If God Originated It, He Will Orchestrate It...#preachinggospeltomyself

The past two weeks at church we've talked about finances. It was a reminder of what I have seen God do personally in our lives the past two years and how God always supplies our needs. Not all my wants, but always my needs. I want to share, not to bring any glory to Ryan and I, but to share how great our God is. When Ryan and I decided to adopt we had no idea how we would pay for it, but each time when needed to send in the next payment, the money was always there. When we try and look back at our finances it makes no sense how we were able adopt with no debt and still have money in savings. Ryan even felt led to start tithing during this time and we never did without.

Back in February we felt God calling us to full time missions in Ethiopia. After much prayer Ryan and I both felt we should do a trial trip this Summer and the Post family agreed that this would be a great idea to see the ministry first hand and make sure this was our fit. One night we emailed Trent and Carmen and told them we were planning to do a month long trip sometime this Summer. As soon as we sent the email Ryan and I both looked at each other and said, how are we ever gonna pay for this? We had just spent thousands of dollars traveling last year to Ethiopia twice and here we were planning a third trip that would cost us $6,000 just in airfare. We both decided that since this was a trial trip we wouldn't fundraise or tell anyone we needed money. We trusted that if God wanted us there He would get us there. Two days later I went to the mailbox and there was a letter from our adoption agency reimbursing us $500 for submitting our home study early.  About a week later I retrieved the mail and there were two more checks. One where we had over paid on our Escrow and another bill that I had accidentally paid twice! Then a client of mine left me a very nice unexpected tip. I was amazed how in one week God showed up in such a big way! This year was also the first time we could apply for our adoption tax credit. With the money we'd already received, plus the money from getting our tax money back we had almost exactly the amount we needed to purchase our plane tickets! You cannot make this stuff up!! God provided the $6000 in two months that we needed.

Now I'm not saying that if you give or tithe that God will pour a bunch of money in your bank account. The whole prosperity gospel thing is crap. We've had to change our life style a bit, but I've never regretted it. I've seen first hand that you gain a joy and peace that far outweighs anything materially you could ever want. So why am I sharing all this...I am amazed at how detailed and personal our God is and I needed to write this to remind myself of how I need to trust him with all the details of my life. I like to be in control and have a plan. I can see how I daily need to surrender and trust my Father knowing that He's got this. He is constantly at work and His fingerprints are all over the journey when I look back. So I keep moving forward with just enough light for the step I'm on, knowing that He goes before me. I keep going back to this quote from Andy Stanly at Catalyst..."If God originated it, He will orchestrate it." 

Orphan Sunday

The month of November looks like it's going to be a good one as we currently have three speaking engagements lined up so far!!! Tomorrow, which is Orphan Sunday, we will be sharing our adoption story and about orphan care at Euto Baptist. On November 9th we will be at our home church. Feel free to join us at either of our campuses. Mission Baptist Church at 8:30am or at Mission @ Stanfield at 10:00am! 

Many keep asking us when we are moving to Ethiopia and well...honestly, we're partly waiting on YOU! ;) Once we reach a certain percentage of support we will nail down a departure date but until the funds start coming in, it's hard to do that. 

We are very excited to celebrate our first monthly supporter as well as a generous one time gift during the month of October! Thank to you all for your encouragement, prayers, sacrifice and support. This isn't possible without you! 

Not sure what this is all about or who Make Your Mark is? Check out our Make Your Mark tab at the top of this blog on the home page. Or better yet...we'd love to sit down over dinner, share with your small group or your church about how this ministry is empowering street boys and families in Ethiopia while sharing the love of Christ. 

How does the Thomas Family fit into the Make Your Mark Ethiopia puzzle and how can you help?

In my last post I took some time to fill everyone in on some of our experiences from our three week trial trip with Make Your Mark in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

After several weeks we've been asked a couple questions numerous times...

1) Who is Make Your Mark ministries?

and...

2) What will you guys be doing when you move there?

I'll try my best to answer both questions. 

So who is Make Your Mark Ethiopia? Here is the organization's mission and vision statements:

Mission Statement: "We are the relationship in the lives of at-risk youth and their families, to provide the resources, encouragement and LOVE that will lead them into their full redemptive potential.

Vision: To empower street and abused children through education, counsel, encouragement and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Using these tools we will prepare children to be adopted locally. We will train and equip local families to adopt, as this is what must take place in order to make a drastic impact in the street kid/orphan population.

