About 3 years ago, when we began our adoption for Ageze & Tesfa, I reached out to a few people via FB/blog that lived in Ethiopia. Each family that I contacted had something in common...they had adopted from Ethiopia, had large families & they had mission-minded hearts & were/are living out the gospel. During the last few years, I have asked many questions, picked their brains, prayed together & dreamt about our family making the move into the mission field. I did alot of dreaming. I felt a connection with Heavenly Hope/The Dutton's the first time we messaged back & forth...They gave me another name of a missionary family living in Addis at the time, The Letourneau's. So, I messaged them & stayed in close contact with them all awhile they were living in ET. And, we still do. The Letourneau family came to stay with us a year ago while they were in Bismarck, in which they spoke at our church. But, they did more than just speak at our church. A real, authentic, close friendship was formed in those 4 days they were with us. They are the type of people that you just want to be close to. The love of Christ literally shines through them, their smiles were incredibly bright & they have a love for God & His people that is unbelievably beautiful. The feeling in our home during their stay was nothing short of amazing. The Lords presence was all around. It was so peaceful. Before they left, they gave me "The Hole in Our Gospel." I've read, re-read it & now I'm gonna pass it on...
Here is a paragraph that just won't leave me...
Here I want to make a key point: it is not our fault that people are poor, but it IS our responsibility to do something about it. God says that we are guilty if we allow people to remain deprived when we have the means to help them. It is our moral duty to help our neighbors in need. We cannot look at their situation and simply say, "Not my problem." Neither can we sit smugly in our comfortable bubbles and claim no responsibility for the disadvantaged in our world. God did not leave us that option.
After the Letourneau's went back home, we continued to talk, Skype, fb....they encouraged us to continue to pray that God would show us in mighty ways, the plans He had for us. Like I've said before, we prayed & prayed that God would reveal how our next season in our lives would go. Many times, I tried talking God out of the desire that was placed on my heart. Did we really want to do something that is so out of the norm? Did we really want to follow Him, even in the hard? I mean, "God, this is so crazy...who actually moves their family to Ethiopia??" Once again reminded of the above....Neither can we sit smugly in our comfortable bubbles and claim no responsibility for the disadvantaged in our world. God did not give us that option.
So, "Yes, God!!" Even when it's hard. We will follow You!!
In between talking with Destiny & Joey and Terina & John, we knew without a doubt that God had a very clear vision. A plan that began stirring in our hearts 3 years ago. Wow, has God been patient with us!! So, fast forward to about 4 months ago....Terina & I were talking one morning, I explaining that my heart, along with Kasey has been stirring for so long. We had/have been praying that God would either close the door loudly or open it & open it wide, so our hearts & minds wouldn't toss back and forth. We prayed & prayed some more. We just knew/know that our lives are meant for more. More HIM. Less of us. Less of our stuff. More of Him. She said, "you know, actually John & I have been praying since February that we would love to see the right family step up and out into the mission field with Heavenly Hope in Addis." My jaw dropped onto my keyboard. Our dreams & desires were clearly laid out before me over the phone. God was clearly speaking. We visited/laughed/dreamt about how we could be used for Gods glory in Addis. Thankful that even in the moments of doubting, blurriness, frustration...that God would continue to speak to us. And, He continues to do so, every. single. day. We are on the right path. Standing strong. Praying steady.
Mother Teresa once said, "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." She had it right. We're not authors, any of us. We are just the "pencils." Once we understand that, we might actually become useful to God.
Excited to share with you our HHM website soon!!!! xo
Here is a paragraph that just won't leave me...
Here I want to make a key point: it is not our fault that people are poor, but it IS our responsibility to do something about it. God says that we are guilty if we allow people to remain deprived when we have the means to help them. It is our moral duty to help our neighbors in need. We cannot look at their situation and simply say, "Not my problem." Neither can we sit smugly in our comfortable bubbles and claim no responsibility for the disadvantaged in our world. God did not leave us that option.
After the Letourneau's went back home, we continued to talk, Skype, fb....they encouraged us to continue to pray that God would show us in mighty ways, the plans He had for us. Like I've said before, we prayed & prayed that God would reveal how our next season in our lives would go. Many times, I tried talking God out of the desire that was placed on my heart. Did we really want to do something that is so out of the norm? Did we really want to follow Him, even in the hard? I mean, "God, this is so crazy...who actually moves their family to Ethiopia??" Once again reminded of the above....Neither can we sit smugly in our comfortable bubbles and claim no responsibility for the disadvantaged in our world. God did not give us that option.
So, "Yes, God!!" Even when it's hard. We will follow You!!
In between talking with Destiny & Joey and Terina & John, we knew without a doubt that God had a very clear vision. A plan that began stirring in our hearts 3 years ago. Wow, has God been patient with us!! So, fast forward to about 4 months ago....Terina & I were talking one morning, I explaining that my heart, along with Kasey has been stirring for so long. We had/have been praying that God would either close the door loudly or open it & open it wide, so our hearts & minds wouldn't toss back and forth. We prayed & prayed some more. We just knew/know that our lives are meant for more. More HIM. Less of us. Less of our stuff. More of Him. She said, "you know, actually John & I have been praying since February that we would love to see the right family step up and out into the mission field with Heavenly Hope in Addis." My jaw dropped onto my keyboard. Our dreams & desires were clearly laid out before me over the phone. God was clearly speaking. We visited/laughed/dreamt about how we could be used for Gods glory in Addis. Thankful that even in the moments of doubting, blurriness, frustration...that God would continue to speak to us. And, He continues to do so, every. single. day. We are on the right path. Standing strong. Praying steady.
Mother Teresa once said, "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." She had it right. We're not authors, any of us. We are just the "pencils." Once we understand that, we might actually become useful to God.
Excited to share with you our HHM website soon!!!! xo
Thanks for sharing more of the story!
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