Tgist

There are times that come along in your life that you know without a doubt that they are God assignments. You know, you plan one thing and something totally different happens.
We planned on meeting someone else but God wanted us to meet Tgist.

Our team was taken to a village to meet Tgist. She is 23 years old and has been on her own since she was 15. She has been a believer for about 4 years. As we set in her mud home she made coffee and told us her story through a translator. Her mother died when she was 15. She lived in the city Addis, very dangerous for a young girl. She moved to the village where she lives now. As she told her story, looking down at the coffee she was making for us, one by one a tear would fall. When the coffee was ready she stood up and told the translator she wanted to say a prayer. This really touched my heart. Here in America it seems so hard to get anyone to pray out loud or share the gospel. In Ethiopia they are excited to pray or share about Jesus.

She said the prayer in Amharic but you knew what she was saying. It was beautiful. We asked what would it cost to set Tgist up in a business so she could provide for herself. $12o, that's all and her life would change.

I sat there and asked God if I should help her. God laid on my heart that "since she has became a believer she has been faithful. Today she will be rewarded for her faithfulness." That was all I needed. I wrote the check but understand that God provided, not me. The money goes to to the Evangelist who will help her set up her business of selling coffee, sugar and incense.

I ask that you pray for Tgist. Pray her business is a success and that she will share her testimony with others.

Romans 8:28

The pictures are to show you what we would have missed if we had not relied on prayer, faith and Gods' word.
In the next few weeks I will share stories that only God can write.

One of my sponsor children. She is so precious.

Jordan's new friend

My amazing team! Beth, Jordan, Gloria and Hannah.

From the day we planned our mission trip to Ethiopia Satan began his attack. First attack. One of our ladies who was the first to sign up and has such a heart for these children was unable to go. Second attack was when we were told a large sum of money we were expecting to help fund this trip was probably not going to be available. Third attack we had worked every Saturday for 2 months to raise money for this trip. The day before we left I found out we were each getting 1/2 of what we thought we would get. Fourth attack. About an hour before we were to board our plane out of Tulsa the flight was canceled. We went to the ticket counter to reschedule and were told there was nothing available. We couldn't get out until the next morning and we wouldn't arrive in Ethiopia until Saturday night. Our first big day was that Saturday. I am sure at this point Satan thought he had won this battle. We asked for hotel vouchers because we didn't want to say goodbye to our families again. That night as I prayed Romans 8:28 came to my heart.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

This would now be our scripture for this journey. I don't take an answer like "no way" "not going to happen" or "not possible" very well when God has called us to serve. When I found out that we might not receive that large sum of money we were expecting I sent out prayer request to everyone I knew. Less than 24 hours later I received a phone call telling me the money was there.

When I received an email that we were getting half of what we had expected from our fundraiser I text a friend just to tell him I didn't see how this was possible. A few minutes later he text me back and said a check was being written at that moment to make up the difference.

The night our first flight was canceled and we were told more than once "no way" I stood in front of the ticket counter praying, my team stood behind me praying as a nice man worked extremely hard to reroute us. Basically he had five women looking at him...nicely and encouraging him that he could do this. Over an hour later he told us we would get out the next morning and be rerouted through Germany. We would lose our first day in Ethiopia but at least we would get there. When we arrive in Germany they have no information on us at all. Standing firm and 2 hours later we were boarding a flight to Ethiopia.

The day before we left Ethiopia I went to confirm our flights home. Yup, you guessed it, Nada. Nothing at all. When they rerouted our flights from Tulsa, they canceled our tickets coming home. It took our friend John in Ethiopia, our travel agent and a team at Ethiopian air, but they got our tickets home.

Faith...It isn't always easy to have, but personally I have it with me at all times!

We knew God had called us on this mission trip and the only thing that would stop us would be our lack of faith. Faith, prayer and a scripture were our weapons against Satan's attack on us.

When you are called to go on a mission trip one thing you need to get in your head is the fact that it's not about you! You will be tested and attacked. You will be uncomfortable at times, tired and your plans can fall flat in a minute. When you are on a mission trip you are there to serve. It's that simple. You may start out to do one thing and God calls you to another. If you give God control you are going to be so blessed and it makes things a whole lot easier. His plans are always so much better than ours!

LOVE

This was the last thing I saw when I said good bye to the kids last year in Ethiopia. I remember I truly thought my heart was going to break. If I didn't have a family at home I would have stayed! What is in us that makes our hearts fall in love with a group of children after spending just a few days with them? What is in us that makes our hearts break when we have to say goodbye? What is in us that makes us face our fears, step out of our box, leave the comforts of home, leave our family, work tirelessly raising money for these little ones? What makes us do such a thing?
God that's who. He gives us mercy, compassion, faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love.

Love gives us power. The power to do whatever God has called us to do. To go out in to the world and make difference. To give of ourselves.