Make Your Mark Ethiopia exists to act as a voice for the voiceless street children and at-risk youth of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Not only do they work with the actual street children, but they also work with the families of children who are at high risk of being abandoned to the streets or given up for adoption by their family because of their extreme poverty. No family should have to make the decision to relinquish the child whom they love based on poverty alone.

Here are the current ways and capacities in which Make Your Mark Ethiopia is engaging the local street kid and at-risk youth population:

The Day Center- Make Your Mark House
This is a safe place where the street children can bathe, wash their clothes, eat healthy lunch, get biblical teaching, some basic education, games, some counseling and any minor medical issue they may have. This first step will act as a filtering process for us to see who really wants to change their lives because many say they want off the streets, but as we’ve found out many don’t want to put in the work to stay off the streets.  Those who show consistent desire to come off the streets by their daily efforts; we invite them to the next step:

The Transformation Home- Rehabilitation. 

The ones we’ve evaluated and feel really want to change and get off the streets we bring in to these homes. In this home they stay for 1-2 years depending on progress shown. Our purpose and goals in the homes will be to teach them how a family functions. We teach them responsibility, they begin to going to school, dig deep with intense counseling, do a lot of role playing for family situations; for our goal is to have them prepared for a family. The Homes are not a place to live as the final step for each child is being placed in a local family. There is a need for house sponsorship and the cost is around $525 a month.

Domestic Adoption (Adopted by Ethiopian Family) 

We are currently working with the local church and other NGO’s to train and equip Ethiopian families in adoption. This is a new idea to this culture, but we are highly encouraged as God is having us meet families that have this desire. We are working towards having a yearly national adoption conference here to bring awareness and action. Why domestic??? Let’s look at the Ethiopia orphan crisis, as we said above there are 5.5 million orphans in Ethiopia. It would take 125 million USD and 2500 years for international adoption to be the solution. There are 80 million people in Ethiopia; if only 6.5% of the population would take in a child, there wouldn't be any orphans in Ethiopia, this has to be taught and this is what we’re teaching.

Keeping Kids Home Initiative

Our street kid prevention plan is coming alongside the poorest of the poor families to provide the needed resources to keep their children at home and not in the streets. At first we build relationship by providing some food assistance and full educational needs for the child. Our long term goal for each family is provide specific training to the parents in order to generate more income, in turn becoming self-sustaining. We also provide family consul and teach God-centered family values to strengthen the family’s core.

As you can see, Make Your Mark Ethiopia attacks the street kid and orphan problem in Addis from all angles...there is care for existing street children, but there is also street kid and orphan prevention through the Keeping Kids Home Initiative. 

So where does the Thomas Family fit in with all of this? What will be doing once we move to Addis?

Well as some of you may know, I (Ryan) recently graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Religious Studies. Trent and Carmen Post of Make Your Mark Ethiopia approached me a couple months before my graduating with a proposal...to move to Ethiopia to head up the ministry department of Make Your Mark ministries in Ethiopia!

My role would include:

- Biblical teaching and curriculum for the street boys who come daily to the Day Center.

- One on one counseling with the boys who utilize the Day Center. 

- Training and encouraging the Make Your Mark Ethiopia staff (caregivers, social worker, manager, accountants, etc.)

- Working alongside a local evangelist and secretary for the ministry department. 

- Networking and connecting the local churches to Make Your Mark Ethiopia's ministries. 

- Training and facilitating small groups with the Keeping Kids Home families. 

- General pastoral care concerning all facets of Make Your Mark Ethiopia's network of ministries. 

Courtney's roles:

- Homeschooling for Nara.

- Coming alongside me and assisting in all the ministry areas mentioned above. 

- Possibly taking in Ethiopian children and serving as a Transformation Home. 

Without saying, there is much work to be done in Addis. This work requires lots of prayer/spiritual support and of course...financial support. I can honestly say that raising the financial support for our family is what I've dreaded the most about this whole life change. Not that I'm not willing to put in the hard work that is fundraising, but I just truly don't like the thought of asking people for money, ha. But in order for our family to fulfill the calling that we know that God has on our lives and family, it will take the support of many to help us serve the least of these in Christ's name. 

How can you help?

We just got word today that our family's fund has been added to the Make Your Mark Ethiopia giving page. 

