No matter the cost

by Joy Casey in Ethiopia


This trip has been rich. I have been privileged to hang out with a bunch of fishermen … men completely sold out with their life’s aim to fish for men no matter what the cost. As I interviewed each one of them, the central theme was, “The joy of my life is when someone I talk to accepts Jesus as their LORD.” The following testimony is from one of the evangelists who lives and works in one of the most hostile and dangerous areas in Ethiopia.  *Names have been changed to protect identities. 
 
His name is *Muhammad. He was raised to despise Christians and when a Christ-follower would try to talk to him about Jesus, he became angry and called them names. He hated Ali most of all. Ali was always trying to be kind to him, but Ali was a Christian and Muhammad would have nothing to do with him. Unbeknownst to Muhammad at the time, Ali and his prayer group were diligently interceding for his salvation.
 
One night, Muhammad’s wife, Tabiso, saw in a vision that her husband was going to be a Christian. That made her extremely uncomfortable, but she shared her vision with Muhammad. Shortly after that, Isa (Jesus) appeared to Muhammad and told him he would die and that he needed to learn of Him. This frightened Muhammad and he knew he needed to find some Christians and learn more about this Jesus. When he reached out to the Christians he knew, his wife was extremely angry. She told their families what he was doing and much pressure was put on Muhammad to stop this foolishness. One night, Jesus appeared to Tabiso, offered His hand, and told her to follow Him. The next Sabbath, she and Muhammad together went to church and accepted Christ as their personal savior.
 
Today, Muhammad is one of the most active evangelists working in a very dangerous area. Not long ago, the few Christians living in that village were killed. But Muhammad and Tabiso are undeterred. They and their three children have moved to that village and are eagerly seek out opportunities to share their faith. They have been there for eight months and already 35 people have come to know Christ! Muhammad does not know what the future holds, but said, “There is much opposition, but I will not stop telling my people about Jesus Christ. He has completely changed my life. It is my joy to teach about Jesus.”

Evangelists and their Wives

by Joy Casey in Ethiopia


We left Addis early in the morning heading down the road to visit the evangelists working out of Gutumuma. We were to meet up with my friend Dinah Monahan and her crew from Living Hope who planned on having a nice program with the wives of the evangelists while I conducted update interviews with them. By the time we hit Ziway … it was pouring rain. No, it was pounding rain and the fields and roads were swamped. We knew there was no way we would be able to drive into Gutumuma. So, Plan B was hatched: the evangelists and their wives would come to the church in Bulbula and we would still get to meet with them, just not in Gutumuma. They arranged donkey carts to carry them, and while we stopped and had a bite to eat and wait out the deluge, they headed to Bulbula. As so often happens in Africa, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and things dried up quickly.
 

Dinah had a great time with the ten women… sharing with them the Father’s love through stories. She also had some treats for each lady, and they had a great time sharing and laughing.
 

It is good to honor and include these women who are quietly behind the scenes making it possible for their husbands to spend their days in the demanding and sometimes dangerous work of evangelism.
 

I have known these wonderful missionaries working out of Gutumuma for years, but today I had some good one-on-one time with each of them and got to know their stories in more detail and listen to some of their challenges. It was great to see them with their wives and some of their children, too. Abebe and I along with Wario (a YWAM missionary who is helping with agriculture projects) strategized ways the missionaries could grow their own food along with Moringa trees whose leaves can be a cash crop.
 

Each of the evangelists in Gutumuma has a sponsor/prayer partner, and they will be getting updated prayer cards for their evangelist. We appreciate the dedicated people serving in Ethiopia and equally are indebted to those in the U.S. who make it possible for them to preach the gospel. It illustrates well how the body works… each doing his part so the purposes of God are accomplished. These men face a multitude of challenges, and a huge THANK YOU is extended to each and every partner in the U.S. who faithfully prays for the evangelism work done by these men of God.

Waiting for the internet…

Sometimes when Joy is in Ethiopia, she is able to get a wireless internet connection at a hotel or restaurant but as is often the case, this month the connections have been very sketchy and communication has been tough.  While I wait for Jeff to send me a blog post and photos, I’ll give you a quick summary of what’s been happening…

After several days spent in Adama visiting the orphanages and meeting with several birthmothers, they spent a day in Addis getting a few updates on Adoption Ministry 1:27 families in Korah.  Saturday they traveled to Shashemene.  It’s been raining in torrents off and on, which turns many of the roads and walkways to rivers of mud.  This is typical during the rainy season but that hasn’t officially begun yet!

