Yesterday, today and forever

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A few days ago, on that wonderful day when we were certain that our final approval was going to happen, I was driving through town on the way back to the office from the store and my phone rang.   I pulled the car over to the side of the road (yes, there are cell phone while driving laws here too)

“Yabi!” I answered, almost beside myself to hear his voice on the other end of the line, knowing that today was a special day, and he likely had good news for me. “Are we going to have a meeting?!”

“Hi Levi” He replied, in a low whisper.  “Are you near the government office?”  He asked.

“I could get there in a half hour”

“They just called me and I was down the street, they say that I can get in with the head of the department in five minutes” He said, his voice almost in an inaudible hush.  “I am sitting in the waiting room now, come as fast as you can”

I hung up the phone and pulled back into traffic and started off towards where Yabi was, just then a woman stepped out into the street and her eyes met mine.  She had a small baby strapped to her back, and two more small children tugging at her tattered dress.

“One Birr” She said, and immediately both of her children’s hands stretched out towards my window.

I told her in Amharic I will ask God to bless her, and drove on.  Almost too much in a hurry to notice her or any of the hundreds of others just like her who line the streets of this overcrowded city.

A few blocks down the road traffic came to a standstill and I my racing mind was forced to sit still.

Another woman came to my window which is permanently open because of the lack of air conditioner in our van.  This one had only one small baby which she held up close to me and placed his hand on my arm.

“God!” I cried out to my self.  “Please bless this meeting, bless this person who we are going to meet with and move this traffic along so that I can get there on time.”

Ten minutes later, after all the cars around me had shut off their engines, giving up on the hope of ever moving, I finally gave in and realized that I would not be able to make it.

Yabi was going to have to do this on his own.

I pulled out my phone and began to type in a message letting him know that I would not be there and before I could one came through from him.

“I am going in”

I looked at the small letters on my screen and it was like a flood opened up of emotion.  The meeting, the big important meeting that we had been waiting so very long for was happening!  I did not even care that I was not going to be there, the meeting was happening!  And that meant we would be placing children in their new families!

The last year of struggles with the paperwork-raising money-figuring out how to do something like create new families from widows and orphans-visas….  So many deep dark disappointments-so many victories, and here I was sitting in traffic while the good news was going to be delivered.

“God, please put your hand on this meeting” I called out almost yelling to Him “Let your praise be heard from the voices of the orphans who will be raised up to lead this country, let your glory come from all of this.”

The flood of emotion was almost unbearable.

“God this is your country, these are your people, and you are about to do a great work among them, and I thank you for the opportunity that you have given us to be a part of it.”

I snapped back to reality and realized that I needed to let Jessie know what was happening.

“Yabi is in the meeting!!!” I punched into my phone.

“Wonderful!” She replied.

A few minutes later the traffic started to move and I decided that it would be better to go home instead of crashing an important meeting like this one 30 minutes late.  Back at the house Jessie and I talked of how wonderful it would be to be moving kids in.

“I wonder if it will be today, like are they ready to go, or will it be tomorrow” I said, almost giddy with anticipation.

“I am sure it will not take long” Jessie replied. I can clearly remember how her eyes were glowing with a fiery passion.   Little in this world gets Jessie excited like helping an orphan.

An hour later the call came in.  Yabi was talking so fast I could hardly understand him.

“I don’t know” He kept saying.  “I just don’t know what is happening”

“But what does it all mean” I asked.  Jessie’s eyes were trying to penetrate into my head as she sat next to me trying to read the expressions on my face.

“I am not sure, but they are saying that we need to come back another day, and that the process to take kids into our care is not over”

“Was there a problem”

“I don’t know”

A few minutes back and fort and I finally gave up trying to get anything more out of him.

“We will pray” I said, almost too weak to think of praying any more, but trying to reassure him that it was ok”

But was it ok? I wondered to myself.  Would we be able to get through another disappointment?

The questions flew fast as Jessie tried to get information out of me that I did not have.

“We just have to wait and see” I said, knowing that my explanation was hardly sufficient.

Three days later we now understand a bit more about what happened, and thankfully are getting a grip on what the next steps are.  As you can imagine we have not stopped working on this since the moment we got that call, I think that Jessie and I have not slept even one full night this week if you were to put all the nights together.

There are two things happening, and although we are about as ready as you could ever be for the marathon to be over, we are realizing that there is nothing wrong with the process that we are going through.  This is just how it is, and for good reason.

The woman who needs to sign the last piece of paper for us sees many projects come across her desk every week.  Many of which are ill conceived, and underfunded, that is if there is any funding at all.   When she saw our project she assumed that we were another one of those unprepared projects, and when she looked at our paperwork and saw that we were asking for permanent placements, and not temporary placements… She just backed off and said that she would take a look later, and that she had many other things on her incredibly overworked desk to look at before she got to our “fly by night” project.

Now. As I am sure you know, we are not putting together anything of the sort! We have planned, re-planned, and done everything possible to create what we believe to be the best most wholesome solution to the orphan crisis in Ethiopia. A project that not only thinks about the needs of one orphan, but rather the community that they came from, and the community that they will grow to be leaders of.  So much so that every single inspector who has come to see our project has said they have never seen anything like this before.

At the end of the day,  yes this was a disappointment for us to not get the approval we were looking for, but at the same time we understand that what we are asking is not a small thing.   We are not placing kids for a week, or even a year but rather for a lifetime.  And if that means that the process is going to take another little while for us to get through it, then so be it.  The license is already approved and what we are waiting for is small compared to what is behind us.

God is still as good as ever!  And we are praying that He will take the wheel here.

Thanks so much for praying with us.

 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

 

Levi

This too shall pass

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I have been writing and re-writing the post in my head that I was hopefully going to be able to put on here after we got the documents signed yesterday. We were so sure that the approval would happen that the house mothers spent the day preparing food for the kids…  Yet, it is with a heavy heart that we must come to you and tell you that things did not go as we had hoped.  Instead of getting our documents signed we were greeted with a confusing run around.  The marathon must continue.