You can access this giving page by visiting the Make Your Mark Giving Page. Go to the bottom of this page and click the "Secure Giving Page" banner. Fill in the amount beside "Thomas Support". You can then select  the frequency of your donation...one time, weekly, bi-weekly, 1st and 15th of the month, or monthly. 

We would love to come to your church, small group, or business to share our passion and the vision for Make Your Mark Ethiopia. We'd even love to sit down for a meal with you to do this as well. 

You can contact us @ 704-506-8212 or email @ rydog4041@hotmail.com

"Jesus just told me something guys"...What Nara thought about our trip.

Going into our trip one of our biggest concerns would be how Nara would do being back in Ethiopia so soon. Many of you asked, so I'm gonna share a bit about our trip from Nara's perspective. She was super pumped about flying and requested to sit in the window seat of the plane. During take off and landing she had her face glued to the window and excitedly kept pointing and showing me the clouds.   We definitely have a travel lover on our hands. Almost a day later we finally arrived in Ethiopia. From the get go everything seemed to feel familiar to Nara in a good way and not a bad way like we had feared it might. The first few days at the day center she acted a bit stand offish and was really taking things in. I'm sure the street boys smell, clothing and the building may have reminded her of some past memories. However it didn't take her long and after a few days was joining in on the fun at the day center and picking around and playing with them. The most exciting day we had there was when we witnessed three of the boys moving off the street and into a Transformation home with their new house parents. The boys were overjoyed as they saw their beds and clothes. We were going to have them burn their old street clothes but the rain was too much. They threw them over a steep cliff instead symbolizing leaving their old life behind. The perfect visible representation of the old life being gone and how Jesus washes us and makes us new, giving us new life! We then gathered around the boys as Mr. Kramer led a prayer. He prayed Ephesians 3:20 over the boys and I couldn't help but stand there with tears streaming down my face. "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we could ask or imagine because His power that is at work within us." This verse has continually kept resurfacing over and over again during this past year. Before I left for this trip the girls at work asked me what my favorite verse was. I told them that I had many but for some reason Ephesians 3:20 had been one I'd pondered over a lot lately. My coworkers later surprised me with a handmade sign with the verse written on the back and messages of encouragement. Praying this prayer daily now and that God would do more in Ethiopia than I could ever imagine and also in my own life. Not because of my own strength and power. That won't get me far at all...but because of HIS power that is at work within me.

STREET BOYS NO MORE...

 Ok so getting back to my story...Trent was driving us home that night and as we pulled away from the transformation home, out of the blue Nara says, "I hope someone takes those other boys home." She was talking about the other boys, our newest friends at the day center who would still be sleeping on the streets that night. Then we asked her what we should do about that? What's your strategy? She replied, "we should just go in the street and look for them." She gets so much to be so young. Better than most adults do. We thank God for her heart for the hurting and the orphan. The next day we were having a family day and Ryan and I are discussing our feelings over moving to Ethiopia. Again, out of nowhere, Nara says, "Agghh, just quit talking about it." We told her it was important and and kept talking. Nara stops us again and says, "Jesus just told me something guys." We asked her what and she replied, "Jesus told me that we are 'posed to move here." Jokingly we asked her how He told her that and she replied, "Cause He lives in my heart." Duh, right? We told her we should pray about the decision and she volunteered to pray. She prayed, "Dear Jesus, thank you for mommy and daddy. Thank you we have fun today. Help us if we move here. Amen." Nara's depth of understanding amazes us daily. Child-like faith. We are praising Him for already whispering truth and His love into her little heart and preparing her for the days ahead. A trip that we thought may cause her to be confused or mistrust actually did the opposite. Since we brought Nara home last year we have had trouble getting her to sleep in her bed all night. She usually would wake up and feel the need to come check and make sure we were in our beds and that she hadn't been left alone. On our trip the three of us had to sleep in a bed together. I always swore I would never let her get used to sleeping with us and felt she would certainly be ruined after three weeks of this. Since we have been home from our trip she has slept in her bed every night! Our trip was like a trust exercise. She sees that no matter what we are a family. Whether we are here in the states or traveling halfway around the world to Ethiopia. She even said herself a few weeks ago, "Daddy, I love you no matter what and we are gonna be together forever. Me, you and Mommy." She's got that right ;)

NARA AND I WITH OUR FRIEND AMY WHO IS ON STAFF AT THE DAY CENTER

Obedience

We've almost been home from our 3-week confirmation trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for almost two weeks now. We had hoped to post and update more while we were on our trip, but due to our poor internet speed we were unable to do so. I'm going to try my best to hit all the highlights of our time there in this blog post...try.

