Most of you know Mark and I purchased our flights to return to Ethiopia for 3 months this winter after being unable to acquire a visa for England for Mark.
After much prayer, Mark believed the Lord spoke to him in his devotions regarding our trip to Ethiopia and we shouldn’t go.
We are here in Chicagoland still loving our friends and family in Ethiopia and wishing we were there, but more than anything want to be in God’s plan for us. So instead of posting from Ethiopia as I planned, I would just love to give them the spotlight in this post, and ask for ya’ll to just pray for these sweet kids, the missionary families there, and whether or not you would want to sponsor one of them!
You can find all you need at ebenezergrace.org
I would appreciate your prayers as it has been a difficult season in my race of faith. Love you!
Katie
Photo by Megan HavelaarPhoto by Megan HavelaarPhoto by Megan HavelaarPhoto by Megan HavelaarPhoto by Megan HavelaarPhoto by Megan Havelaar
Ebenezer Grace Children’s Home in Hawassa, Ethiopia ( I’m holding the baby on top row)
One of my friends recently asked me, “What is your woe? As in what Paul said, ‘Woe to me if I cannot preach the gospel.’ What is that for you?”
Good question.
Well. In the moment a few things came to mind, one being encouragement to others. I LOVE championing young women around me to keep going in the race of faith. But as I shared this with my husband, I thought even deeper on it and I know there is a more specific pull on my heart.
Woe is me if I don’t help vulnerable and orphaned children somehow some way. Woe is me if I don’t involve myself in bringing justice and protection to those in society who need it most. In my hood or in Africa. Jesus cared for the least of these, and so must I.
My biggest dream is to create a children’s home. I want to create a safe place for women and girls to escape violence and poverty, and the risk of being sex trafficked. I want to see young people understand their worth and value and their beauty that has been placed within them by their creator. I want to open my heart and home, get uncomfortable, and experience James 1:27 in action in my life and ministry from infants to teens.
“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
James 1:27
We all have our ‘woe’ and I know this specific issue is on my heart.
It’s always been in there, to take in and love those who have been abandoned or rejected by those who were supposed to love them most.
Or it’s not for lack of love alone, like in the case of my sponsor daughter in Ethiopia, her parents died of aids and her surviving grandfather dropped her off at the orphanage – it was poverty and disease that destroyed her family before the abandonment did her heart.
Man alive, this is crazy. The amount of kids in our state foster care systems, the amount of orphans world wide. The amount of sexual exploitation and abuse experienced by little ones everywhere, let’s all do something about it! Especially coming from the States, we. have. so. much. So much to give, not just financially ya’ll think so much bigger than that. Our time, our talents, our treasures, our prayers, emotional, spiritual support – I could go on!
So as it is World Adoption Day, or an ‘Orphan Sunday’ approaches at your local church, and it’s adoption awareness month – ask yourself is there something small thing you could do with great love to an orphan?
Don’t be overwhelmed, We were never created to change the whole world, but God can use us to can change the whole world for one person.
For a lot of us we don’t know how to step in this direction. I have some ideas:
Sponsor a child overseas
Support orphan care programs, centers, orphanages
Become a foster parent
Find foster parents in your community and serve them!
Adopt locally or globally
Support someone else who is adopting
Go on a mission trip and visit an orphanage overseas
Support + refresh the missionaries serving in orphan ministry
Just get involved somehow through social media and get inspired
Volunteer at a local foster + adoption agency
Pray
If you are interested in sponsoring a child, find Compassion International here. I sponsor a girl in Ethiopia at an orphanage I worked for at Ebenezer Grace Children’s Home, which you can find here.
And as you leave, think about the question: Woe is me if I cannot.. what? And go out and do it.
the kischners 