Zambia Trip- Part 3

For most of my life, I have felt God calling me to live and minister to people in a developing country. Before we met, Jon also had the same calling. Then God brought us to each other and we began our life together. We are longing for God to place us overseas in the exact spot He wants us, knowing that it must be God's desire for it all to work.

We were presented with the opportunity to see what is happening in Zambia and to see whether it might be a potential place for us to return to long-term.

We are confident in what God has shown us during our time in Zambia. It was a growing time for us and we spent most evenings talking, praying, and reading the Bible late into the night, trying to discern what God was speaking to us. 

• Our time in Zambia was absolutely incredible. We always knew the kind of work we wanted to do but didn’t know exactly what it could look like until now. 
• We had a wonderful time  in Zambia with the Enrights- seeing and hearing of their vision for not only Zambia, but for other countries in Africa. God placed Africa on our hearts in a special way several years ago, and that began to play out specifically with the adoption of our son from Ethiopia. After spending almost two weeks in Zambia, we are longing to see a Kafakumba Project started in Ethiopia. Our hearts are in Ethiopia and we know that the Lord wants us to serve there long-term. John Enright was very excited about our calling for this kind of work in another African country and has helped us to brainstorm and create a vision for what we could do in Ethiopia. 
• We are incredibly excited and cannot wait to get going. After much discussion with John Enright about how to go about this, he suggested that we get some kind of job in Ethiopia for 2-3 years so that we can get in the country, make connections with the people and their culture, learning in a non-pressurized situation, and begin to learn the language. 
• During our trip, we thought maybe we would go to Zambia for a year or two and learn more of what they do, but he said it would be more profitable for us to get straight to Ethiopia as soon as we can. 
• During our beginning time in Ethiopia, we would be in contact with the Enrights as we are scoping out Ethiopia to see what kind of businesses would be productive there in and around Addis.  We also hope to continue to visit Kafakumba in Zambia to learn what continues to work and avoid what has failed. Once we have established ourselves in Ethiopia, John Enright mentioned possibly coming to Ethiopia with his son to help us actually get started on the self-sustaining businesses. It would start small, one business, and then expand from there. 
• This is a very long plan with many, many steps along the way. It won't happen quickly, and luckily, we are young and time is on our side. We are so excited for what we saw in Zambia and what could possibly one day happen in Ethiopia. 

SO....what now? We are researching jobs in Ethiopia. As soon as the Lord provides us with a job, we are hoping to move to Ethiopia and begin this incredible life journey of serving Jesus in this way. We covet your prayers for God to give us the right job in Ethiopia and to continue to speak to our hearts.