For those who are new to this blog or haven't heard, I (Ryan) was approached by Trent and Carmen Post of MYM Ministries Ethiopia about heading up their Ministry Department on the ground in Ethiopia. We decided to go on a 3-week "confirmation" trip to see the ministry first hand and to see how our daughter Nara, adopted from Ethiopia, would do being back in the city from which she was born and raised on the streets.

When we arrived in Addis, Trent Post (Make Your Mark Ethiopia) picked us up from the airport and drove us to what would be our home for the next 3 weeks. He dropped us off at the house to freshen up so he could pick us back up later. At the time he dropped us off, the house had no power, no hot water, and we learned that a "stranger" would be staying at the house with us. The enemy immediately began to attack our minds..."You can't do this....You're not cut out for this...You're nowhere near qualified for this..." I can remember sitting there in the living room of the house watching Courtney and Nara sleep on the futon thinking to myself, "What are we going to tell everyone back home? What reason are we going to give them for not being able to do this?"

However, after a few days of visiting the MYM Day Center and spending time with the 12-15 boys from the streets of Addis...the thoughts invading my mind from the enemy began to be replaced with, "These boys need us....There is so much work to be done here...No kid should have to live on the street....No kid should grow up without being loved by a family." Courtney actually got to sit in on some counseling sessions with some of the boys and she heard heartbreaking story after story. One boy had a Muslim mother who had walked out to "work" in an Arab country and never came back leaving his dad unable to provide for him and his two sisters. One boy was a double orphan who had never had a family. One boy worked jobs in the streets to help support his blind beggar father. These boys carry burdens and stories that no youth should have to bear at such a young fragile age. One boy was asked why he and all of his buddies huddle up and sleep together on the streets at night. Besides just to keep warm, the boy said that they are like family and they protect each other. Many of them had been sexually abused or had men attempt to rape them on the streets. They also shared that these men go after the newest, youngest, most scared boys.

Hanging out on one of our last days with the boys at the MYM Day Center.

Their stories became so real to us after spending a couple hours late one night on the streets in an area riddled with street boys. MYM Ethiopia calls this their "Night Lights" street ministry. This is where initial contact is made with the street boys to begin relationships and hopefully to recruit boys for the Day Center. We got prayed up in the car before getting out of the car, all of us wearing our hoodies to blend in on the street. The area we were in was from what I could tell a "Red Light" district sort of area if you will. Bar after bar lining the streets, drunken people stumbling around, loud music, prostitutes lining the sidewalks on both sides of the streets, and street boys....lots of them.

We walked up on a group of about 10 boys and some of them recognized Trent and Belay from previous trips out on the streets. The boys were visibly extremely stoned. Most of the boys ranged in age from 7-14 at my best guess and some were so high that they could barely talk. The boys carry around water bottles stuffed up their shirt sleeves, filled with strong shoe glue or gas. They continuously huff these fumes to numb themselves from the cold and also the reality of the situation that they find themselves in. Some of them just looked plan terrified. My eyes would almost water from the sting of the fumes every time I would shake the boys hands or hug them. We passed one young boy, probably around nine years old, who was walking by himself. We stopped him to say hello and get to know him. Trent and Belay were speaking to him in Amharic so I didn't know what they were saying. I watched the boys face as they talked to him and I saw tears begin to roll down his scared face. We got the boys info to schedule a follow up and walked away. I asked Trent why he was crying and Trent said he had asked him about his family. His mom had passed away and his dad basically told him to "Go get hit by a car and die".

