Lord, Make Me Hungry

Hunger is different here.

In America I am hardly ever face to face with hunger. I eat three (more like five) meals a day, and if I drive on the right roads I could go weeks without seeing a hungry person.

Not here. On Saturday we visited Children’s Hope Chest in Addis Kettema, Hawasa. We heard about how the organization empowers impoverished children to thrive physically and spiritually. On Sunday we visited Manna Orphanage in Wondo Genet. These children are well taken care of, but they do know hunger and suffering in a way that I just flat out don’t.

Yet, oh what a joy to see their smiles and delight in their laughter as we played soccer, sang songs together (across languages!), and did “magic tricks” for 45 minutes even though they no longer fooled them after two attempts. How sweet it was to trade the names of our body parts by repetition in both English and Amharic. “Nose”–”Nose.” “Asphincha”–”Asphincha.” The best moments were figuring out which sounds the other person simply could not make with their voice (like a popping “q” in Amharic or the “th” sound in English. Another little girl invented Anglo-Amharic by making english words plural with Amharic endings: “Mouth”—”Moufoch.”

These children know hunger and suffering in a way that I just don’t. Yet this physical hunger allows them to know hunger in other ways greater than me as well. They are hungry for relationship. They are hungry for personal connection. They are hungry for love and acceptance. My prayer is that this hunger will lead them to find eternal life and satisfaction in Jesus Christ. May this hunger drive them to Jesus, in whom they will experience the blessing of Luke 6:21: “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.”

I have learned a lot from these children about what it means to be hungry. In America I am hardly ever face to face with hunger, but that means I am also less likely to be face to face with the satisfaction of a long-awaited meal. I am convicted of the many ways that I find cheap satisfaction in places other than Jesus. May their physical hunger and joy in the satisfaction of a spaghetti meal remind me of my spiritual hunger and need for satisfaction in Jesus. “Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Ps 107:8–9). Lord, make me hungry for more of you.

Hunger is different here.

We finished our third day of training today, and one of my biggest takeaways so far has been the attitude of the trainees in our course. They are hungry! These pastors, some of whom have been leading churches for decades, are craving these lessons! They arrive each day eager to listen, confidently anticipating that in the Scriptures they will hear from God. They are a living illustration of Psalm 119:103, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

I have learned much from these pastors and church leaders about what it means to be hungry. In America I often take for granted the wealth of teaching at my fingertips and the opportunities for training and study God has lavished upon me. These church leaders have taught me that to be hungry means to believe wholeheartedly that God is sovereign, wise, and good, and to praise him in song like you believe it! To be hungry means to humbly learn from someone thirty years your junior if they show you truth from the Bible. To be hungry means to earnestly mine the pages of Scripture because you know that they reveal Jesus, and in him is true, genuine, eternal life. Lord, make me hungry for your Word.

Hunger is different here.

As I think about the children we met this weekend I long for their salvation. I long for them to yearn for Jesus with the same desperation as the physical hunger they have faced. I long for the day when all wrong will be made right, and for us together to know the truth of Revelation 7:15–17: “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple, and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Lord, make me hungry for your return. Come Lord Jesus, come.

-Josh Bremerman

Frustrated by Babel, Sustained by Pentecost

I began my first day of teaching with optimism. I had prepared my lessons and prayed for God’s grace. I thought I was ready.

The day began with a frightening talk from pastor Gill about cell phone usage in class—the Ethiopians soon learned what “airplane mode” was. Then he introduced us as the teachers, assigned trainees to our groups, and sent us to the room or mango tree where we would teach.

I have never taught with an interpreter before, and it did not take long to realize how difficult it was. I felt like a carpenter who had lost his hammer and had to resort to using a rock in order to pound nails and build a house. Any teaching abilities or skills I had seemed to be gone. I did my best to communicate clearly and concisely, I finished my lesson for the day, but I returned to the hotel looking like Quasimodo. I was discouraged and frustrated. The day had not gone as I planned or hoped. The language barrier felt insurmountable.

In Genesis 11, God judged the people of Babel for their pride by confusing their language and dispersing them over the face of all the earth (Gen 11:8). I tasted this curse like never before, and it was bitter. I desired to know the students beyond just their names. I longed to be able to teach these brothers and sisters directly. I wanted to communicate my emotions as well as my thoughts. I wanted to know that they understood me fully and grasped what I was teaching. But I could not.

After an encouraging talk with Jason, some prayer, and a semi-good night’s sleep, I returned to the school to teach again. Slowly, I learned how to teach through an interpreter and the students began to understand me and interact more with my teaching. Slowly, I got to know the students better.  And slowly, God showed me that we are more similar than different. He showed me that although we speak a different language, we speak to the same God. And although it may sound different, we have the same confession of faith. The same Spirit that filled the first Christians at Pentecost was dwelling in us. And although he was not causing us to speak in the same language, he was causing us to praise the same God. And our language differences did not stop the Spirit from using me to teach them and using them to teach me.

Ethiopians are amazing singers. And although I do not understand a word they are singing, I am still worshipping God with them. And as I do, I am looking forward to the day when I will stand with Ethiopians and every other nation, tribe, and people and cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7:10).

-Nate Weller

A Second Home

3/18/19

A Second Home

Hello from Ethiopia! A lot has happened over the last five days. I am amazed how God would allow me to come to this country after longing to do so for nearly a decade since we began adopting. I have already learned, experienced, seen, and done so much! I had always thought that being on the water in Canada while fishing for northern pike was my second home, but something hit me when I walked out of the airport. Ethiopia is my second home. After being connected to a country so many times through pictures and stories and other things, I still cannot believe that God would let me come to Ethiopia and give me all the opportunity’s I have already had here. It would take a long time to cover everything that I have done on this trip, so I will just overview a few things that God has gifted me with.

