Random Thoughts before the trip

I just had my last night of sleep in my own bed for close to 2 weeks. Thinking about the trip is sort of ominous. I have traveled to many different places; all over the US, Europe, Brazil, Japan and India. I can't remember the last time I felt this uncertain of what the journey would hold.

I talked to Michelle yesterday and she told me that we would be driving about 5 hours out of Addis Ababa to a small town named Soddo. This is apparently going to be our hub. From Soddo we will drive another 1-1/2 toward the villages but will park the car and walk another hour-ish to the village. I asked "why are we walking so far, when we have a car?" She said, "There are no roads".

When was the last time you went to a "town" but had to walk the last hour? That is certainly different than anything I have experienced in America, or anywhere else for that matter.

Please pray for us as we go that we would be a light to those we come in contact with. Everyday, here in America, we are lights, but most of the time I am not thinking about that. I don't have any idea of the spiritual condition of the people we are going to see. We will see their financial condition, but as physically poor as they are, if they have Christ they are much better off than the wealthiest person you and I know here who is without Christ. If they don't know Christ they are doubly cursed.

This will be very difficult for me to see and my sweet wife is much more tenderhearted than I am. Pray for her that she might be able to remember that God is good, even as He allows some to be in these kinds of conditions, He also brings many to repentance.

Pray that we would be an encouragement to some along the way and that we would find ways to serve others as we are away. What a weighty task; to minister in some lasting way to those who have so little. How can anything really last in this part of the world? How can we make a difference that will not be gone with the first meal?

God's Amazing Grace to us is so Long and High and Wide and Deep, that it leaves me shaking my head. May His love be shed abroad in our hearts as we go to share The Hope with others. The vanity of this life will come into much clearer focus while we are on this trip. The need for a Savior should always be in clear focus. I need the Gospel just as much as these people we are going to see.

Can you imagine the gap between an Ethiopian village and the splendor of Heaven? The comparative difference between here and Ethiopia is really small in light of what Heaven is going to look like. Our fanciest dinner here is going to look like a village "meal" when compared to Heaven's feast.

Just some random thoughts this morning as I am preparing my heart to start this chapter/page of our life.