Go into all the nations and make disciples

by Joy Casey
Director, Adoption Ministry of YWAM Ethiopia

Once upon a time…

Most stories that start out like that usually end with, “And they all lived happily ever after."  At the end of the day when caring for my little grandsons, I close the bedtime story book with the assurance that they will have every opportunity to live happily ever after. I kiss their sweet-smelling little heads and herd them down the hall to their very own beds where prayers are said and kisses are liberally received and given and we always sing “Jesus loves the little children …. red, brown, yellow, black and white …”  I am sure many of you have similar scenes in your house.

I am glad that my grandsons can have this kind of nurturing and stability, but it shows in sharp contrast to other little boys that I hug in a small village deep in the countryside of Ethiopia. The future for these little boys most likely won’t end happily at all. For twenty of the poorest families that YWAM has identified to help, hunger is a constant companion. These little boys curl up on a on a dirt floor when the sun goes down hopeless that tomorrow will be any better than today.

But God has sent Ethiopian missionaries to this remote area, and for seven long years they have served and ministered to the people of this village. Just this past year, 108 families have given their lives to Jesus Christ! Adoption Ministry of YWAM has come alongside these tenacious local missionaries to offer humanitarian aid to some of the poorest. We dream of building a school for the 250 kindergarten children of this village, but until funds are provided for that, a house has been rented where the children of these twenty families can come and receive schooling and one nutritious meal. I am overjoyed to see God in action in this out-of-the-way place where the people are illiterate, families are broken apart by sickness and death, and poverty is revealed in stick thin bodies clothed in rags.

God is the author of happy endings! The Good News is penetrating the darkness of this place. Little by little hope is beginning to sprout. He has given YWAM an assignment to build a school and to build a worship center out in the middle of a savannah in Africa.

Amazing!

We need you to help us! Want to be part of an adventure?

If so, please email: joy (at) adoptionministry (dot) net or call (253) 770-2283