“AND GOD CALLED . . .”
God called! In Genesis 1, Elohim is doing a lot of what scholars would call human actions (anthropomorphisms). If you really looked, you would see that these are really divine actions. God was doing them before He made us. Then He gave us the ability to do what He could do. Isn’t that beautiful?

God called! That phrase is used 3 times in Genesis 1:

• God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” (v.5)
• God called the vault “sky.” (v. 8)
• God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” (v.10)

“God called” reveals the awesome nature of our God. The Hebrew word is “qara.” It means that God enunciated a specific vocal message. If we were there, we would have heard him speak. He would have said something like:

• “Light, your name is day.”
• “Darkness, your name is Night.”
• “You big open space, your name is sky.”
• “Dry ground, you shall be called land.”
• “Waters, you are seas.”

Look at our God at work! Not doing this for himself … but for us.

• I will give them light so that they will not have to live in the darkness around them.
• I will give them a big, open space like a canopy above them.
• I will give them darkness so they will know it is time to rest.
• I will give them land on which to walk, and seas in which to swim.

But God was doing something else. He was asserting his sovereignty over the thing named!

• “Light, you’re mine!”
• Catch this — “Darkness, I’m the boss of you!”
• “Land, I made you!”
• “Seas, since I’m sovereign over you, I tell you how far to go!”

This is what the psalmist says:
He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name (Psalm 147:4).

He gave this ability — “of calling” to Adam:
[God] brought [the animals] to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

This act was more than just Adam naming them. It was God giving to Adam the authority, along with the responsibility, of being a sovereign over the things that He had created. Wow! He shared that with Adam!

When you name something, you own it!

But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

“Called” here is the same Hebrew word “qara.” God expressed sovereignty over the one He named, so He called out to Adam. “Adam, where are you?” He was essentially saying to Adam, “I’m your Lord — sin is not, nor is disobedience, or the serpent, or your own shame.”

“Adam, where are you?”

Oh, that we could hear a loving, benevolent God call out to us when we are disobedient and ashamed and know that the Father’s love is greater than whatever we’re feeling or whatever we have done. If only we would come forth and say, “Abba, I’m here.”

PRAYER: Thank you, Abba, for calling! Thank you for calling to us! Thank you for calling us your children! Be sovereign over us, Father! We give you absolute permission (not as if you needed it) to call to us out of the mire that we find ourselves in…to you! Enunciate a specific vocal message. Call our names! We will come from among the trees, abandon the fig leaves and say, “Yes, Daddy. Here I am because I know that your love is greater than my shame.” Amen.

AS I approached my street, I noticed something in the road up ahead in the opposite lane. Blown by the wind, a twig with several dead leaves scampered across the road. As a car approached the twig, a gust of wind blew it toward the median. The closer I drove, I knew there was something peculiar about this twig. It seemed to have a mind all its own. It had such precision of movement. Then I realized that what I saw was not a branch with dead leaves, but several goslings trying to cross a three-lane road. Attempting to cross together, they would scurry back to the median because of an approaching vehicle.

Where was the mother? I thought.

By this time I had passed my street and hurried to look after the motherless goslings. I looked around for the mother, but she was no where in sight. I couldn’t stand there and watch them get pancaked, so I waved and yelled, trying to get traffic to stop on a three-lane road with drivers exceeding the 45-mph speed limit.

And there I was, like the goslings, running to the safety of the median from an oncoming dump truck that had decided not to stop for woman or fowl. I was unsuccessful at getting the traffic to stop and the birds to cease their back-and-forth attempts to cross the road.

I saw a worker in the distance wearing an official orange vest, so I got in my car, went to him, and told him the situation. Placating a desperate woman, he said, “I’m coming.” I jumped back in the car and raced to be with the motherless goslings. When I returned, they were gone. I looked for furry pancakes in the road, but there were none. Then I saw that they had made it to the safety of the other side, walking in their synchronized fashion like little wind-up toys. The worker came, and I pointed to the goslings scurrying off to green pastures, a lake, and prayerfully geese that would protect them.

When I got in the car, I thought  how crazy I probably seemed to the drivers who whizzed past, disregarding my waving or yelling . . . but I realized that there are a lot of “at-risk groups” (orphans, widows, the impoverished, the gay community, victims of sex trafficking, etc. . .) needing someone who will not mind appearing crazy in order to save their lives.

