Miracles and Malaria Meds

Terry and Crystal heading to Bahir Dar

Sitting in my mosquito net wondering where the last few days have gone… I know why the mosquito net, but how I got here is quite frankly a blur. I know we started on Friday AM real early for the airport, waited in a few lines, ate some bad food, …remembered thinking that the airplane seats are smaller than the last time I flew…hmmmm… met a man from CA that would be joining our team who talks like a guy from Dallas, lost some sleep, wrestled with the lady from the Congo next to me for the use of the armrest we “shared” (she won most of the time), began to lose track of time, got off the last plane in a different kind of airport in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. Walking across the tarmac I recognized the terminal, (I was here with a team in 3.11) but now it was only a shell under construction and we walked to a barn to wait for a tractor to bring all our stuff to a conveyor that didn’t work so we dragged all our stuff to our vans by hand and headed to quite frankly one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in on a mission trip. I’m thankful for the homland hotel. No I didn’t spell it wrong. It’s how they do it here for some reason. It makes us all giggle a bit, but the homland is home for a few days and we love it. Beds, showers and a pretty good wifi connection.

In the middle of all of this there is a blessing from God. Like the people of Israel remembering the day when the red sea parted in from of them, God gives us all moments to remember his might and remind us of how little faith we really have. But the context is as important as the moment, so bear with me. Cause quite frankly it’s the context that has me in tears right now.

Last week a team from CA came to Ethiopia to do much of the same work as us. We are familiar, cause we have been communicating all along as we prepped for the trip. They had eyeglasses, we were bringing eyeglasses. They had a photography ministry, we have a photo ministry. They had a plan to wash feet and give sandals, we are doing the same. That’s where the similarities stopped. Last week customs held up all their equipment and eyeglasses for ransom…tax… A lady named Diane and someone else from their team stayed behind in Addis to work at getting all that was needed to get their things (including expensive personal items and diagnostic equipment) out of customs into the hands of people with needs in northern Ethiopia. In the meantime their team was up near Makele running into road block after rad block in their ministry. Orthodox shutting them down, police station visits, sickness. Turns out they really only got to do one full day of expected ministry and for the rest they made due with whatever they were allowed to participate in. I don’t know all the details, but not ideal by any means! But back in Addis Diane labored for their stuff. Arguing, extreme submissiveness, compliance, pleading, even weeping before officials that seem to be changing the ever illusive rules daily for the requirements of freeing their things. Well, in the end, they released their stuff back to them for a sum of about 650 the day before they were to leave Ethiopia. They weren’t even allowed to leave their eyeglasses to be used by others, they made them take them back to the US! Can you imagine the discouragement? Oh and I forgot to mention, Diane has severe lower back pain, uses a cane and meds to get around and loves Jesus more than her life. She did nothing wrong and everything right.

While she was going thru all this, she and I were communicating. She told us to pray hard for these issues, because we could face the same things. (That’s where many of you come in. You didn’t know it, but this is the moment you were praying for.) In addition, she needed me to inventory all our stuff, send official letters so she could get all our ducks in a row so we would hopefully not have the same issues. We even had partners in Ethiopia to obtain letters from the minister of health as they suggested…try getting that in the US in 3 days time! We got all that! Thank you Lord, but that’s not the Red Sea parting stuff. We still needed to walk through customs and face the illusive rules of the airport stuff police. We assembled our baggage in Addis and made our plan. We had letters ready to fire at them like automatic weapons …and we prayed.

Rick Eisman from e3 and myself would go first with the stuff. Everyone else would have the regular baggage. Seems like what leaders should do…go first with the stuff and lots of amo. We got to the front of the line with hesitation and quite frankly I was a bit scared. Not for my life, but that the moment wouldn’t happen. You know the Red Sea moment. It’s certainly not because of my faith that anything would happen. But here goes! It was like we instantly became dignitaries being ushered through the crowd. You know… Important people who don’t need to wait in lines. Suddenly no need for X-ray machines, no need to check baggage claim tickets, no need for special man made papers with official seals, definitely no need for talk from us…and there it was, God working a Red Sea moment.

Yep, it was a killer God moment in itself, but like I said, its the context that sets the backdrop. My heart sinks again to remember the look on one very exhausted face as we walked through the doors. Remember Diane and all her work for the stuff? Well guess who greeted us at the door as we came through the other side? You guessed it… Sweet Diane. Weathered, tired, beat up but not out of the game…Diane. With tears of joy and a look of unbelief, Diane got to live in a moment what she had labored for all week. Her God moment.

Now I’m sure their are more dramatic moments in the history of mission, but this felt epic and is treated so in my heart. I’ll remember her moment for a life time. In the middle of a blur, God worked a miracle. So, I remember the Lord tonight as I sit in my mosquito net. Oh, why am I in my mosquito net? …I forgot my Malaria meds.

Thanks for praying for us everyone. He has heard your plea and answered. Please continue! Can’t wait to tell you more that has happened. A miracle… There have been many professions of faith!

It’s 1:50 AM EAT and God has me awake remembering Him.

Peace,

JP

(old iPad)

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