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.
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| Hanging out on one of our last days with the boys at the MYM Day Center. |
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)
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.”
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.”
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!”
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.”
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.”
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 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.
And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine,
The path I had feared to see.
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