Millions are lost and don’t know it, trying to get through life without a scratch, not seeing the obstacles aimed at their destruction.

Yeshua showed us how it’s done. He saw us on a highway moving like robots. He came down in the midst of the traffic, metaphorically stood in front of a speeding dump truck so we could cross the road safely to the other side . . . TO  . . .

• A place beside still waters.
• A place where the pastures are green.
• A place where we’re comforted by His staff and rod.
• A place where we shall not want . . . or fear.

PRAYER: Thank you, Abba, that when we didn’t know where we were going or how we were going to get there, you did. There was this huge chasm between us and you, and you did something absolutely crazy to bridge it. You used a cross and your life. No more scurrying to and fro for us. No motherless goslings are we! We have safe footing on Yeshua the Rock, a place where fear does not exist, where a Father says, “You are no longer orphans.  I found you, I saved you. You are mine.”  Thank you, Abba! Amen.

FULFILLING THE WORD OF GOD

“I see you dancing in Africa,” a prophet told me twenty years ago!

Not only did I not receive this prophecy, but I shunned it everytime someone mentioned it.  I did not want to hear a prophecy about going someplace where I had no desire to go! What about the prophecies about favor, and money, or vacations and being a great evangelist!!!!? Any one of those would have been more appealing than the one I received.

Little did I know how an AMAZING GOD can fashion a heart to live out prophetic words! He really does HOVER over his word to perform it! When I went to Ethiopia in April 2012, I had an opportunity to dance in two Ethiopian churches — Faith Bible International Church with over 7,000 present and Marakie Full Gospel Believers Church with close to 1,000!

Let me say this: God sent the Ethiopian worship music that I would use and then he sent me a choreographer who also went and danced with me! AMAZING! Has He not spoken it, and will it not come to pass!? Where He guides, He provides! IT’S ALL TRUE!!!!

When Rabbi Gedamu gave me a chance to speak to the congregations, I told them the prophecy.

“Whatever God has spoken over you is good,” I told them, “He will bring it to pass. You have a destiny and a purpose and that purpose always has the potential to bless so may others! I feel so blessed that God would bring me to Ethiopia to fulfill this word and that He would select you to be a part of my destiny! God said that one day Ethiopia will bring Him an offering upon Mt. Zion, and He will delight in accepting it! So let’s get busy about presenting that offering today!”

As I was talking, I was elated! I was living destiny! Everyone in that place was living destiny with me! All I can say is AMAZING!!!!!!!!

I could not help but weep! I loved it! No one could have peeled that smile off my face! God was thinking about me! God was thinking about the 7,000 present! He was saying, “I AM God! My Word is true!” He was birthing something in me!

My former pastor had said once, “The word that God has spoken over your life is out there reverberating in time and eternity waiting for you to get to the place where you can receive it!” 

I stand as a testament to the TRUTH of that Word!

Unfortunately, I did not get an opportunity to record the dance at Faith Bible, but below, see the two prophetic dances choreographed by my friend Aminta. We were able to bless the Ethiopian people who in turn blessed us!

THIS IS AMAZING WORSHIP AT MARAKIE FULL GOSPEL BELIEVERS CHURCH, GONDAR, ETHIOPIA

“No Holes-Barred Praise”

We took an hour plane ride into Gondar from Addis. We woke up early and prepared ourselves for another revival conference! I had great expectations about the power of God released in a Third World Country where poverty abounds and hearts and spirits are thirsty!

The driver took us as far as he could up a hill until he reached an impassable ravine. We walked the rest of the way, maybe about 40 yards all uphill! I was already having church by the time I reached a flatland because I was praising the Lord all the way, believing I  could make it up that hill in thin, dusty air. Rabbi Gedamu and a friend stopped and looked back at me. I motioned them to go on ahead. Though I was bringing up the rear, I did not want to be responsible for anyone else lagging behind and missing out on the worship experience that I knew was already going forth.

