Praying them to Ethiopia

Tomorrow, March 6th, Joy leaves for a two week trip to Ethiopia. There she will be visiting each of YWAM's orphanages, meeting with our in-country staff, visiting with our children - both in our orphanages and in the community, escorting a group of potential supporters to introduce our outreach to widows and orphans, and making many decisions about our work in Ethiopia. Would you consider praying for her? She has asked for prayer in these areas:

• Wisdom! Many decisions and interactions with various people need to be carefully made
• Time management and a clear mind so all can be accomplished.
• Pray that the time at our orphanages and humanitarian projects will be beneficial and that the Holy Spirit will open the hearts of the visitors to the plight of the women and children in Ethiopia.

Mark is also leaving on the 6th, though he will be in Ethiopia until late April! He'll also be escorting the team of visitors, making preparations for a team of missionaries from Virginia Beach, VA who will come at the beginning of April, leading that team in their work in Addis Ababa and Adama, and in between taking a week-long intensive language course to learn Amharic. Please pray for:

• Enriched/changed lives for the people on the missions team and those they serve.
• Protection from water and food borne diseases and parasites.
• Deepening of relationships - creation of new relationships.

We can also remember to pray for their families at home! I hope to give regular updates on the blog as I get news from them in Ethiopia. Power outages and sketchy internet connections are always a reality there so we'll be grateful for every email and update! (You can subscribe to the blog to get our latest posts via email - just scroll down and look in the left column.)

Lord, we ask you to open doors before them so that gates will not be shut. You have promised "I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron." Isaiah 45:1-2