Hope and a Future

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. – Jeremiah 29:11

Nov. 2, 2008 -- Today we visited Praise Evangelical, a charismatic Protestant church in Addis Ababa. Getahun Tesema, the director of Buckner/Bright Hope here in Ethiopia, is the pastor of the church. We arrived a little late for the service, so when Getahun led us through a small side entrance and took us up a set of stairs I wasn't quite sure where we were headed. It turned out to be the stage.

They had set up three chairs for David, Amy and me to sit on stage during the service. Shortly after we finished singing some Amharic worship music (a cross between a rock concert and steel drum band ) Getahun asked the three of us to join him at the podium. Since David is a minister in Texas, he wanted him to speak. Talk about being put on the spot! But David opened his heart and shared it with the people at Praise Evangelical. He talked about their journey – the struggles they went through as they waited on God's timing in their lives to deliver them an Ethiopian daughter. He told them how humbled he was by their worship, and how honored he was to be adopting a child of their country. I looked out into the crowd and saw tears streaming from people's eyes. A man on the third row was wiping a tear from his cheek. David and Amy's story is not only touching the lives of hundreds of Americans, it is also touching lives of hundreds of Ethiopians. Praise God!

Then Getahun did something even more amazing. He asked the entire congregation to lay hands on David and Amy and to pray for them. Hands shot up from around the sanctuary as I stood on David's left and Getahun on Amy's right. He prayed in English and the whole congregation affirmed his words. He prayed for David and Amy to be able to care for Yanet. And he prayed that one day Yanet will be able to be a minister – to help other people the way her parents helped her. The way God has helped all of us. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. One day, Eleanor Yanet McDurham is going to do some amazing things for God's kingdom. I just know it.

In another one of God's divine appointments, the guest pastor was preaching on the passage Jeremiah 29:11. He turned to David and Amy and used their story as his example. It makes perfect sense. Ethiopia was not in their plans. But God brought them here in anyway. God really does have plans to give us all a hope and a future. All we have to do is trust.