I could see the top of the church just around the bend. Pilgrims were descending a hill from the far right and some from the far left. And there I was, ascending — ever so slowly — to meet them at Marakie Full Gospel Believers Church that sat completely surrounded by the Gondar Mountains! Its cinder-block, corrugated-tin-roof-and-windowless frame stood majestically in all of its incompleteness. It was even more majestic to me because it would afford me a chair on which to sit. 🙂

As I approached I could hear music through speakers that sounded out their death knell. That did not impede, however, the atmosphere that was created by such pure worship. We were ushered to the front row and I immediately joined in the worship by college students from the University of Gondar just beyond the nearest hill. Their passionate, spiritual sounds coupled with their lost-in-Him expressions drew me in and I worshipped Yesus Kristos with them.

Then they called forth Caleb Ab, a worship leader that Rabbi Gedamu had brought from Addis. As I wathched them move back the chairs in which we sat, I knew I was about to climb the ladder of worship.  When Caleb Ab started singing with a lively Calypso kind of beat, the whole assembly, well over 700 of them on the floor and balcony, erupted into a joyous, no-holes-barred praise. It was INFECTIOUS!

CHILDREN WORSHIPPED

YOUNG PEOPLE GAVE THEIR LIVES TO THE LORD

EVERYONE WORSHIPPED

And I was among them, praising a God who could move such impoverished people to such radiant joy.

Someday, I want to bless Marakie Church in such a tangible way. It and all of its people changed my life!

What I Leave in Ethiopia

My last day in Gondar came as a “sweet sorrow.” I awoke wondering what I would leave here in this Land of Cush. I had asked the Lord to show me who to bless today.  When we arrived at Ruth’s Souvenir Shop (owned by Rekebena’s daughter Hewott), we met two young men who follow Jonathan Bernis’ ministry. One of them, Emmanuel (the one on the right), became our unofficial guide for most of the day.

As we, TesFaye (Rebekenaha’s husband), Aminta, Emmanuel and I walked through the marketplace, I saw several boys walking together. I noticed their feet, all of them dirty; one of them wore no shoes; he would be the one I would bless. Tesfaye took me to a place where we could get a good price on a pair of tennis shoes for him. May the Lord bless this little boy as he walks the streets of Gondar with blessed tennis shoes. May he know I was sent by You, Father, to bless Him!

Another little boy came, his face as soiled as the boy’s feet, and he was carrying a heavy burden; maybe it wasn’t so heavy but it was bigger than he. I wanted to take his picture, then give him a Dollar Store toy I had purchased in America; it wasn’t much, but it would momentarily make his load a little lighter. I had taken the toys with me on this journey so I could bless the children of Ethiopia with them. Father, bless this little boy. Show him how to make his burdens even lighter as he learns to cast every care upon you. May that toy serve to bring him a little joy, and may He be reminded of the lady from America who blessed him in Your Name!

I would see several more boys whom I felt led to bless–the one at Gondar Selassie Church who waited outside with the priest; the two on the street. Each walked away happy! Father, bless these little ones with your joy. As Rebenekha would sing to us, “Everything’s alright in my Father’s house! There is joy, joy, joy!”

Leaving the church, I saw two old beggars. I guess they knew about Acts 7 also, because that’s what I thought of when I saw them. It is true, I did not have silver and I did not have gold, but what I had I used to bless them– a few birr (Ethiopian currency) and a prayer for a blessing by God. They gave me the same, a prayer.

On the streets of Gondar, I left a blessing, that every place I walked be holy ground! That every life I touched would in turn touch others!

I leave a love for the land and the people, both rich in tradition and Biblical history!

Goodbye, Goha Hotel, where I met Asnakew and the beautiful staff. Where your balcony overlooked the entire city!

Goodbye, Rekebeeha’s house, where we ate a standard Ethiopian dinner almost every night dinner; where we received beautiful kisses by everyone, children and adults! Where we felt the greatest hospitality and amazingly loving fellowship.

Goodbye Hewott and your Ruth Souvenir Shoppe that became the hub for our forays into the countryside; where we could leave our bags for pickup later; where we bought some of the cutest trinkets and souvenirs.

Goodbye Marketplace, where animals, children, beggars, men & women — young and old — congregate to sell their wares:

Goodby Marakie Full Gospel Church that sits in a hollow surrounded by mountains over 6,000 miles above sea level. You touched my heart with your vibrant worship and hunger for God!

You will forever be in my Spirit.

May Adonai bless the land of Ethiopia and its people!