Joy did ‘intake’ on 40 children for a new school in a village where outreach is bearing much fruit.  These children will begin school for the first time in the fall.  Joy also met with each of the evangelists who are sponsored by many of you and got updates on their ministry and families. 

Today was a visit to our Mana Gammachuu orphanage and we have truly exciting news to share… tomorrow adoptions will be finalized for three Ethiopian families bringing three abandoned babies into a forever family!  I can’t wait to be able to share photos with you!  We are rejoicing as we see God begin to bring His plan of adoption into the hearts of His church in Ethiopia.

A few emails are starting to show up in my inbox so I look forward to sharing their photos and stories with you soon! 
   

For our moms

A verse that describes our YWAM adoptive moms… we honor you!

Birthmother’s Day

Today, the Saturday before Mother's Day, is Birthmother's Day.  It's a day to recognize and honor those women who made a very difficult and loving choice to place their child for adoption.



In Ethiopia, this decision was most often made because of extreme poverty or illness, leaving the birthmother without any ability to provide food, basic needs or a future for their child or children.  Sometimes the birthmother is deceased and this difficult decision falls to the father or another living relative.



We have heard birthmothers tell us - with tears - that God has answered their prayers in placing their child in a family, giving them the hope and a future that she was unable to provide.  Most of us cannot imagine having to make a choice like this.  


Birthmothers hold a very special place in the community of mothers.  I know that this weekend as they receive flowers and gifts of love from their children, many adoptive moms will be thinking of the women who gave them the priceless honor of raising their child.

_________________________________________________

While our ministry director, Joy Casey, is in Ethiopia this month she is meeting with many birthmothers to deliver photographs and update letters from the families who adopted their children.

Be sure to read these posts about birthmothers in Ethiopia:
Desperate Mothers
May We Never Forget
The Decision to Relinquish

A Small Business Success Story!

by Joy Casey in Ethiopia

The last two days I have visited all three Adoption Ministry 1:27 project areas in Addis Ababa. The days have been full from morning to night and I have heard incredible stories of both heartbreak and victory. I have put in miles and miles of walking along back roads, down narrow alleys, and striding across open fields to visit the families cared for by this life-altering ministry. Some visits were to get updates on living conditions and to assess needs, but the majority of my time has been spent talking to women about starting a small business and how that would look for them.

 

Nine months ago, Anchinaleu received money from her sponsor to start an injera baking business, and she is doing so well!

Injera is Ethiopian cultural bread that is made from teff, Ethiopia’s wheat, and is mixed with hot water and then left in big vats to ferment.
 

Once it is fermented, it is baked on a large round griddle fueled with wood or electricity and is a staple of every Ethiopian’s diet. Injera is full of iron and is also gluten free.
 
Anchinaleu is an energetic and optimistic woman who has tackled her business opportunity with vigor and bakes 100 pieces of injera a day selling them to three small restaurants. She makes $15 a day. So far, she has managed to save more than half of the money she needs to repay the small loan given for her business start-up. That is incredible!
 

She is optimistic for her future and would like to move to a larger house that could incorporate a separate place for her injera fermenting vats and stove.
 

I have been very encouraged with the eagerness of the women I have interviewed. They intend to work hard and want to be successful at providing an honest living for their families. We have now received the correct license from the Ethiopian government to move into this realm of small financing. Our business managers are putting together business plans for the women and we will then seek financing for them. Stay tuned!

Offering a Living Hope

by Joy Casey in Ethiopia
*photos courtesy of Living Hope Ethiopia

I sighed as I took my first sip of hot, spicy Ethiopia tea. It had been a long two days travel and hefting 100+ pounds of luggage at several junctures left me drained.
 

Living Hope, A Beacon
The first few days of my time in Ethiopia were spent with my good friend Dinah Monahan, her daughter-in-law Dawn, and a delightful woman named Deana. Upon landing in Addis Ababa we headed directly to Living Hope Women’s Association in Adama, about 2 hours south of the capitol. Living Hope was the brain child of Dinah and me four+ years ago, and Dinah has done an excellent job building a wonderful program caring for at-risk unmarried pregnant women and providing schooling and job training so they can be good mothers when they are out on their own.
 

We were cordially welcomed by the staff, the 14 residents and 11 children.


Other women who had received care at Living Hope and now live independently in the community were on hand with their toddlers to greet us, too. It was good to see everyone, kiss sweet baby cheeks and over dinner plan the next several days.