I will not get into detail here, as it would be counterproductive to air it all publicly.  But we want to ask that you pray with us for the person who has our documents and the power to allow us to start placing children in these new families.

Needless to say we are weary today, and our family could use your prayers as well. We were certain that this would be the week when we started getting children, and we do not have it in us to run another lap without His strength.

Later today we are scheduled to go back into the office and hopefully get more clarity on what it is that is holding things up, and what, if any steps are necessary on our end.

Please pray with us, there is clearly a war going on spiritually over the good that will come into these kids lives.  And please share this with your friends, so together we can cry out to God for Him to intervene.

Levi

Today (and how we got here)

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I realize that it is very likely that many of you who are reading might not read often, or might just be joining us on this journey.  I actually woke up today and was going to write a quick update, but then thought some more and came to the conclusion that it would be completely out of context for many of you.

And so… I am going to try and catch you up.  A how-we-got-here to where we are at today.

We are Levi and Jessie Benkert (well this is Levi writing, but you know what I mean) and we live in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with our four children  We moved to Ethiopia from America three years ago to be directors of a project called Drawn From Water, where we worked to rescue children who had been deemed cursed by their tribe and were to be killed.  We spent two years working among the tribes and during that time rescued more than 30 children.  Then.  After some changes in the way the tribes viewed our assistance as outsiders, and a shift in policy that meant the government was performing rescues and not allowing organizations such as ours to do the same work any longer.   We took some time to step back and as a family consider what we should do next.

We felt that so much had been invested in our “education” of working with the people of Ethiopia, and at the same time there was this overwhelming need all around us for orphans to be given families…   And so Bring Love In was born.

A project that gives orphans here in Ethiopia new families locally.

We work with local churches to find respectable, admirable Christian women who either were abandoned or who’s husbands had died. And we place them with orphans in homes who together become a new family.

Our plan is not for just a few houses though!  Just one of the places where the government holds children who have lost family has 150 beds and 375 children.   The resources to care for orphans are simply not available in this country.  And we are planning to do what we can to give families to as many of these children as possible. All the while helping raise up a generation of leaders who will help their home country in the future.

So far we have gone through a tremendously difficult process to get licensed at the highest level available in this country for orphan care. At the end of all this we are now essentially “government partners” and able to take children directly from the government orphanages and place them in our new families where they will remain until they are grown.

I could go on and on about how complicated and difficult this process has been, but in the end it is more important to say that all of this effort was more than worth it even if it were just for one child.  But it isn’t just one child!   Our agreement with the government calls for us to place 60 children in our new families before the end of the year, and to sponsor another 50 families within the community that we work in.  Families who are living in conditions where their children may become orphaned because of a lack of resources.   So, in effect, we are here for both children who have been orphaned already, widows who have no opportunity to get ahead, and families who are at risk of loosing their children because they do not have enough resources to meet their own basic needs.   We are here for the whole community.

And so, that brings us to today.

We now have an office with the most wonderful, brilliant local staff, all of whom are highly educated, and chomping at the bit to get started.

We have two homes set up and completely finished (house mothers and all!), with another three homes that we are working on getting started in the coming weeks.

On Friday of last week, we had our final inspection on the project and things went very well!  Yet, after the inspection we were told that there is one final approval signature that is needed on the paperwork before they can transfer children to us.  And… The government official who needs to sign is sick and has been in the hospital.     (grrrr)

Today, we want to ask that you pray with us that this person would get well soon, and that this document would be signed and we could start creating new families here in Ethiopia.   The sooner we get these first homes opened, the sooner we can go on to start getting more families created and give more orphans the love that they deserve.

Thank you!

 

Levi

 

 

Levi

How cool is this?!?

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Today I wanted to take you on a tour of one of our new forever family houses. (Hint: It’s much better in full screen mode)

Also, great news… Our final inspection has been officially scheduled for Friday morning!  If we pass this one we are 100% finished with the set up phase, and will be officially able to start placing kids from the government orphanages in their new forever families.    How incredible is that!   We just feel so excited and blessed today to see the finish line (that is actually in a way the starting line) in the horizon.   Praise God!

On a side note, the book that I wrote is getting released in just six weeks, Amazon has it already, and are allowing pre-orders.   We are really excited about that too.   Lots of good things going on today.  Just had to share them all with you!

Levi

How to count your blessings

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My eyes slowly adjust to the dim light that is starting to glow through the curtains, I can feel the muscles in my body beginning to protest. “Just a little more sleep” the tell me, as they push me back into my bed.   A few minutes later I get the tangled laces to cooperate between my uncoordinated morning-fingers and tighten the shoes onto my feet.

Out on the trail outside our house I am greeted by the sun as it’s first brilliant pink rays flitter through the smog and onto my face.  Off in the distance around the neighborhood three different orthodox churches are wailing ancient songs of praise to God into their loudspeakers. In a way I admire them, their devotion, their consistency, but at the same time I spend a part of every morning thinking of what it would be like if I were to get up the guts to go cut the wires to the speakers and block out the obnoxious crackling-singing that fills the air. I toss this thought aside and instead take in the beautiful lush green grass, the brown grass huts, the Ethiopian mountains that tower in the distance. The sun still slowly rising beyond all of it.

I am forever fascinated by the rising sun, a new chance to start.

A gift from heaven.

Once every day.

I stop my jog and watch as the glowing orb bursts it’s glory into the sky. “Thank you God” I whisper.  “Thank you for all of the blessings that you have given me, for my beautiful children, my incredible wife, for the project that you have birthed here in Ethiopia, for money that has come in this week to pay the bills, for a roof over our heads, for another new day.”

A few laps up and down the path later and I am back on the couch, Jessie and the kids are still sleeping, the morning has not yet begun and I am relishing in the few moments of peace that I have before the avalanche comes down the stairs.

Breakfast.

Ready to start school.

The phone that will be ringing in my pocket from people who need me for one thing or another.

Email.

The project that still needs our every breath.