Sent from my iPhone

This was, by far, the most arduous, but rewarding, part of our journey!

We had to meet in the hotel lobby by 6:30 a.m. The van would be leaving at that time. I grabbed a bag containing bubbles, facial wipes and a toy. We made several stops, picking up the appropriate people; then we were on our way—-to a remote Beta Yisrael (Black Jews) village. We drove for over two hours, through the small towns we had traveled before . . . and beyond. At one point, Rabbi Gedamu said, “Look!” And there were four men walking along the roadside carrying a friend or relative on a gurney lifted over their heads. Rabbi Gedamu said they were headed to the clinic. Upon inquiry I discovered that they had quite a distance to go. It was like a scene out of the Bible.

We traveled a winding road that took us around mountains, majestic and untouched. Rabbi Gedamu pointed out a huge hand-shaped rock atop a mountain. It seemed to follow us as we drove. I wish I had taken a picture of it from a distance because the picture below is more of a close up; it does  give some indication of how far we walked. Soon we were able to veer off the well-paved road onto a rocky path that gradually led upward. This is the point where we got out of the vehicle and walked the rocky path uphill (Rekebena, Sherri, and Askanew, left, Rabbi Gedamu and Aminta, right) until some twenty or thirty minutes later we reached a remote village.

The village consisted of mud and hay huts with thatched roofs. The one below contains two rooms with a dirt floor. There are raised parts of the floor, called medevs, where the inhabitants sleep on animal skins (right).

Inside, an older woman was washing coffee beans and wanted us to stay for a bunna (coffee) ceremony. Rabbi Gedamu thanked her but told her we could not stay.

Children were outside grinding shells to make clay while the older women, some carrying children on their backs, made pottery out of the clay that they will sell at the Marketplace miles away for 2 birr; that is equivalent to 12 cents in American currency.

Some of the residents followed us to the next village. All I wanted to do was wash the children’s faces. When villagers have to choose between water for drinking and water for bathing, there is no real choice. Using the facial wipes I brought, I asked the mothers if I could wash their children’s faces. Although they said yes, the children, as usual, were not in agreement. I had to play hide-and-seek with their faces to even wash them. After I showed the mothers what to do, I left a pack with them.

Unfortunately I did not get a BEFORE pictureof this little boy, but his face looks beautiful in this AFTER shot. The once dirty and mucous-stained face is now clean.

I had also brought bubbles, so they had fun at first running from them and then popping them once we showed them what to do. Below, that’s Aminta showing them a picture that she took of them playing with bubbles. After showing her how to blow bubbles, I left one of the older girls below with the bottle. The fun will be short-lived, but it will be a diversion for lives filled with hard work and monotony.

We checked on their broken wells, blessed them with gifts, and graced their day with the Lord’s presence. I pray that this day lives long in their hearts and memories of a small group from America sent by the love of God to bless them, for it is indelibly etched in my memory of a beautiful, yet impoverished people, subjecting themselves to dire poverty so that one day the dream of returning to Israel will be realized. Father, hover over that dream and perform it for these your beautiful people. Amen!

ELECTRIC WORSHIP

I have longed to bring you the service of the Faith Bible Church. Rich in the black tradition is adorning oneself in one’s finest when going to the House of the Lord. As it is so with Black America,  so it is with the Land of Cush.

As we approached, we saw worshippers making their pilgrimage, coming form every direction, over hills, down hills, up hills to coverge upon the church that rested in a hollow.

Inside the leaders all sat on the front row, arrayed in knee length white tunics under a white vest with white pants and white shoes. The head pastor wore the same but with a green vest and a white gabi draped over his shoulder. Over 7,000 worshippers had come on a Tuesday to worship the King.

Although he spoke primarily in Amharic, could tell that he was personable and generally liked and respected by his members. He joined them in singing and dancing

He called several individuals forth and I realized he was complimenting them on their unusual regal attire. Everyone smiled and clapped in good humor.

There is a characteristic Ethiopian dance where you bend your knees rhythmically and move your arms from side to side. Them you can move forward three steps and back three steps.

One worship leader sang of the majesty of our God (with translation, of course) and he couldn’t keep still. It was as if he, like Jeremiah, had fire shut up in his bones. Then the next worship leader was just as frenetic with his call and response style of worship.There is a part of one of the worship songs that says, “If you love him, jump!” Then the whole, not just the front row, but the whole assembly jumped continually. See for yourself!