Every time police officers would walk by, the boys would scamper and shudder in fear. The police treat the boys as if they were filth...they beat them with billy sticks....some say that they've even been knocked out by the officers and taken off to the forest in hopes that hyenas would eat them. We noticed that one of the boys from the Day Center ran very strangely and couldn't keep up one day when we went for a run in the forest. He said that when he was younger, the officers had beaten both of his legs and broken both of his knees. Our group got acquainted with these officers. Amy, one of the Ethiopian caregivers at the MYM Day Center, held out her hand to block the billy stick of an officer that was aimed at a street boy and her hand got smashed pretty hard. The boy was visibly mentally challenged and walking around holding a little kitten. The officer just identified him as "filthy street scum" and fired off with his billy stick. Trent, Belay, and myself were actually escorted by the police to the police station because we didn't have i.d. to show them. The officers hate the street kids and we explained the best we could that we were on the same team...that we want to get the boys off the streets just as badly as they do, but obviously in a much more Christ-like manner! I think I've watched too many episodes of Locked Up Abroad because as I sat there in the questioning room I began to think "I"m really going to spend the night in here." But, the officers let us go as we promised to never come back without identification paper work.

I mentioned earlier that there were prostitutes lining both sides of the streets. These girls didn't look like the girls from the movies or what you envision prostitutes looking like. Some of them looked to be as young as 13 years old. Most looked like they had walked there from fixing what little meal they had to feed their children. The girls in our group felt led by the Spirit to talk and pray with one of these girls. She had two very young children and was selling herself, very cheaply I might add, just to put food on the table. When us guys would walk by the girls they would yell out to us, "Come...Come with me...5 birr." Their going price for a "good time" was the equivalent of 25 cents US.

Experience after experience and story after story, and our hearts were continually broken for the many hopeless of Ethiopia. So many without a voice...so young...so much potential that for many would never be harnessed or brought to fruition.

So...I mentioned that this trip would serve as a confirmation trip for the calling that we felt God had on our family to move to Ethiopia to partner with MYM Ethiopia. You're probably wondering if we've made a decision.

Well....WE'RE IN! We simply cannot come back from our experiences and turn a blind eye to the boys we met and the things we saw. There is much work to be done in Addis and the workers are few.  We truly feel that God is calling our family to live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to serve the forgotten, the hopeless, and the boys of the street in Christ's name. We were truly impressed with MYM Ethiopia's ministry style and approach during our time there. It is without a doubt an organization that we can be passionate about and commit to 100%. We know that the calling on our family is from God because our time there was not sugar coated...it was hard. However, as our new friend Jessie Benkert said while we were there, "Its only a love for the people and a purpose that will sustain you here and keep you here." There's really no other reason to put yourself through such tough living otherwise. During our time there, an even deeper love for the people and children of Ethiopia was cultivated...a love that we miss, crave, and feel our souls being tugged back towards.

So, what's next? Now the hard part begins...support and fundraising. We aim to make the big move around a year from now...sooner if possible. Trent is working on some numbers for a budget and upfront costs so I will post those as soon as we have them. Please begin to pray for our family if you haven't been already. Pray that our hearts and minds will be guarded from the ploys of the enemy. Pray that our hearts will be prepared for the longevity, strength, and courage that will be required in the months to come. Also, begin to pray about how you can get involved in the work. Is it through prayer? A one-time gift? Monthly support? That's between you and God and we truly appreciate any support that you can shoot our way whether it be spiritually or financially.

There is a poem called "Obedience" by George MacDonald that has been planted by God into mine and Courtney's hearts. I've had the poem open on my iPhone for about 4 months now and Courtney recently realized that she had written it down in her prayer journal over 10 years ago. I think it is no coincidence.

Obedience
By George MacDonald
(1824-1905)

I said: “Let me walk in the fields.”
He said: “No, walk in the town.”
I said: “There are no flowers there.”
He said: “No flowers, but a crown.”

I said: “But the skies are black;
There is nothing but noise and din.”
And He wept as He sent me back –
“There is more,” He said; “there is sin.”

I said: “But the air is thick,
And fogs are veiling the sun.”
He answered: “Yet souls are sick,
And souls in the dark undone!”

I said: “I shall miss the light,
And friends will miss me, they say.”
He answered: “Choose tonight
If I am to miss you or they.”

I pleaded for time to be given.
He said: “Is it hard to decide?
It will not seem so hard in heaven
To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

I cast one look at the fields,
Then set my face to the town;
He said, “My child, do you yield?
Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

Then into His hand went mine;
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine,
The path I had feared to see.

One Year Ago Today...

Can't believe it's already been a year since we finally landed home with our Nara! So thankful for our wonderful photographer and videographer friends who offered to come to the airport and capture such a special moment for our family! We are forever grateful. 

                          

Courtney + Ryan Bring Nara Home from Grain & Compass on Vimeo.