Children, Dogs and Minarets
Exhaustion came early, unfortunately sleep was elusive. Our room opened up onto the courtyard and the mothers and children sat in the evening air laughing and playing with their voices dying down about 9 p.m. The happy noise was replaced with barking dogs. About 3 a.m. crowing roosters joined in and the cacophony was complete about 4 a.m. with the wailing of the minarets. But the biggest barrier to sleep was the buzzing of seemingly millions of hungry mosquitos swarming around my head and no mosquito net!

Sunday dawned brightly ushering in a hot day. The women, Living Hope staff, all the children and the four of us went to church and enjoyed the lively worship, and we Americans tried our best to stay awake during the sermon. Keep in mind... travel weary, no sleep, a very hot day, and preaching in Amharic.
 

Dinah brought six suitcases full of things for the maternity home. Each resident got to pick out new clothes for herself and her child and the suitcases were emptied of all the teaching materials on fetal development, pregnancy and childbirth, abstinence and abortion to be used in many teaching venues.
 

Another mostly sleepless night morphed into Monday morning which was a holiday in Ethiopia celebrating Ethiopia’s victory in ousting the Italians in 1896. Meseret, Living Hope’s director, had arranged for Dinah to give a presentation to a group of administrators and teachers from Adama schools. There were about 30 educators riveted to the ultrasound 4D images of a child’s development in the womb. Discussion was held on whether the images they saw were a human baby or something else. Was the baby an individual or just an extension of his mother? We passed around models of babies at the various stages of development for them to hold and look at.

 
Getting Real About Abortion
Abortion is now legal in Ethiopia and just about every clinic and hospital will accommodate a woman’s wish to terminate her pregnancy. Using fetal models, Dinah explained the various ways an abortion is done depending on the stage of gestation. She then showed an actual abortion that was filmed on ultra sound. I have seen this before and find it very hard to watch, so instead I turned my attention to the people in room. Their faces reflected the horror they were watching. They were stunned and very, very sober. I was once again reminded that abortion is a very brutal affair. Rarely are we faced with the viciousness of this act that is so sanitized and accepted that few of us even cringe today when we hear about millions of human babies killed every year.  We are in the midst of a holocaust and yet most of our Christian churches can’t even take the time once a year (one Sunday in January is reserved for Sanctity of Human Life) to educate their congregations about the evils of abortion and the value of life, offer healing to the women who have suffered from an abortion, or to mourn the tiny individuals who will never experience life.
 

Two Good Questions
Out of a discussion time, two very good questions were proffered.
1) How can we advise a girl to continue her pregnancy when she has no support and most likely will be ostracized from her family?
2) How can pregnancy among unmarried women be prevented?
 
Dinah did an excellent job casting vision for alternatives to abortion using Living Hope as a model. She challenged them to continue building not only a pro-life platform in Ethiopia but a climate of value and self-worth among their students, especially girls. The attendees were invited to an open house at Living Hope where they could glean ideas and receive literature on ways to care for these vulnerable women in their society.
 

The nurse from Living Hope talked passionately about abstinence that ties into a woman’s dignity and value and also 100% guarantees protection from STDs and HIV. Emshaw has many opportunities to speak in schools about abstinence, and teachers report they are seeing fewer girls drop out of school because of pregnancy and many girls are declaring their determination to wait until marriage before having sex. Emshaw has a gift for engaging both male and female students, and his presentations invite eager questions and a willingness to listen and learn. Perhaps because of the success he has in many schools and the way he presents the subject matter, the audience of adults we had before us respectfully appreciated what he had to say.
 
Why Can’t We Talk About Adoption?
During these talks, I wanted to jump up and say “Adoption is also a consideration for women who cannot raise a child!” when an individual asked, “What if a girl gets pregnant from incest… should that baby be aborted? What if a girl is raped?”

Why should that child be denied life for the sins of the father? But how can a family be expected to treasure a child that reminds them of their gross sin? Or should a girl be expected to care for a baby that stands as a reminder to a violent, indecent act? These are hard questions with no easy answers, but adoption should be one alternative to be considered. Unfortunately, this venue was not the place to talk about adoption; but sadly, adoption is rarely broached on any broad scale.

That's why our work through the Mana Gammachuu orphanage to help foster an adoption mindset, to educate Ethiopian Christians about adoption and to place abandoned babies into strong families is so exciting!