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It was so humbling to see those who had so little praising a God they know is good!

Rabbi Gedamu preached about the woman who was bent over and God healed her. Then he had several altar calls:

• for salvation — they came
• for Holy Spirit Baptism — many spoke in tongues
• for healing — they came
• for a desperation for God — they really came!

THE LEAST OF THESE

“whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (Matthew 25:45).

We were all excited! We would take clothes, shoes, bread & water to the Beta Yisrael children, most of them orphans, in EnFranz, Gondar. We woke up early and took the 90-minute drive to some very excited children.

The countryside had not changed:

• rolling hills, sparse greenery, cows, goats, and lambs grazing in the meadows or the hillsides;
• Some animals being led by gabi-clad farmers or young boys to market hours away in Gondar;
• Children walking for several hours to school.

When we stopped by some of the smaller towns, children clambered to the van selling cold drinks, tissues, and sweets. I bought tissues and sweets from this little boy for 10 birr (by the way, 1 American dollar is equal to 17.5 Ethiopian birr) and told him to keep the change; he quickly went to the sidewalk, counted his catch and posed for me as I took a picture of him.

This time, the driver was able to get us a little closer to the village and we saw the children and seemingly the whole community sitting under that huge oak tree.

The guys spread out the mat and dumped the shoes and outfits on the mat. Bailie and I arranged the clothing according to sizes; Sherri and two other male locals arranged the shoes; Aminta handled the bread and water. As we gave them their gifts, we blessed them!

Bailie and I had a difference of opinion on the sizes; he measured length of pants by holding the waist just under the crotch. 🙂 Needless to say that some of the children started exchanging sizes.

When I saw this regal face, again, I had to take another picture of him, this time with his package of clothes. (Remember him from an earlier blog?) Ethiopian princes must have resembled him! Look at how he received his gift — so nonchalantly and unmoved! Same intense look!

I also could not resist taking a picture with him. (Okay, he wasn’t looking at the camera.) Then he was off to receive his bottle of water and bread. I wish I could remember his name.

Here are the children arrayed in their new clothes: pinks, greens, and reds, blues, browns, etc…

Below, Rabbi Gedamu poses with the children.

We wanted them to know that all of these clothes, the food and the water were sent by God who loved them and who had sent us because He loved them!

To those who sowed into my trip to Ethiopia, thank you! You dressed these children, fed them, served them, and showed them the love of God! You did this to the least of these so you did it unto Him!

VISITING THE ORPHANS IN THEIR TROUBLE

“to look after orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27)

After Sherri, Aminta, and I compiled all the names and sizes of the Beta Yisrael orphans from Enfranz, we went to the marketplace in Gondar to shop for their clothing. Kiosks, aligned on busy, rocky roads, sell all kinds of clothing and housewares. Some merchants, no doubt, too poor to afford a kiosk, arranged themselves under umbrellas selling mangos, peppers, onions garlic, etc. Little children helped to peddle these wares or play in the dusty streets, definitely no place for asthmatics–for the dust combined with exhaust from scooters, trucks and taxis all blend for a sneezing frenzy! That’s exactly what I had!

Aft the first kiosk, Rabbi Gedamu bargained with the owner for 175 pair of shoes for the children. We watched as these youthful workers ran to storage centers trying to find the proper sizes. Soon 3 sacks of shoes were prepared for distribution to these Beta Yisrael orphans.

I wanted to hold up a pair of shoes that would bless little feet.

Rebekeneha, Rabbi Gedamu’s sister, found a kiosk that offered a good price for a pair of warm up pants, a sleeveless vest and a jacket, one set for each of the children. This kiosk provided some protection from the dust and sun and the proprietor even asked his workers to provide benches for us. We left with over 175 outfits for the children.

Sherri’s & Rabbi Gedamu’s vision of clothing the children had come true. I must admit, Rabbi Gedamu did most of the work, haggling with owners and overseeing quality and quantity control. He looks worn out, doesn’t he?

The next day we bought water and bread for each child and loaded it on the truck and then boarded it ourselves to make that 90 minute drive to Enfranz Village in Gondar.