Love Is Messy

I was trying to go to sleep last night and my mind kept drifting back to Africa. I've been in a pit/funk/mood...whatever you want to call it since I've been home (poor Derek and the kids...they just might disown me or send me to a hotel!) It is completely normal to have this "post mission trip depression", but this time it seemed much worse, because I left a dear friend in Ethiopia. And honestly, each time I go, another little part of my heart stays and it just hurts to get on that plane and come home.

But some other things happened this trip, that just made it even more difficult to leave Ethiopia. I met our sponsored child in March when he went with us to check out the boarding school. He's quiet and artistic and has a very pleasant personality. (So much of this culture is violent and dramatic and he is everything, but those things....love is blind!) Anyway, I was so excited for Derek to meet him. The first day Yasen kind of stayed by my side. After that, he really warmed up to Derek. There were five separate English classes and the Lord worked it out where Derek was Yasen's teacher. I do believe that this was God ordained. Yasen and Derek had a fabulous week together. At one point, Yasen asked if he could come back and stay at the guest house because he didn't have a bed. It warms my heart to know that soon...he will have a bed at boarding school. He also told me he was hungry and I'm sure he was...soon, he will have three meals a day.

His father showed up at the church one day and told us, "I give you my son. He is now your responsibility". Derek and I worked to clear this up very quickly. Yasen has a mother and father and a twin sister. We are not looking to disrupt his family situation. We just are willing to give him an opportunity for a good education. We explained this to his father through the interpreter and Derek told him that he still needed a father to guide him and direct him, etc. I was all tongue tied...I don't think I said anything. His father then went on to tell us that he is Muslim and that he is being persecuted because he is sending his son to a Christian school. He told us that it was a good opportunity for him and that's why he was willing to endure the persecution.



Wow...love is messy. This father obviously loves his son. Love is messy, because life would just be simpler if I didn't know...if I hadn't ever gone...if I didn't want to go back..... But I do know....I did go...and I do want to go back. There are risks involved with love...there are prices to be paid. God gave His only Son that Derek and Alicia and Stephen and Matthew and Elizabeth and Yasen and Yasen's father and mother and sister might have eternal life. Yes, it's messy. Everything isn't perfect...there are things to work through, but hope is alive in Ethiopia. God is proving Himself mighty and I believe that Yasen and his family are just a small part of the storyline. I'm thankful that I get to watch our God do great and mighty things!!