I open my bible and begin to read in Matthew 5.

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” 

I read the words and consider the blessings that I counted out to Him in my prayer not ten minutes ago. Yes, I have been at the end of my rope lately, but that is not what I was thanking God for…

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.” 

Really?  I wonder to myself out loud.   Blessed when we have lost what is most dear to us?  Whoa!  Wasn’t I just adding up all of the things most dear to me and thanking God for them?

I think back to the times when I have lost what is most dear. My business with millions of investor’s savings. My brother to suicide.  My best friend to liver disease.

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.” 

The light is beginning to come on inside my heart, like the sun rising in the East and flooding my soul with the truth of what Jesus was saying with these words. He was trying to tell us that in moments like these, when the darkness seems to have overwhelmed, and the light is nowhere to be seen, that is when we so easily fall to our knees broken before Him, and let Him come in and brighten every place.

I fell to my knees this week, I feel to my knees each time that tragedy struck my family, and I nearly broke them in the process.  And… Yes, that was where God met me every time, down there in the dirt, with my face buried in my tear soaked hands.

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.”

I put the Bible down and start to think of these words, their life changing depth, and absolute reversal of the way that I have been trained to think.  God wants so fiercely for me to love Him, for me to fall head over heels for Him, that He will even ask that I rejoice when I am persecuted in His name.  It is almost scandalous to think like this when sitting in a modern church today in America. Persecution feels so far..

But we are called to praise Him because of it, in the middle of it.

The truth here is that God wants our hearts, and that he wants us to come to the place in our relationship with Him that we look back and relish in the low points because that was when we were the closest to Him.  He wants us to value Him, more than all that was lost.

We were not made to be made much of ourselves, but to glorify the one who sent us, and to make much of Him and His love for us and those around us.  Our blessings do not lie ultimately in the possessions or even the relationships with people, but in God who created us to love Him, and to be loved by Him.

Lets learn in this today.  Learn to love Him most, and to see the blessing in the pain that drives us to Him.

Levi

 

Overwhelmed…Thankful….Hopeful…Happy

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The little letters at the top of my screen are flashing 9:59 PM and we are finally letting the day draw to an end here, there are still more things in today’s list of things to do than have been checked off, but we have just got to call it somewhere or we will never be ready to rise and do it again tomorrow.

Today was big, and good, in so many ways. I cannot settle on the right words to describe it.. Overwhelmed…Thankful….Hopeful…Happy…  We had the second of three inspections (Yes, at first we heard it was only going to be two, but there was one person who is coming alone next week) and it went very well!  Our project is the exact model of what the  Ethiopian government calls their “first priority” for orphan care models. For each of the three officials who came to visit today, this was the first time they had seen a “family style” orphan care project in real life. The response was overwhelmingly positive!   And I think if we were not so beat down tired from getting ready for these inspections we would be jumping up and down and praising God right now!

My soul is doing backflips, but my body is plastered to this bed.

In the end there were no changes that any one of the officials asked for!  They only had positive things to say, and all of them went back to their offices and wrote letters of support for our project.   I can hardly even find words to explain how valuable these letters are here in Ethiopia.   Big stuff!

Jessie and I have been so overwhelmed with all of the generous support and kind words that we have been getting from all of you.  People who we have never even met are opening up their hearts and giving big to help Bring Love In, and the money squeeze that has been going on while we set up the project.  We could not be more thankful for all of you.  In a way this is the most humbling experience we can remember.  We keep both saying to each other; “Can you believe the amazing people that God has gathered together to make this happen?”  And the answer is No.  Neither of us can believe it, or understand the bigness that is God.

Two days ago I watched as the new house mothers for our first two homes came into the Intake center with all of their personal belongings in tow.  They had finished their training and were getting ready to move into their new homes, each of them had big happy smiles on their faces, ready to take on this new mission in their lives.  I kept going in and out of the room grabbing a stack of donation boxes and taking them up to Jessie who was doing the most incredible job organizing the donation room, and I stole glances at these women as they sat in the plastic chairs that line the wall in the living room that we have set up as a makeshift office, you could almost feel the joy emanating form them.  These four women have been through some of the hardest things in their lives, and today they were starting anew.  It was beautiful.  I wish I could have gotten inside their heads and felt what it was like for them.   After a few moments, Marshet came in and told them that she had keys for their new houses and that she was going to walk them over and get them settled in.  I did not go with them because we had to keep working on things at the Intake Center, but it was a moment in time that I wanted to share with you, and to thank you all for making this happen.  Although we always talk about the orphans who are being given families, this means so much for the widows who will becoming their new mothers as well.

Soon, a deeper more well written post, I promise.  But for now, we just want to write and say thank you, and even though we are tired and worn thin, God is moving, and it so so amazing to think that only one more inspection stands in the way before we get to start creating new families.  (This last inspector is rumored to be a wonderful person who will likely be thrilled with the project that we have created… But please do pray that this goes well)

Ok.  Off to bed.

Thank you!

 

Levi

 

Faith, and some voice-shaking honesty

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The irony of my writing this post, today, just after the last post about lessons on faith, is not lost on me.  I am pretty much up to speed on the fact that God likes to teach and re-teach on this subject often. (Insert long drawn out sigh here)  Even though Jessie and I feel like we want to crawl into a hole and ask Him to let the rain come another day, I found myself having to go back and read my own words about “seasons”, “His timing”, and our complete “dependence” on Him every day, and to try and stand today on these week knees while trying to keep our eyes on Him.

I must however move forward through this right now, because part of me is dreaming about how much more fun it would be to write all about how we have it together, and how we succeed at everything we put our minds to over here with this project, yet I would be remiss if I were to one day write about how important it is to be honest when we fail, and then to fake it the next.  So this post, however uncomfortable to write, is about letting the raw-heart of life and the journey of faith, hang out there.  (Which, it turns out, is another lesson in faith in it’s own right.)

Now that I have your oh-so perked attention….   Let me dive in here.

