Hi friends! Blessings to you! I hope this letter finds you all well and enjoying life! We are enjoying a lovely November morning in Soddo. Soddo is a mountain city in Southern Ethiopia. Lush and equatorial, there are many, many plants in bloom and making things like papaya, avocado, oranges, etc. Soddo is a sprawling, heavily populated (about 3 million or so populated!) Today we are going to participate in a food distribution and check out the orphanage that New Covenant Foundation is involved in supporting! We haven't toured the entire hospital compound but we have toured the gardens and eaten some amazing, mostly garden grown food. Our hosts here are delightful and we're happy for the home-like sense we have here -- it really helps soften the culture shock one encounters. To say Ethiopia is "on the other side of the world" is a statement that packs many meanings. It is difficult to describe, even with photo-journaling, and difficult to convey the spectrum of...
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The Risk of Embrace
I try to blame it on the fact that I have kids, and a twelve-year-old boy specifically, that I giggle like a child at bathroom jokes. You know, the ones along the vein, “Some people think it’s funny but it’s only hot and runny…”? (I admit, it’s not very mature, but stick with me and I promise this email will get meaningful.) So, a couple of weeks ago my doctor and I had a lengthy talk about diarrhea because diarrhea can be a real problem for the international traveler. Since we’re headed off to Africa, I had a few questions about what I was in for, digestionally speaking, and he seemed like the man with the answers. It took all of my concentration to keep a straight face while he explained the details of the subject while repeating “diarrhea” over and over again throughout the discussion. Deep breaths, Alyssa , I thought, you can get through this without laughing! All I could think of was how hilariously my kids would laugh at this story. But I resisted a chuckle and tried n...
Hello friends! Well, we're down to just a few weeks before we begin our adventure! We'll be leaving November 7 from Spokane and we'll be spending two weeks in Ethiopia, visiting the ministries the New Covenant Foundation supports. Much of this year, I, (Alyssa), have wondered about what purpose God has for me in making this trip . A few people have asked, "Why do both of you have to go? Why not just Angelo? What about your kids? Can you afford this?" I've certainly asked those questions myself, and honestly, I haven't had the answers. For those of you who know me well, just "Alyssa being okay with the reality of not having all the answers" is a big thing. Angelo and I would like to ask you: To Pray: for financial provision for our trip expenses and for our at-home expenses while we're away for his vision to look for ways that our friends and church family (Life Center, Spokane) can partner with God's work in Ethiopi...
Hello and blessings, friends! God is a great storyteller, isn’t he? He knows we love a great tale with relatable, developing personalities and satisfying endings. We love to struggle along with the characters and cry and rejoice with them. Hasn’t God forever been in the midst of humanity sharing in our stories and, by his grace and love, redeeming us? Perhaps it’s that thread of redemption throughout the Bible that makes it the best selling book of all time. Psalm 130:7 says, “For with the Lord there is mercy, And with him there is abundant redemption.” He is always drawing his creation back to himself. He has done that with us by redeeming our lives and giving us purpose and value and the best story to tell (Psalm 40, Colossians 3:16). In the midst of extreme poverty in Ethiopia, he is redeeming: the land, the people, the children and babies. Tucked between stacks of insurmountable statistics of malnourishment, illiteracy, poverty and AIDS are his stories ...
A lot of people have been asking the question, "Why are you and your wife going to Africa of all places?" To be honest with you Africa would not be on the short list of places where I would consider going 5 years ago. In fact, apart from the Serengeti, there isn't a place in Africa that I really want to see, but I can summarize the reason Alyssa and I are so passionate about going to Africa, specifically Ethiopia in two words, Werku Golle. Werku is a mountain of a man. He has a smile that warms your heart and gives hugs that seem to last forever. When he speaks about what God is doing in Ethiopia, you are glued to his every word. I personally could listen to him for hours. And his passion for ministry and evangelism in Ethiopia is so contagious you literally want to come along side him and get to work. When he talks about sending the, "warriors (Ethiopian evangelists) for Jesus out to the world to save the people from sin and death" he really means it. I am g...
Let the Journey Begin!
Life verses. Many Christian believers have life verses that define or shape who they are in Christ. Mine is a simple two word command. It's found in Matthew 9:9: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. Follow me . Two simple yet very powerful words that can and do change lives. I know because it changed mine. As my wife and I prepare for our trip to Africa I wanted to share some earlier journal notes that I have. The following is one of my first journal entries. I wrote this on February 8, 2009. This will give you a glimpse of my hearts cry and give you an idea of why I am doing what I am doing. I can't tell you how totally awesome God is. Today at church the worship literally had me weeping uncontrollably. I know that now I must go overseas somewhere. Africa, Cambodia, the Philippines wherever and see where I can be useful in Gods kingdom. Is ...