See the picture with the woman and little boy? Often while in Ethiopia we would eat out. We made sure to have enough to "take away." When we were out we would see so many begging for food or money. We were out of our van when this young woman approached us. She had her little boy on her back. I went back to the van to get the food (and a few$) and gave it to them. She hugged me and kissed my cheek. Then I hear this little voice "madam, madam" and the little boy reaches over his mothers shoulder, says thank you and kisses my cheek. The love and gratefulness I felt from them was powerful! Such as small thing we did, but for a moment it made a huge difference to them.

At the school we partner with, food is a very big deal! For most of the children this is the only meal they will receive for the day. It may be the same thing day after day but they are grateful for every little morsel.

They sit in crowded classrooms. But they don't care. They are there to learn and yes receive a meal. They take nothing for granted. Nothing.

They are so happy! And they love us and will tell you so! They have so little but give so much. They are grateful, loving, sweet and good. All they ask for is to have their basic needs met. Food, shelter, and water. When we give them these things they also receive hope, hugs and lots of love!

And this is why we can travel half way around the world to try and make a difference in their lives. Love. Besides that God commands us to go to them!

One more week and myself along with my oldest daughter and a team of amazing women are going to go to Ethiopia. Our plan? To do whatever God calls us to do. One thing for sure we will be giving lots of hugs and loves to those precious kids!

The Hug Away team will be heading to Ethiopia in one week.

FAITH

Faith. A word I love. Most Christian are aware that having faith is not always easy. I would dare say that for the most part it's not easy. Faith is believing in something we can not see. My 7 year old daughter Kennedy said it best, "I don't know what faith is but I know I have it."
In about 3 weeks our team will be traveling to Ethiopia. Satan has attacked this trip since the get go. What began as seven team members is now down to five. Our route to Ethiopia is going to be brutal. What we planned on doing while we are there has changed. Our fundraisers have not gone well and $3,000 we were expecting, well that's not looking good.
For most of us who have been called to "go and help the orphan, feed the hungry, preach the gospel" the finances are not there. We have faith and do our part. As for my team, we are working concessions every Saturday for 2 months. Today is the 4th week we have worked and will be the first time we will see a small profit. We have 2 more games before we leave. We have sold t-shirts, we have prayed. We will leave behind our families, our work which we will not be paid while we are gone, plan to do one thing but knowing if those plans change we will walk through the doors that God opens. We will remember that we are there for them, not for us.
So it is safe to say the only thing we do have that is for sure is our faith and when your a Christian you know that is all that matters. God has called five of us to Ethiopia. This is a honor, not a burden. We will do our part and in His most perfect timing He will do his.
Satan would love for us to crumble and quit. Sorry Satan, not going to happen!
I love this quote and I live by it.
"Be the kind of woman that when her feet hit the floor in the morning, the devil says, Oh crap she's awake."

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

Today my heart broke...again

Today I went to visit the Vietnam Traveling Wall.It is something I have wanted to see for a long time. When I was little girl my family lived just down the road from Fort Sam Houston Army Base in San Antonio, Texas. My dad had stayed in the hospital on base when he had heart problems. After he was released he began inviting some of the men who were serving in the Army to our home. They would visit on holidays, dinner or just to hang out. They were so young.
There were three young Green Berets that we became very close to. They were like our big brothers. We would visit them on base or go watch them practice jumping out of planes. In my eyes they were bigger than life. I was particularly close to Gary. I even took him to show and tell!


One day they came to our home and I remember they looked sad. They were leaving to go and fight in the war in Vietnam. We never saw them again. We did get a couple of letters but I have no idea what happened to them. Did they make it back? Did they die? I will never know. As I walked up to the wall and saw the thousands of names my heart broke. Is one or all of their names carved on this wall? So many names. So many lives lost.


What was pretty amazing is that when I pulled up to where the wall was I saw all of these people walking out of the school. It was a naturalization ceremony. These people, young and old were walking out with their flags, citizenship papers and these big smiles. It was a sight to behold! Trust me, our newest citizens have to know more about our country than we will ever know! They do not take our freedom for granted. As I walked past all the smiling faces and I came to the wall, I didn't expect to feel so many emotions. It was reminder of all the lives that have been lost in the name of freedom.

America is known as the land of the free and the home of the brave. Today I had the privilege of seeing people who came to America to be free and the names of men who had died for that right.


Greater love has no one than this, that he who lays down his life for his friends. John 25:13

Prayers needed for these sweethearts!

Please pray for thier daughter Teresa. She needs a miracle
www.ourplacecalledhome.blogspot.com

Please pray for Michael. He also needs a miracle.
www.stinkytofu&otherthings.blogspot.com

Have you ever thought about adopting?

Well if you have I've got some news for you! I have a blog www.Istillwait.blogspot.com with information about several waiting children.
I also just received information on a young man 13 years old who needs to be adopted before he ages out July 1st 2012. It is stated he is from the Asia continent. He loves to play soccer, is an extrovert, healthy and wants to be adopted!
There is financial aid up to $14,475. Single women may apply. For more information please email me at: hugaway@cox.net
Please let others know about this young man and the children posted on my
"I still wait" blog. Maybe together we will find all of them a home!