This week has been a struggle for us. No way to say it with other words.  Today, we are getting ready for the first of two final government inspections that will allow us to start taking in children from the government orphanage into our new Forever Families.

But, now let me say this next part in no uncertain terms; The getting-ready for this inspection has taken a toll on our family and all of the staff here who work with us. Emotionally, it has been a push like no other.  I don’t know how to describe it, other than to say that there has been so much invested in this, and all this intense build up to the “getting kids” moment, and at the same time there are so many components that needed to come into place to get this all to happen…  It was just a lot, and a lot went wrong this week.

The goal when we started out last week, was to have the first two homes fully set up before the inspection. I know, many of you in other places that are not Ethiopia are thinking “No big deal” but trust me when I say, getting everything that we needed for these houses was a lion sized task that took every hour of every day, and even now, we are not even finished.

Grrrrrr

At the end of the day today; we have one house with everything we need inside it (not set up, but at least in the building), but the second one… We had a bit of a miscommunication with the landlord and the keys only showed up just now, a few hours before the inspection was scheduled. (Thankfully the call just came in a bit ago that they are rescheduling us for tomorrow morning at 7 AM)

Then, the next part here has me wondering why I ever though I could speak with any authority on the topic of faith…..  Money has gotten beyond tight this week. Although Jessie and I keep telling each other in reassuringly calm voices “He is in charge” secretly we both are worried sick about how little money there is right now in the Bring Love In account.

Yes, we have a special account with money in it for a van purchase (one that we will buy as soon as we get that approval letter from the government allowing us to own a vehicle (long story for another day…)) and we even have money for the three next Forever Family Home’s set up expenses, but all of that is in restricted accounts, and it seems like the “general funds” account is dropping about as fast as the American government’s deficit is growing.

The unexpected expenses came out of the woodwork this week, and they were not pretty; Things like two dining room table and chair sets that cost double what we had budgeted for, the truck that needed to take ten trips across town to deliver the furniture (and was not in the budget), the home that was a great price (monthly) but needed an entire set of kitchen cabinets before we could move the family in, the list goes on… and the account goes down.

So here I am, the guy who said… I have learned all of this, and this, and that, about faith, getting a whammy of a faith lesson today.   Learning again to fall on my knees first with the struggles of this world, and give them all to the One who can handle anything.

God is good!  He is in charge, and He does have a plan in place for everything that we see before us; we know all of that, and yet when Jessie and I sit together and look at the account and see zero, and then look ahead and see more expenses coming, we find a faith-challenge before us that requires a new kind of trust in Him that we know little about.

I am fully aware that this might be a little to much voice-shaking honesty for you, but what was all that about faith if I won’t be honest two days later when the pop quizzes seem to be coming before the lesson was even taught.

So, here we are today before you, people who stepped out into the uncomfortable in hopes that He would catch-us and use-us, and today we are finding that it is oh-so dark here inside these blindfolds and our wobbly feet seem to be finding only rocks and no path.

If you could pray for us, for strength, stronger faith and some extra funds right now to help get Bring Love In past this phase of getting the first (of hopefully many) new families created, we would be so grateful.

Thank you

 

Levi

 

10 things I have learned about faith while living in Ethiopia

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1. Jesus didn’t say we need to have faith like a mustard seed for no reason.  

Faith is hard.   Simple as that.

Ever send your kid out on a mission?

“Go on little Jonny and get me these things from the store” You say as you hand the little man the car keys and list of groceries for the week.

“Ok!” He says, smiling as he turns and heads for the door.  Then he stops, looks down at his tiny three-year-old body and calls out.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

No.  You give appropriate tasks for your child’s age, you ask your three year old to pick up the toys in his room, and then you move in beside him to help him get the work done, you know what he is capable of and you work around it.

When it comes to faith we were created more like three year olds than grown-ups. He asks that we have faith as little as a mustard seed because He knows that is all that we can possibly muster, and then he moves in beside us and helps us get the work done.

We need to start being real about the fact that when we pretend in this area it is damaging to others and to ourselves, and we need to learn that it is okay for us to be honest that He created us to need Him.

 

2. The worst of sinners

Paul puts it perfectly in 1 Timothy 1:15

Here is a trustworthy statement that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and have eternal life. 

We need to shed our perfect-got-it-all-together attitudes and be before anything else, honest about the wretchedness that lies in our hearts and our need for Him. It is impossible to offer any genuine help to another, or connect with God ourselves, from a place of pretending we have it all together.

 

3. There is little worse than calling yourself a “wretch” but thinking inside that you are really “hot stuff”. 

This one goes hand in hand with number 2. Yes, it is important to know our dependency on Him, but faking it just shows that we are using Him for our own identity needs and not letting Him really fill the space in our hearts that was created to for Him to live inside.

I like to think of this as a thermometer as to how I am doing on the inside.  Do I feel the need to pretend to others that I need Him?

Then something is wrong.

 

4. Practice never makes perfect 

Faith is not something that you can ever attain like a merit badge.  We don’t wake up one day and have just enough tests behind us so that we can say we have faith figured out.

Faith is a journey, one that constantly needs attention, and our dependency on Him never gets any less. The more we learn, the more we discover of our need for Him.

 

5. I am more scared of the peaks than the valleys  

When there is money in the bank, food in the cupboards, the van seems to be on a good streak and has been starting every morning…  That is when I find the most danger of forgetting my dependence on Him.

I believe that sometimes life calls for a little recklessness abandon so that we get closer to him.  This might mean we have to give up “comfortable” on purpose.

Never have I seen a time when God did not honor giving up our own comfort to help those around us.  Never.

No, I am not saying that comfortable is wrong, or that we should never seek to take care of our own, but I am saying that when we find our comfort (or seeking comfort) getting in the way of having a real relationship with Him, then it is time to consider doing something drastic.

Being close to Him is always more important than anything this world has to offer.

 

6. We are not capable of deciding what will better God’s kingdom

Another trap that I fall into when it comes to faith is believing that we know what God needs from us, or what plan He has for our lives (or the lives of others).

