August 13, 2008
Reaching out to Ethiopia
We put together this slide show to SHOW you what we did in Ethiopia…and why it is so desperately important that we do what we can to reach out to Africa…and the children who live there! Please pray that we will be able to do MUCH more to help the city of Gondar, the orhans there, and the nation of Ethiopia.
August 7, 2008
We saw so many healing miracles, not only among the Ethiopians, but also within the wc and GE teams! Here are some of them in a nutshell:
· One man hadn’t been able to move his arms well and had been stiff through his arms and back for years. He was so excited when God healed him he came up swinging his arms all wild and crazy! It was great to see God set him free.
· A woman from the worldchild team had been thrown off a hay cart and broken her tail bone. She never went to the doctor and consequently it never healed properly. She was in constant pain and couldn’t even bend over! In the meeting, God instantly healed her! No more pain; she could bend over and move totally free.
· A young guy from Global Expeditions, about sixteen or seventeen, had lower disc problems. He couldn’t bend over without pain and was totally limited in what he could do. He was also instantly healed and able to move, run, bend, and all the things a kid needs to do!
· Another young man, from worldchild, had ringing in his ears—and sometimes pain with it. He’d had it his entire life. God touched his ear, which he described felt like a “pin” in his ear. Then the next day that was gone and his ears felt completely normal!
God did some really cool things in the meetings and in the teams…it was AWESOME!!!
August 7, 2008
One of the best things was the altar calls. Locals had told me that in Gondar, first of all, they didn’t expect to fill the theater. They said if we get a couple hundred people to attend we’d be doing well. As it turned out, we had more than 500 the first night. We had close to 900 the second night. We filled the theatre every single service—both afternoon and evening! Each following night, the place was packed and they crammed into the halls as many as they could.
We were also warned not to expect much response to the altar calls. Their prediction was that we might see 3 or 4 people respond to the altar call, and that would be huge. BUT, at every service, we had at least 10 come forward…and the last night, we had close to 30! That may not sound like much to us here, or compared to huge crusades; but for Ethiopia it may have well been 10,000! The Christians there were extremely happy with it and we were so humbled to be used by God to impact these lives!
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” Phil 4:6-7
One night during our healing meeting—this was pretty powerful—God gave me Philippians 4: 6 and 7 about the peace of God, for a man in the audience; a man I did not know at all. When I began to minister to him, he started breaking down and all of the sudden he just absolutely fell out under the power of God. Nobody was touching him or anything; he just dropped to the ground.
Later, we found out that he had been a soldier and had suffered from what in America we would call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for almost eight years! God pretty much read his mail and touched him in a huge way. The next night, he came back and testified that he had slept for the first time in eight years AND was healed from deafness in one of his ears. We saw God do some cool things like that.
July 31, 2008
I had this thought that might be interesting to others. I’d invite any of the worldchild / global expedition people to list the top 3 things they learned in Ethiopia on this trip in the comments. I think it could be really neat to see some of the different things God has done in other’s lives from the trip. With all of that, I’ll start w my 3:
Isabell walking on Treebeard in Gondar
*I went to give Jesus away & came home with more of Him than I gave away
*education & wealth aren’t immunizations against demonic activity
*my plans never work as well as His plans & why I would even think my plans would be better is simply repugnant arrogance
I could go on more, but those are some biggies for me.
July 30, 2008
Today, I got to look at pics - HOW FUN!!!!! There’s nothing like pics to get your brain going & that definately happened today! I’m going to throw in just a few here but I still encourage you to go to flickr, as that is a collection point for others who went on the trip. Also, if you’re in Denver, pop over to church Wed night at 7p for a completely cool service to praise God for what He’s done!! 
1st day VBS
So, this was before things got a little stressful. We’re all happy, excited and looking forward to a great day & getting rid of worms & parasites in children’s intestines. :/
translators w Dr Ken & me
Here’s a great pic w Dr Ken & some of our ultra-cool translators. What an absolute treat to be family with these brothers & sisters. They were tremendously used by God on this trip & how very humbled we were to minister w them. They’re spectacular people.
Isabell & Banch
This is one of the many friends Isabell made - Her name is Banch & they’re total buddies. Banch is about 9 years old & was helping Isabell learn a little Amharic & Isabell was developing her teaching skills in the “english as a second language” field. They both had lots of fun together! Banch is one of the orphans who lives in the orphanage where we stayed. The kids there really get into your heart - they’re sweet, kind and loved. “When you do this to the least of these, you’ve done it to Me.” Important to live by.
castles in Gondar
For those of the curious sort, w any Lord of the Rings background, yes, there are castles in Gondar of very regal natures. It was amazing to see them, explore, learn some of the history, etc. We took some of Mon, after the ministry time, to explore & learn a little history from this cool city. The kings from the castles were all dead (unless you count Menelik w Consuela - ask Thomas to explain because that’s an experience best unraveled by him).
Anyways . . . .
These are just a few quickie pics. We’ll put up more in the next few days, but at least here’s a start. I didn’t really get to take many ministry shots, so you’ll need to wait for the next few days to see some the cool things that happened.
July 29, 2008
Ok, so we’re back & everything is peachy. However, there are some really cool things on the horizon for greenbracelet & Ethiopia - so you’ll need to stay tuned.
