"It's like someone shoved a chocolate bar up your nose"

Here's a little taste of Ethiopia. The Bizarre Foods show from the Travel Channel did an episode about Ethiopia's unique food. Here are a couple videos that show an authentic Ethiopian coffee ceremony - something that is an integral part of the culture. The show host has an interesting description of the ceremony, which includes the above quote. To get the whole picture, at least watch the first video and the first minute of the second clip. There are more videos about other Ethoipian foods as well. I wouldn't recommend watching them over dinner :) Enjoy....

“Let justice roll on like a river”

This is a blog that we wrote for LSM's website. You can view more posts from other LSM employees at www.loving-shepherd.org/blog

Over 2,700 years ago, when the prophet Amos wrote these words, he was rebuking the people of Israel for depriving the poor of justice, building lavish mansions at the expense of those in poverty, and oppressing the vulnerable among them.

About three hundred years after Amos, when Nehemiah led Israel to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, the poor of the city cried out to him saying, “some of our daughters have already been enslaved” because they could not pay their debts. They continued saying that “we are powerless”. Nehemiah was not passive, he did not reply timidly. But he writes, “when I heard their outcry and these charges, I was very angry. I pondered them in my mind and then accused the nobles and officials.”

When Jesus began his ministry nearly two thousand years ago, He pointed to what Isaiah prophesied of Him, saying the Lord had anointed Him to “preach good news to the poor” and “release the oppressed”.

God’s followers throughout history have cried out for justice and spoken against the evils of slavery, oppression and exploitation of the vulnerable. We had the opportunity to visit Park Street Church in Boston a couple weeks ago. At this church, nearly 170 years ago on July 4th, William Lloyd Garrison once again challenged followers of Christ to fight against the Trans-Atlantic slave trade:

“I call upon the ambassadors of Christ everywhere to make known this proclamation: ‘Thus saith the Lord God of the Africans, Let this people go, that they may serve me.’”

As we sit here today, it’s estimated that over 27 million people are enslaved throughout our world and many millions more are exploited physically and sexually because of their poverty. That’s over twice the amount during Garrison’s time. It can seem staggering and overwhelming. Indeed it is. But at the same time we can pray for the vulnerable and we can speak out against the oppressors. We can go to Haiti and set the orphans in families to prevent the oppression. We can rescue exploited girls in Ethiopia, and empower them to live out their created intent. We can join the cause of Amos, Nehemiah, Jesus Christ and our God of justice to let Amos’s words ring true – let justice roll!

Why Ethiopia?

As most of you have probably heard, we are planning to move to Ethiopia this October to work there for about two years. Since it’s been almost two years since we’ve put anything on our blog, we decided it was time to start it up again. We’ve heard lots of questions like: Why would you want to move to Ethiopia? What will you be doing there? What are the conditions like? So we’ll take a little time here to explain the “what” and “why” of our future plans.

We both had a desire to serve the nations in some way. After we were learned more about each other and how God works in a couple united in Him, we began seeking God’s direction for our next life steps and how we could use the gifts He’s given us to serve the needs that burden our hearts. For Erica, that’s her counseling experience and for Kevin, his business and education background. Kevin has had a heart for poverty and disadvantaged youth, while Erica has a passion to serve those who are rescued from trafficking and prostitution. Over the past year, we were reading some in the prophets and Old Testament and God’s heart for justice jumps off the pages of Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Nehemiah, etc. And it continues throughout Jesus’ life.

So how does God combine all this? Well, after much prayer and several steps, God brought Loving Shepherd Ministries and us together. They serve orphans and vulnerable children around the world, especially in Haiti, and were desiring to build a home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for girls coming out of prostitution. Last December, Ed Schwartz, the president of LSM, visited Ethiopia. He spoke with a ministry who was working with girls rescued from prostitution and they voiced their greatest need was for the emotional needs of the girls, and for vocational training and sustainability of the homes. It was pretty evident God was connecting all the pieces better than we ever could have planned!

We’ll share more specifics soon because this post has been long enough…