John Piper puts it this way.  “We are held accountable for being wise, not influential”

Think on that one.

He wants us to do our best, but to let Him handle who we are going to reach, and how it will all work out in the end.

We may never know of those reached because of our action to help a child on the street, who then went on to evangelize to millions.  We might only know that we were being obedient on the day when we helped that child.

God can handle the plans.  We cannot.

 

7. This place where you are, is exactly where you are supposed to be. 

God never has us in a place where He does not want us to be. Yes, we may have strayed from what is good, but he always has a plan for this place-this here today.  The question is if we are learning the lessons that He has for us in this season. So often I have stayed stuck for months or even years longer than I should have because I failed to stop and ask Him what it was that He wanted for me to learn from this season.

 

8. His timing is not our own. 

This might be obvious, but yet I screw this one up all the time and so it made it here on the list today.

So often I get stuck thinking that when He comes through at the last minute it is because He did not care. But we need to remember that He does what He does for a reason, and though we will never understand the great-mystery that is Him, we can learn to embrace His timing in our lives and much fruit will come of learning to be at peace in His seasons.

 

9. There is no substitute for digging into the word every day. 

Simple as that.

Faith may not be something you will ever attain fully, but it is something we can loose (no not salvation, but faith).

If we are not reading our Bible and seeking His wisdom in our lives daily, we are on the path to having no faith left.

 

10. There is nothing special about living in Ethiopia (or any other country). 

It does not matter what country you practice your trade in, what is important is that we all stand up and accept the calling that He has for us.   We are all called to be fishers of men, all called to show His love for others on this earth, and where we do it, or how we are paying the bills could not matter in the least.

I admit, I used to buy into the whole “moved to the other side of the planet to be the hands and feed of Jesus” line.   But its wrong!  God wants all of us to show His love regardless of where we live.  And to be honest I think that “full time missionaries” do a lot of damage for the rest of us who are trying to live out His calling for us but have not been called to move.  I say, screw the labels!  We all are missionaries, we all are called, and we all have a role to play, none less or more than another.

 

How about you?  Any lessons about faith etching into your heart lately?   Tell us about your journey, what is God teaching you today?

 

Levi

 

Keep your hands in your pockets and hope for the best

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My plan this morning was to spend an hour writing back to the more than 40 messages that are sitting in my inbox before we head out shopping again…  But, the internet is down, and these are Facebook messages so I cannot even open them to see what they say, let alone reply without getting online. Grrrrr.   I looove the network here, just love it.

So, instead I am going to try a little detour here and try to use my buzzing-with-tasks-for-today brain and write something for you.  (Doomed from the start to be the worst blog post ever written)

It is good to be here in the office and see things hopping, behind me Titina our new psychologist is setting up her desk and preparing the lesson plan for todays new-mother training.  On the other side of the room Marshet is working on getting purchase orders filled out and approved so that her and I can go to Mercato this morning and buy kitchen supplies for the new homes. And in nearly every other room of this place someone is doing something to get ready for the kids to come to us. Curtains are being hung, kitchens are being arranged, shelves installed, bathrooms cleaned, donations organized, the lease for our third forever family house is being signed, and papers of all sorts are being filed.  Like I said, the place feels ready to take flight.  And, after so many months of drudging through paperwork, and planning for all of this, I can hardly explain the joy that fills my heart just being here and watching it all come alive.

So far we are still on schedule to get these houses finished this week and call for our inspection, like I mentioned when this week started. We are praying that this productive streak continues and that we are able to pull this off.

I can hardly wait to start getting kids in and to be able to tell their stories and write about the redemption that is taking place in their lives.  I am not even joking when I say that I tear up when I think about how great that is going to be. I feel in a way like our whole lives have been leading up to this moment, like God was preparing us for this before we even could find Ethiopia on a map.  God is good, and this journey to the place where we are able to do this for these kids who have been orphaned is one that has been soaked in his grace and love.

Today, this simple post in the middle of a busy day is about thankfulness from a man who is sitting in a room, in a place ready to explode with the heart of God for orphans.

It’s good!  Really-really good.

Ok, the purchase orders are done and Marshet is ready for me to head over to Mercato with her…  They say it is Africa’s largest outdoor market.  I am just hoping we get through this with our getting anything stolen.  The prices are good though, so it is worth the risk, (or so the thinking goes) and I am just going to keep my hands in my pockets and hope for the best.

 

Levi

A plan

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You can pretty much always count on the fact that while living in Ethiopia, predicting when anything will be finished is a bad idea.  Yet, despite having learned that lesson more times that we can count, I am going to try here to tell you what our next week is going to look like.

We sat down with the Bring Love In staff late last week and everyone agreed on a plan;  Our goal now that the office is finished (or at least mostly finished) is to get the first two forever family houses ready for inspection by the end of the week.  It’s a monumental task to be sure, but I think we just might be able to do it.

On Friday I posted pictures of our furniture shopping trip, one that will likely continue its brutal path throughout the first two or three days of the coming week.  If however we are successful in collecting all of the items that we need for these homes, we will then focus on getting everything in the houses and looking nice.  God willing we may actually be able to pull this off…

The nice thing is that we are not alone any more, for the past 6+ months it has just been us and Yabi handling all of the project tasks, but now we have been joined by the first 12 staff members. And this week we will be adding more to those numbers as we will hire and train the mother’s helpers for these first homes.

My job this week is to drive to and fro about Addis Ababa with Marshet in search of every remaining item on our long list.  Yabi will stay back at the office where he will oversee the training of the mothers that is happening, and continue to work on the lease paperwork for the houses. (among a long list of other things)  Even though we are only purchasing furniture for the first two homes, Yabi is already working on leasing next three and we hope to open those as quickly as possible.

Please pray that these tasks get done, and that we are able to pull this off by the end of the week.  It would be so nice to turn in our request for an inspection and get past that hurdle.   (Read; kids! kids! kids!)