What Took You So Long?

With Tuesday being the day to "Shine a light on human slavery" I couldn't help but think about my daughter Nara. She could have so easily been a victim to such and I thank God everyday for watching over her. There are many details to Nara's past that I'm not going to mention here because that is her story to tell one day if she so chooses. I will however mention an incident which opened my eyes to some of the brokeness she has dealt with in her short life. 

Back in November, I began pulling Christmas decorations down out of the attic. Nara was so excited and wanted to help. As she began digging into one of the boxes she found a picture of herself in a Christmas frame from the year before. It was the first picture we ever received of Nara from her referral. We loved looking at it during the holidays as we prayed and waited until the day we could go get her. Nara and I began talking about how cute she was in this picture and how much she had grown. Her hair was noticeably shorter in this picture and I asked her if they buzzed it off at the AWAA Transition Home or the orphange. (They do this often for sanitary reasons). With just the mentioning of the orphanage, Nara's demeanor immediately changed. At the age of two she was taken to a government orphanage. Ryan and I were able to visit it on one of our trips last year. The place reminded me of a prison. Cement floors, metal beds, no color on the walls. We saw babies two to a crib and most of them not even making a sound. I guess because they knew if they cried no one would come to pick them up anyway. Nara was at this particular orphanage for about 8 months while her case was being investigated and to see if someone would come for her. With just the mention of Nara's haircut and the orphanage she immediately got very upset and said "Mommy, I don't want to talk about it." I gathered her in my arms and told her that was fine if she didn't want to talk about it but proceeded to ask her if the orphanage was a scary place. She buried her head in my chest and started crying as she muttered "yes" under her breath. I held her tightly as tears streamed down her face when she looked me dead in the eyes and said in desperation, "Mommy, why didn't you come and get me?" Tears immediately filled my eyes and began rolling down my cheeks. How could I explain to a four year old why it took so long for someone to come for her. Why for so long no one was there to kiss her boo boo's or hold her when she was scared. Why no one was there to laugh with her or wipe away her tears. I sat there silent not even knowing quite what to say. 

    I am so thankful that God is healing her heart and I am completely blown away each day at how well she has transitioned. I am so thankful that she now looks to us as someone who will be there for her, which I think is why she asked us why we didn't come for her sooner. I am so thankful that we said yes to adoption. I don't want to even think about what life could have been like for her if we hadn't. 

It's only by amazing grace you were born where you were-

to be amazing grace

for someone else

born somewhere else. 

-Ann Voskamp

What breaks my heart is thinking about how many other children are out there asking the same thing.  Who is coming to get me? Does anyone love me or even care about me? Many question how we can even make that much of a difference when there are so many men, women and children living in despair. Orphans, the poor, those being held victim to human trafficking. It can be overwhelming but we can't let it keep us from doing something. We can start with one person at a time. Not everyone is called to adopt, but we can all do something. Some suggestions may be to help another family who is adopting, sponsor a child, support an organization you are passionate about or check out A21 Campaign and see what they are doing around the world to abolish human trafficking in the 21st century. Mentor someone or be more intentional to seek out those who are broken and need a friend. 

Do for one what you wish you could do for all - Andy Stanley

I have learned that I will not change the world. Jesus will do that. I can, however, change the world for one person. So I keep stopping and loving one person at a time. - Katie Davis 

Your greatest gift to the kingdom of God may not the big things you do but the people you love. One at a time. 

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. - Isaiah 61:1

Playing it safe...or daring to risk?

Do you ever feel like God is calling you deeper? Maybe He has purposes for your life but your scared or feel intimidated to pursue a dream or something you feel He has placed on your heart. I know I do.  Everyday. I am just an ordinary, timid girl without a fancy title or degree. I came across an old journal last week and found pages I had written after returning from South Africa. I was so burdened to do something but felt so unqualified. In my journal I wrote that I felt I should just do God a favor, step aside and let someone else serve in my place who would be better qualified. Who was I think I could accomplish very much. And you know what....I can't. Not apart from Christ. What I thought was a form of being humble was actually not believing Jesus to be who He says He is. I believe God has a place for each of us in His story. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. And as Christians we are ALL called. But first we have to surrender our lives to Him and trust His sovereignty. This can be so hard! There have been so many times over the years I have seen God moving then other times life seemed at a standstill. LOTS of waiting. Days that seemed mundane where I felt I should be doing more. But now I see that God was shaping me, molding me, making me. We must often go into the dark room until His image is forged in us. I wouldn't trade that time for the world. He never deserted me and was drawing me closer to Him. The more I draw in closer the more I know that my future is secure in Him.  Everywhere I turn lately he seems to gently keep nudging me to risk, surrender, step out of my comfort zone so that He can replace fear with true faith. Because it isn't really faith unless it looks a little bit like fear.  I love this from Jesus Calling...