Ethiopia would be a very different place to learn how to drive! The only rule of thumb is that there are no rules. People speed, honk, swerve, and slam on their breaks all in a matter of five seconds. My Mom knows this, so when I told her that one of my goals for the week was to ride a motorcycle, she said that I shouldn’t. But Friday afternoon I had my chance: a pastor drove me, and another drove my youth pastor, Josh Bremerman, on their motorcycles through the Ethiopian streets to the restaurant at which we were eating lunch. The whole experience was something I will probably never forget! Then later that night we saw some monkeys with the most interesting personalities. They where running, climbing, fighting, and just being out right ridiculous.

On Sunday I was able to meet Chernet for the first time since God brought him into our lives nine years ago. I have prayed countless times for him, and to finally experience an answer was just amazing. As I write this, thoughts are flooding back from the last 9 years I have known about Chernet. Thoughts of joy, then tears, then healing, then the experience of when God worked a miracle by letting my Dad find him. As I walked into the church building on Sunday and gave him my first hug I was in awe that God would let me see him. While my Dad was preaching, Chernet would smile at me and want me to show him in my English Bible where we were reading from. It was one of the most special church services I have ever been to. After church, we changed our clothes and played with all the kids at the orphanage for the rest of the day. We played a lot of soccer and some basketball, picked fresh mangos out of the tops of the trees, and made kids laugh. It was so special, definitely the highlight of my time in Ethiopia so far. There is absolutely no way a writer at my level could explain how special it was to see my brother for the first time.

Monday was our first day at the teaching compound, training sixty church leaders. It was nice getting to know the trainees; it was fun to see their faces light up when I would remember their names. I picked Nate Weller’s group to follow around for the rest of the week. It was fun watching him teach. Mr. Nate did a very good job staying on schedule and yet teaching his guys how to know God and make Him known. I am exited to learn from him the rest of the week.

Though there is still a lot more that I could cover, I’ll just mention a few notes about the food. I have eaten doughnuts fried over an open fire, fresh mangos and bananas, charcoal grilled corn on the cob, and all kinds of Ethiopian food. I will let the future guys cover the rest. Thanks for all your prayers!

Isaac DeRouchie, age 15

Ministry in Wondo Genet

Sunday, March 17, 2019

(Post by Nick Roen)

Today I learned a few things about myself.

Number one, I learned why all the Ethiopians laugh when they hear my name. Apparently, in Amharic, Nick means “one who is nervous”. And when spoken as a question within the phrase “Nick neh?”, it means, “Are you crazy?” I think I might go by Nicholas from here on out. ;)

Number two, I learned that I apparently don’t get carsick anymore. Today, we traveled to Wondo Genet. It was a beautiful drive through mountain valleys and lush farm country. All 7 of our team piled into a Land Rover and began the 35-minute journey with high hopes of a peaceful drive seeing the Ethiopian countryside. These hopes were quickly dashed as we learned that we were late for church service. Since our team leader, Jason DeRouchie, was preaching this morning, we needed to make up some time, so our driver gunned it through the twists, turns, potholes, and bumps on the rough Ethiopian roads. He dodged oxen, narrowly missed donkeys, swerved around motorbikes, and passed pedestrians, all while going what I can only assume was the speed of sound. Normally, I would be leaning out the window losing my breakfast in the backseat of a drive like this. But today, friends, I had a stomach of steal. I credit my malaria pills for new super powers, the extent of which have yet to be discovered.

In addition to Jason preaching this morning, the reason we traveled to Wondo Genet today was to visit Cherinet, Jason’s adopted Ethiopian son. Because of changes in government policy, the DeRouchie family was never able to bring him home to America. Cherinet lives at Manna orphanage in Wondo Genet, so every time Jason is in-country, he goes to visit him. This trip was special because Jason’s son, Isaac, is along and this is the first time that he and Cherinet have been able to meet. Cherinet was waiting for us at church, and seeing he and Isaac embrace was so sweet to witness. Cherinet’s mother, Ababetch, is still living, though she can no longer care for Cherinet. (Cherinet is a single orphan, which in Ehtiopia means the child only has one living parent. A double orphan is a child that has lost both parents). So she was able to join us on our journey to Manna and spend the day with us. God is making much beauty out of an unbelievably broken situation.

Jason preached a wonderful sermon, and I got my first exposure to a charismatic evangelical Ethiopian church service. They put us stodgy Americans to shame in their exuberant praise and animated worship. I even had a horn blown in my face. It was beautiful. After church we headed to Manna for the day to spend time loving and playing with the children. We delivered supplies, played soccer, climbed trees, picked fresh mango and guava, attempted horrible magic tricks for the kids, sang songs; we gave hugs, piggy-back rides, and ourselves to these orphans. They have so little, and life has been exceedingly difficult.

Which leads to the third thing I learned about myself today. I learned that I am so prone to become numb to the suffering around the world. It isn’t that I don’t care. It’s just that we have so much in America, and when I am not daily confronted with the realities these children live in, it is easy for me to forget. So I pray that this might serve as a reminder to any who might be reading. We live in a Genesis 3 world, where sin and suffering abound. But God has a plan to exterminate the curse through his son Jesus, and in this age he is advancing his kingdom through the hands and feet of his church. So as Christians, we aim to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God (Micah 6:8). I got a small taste of that today, for which I am so grateful to God.

As we made the return trip to our hotel in Awasa, our team laughed at some jokes together. It was a sweet ride, but it made me realize how easy it is for me to simply leave behind the kind of poverty I’ve been immersed in over the past couple days. Cherinet doesn’t have that gift. But he does have Jesus. And in Christ, every tear will be wiped away and all injustice will one day be made right.

And so, “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17). 

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.