Lastly, I have a request for you.  We are nearing the end of the month, and finances are tight.   We have had several out of budget expenses that came up for the set up of these houses and office, and we are feeling the squeeze.   If you would consider helping out with giving this month it would be a big relief, it would really be nice to focus our energy on getting the work done instead of looking at the finances wondering if we are going to run out of money.    I know that God will provide, and I would like to say that we never worry, but this faith thing is an ongoing learning process, it is not easy to get something like this open, the faith-stretching is beyond what we ever have learned before.  We are trying to remember to look backwards at the needs he has provided for already when we need some encouragement instead of forwards to the ones that we do not have money in the bank to cover.

I could go on and on about faith, and how we are learning-failing-learning-failing in this area.  Maybe one day I will write a post about it.

 

In the mean time let me just say thank you for everything!  We are so blessed to be here doing this work, and have you along with us praying and doing your part to make this happen!

We love you!

Levi

 

On Friday in Ethiopia

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This was the sun that rose in the East.

This was the coffee grinder that lost it’s lid.

This is the lake the formed on our street.

This is the furniture factory where we looked for couches.

These are the men who made the couches.

These were the stairs that led to the “showroom”

This was the boss who gave us the prices.

These are the couches that sat in the showroom.

This was the traffic that took hours to get through.

This was the coffee that helped get me through the day.

This was the man who will make us our new bed frames.  (All 20 of them)

This was the welder that will use to make the beds.

This was the shop that the welder was used in, where our beds are being made.

This was the factory that will make us our mattresses.  (All 40 of them)

This was Marshet (who works for Bring Love In) and negotiates like a tiger.  (That Priceline guy has nothing on her!)

And these were the papers that planned a trip to America where we can hopefully raise the money to come back and do this all again!

I am sure you already guessed, but I am going to tell you again anyway!  We are setting up the forever family houses, and getting ready for kids.   How awesome is that!  The other thing I am sure you already guessed is that it takes just a wee bit of tenacity to get things done around here. Crossing things off your to-do list is kind of like swimming across the English Channel.  Long, tiring and the mountains off in the distance never seem to get any bigger no matter how long you have been swimming. I am exhausted after the whirlwind that today was, and am going to go to bed.  No more writing from me.    (Which is why I chose pictures today)

Levi

 

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The love of a mother

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“Can you please let us in there?” I ask as stand just to the side of the 500 person long line that I am determined not to wait in with my four children, and point to the sliding doors that lead to where we want to be.

 

“No” The tall slender Ethiopian man who is responsible for the door replies, hardly glancing my way, and clearly uninterested in a conversation with another person who wants to get special treatment.

 

“But the children are cold” I say, considering falling to my knees and begging.

 

“These are the rules and you have to get in the back” He shoots back in broken English and turns towards the next person in line and takes a little pink ticket, ripping it in half. “No ticket, no get in” He adds.

 

“Can we not go in?”  Luella, my oldest daughter asks, her eyes almost pained as she tugs on the bottom of my shirt.

 

“We are going to keep trying” I say as I lean down to pick up little Everly. Her third birthday is coming up next week and Jessie, (if we can ever get to her), has presents in her luggage for the party.

 

“Is Mama here yet” Everly says as she swings her legs across my right hip and leans into the warmth of my body.

 

“Soon, sweetie, soon” I pull her closer to me and look around in desperation, unsure what to do next.

 

The cold night air is blowing harder than I had expected and despite my best efforts to come to the airport prepared, (if for not other reason than to show Jessie that I could handle this single parenting thing,) we are all under dressed and now the wet taste in the air and gusty winds are telling of rain.  Down below there is a line that looks like it is about an hour long to get the pink tickets that we need for this door, but even once we have those the line to get in this door for the people who have tickets is even longer.

 

“Go get a ticket and come back” The same tall Ethiopian man says from behind me.  “Get ticket, and see me”

 

I thank him and head off towards the ticket booth relieved that at least we will be able to get past one of these lines.

 

Truth is I am more than ready for Jessie to be back, I held it together okay, we did lots-of activities, and I worked in the evenings to try and stay on top of things with the project, but after 21 days of single parenting, I could just about throw myself into Jessie’s arms when I see her. Of two things I am sure, first; I am madly in love with Jessie.  Second; she balances this family out in a way that I could never even come close to. I might be able to help feed and clothe these kids, but she shows love to them in a way that I never can match.

 

This surgery that took Jessie from us was not planned, but of coarse what medical issues are ever planned, right?  This one however was terribly timed, and we had to go way out of the way to make it happen.  The surgeon who offered to do the surgery for free is in Texas, and we… Uh,Yeah.  We do not live anywhere near Texas. The project is just getting underway, and at a time when we are all hands on deck around here, Jessie had to leave for three weeks.

 

“Can I just get to the front of this line and buy tickets for the airport?”  I ask, yet another Ethiopian man who has been put in a uniform and placed in charge of yet another long line of people.

 

“Stand” He replies.

 

I flash a quick glance at the kids.  One, two, three, four. All here.

 

At least he did not make us get in the back of the line.   “We are going to get tickets” I say, with more certainty in my voice than I feel inside me.

 

I turn my attention towards the woman who is sitting behind the glass window in the little metal ticket booth and gesture to the four desperate looking children who are with me.

 

“Lejoch betam kas kaza” I say in Amharic (The kids are cold)

 

“No time” She replies in English. (And you wonder why it is so hard to learn Amharic)

 

“Please” I say. Abandoning my feeble attempt at Amharic. (as usual)

 

“No time” She repeats and turns back to her cell phone.

 

“What does that mean?” Nickoli, my oldest and most observant child, asks me.

 

“Who knows” I reply as I look across the line of more than 200 people standing waiting for tickets and wonder how any of them is ever going to get in the airport if they are not even selling tickets.

 

Just then a hand emerges from the booth and five small pink slips of paper are handed to me.  “Fifty Birr”  She says quietly, as though she is avoiding someone who will get her in trouble for this.  I quickly hand her the money and take the tickets.