Be willing to go out on a limb with Me. If that is where I am leading you, it is the safest place to be. Your desire to live a risk-free life is a form of unbelief. Your longing to live close to Me is at odds with your attempts to minimize risk. You are approaching a crossroads in your journey. In order to follow Me wholeheartedly, you must relinquish your tendency to play it safe.

Let Me lead you step by step through this day. If your primary focus is on Me, you can walk along perilous paths without being afraid. Eventually, you will learn to relax and enjoy the adventure of our journey together. As long as you stay close to Me, My sovereign Presence protects you wherever you go.

I am just an ordinary girl who has decided to go for it. It's a bit scary to even sing "Oceans" as a prayer because to have faith without borders is to leave everything in His hands. That means a lot of unknowns. I am as analytical as they come, a control freak and always want a plan. So this is totally opposite my normal character. But what have I got to lose but everything and in exchange gain a new understanding of true depth and faith in a Sovereign God. May He shut and open doors so that I may live out the rest of my life in the way that will most glorify Him. Oh how this is my hearts cry but I struggle to claim it just the same. My human nature wants safety, security, money in the bank, a comfortable life. 

I found a poem two days ago from a journal from high school which hit me like a ton of bricks. It made me think about Paul who was in chains and Joseph who was sold into slavery and ended up in prison but all for the sake of Christ.  Surrendering to Jesus doesn't always mean a bed of roses. For many in the bible it meant giving up comfort, familiarity, family. Am I willing to do just that if it means others may come to know Christ. I feel this is what God keeps asking me just as He did Peter. "Do you love me?" Then feed my sheep. 

Obedience

By George MacDonald

(1824-1905)

I said: “Let me walk in the fields.”

He said: “No, walk in the town.”

I said: “There are no flowers there.”

He said: “No flowers, but a crown.”

I said: “But the skies are black;

There is nothing but noise and din.”

And He wept as He sent me back –

“There is more,” He said; “there is sin.”

I said: “But the air is thick,

And fogs are veiling the sun.”

He answered: “Yet souls are sick,

And souls in the dark undone!”

I said: “I shall miss the light,

And friends will miss me, they say.”

He answered: “Choose tonight

If I am to miss you or they.”

I pleaded for time to be given.

He said: “Is it hard to decide?

It will not seem so hard in heaven

To have followed the steps of your Guide.”

I cast one look at the fields,

Then set my face to the town;

He said, “My child, do you yield?

Will you leave the flowers for the crown?”

Then into His hand went mine;

And into my heart came He;

And I walk in a light divine,

The path I had feared to see.

Each of us has our own preferred places and situations. So our forms of obedience and resistance will look different. That is the beauty of it because we all have unique callings on our lives. God doesn't need us but He wants us. Our lives are just a vapor and they weren't meant to be lived safe or risk free. Life is not wreckage to be saved out of the world but an investment to be used in the world.  

Ladies...calm down ;)

Just want to clarify a few things from Ryan's previous blog post. We are not moving to Africa tomorrow! As Ryan said, he has felt called to full time ministry for a while now which is why he started school two years ago to complete a BA in Religion. We want to be open to whatever doors God leads us to. My prayer for years has been that I would not sit by idly enjoying my privileges and advantages while the rest of the world suffers, grieves and starves. Not if God is willing to use me to do something about it. Right now we have committed to saying yes to fly over to Ethiopia at the end of the Summer for God to confirm if this is where He wants us to serve full time. We are SO excited about the MYM ministry and all they are doing in Ethiopia with community based orphan care. We want to see the ministry first hand and evaluate Nara's emotions. Ladies you do not need to stress just yet and go looking for a new hairstylist lol!!! If God continues to confirm that this is His plan after our 4-6 week trip, we will then begin to raise funding to be there full time. Raising funding will most likely take months, so either way we are looking at at least another year before we would be moving. Thank you to all who have encouraged us upon hearing about this opportunity and we thank you so very much for partnering in prayer with us. More than anything we just want God to be glorified. This isn't about us. We aren't going to change the world. Jesus will do that. We just want to be obedient and say yes to however our lives can best serve Him.

