I promise I will not share my 1,000 or so pics with you! In order to limit the amount of pics I will post on here I have sat and pondered on what memories grabbed my heart. One that really stands out was one of those moments when you sit and have to pinch yourself because you can't believe you are really experiencing this blessing.
My friend Kay and her husband John were missionaries in Ethiopia for several years. Their hearts are still there so they do a lot of independent work. One of these projects is called the "Well House." It is a Prayer and Counseling Center for destitute women and their children. They are building a new one but for now they have a temporary place where for the past year two women and one of womens daughter has been staying. The women are provided spiritual and emotional healing and they attend school to learn a trade so when they go home they will have a way to provide for themselves.
This day we drive about 2 hour drive to their villages. I had one of my infamous "esophogus spasms" and tought I was going to die but we will save that story for another day. Moving on. We were also going to meet some christian women in one of the villages and hear their testimonies about the "Cow Project." A cow is bought for them and after they do whatever you do to cows they sale them. They keep half of the money and put the other in the projects savings plan. So here we sit in a small church with I think a dirt floor it was kind of dark, in a country far from our homes and these women come in and sit around us and begin sharing. Some were old and some were young and I believe most were Christians. As they spoke I looked around the room at these women. All so beautiful in their own way ( in Gods eyes we are all 10's!) and for the most part raised to submit to men because they are women and were not valued. I know each of them had a story, we all do and I would have loved to hear all of them. The common ground they all had is that they were women who made the choice to make a difference in not the best circumstances and succeeded! We could all learn from them. I journaled everyday I was in Ethiopia and each day asked God to reveal a verse to me that would coincide with that days events. That night as I wrote and the faces of those amazing women went through my mind and what they had to endure in a oppressive society God led me to Psalms 129: 2-4
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth. Plowmen have plowed my back and made their furrows long. But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.
Here in America we take so much for granted. If we could walk one day in one of these ladies shoes (if they have any) we would realize how very blessed we are. I wish all Christians could at least once have this experience. Stepping out of our safe little box is one of the greatest ways to show God our faith in Him.
It changes you for the better and humbles you in ways you could never imagine.
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| Betty taking our picture! She is the daughter of one of the ladies we took back to her village.
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| The church and the cows. |
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| The beautiful and amazing women. |
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