 

Back up at the front door once again we are given the privilege of jumping the line, perhaps it is the mis-dressing of my children who are now freezing cold, or perhaps the man is just being nice, either way I am thankful to be in the door and finally ready to see Jessie.

 

We stand in a group mobbed around the double doors where all passengers who fly into Addis Ababa must come through, and the kids take turns riding on my shoulders so they can see over the heads and into the baggage claim area.

 

“Can you see her yet?” I ask, whichever child happens to be riding in the coveted top-seat at the time.  “Not yet” They reply, until finally Luella spots her.

 

“I see her!”  She yells out and she nearly throws her body from my shoulders and onto the floor, instantly the four of them are circling around the back of the crowd and over to the left side where Jessie is emerging.  She is wearing a new shirt and looks stunning, for a moment I consider throwing the kid aside and kissing her right there, but I hold back and allow them to see their mother.

 

They all throw their arms around her and cheer so loud that I think the whole airport comes to a stop to watch the emotional embrace.

 

Then, just as they all begin to shout out their pent up questions.

 

Was the food good-Did the surgery hurt-Did you eat at McDonalds in America-Are you happy to be home-Did you watch movies on the plane-Did you know that Daddy fed us popcorn for dinner?

 

I notice that Everly has taken a step back and her face is scrunching up with emotion.

 

“Are you okay sweet girl” I ask as I lower to my knees down at her level. “Mama” She says, only the words don’t come out, just the shape of them rides on her lips for a brief moment before a flood of tears overtakes her.

 

Jessie notices the commotion and drops her bags to the floor, “Are you all right?” She asks as she wraps her arms around Everly’s tiny frame. Her head nods in agreement as she nestles deep into her mother’s neck.

 

The emotion of finally having her mother back after so long, seeing the one who loves her like no one else on this earth could, and feeling that-the most important of embraces is too much for her.  While the other kids jump for joy, little Everly fell to pieces, letting all of the emotion she had felt for three weeks of having Mama gone, rush back into her.

 

As I stood there, watching this little wonderful girl of mine hug tightly to her mother, tears flowing down her cheeks, soaking Jessie’s neck and shoulder, I realized why we are here in Ethiopia.

 

We are here so that children who once had a mother, can wrap their arms around a mother once-more.  Orphans can be scooped up into the only arms in the world that will ever feel like home, and they can stay there forever.

 

We are here to give mothers. The most important gift in the world.

 

Levi

 

 

 

Can we borrow your living room?

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First off… Wow!  You guys are all amazing.  I have not tallied it all up completely yet, but from the looks of things we are close to having another Forever Family house paid for just in new sponsorships from the last 48 hours alone!   Does it get any better than that?

Jessie and I have spent the past few days speaking with our board members back in the States, asking them to pray about what the plan should be for how we are going to rise to this challenge of taking in more kids like the government is asking of us, and we all came to the conclusion that yes indeed!  We are going to do whatever we can to make this happen.   But… We also realized that it is now time for our family to start planning a trip to America so we can connect with the people who have been supporting this work, and hopefully do something to further spread the word about the need over here.   We feel that the best way for us to put together the resources we are going to need for these new Forever Family Homes is for us to come back and be there in person.

So…. Today I get to ask you something very special; I get to ask if we can borrow your living room.

I know, kind of strange… But hear me out.  What we are planning is a trip in August and September (Like in 4 months) where we drive around America and have a bunch of Bring Love In get togethers with everyone who has been reading the blog.  It would be a way for you who are here reading to tell others you know about the project and the need for good Christian orphan care in Ethiopia, and then give them an opportunity to help out with that need.

Yeah, it makes me nervous too.. I can already see you squirming in your chair there, thinking; What will my friends think if I call them and invite them to something like this.  You know what though?  What the heck are we doing here on this earth if we are not standing tall for the widows and orphans in this country?  I say its time we do this for real!  Forget about being shy!

Just today we found out that one of the three government orphanages that we will be accepting children in from has over 370 children in it right now… But get this, their capacity.  150.  Meaning that every-single bed in that place has at least two children in it, and 35 beds have three kids on one small mattress.     No way can we stand for that!

It is time for some real, lasting, turn-this-place around change, and I believe together we just might be the catalyst that makes it happen.  No it is not going to be fast flip-a-switch change, but its going to be the right kind of change that makes a difference for generations to come.

So what do you think?  Want to host a Bring Love In party?  Or have us come speak at your church?  Jessie and I would love to come, spend some time with you, get to know you better, and maybe make some new friends along the way who will join in with us and help create new families from widows and orphans over here in Ethiopia.

If you think you might be up for it, please let me know, send me an email, message me someway or another and tell us “Take my living room for a night!”    Levi@bringlove.in or Levi Benkert on Facebook.

But please, don’t think that there is even a remote reason for anything fancy, we just want to hang out, and get a chance to tell the story of the need (and plan for meeting that need) that we are seeing over here in Ethiopia, with others.

We have not yet figured out the route or which states we are going to be traveling to, but we will try to go as many places as we can, and hopefully meet as many of you as possible this coming August and September.  If you want us to stop at your place (or even your church) be sure to write soon, we are going to try and get the route planned so we can start to get this thing figured out.

Also, side note here; If anyone has an extra minivan or car that we could pile our family into and put about a million miles on, we would be so blessed to be able to borrow it.

Thanks for everything!

Levi

Go time!

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Today I have the distinct pleasure of announcing that we are officially re-opening the Forever Family Sponsorship Program! (Insert back flip here) With our first four sponsored homes nearly open, and all of the regulatory and legal work behind us we have been spending time meeting with local officials to speak with them about the levels of need and our ability to meet those needs.

As you can guess…  The need for good Christian based orphan care is enormous in this country, and we want to be ready to rise to the challenge to meet those needs!

But here is the thing, we are going to have to get in high gear when it comes to sponsorships for these new families, because if we are going to have the beds available before these kids start coming in… We will need more sponsors, and fast.

Are you ready to help out?   It is going to take many of us diving in here if we are going to give homes to these children.