Trust Without Borders

The title for this post could not be more perfect for the Thomas families current situation. Seriously...let me explain. A few weeks ago Courtney and I rode to Atlanta with our pastor Zach and some youth from church to Passion 2014 conference. My favorite song that weekend was the song "Oceans" by Hillsong United who performed by the way and were awesome. Something about the song just really took a hold of me. My favorite lyrics from the song are the bridge which goes like this:

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

These lyrics have been Courtney and I's prayer for at least the last 5 years. We have been on mission trips around the world and have seen the extremely poor, the orphans, and the desperate. We have prayed very specifically over the past few years telling God that we are willing to go wherever he may call us. Two years ago I even started working towards completing a Bachelor's degree in religion because I knew in my heart that God had big plans for our family. We've been praying lately that once I got close to graduating that God would open a door and give us some guidance as to how He would have me serve in full time ministry. I graduate in a few months. After returning from Passion conference and with these lyrics resonating in my mind and heart...Courtney and I received a Facebook message upon returning from the conference that is turning our world upside down.

It was near midnight and a private Facebook message came through on my iPhone. It was titled "Are you moving to Africa?!!!" and it was from our very good friends Trent and Carmen Post who are missionaries with Make Your Mark in Ethiopia. I was obviously intrigued and immediately opened the message. Trent was basically asking our family to pray about moving to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to help design and run the ministry programs for their Make Your Mark House Day Center (Day Center and KKHI) for street kids as well as for the families involved in their Keeping Kids Home Initiative program. Lets just say that I didn't sleep much that night!

The next few weeks following, Courtney and I dedicated ourselves to lots of prayer and Scripture study. After MUCH prayer and confirmations we have decided to see what God has in store for our family in Ethiopia. We feel that God is calling our family to full time mission work in Addis and have committed to a 4-6 week "confirmation/trial run" trip, probably late summer of this year, to confirm this calling on our lives. We will have the opportunity to see first-hand the ministries that we will be involved in with Make Your Mark Ethiopia, as well as a chance to see what it would be like to actually live there and to evaluate Nara's feelings/emotions towards living in her home country again.

Our biggest concern in the whole deal is our daughter Nara. She has lived such a very hard life at such a young age and we aren't sure how she'll react to being back in her home country where we're sure she experienced much tragedy and pain for such a young girl. However, we got a little confirmation on that last night as well. We have been asking Nara questions about the opportunity just to get a feel for how she would react to us going. Last night before dinner Courtney asked who was going to pray. Nara volunteered. She never volunteers at dinner, she always said that she will wait until bedtime prayers. She told Courtney and I to put our hands together and close our eyes. She started. The simplest, most beautiful prayer followed. She said, "Thank you Jesus for my food. Thank you Jesus for the kids in Ethiopia that we're going to help. Amen." Courtney and I both opened our teary eyes and looked at each other. We know that God is already working on sweet Nara's heart and preparing her for what is to come. We have prayed big things over her from the start and Courtney has said from the beginning that she wants Nara to be a little Esther. We even considered Esther as a middle name for Nara. Esther, like Nara, was adopted. I'm sure her life was hard and considering her circumstances she probably felt as if there was no purpose or calling on her life. However, it turns out, as a result of the events that God sovereignly orchestrated in Esther's life, she had the chance to save her people. We want the same for Nara. Before we even brought Nara home we both decided that we did not want to "Americanize" Nara, but to prepare her to one day go back and help the people of Ethiopia. We just didn't realize it would be this soon! 

"And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14b

If this strong calling that we are now feeling is confirmed on our trial-run trip, then we will return home to begin the long process of raising financial support to fund our long term stay in Ethiopia. We realize that the journey that we are looking at is not an easy one. We realize that ministry is hard and that its going to be way hard in a third world country. That is why, most of all, we need your prayers and encouragement. We realize that we are under qualified so He will have to do this in and through us. Please be praying that He continues to give us clarity in our decisions and peace in the months leading up to our confirmation trip.

If you would like to check out Make Your Mark Ethiopia, and what they're up to, go to www.mymministries.org

Ryan