tiring afternoon. Thanks to our fantastic guides/helpers, we were able to get a lot done still, and will return tomorrow to pass out the rest. So far, the children have been overjoyed to receive all their bags and gifts – we can’t wait to share the pictures! Most of our team members got to give their sponsored children their gift directly, and got wonderful pictures with them! It was just as exciting! We know that all your prayers have and will continue to help us to get everything accomplished that God has set before us.

Tomorrow, after handing out the rest of the children’s gifts from their sponsors, we will meet with the head office of the Makana Yesus Church and meet the sponsored Seminarians that we have sponsored through Hosanna church. We then will begin our two-day women’s program. We are looking forward to it immensely and cannot wait to share the details soon!

Please keep our team and all the people we meet in your prayers!

Blessings to you all!

Tara Cormican

What an amazing day!

Friday November 9th

Our first day with the 300 sponsored Children!

Today we had the opportunity to spend time with the sponsored children of Hosanna!  Each of us felt so privileged, blessed, and honored to be a part of such an amazing day of worshipping and glorifying God with these children as we shared Bible stories, sang songs, and prayed together.  

We were able to see the wonderful facilities being used to school these children.  Your sponsorship is such a huge part of making this happen.  What a gift you are giving to help provide for the future of these children!

Enjoy some pictures from the day!

Blessings to each of you!

Hello,
The team has made it to Addis.  They are doing well.  Please keep praying for the team.  Here are some pictures from Childrens Hopechest.  The kids  received, workbooks, pens and pencils through the sponsorship.  The kids will also be receiving this week, the care packages that the team has brought.  These second packages  include colored pencils, shirts, bags, toys tooth brushes, wash cloths, soap and a snack.  These kids will feel so loved and thought of.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.