In the meantime, check out the flickr site for pics:
July 29, 2008
Well, its about 3a & I’m extremely awake - my body is on Ethiopian time & maybe my heart too. We had an amazing time in Ethiopia & coming home for me is extremely wonderful, but a little bittersweet too. When we got home, I got really sick & was pretty flattened out all day yesterday. I believe today will be better. We’re planning to get some pics up as quick as possible (at http://www.flickr.com/groups/ethiopiatrek08/)
Also, Wed night at church, we’re going to have a really cool service about not only the Ethiopia trip, but also Catalyst’s trip to El Salvador, so come if you can!
I’m very keen to hear what God will be saying to me about Ethiopia for the future. I believe it to be a special place in His heart (He talks alot about it in the Bible). Enough rambling at 3a. Have a great day!
July 26, 2008
Sorry to miss yesterday - sometimes the internet thing here is rather indescribable. That’s all I’m going to say on that.
We had an awesome time this morning thanking God for bringing us to Ethiopia. Everyone shared lots of different things they were thankful to God for over the last few weeks. I think many of us have been profoundly touched by how much we have grown in God through lots of different events, people, experiences, etc. It was amazing to listen to everyone & made me thoroughly in awe of God, His ways & wisdom. As we finish up our time here, we want to come home & grow in the many ways God has challenged us - I think we all feel very humbled by His work in reprioritizing some of the values we’ve had.
I am in awe & very grateful.
So, we hop on the plane in a little over 6hrs, & we’re finishing up last minute stuff, saying good-bye to friends, packing, finishing last min shopping, etc - all on the backdrop of sensing God in our lives in very powerful ways.
We’re planning to get a facebook page for Global Expeditions & worldchild to upload photos, etc & I’ll post this address here on greenbracelet, once we get that figured out.
Thanks AGAIN & AGAIN for all the prayers. We come home humbled & wanting to live out the changes God has worked in us over the last 2 weeks.
July 23, 2008
Hola! We’re back in Addis & happy with life.
Yesterday, we travelled in the morning & then got situated in our living accommodations & had a service at Pastor Eyob’s church in the evening, so it was a nice, full day. The service went well - I ministered on following Jesus’ voice as our shepherd & not the stranger’s voice. God also gave me several verses to minister to specific individuals in the service, so it was fun to flow in this gift. Everyone was very happy to sleep last night & most slept extremely well.
This morning, we’ve had the great opportunity to do a vbs at Pastor Eyob’s church for street kids, orphans & HIV / aids kids. It has gone really well & at present, we’re providing lunch for them. We probably had around 500 kids, so its been lots of fun!
Tomorrow, we have the opportunity to do some street outreaches & evangelism, so we’re really praying about that & looking forward to it!
Pls pray:
1 - ongoing favor & open doors to minister: Addis has about 5mill people & so there are plenty of people, its just finding the right contexts in which to share Jesus.
2 - health & strength: we want to have the strength to continue being effective in sharing Jesus
3 - finish strong: since we’re leaving Sat night, we want to maximize our time over the next few days to be as effective for Jesus as possible
THANKS LOADS FOR PRAYING!!!
Really appreciate all the support, comments, prayer, etc!!!
July 21, 2008
Sorry to miss blogging yesterday - it was a bit packed. The ministry time here in Gondar has been spectacular, all the way around. God has opened so many doors, its like I’m living in a dream come true! We have experienced God in so many different ways:
church unity: 6 churches closed their services to attend both services yesterday. There’s been tremendous unity & support among the pastors.
services: We had well over 1,000 people in each service (I’m being very conservative) and between both services, we had easily over 50 people respond to the altar call and for Gondar, this is completely phenomenal.
miracles: we had a woman give her testimony that she had a growth for 16 yrs bigger than her fist disappeared within 24 hours, we had a woman who had trouble walking & she was healed & could jog. Zach Hilbrich had ringing in his ears & it disappeared, Dan from Global Exp was healed of lower back problems with his disc & could bend & twist when he couldn’t before, a woman who couldn’t bend her knees could bend & walk w no problems; we had some excellent ministry with giving verses to specific people. The 1st verse I gave was Phil 4:9 to a soldier who had tremendous anxiety & depression from his fighting experience & the presence of God absolutely set him free. He came back the next night & explained that his hearing was also healed. There are lots more testimonies, but these are a few that come to mind.
Our team is doing an amazing job - they’ve had opportunities to minister on the university campus, with some medical assistance, in the healing services, going to pray for HIV/aids victims, to children here at the orphanage . . . . . it’s truly amazing!!!
So, today is a bit of a pause (I think we all need it). We’re going to see the castles in Gondar & then have a bit of a break. Tomorrow morning we fly back to Addis. The time here in Gondar has been absolutely captivating.
So, lots of love to everyone! Thanks LOADS for praying!!!
prayer pts:
1 - health: pls pray everyone stays healthy with no little bugs
2 - ministry in Addis: pls pray that our opportunities will be very fruitful (Tues night, Wed w/ kids vbs & Thurs w an orphange)
3 - ongoing unity & growing in our knowledge of Jesus
Marilyn & Sarah Around the World Sarah's Blog