If you have not already sponsored a forever family than now is the time, check out the Sponsorship page here and read about how it works, but if you are already supporting a forever family than we need you to help spread the word.

What we have been told is that they are hoping we can have ten homes with 7-8 children each open before the end of the year.   Yeah… I know.  Whoa!

If I sound a bit excited here, that is because I am!  There is much to be happy about when it comes to creating new families from widows and orphans.

Good things are happening and we are more than happy to be able to give others the opportunity to help by giving of their resources to help those in need.  It’s funny, when we first started doing this, the fundraising was the hard part.. I always hesitated before asking people to help with a need, but I have come to realize that it is a blessing to give.  In our lives we are blessed through the giving that we are able to do, and we are learning to love giving that opportunity to others as well!  God is good, and He never fails to honor when we help those in need.

So, do you want to help us and support a new forever family?  Now is the time.

 

Please help us spread the word today about this important need, share it, tweet it, and help us get this one out there! 

Levi

Fierce Redemption

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Today I would like to introduce you to ten very special friends of mine. Men who are going through the fire right now, but also learning of the fierce redeeming love of the one who made each of them and cares for them.  You have been hearing about them here on the blog for the past several weeks, but today you finally get to meet them in a more personal way.

These are the men who we recently helped to get moved off the street and into their own home, the ones who will be attending work and bible training courses over the next 9 months, and hopefully in-turn helping those in their same situation get off the street and learn about the incredible love of God.   Please, as you look at the pictures below and read the information about these guys, take one of them and save their name and picture.  Pray for them every day, theirs is a struggle like none of us could ever fathom, they need our prayers more than anything.

These stories are short, and simple. As you can guess there is a lot more that each of these men have been through on their lives, but on the day that we sat with them they were not very eager to dig deep into the past, just a few details and that was it.  One day I hope to spend more time with one or two of them and get them to open up some more.  Not because their past defines them, but because only the love of God could take someone from the depths that these guys have seen to a place of redemption and beauty.

Name: Tamirat Adamu

Age: 19

Place of birth: Bale Mountains

Siblings: 3 sisters and 4 brothers

Educational level: 6th grade

After his parents passed away there was a disagreement with his sister, he was not able to share exactly what happened but it was bad enough that it made him run away and live on the street.  He has never returned to see his siblings.

Name: Yonas Fikremariam

Age: 27

Place of birth: Merabite, Amhara zone

Siblings: 1 brother and 1 sister

Educational level: 8th grade

He has spent just over 9 years on the street. While he was with his mother, she used to tell him that the evil spirit she worships will rest upon him when she dies. He was forced to run away to the street to escape the horror that gripped him. Yonas says he believes his mother & father are alive, but divorced. He does not speak with them.

Name: Samuel Bekele

Age: 22

Place of birth: Hawassa

Siblings: 3 sisters & 3 brothers

Educational level: 5th grade

He has spent 11 years on the street.

He grew up in Debrezeit. (A town about an hour outside of Addis Ababa) He never knew his father in person since he was born. Then he heard a rumor that his father was living in Addis while he was 11 years old. Samuel came to Addis searching for his father but unfortunately he never found his father and things were not as easy as he has anticipated so he found himself living on the street and was unable to find a way to get work. In the 12 years that he has lived on the street he has never had a home or a job.

Name: Endale Mulatu

Age: 27

Place of birth: Hawassa

Siblings: 2 brothers & 2 sisters

Educational level: 10th grade

Endale’s parents are alive but they are separated and due to a situation were not willing to take care of him and he was forced to grow up with his grandmother. After some time there was another, (and this time more severe) disagreement with his grandmother and he decided it was time for him to runaway to Addis, he spent time trying to find work but when he was unable to find anything he began living on the street.

 

Name: Alemayehu Gizaw

Agre :29

Place of birth: Kebridhar

Siblings: 1sister & 1 brother

Educational level: 10th grade

Alemayhu’s father is deceased but his mother lives in Harar, and is unwilling to accept him.   Alemayhu is quiet and has not shared much about his past or what led him to his life on the streets, only that he has lived here as long as he can remember and that he is willing to do whatever it takes to move on and heal from the past.

Name: Bahiru Worku

Age: 22

Place of birth: Hawassa

Siblings: 2 sisters and 2 brothers

Educational level: grade11

After a disagreement with his brother he was forced to move out of his family’s home and has lived in the street ever since.    Both of Barihu’s parents are deceased.

 

Name: Addisu Fantahun

Age: 21

Place of birth: Awash

Siblings: 2 brothers and 2 sisters

Addisu has not shared much of his past history only to say that something bad happened at his home and he left when he was a young boy and has lived on the streets ever since.  He has not had a job and has lived on money he got from begging and stealing.  Addisu says that as far as he knows both of his parents are still alive but that they are divorced.  He does not speak with them.

 

Name: Temesgen Meles

Age: 27

Place of birth: Adwa, Tigray

Siblings: 1 brother and 1sister

Educational level: 10+2, IT graduate

Temesgen was educated as a child and when he could not find work in Ethiopia he went to Kenya, but failed to find work there as well.  He came back and has lived on the streets of Addis Ababa ever since.  He is ashamed of his lifestyle and the things he has had to do to survive and has not contacted his family in many years.  He says that they think he is dead.  He would like to be reunited with his family one day after he gets his life in order.

 

Name: Gezahegn Bekele

Age: 24

Place of birth: Gibe

Siblings: 2 brothers and 2 sisters

Educational level: 6th grade

Gesahegn, has lived on the streets for 12 years, he came to Addis in hopes of finding work and was only able to find a job as a garbage collector.  He has worked at this job off and on but has never been able to make enough money to pay rent and so he has lived on the streets.   He is dedicated to getting his life in order, and happy to have found God in his life.

 

There was one guy who was not there on the day when we wrote down their stories, I will post his story another time.  But for now please pick one of these men and pray for him.  Post his picture on your fridge and remember the struggle he is facing and pray that he does not abandon this effort to get his life in order and learn about God.

Levi