Her life has captured others imaginations as well, as this article describes. A feature film about her life called Many Beautiful Things is being released on DVD in March. I decided to reread the book in preparation for watching the movie, and my heart has been recaptured by the poignancy of her humble life in such a hostile environment. Lilias captures some of this in a journal entry she wrote in January while returning to Algeria after months spent in England recuperating from physical exhaustion.

One gets more of the breath of spring through the little, half-asleep January buds than through all the wealth of beauty down south. It is something like that with feebly breaking life in those hearts out there in the darkness–there is a joy over it deeper even than in the summer-tide of the spiritual atmosphere in England. Is it not so that the Lord looks down on the earth, it may be, along side the radiant beauty of His kingdom already set up in other worlds? He sees the slowly spreading buds of His dawning springtime here and is glad.

Last weekend I met with a small group to hear and pray over a report of what God is doing in the countries of Algeria, Libya, and Tunisia. Here I learned of January buds that are indeed beginning to swell. Lillias mentions the Kabyle people in her journals, and I discovered that God is doing a mighty work among this people group.

The Kabyles live in the rugged mountains called Kabylia to the east of the Algerian capital, Algiers. They belong to the Berber people group, the original inhabitants of North Africa before the Arab invasion of the region around 1,350 years ago. Originally Christians, they did become Muslim, but their life in the mountains allowed them to maintain much of their culture and language and unique dress. Now it is estimated that over 90 percent of churches in Algeria lie within the mountain of Kabylia.

I heard how the Kabyle believers have a heart to reach not only their own people, but  Berber groups in other nations. And I think of how happy Lillias would be to know that some of the seeds she sowed in the desert are now sprouting up and bringing life. Would she be surprise? I don’t think so.

“He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Psalm 126:6

The post The buds begin to bloom appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands to God. Psalm 68:31

The African land of Ethiopia, called Cush in the Old Testament, is intimately entwined with Biblical history. Moses married a Chushite woman and according to Ethiopian legend, the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon was from Ethiopia. In the New Testament, the Ethiopian eunuch likely returned to Ethiopia to spread the news of Jesus since the church in Ethiopia reaches back to the first centuries after Christ.

In more recent history, Ethiopia is remarkably the only country in Africa never to come under European colonial domination and maintain its traditions into the 20th century. Ethiopia is becoming better known to many because of its openness to International adoption.

I first began drawn into learning about the history and culture of Ethiopia about five years ago when I met Sharon Daly, the president of the Mossy Foot Project, in the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class. One of the class speakers told a story about Sharon’s father, Dr. Nathan Barlow, who after serving in Ethiopia many years, returned in 1997 at the age of 84 to found this project. This story provided a dramatic illustration of contextualizing the gospel. You can read it here.

Wanting to know more about this intriguing country, I first read Held at a Distance: A Rediscovery of Ethiopia by Rebecca Haile. This book provides a great introduction to Ethiopian history and culture, written from the point of view of someone driven into exile and rediscovering the land of their childhood. It combines history with recent events and whets your appetite to learn more.

After watching friends adopt from Ethiopia, I read There is No Me without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Her Country’s Children by Mellisa Faye Green. This book uses one family’s experience in adoption as a springboard to shed light on the larger history of AIDs and poverty in Africa. I distinctly remember having to leave Coffee Bean one afternoon because I was overcome with tears while reading about how the American pharmaceutical companies in league with the US government played a role in preventing a antiretroviral therapy from being available in Africa. The result: Almost an entire generation of parents gone. Oh how the love of money leads to much evil.

After that I read a number of other books that filled out my understanding of Ethiopia’s current situation.

• The Emperor by Kyszard Kapuscinski describes Ethiopia under the rule of Haile Selassie, Ethiopia’s regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor from 1930 to 1974. He was a pivotal figure in both Ethiopia’s and Africa’s history and Kapuscinski captures rich detail about life in the place.
• I also read about the work of Christians in Ethiopia such as The Hospital by the River: A Story of Hope by Catherine Hamlin, which describes the amazing work she and her husband did with fistula repair in Ethiopia.
• Fire on the Mountains: A Story of a Miracle by Raymond Davis describes a people movement in Ethiopia that enabled a small group of believers to grow from 45 to 10,000 in three years.
• No Greater Love by Levi Benkert describes the recent work of a missionary couple with orphans and how their efforts were redirected through painful circumstances.

More recently, I have been priveleged to get to know two amazing young couples who are preparing  to serving at Soddo Christian Hospital in Wolaita, Ethiopia.

Michelle Yates is a medical doctor specializing in the care of women. Her husband, Adam, is an electrical engineer.

Kavi Simpson is a general practitioner and her husband, Taylor, is an architect that specializes in designing third-world hospitals.

You can read about their journey of faith on their blog. God has shown great favor in preparing these four to serve Him by loving the people of Ethiopia.

Please consider reading some of the books I mentioned and learning about Ethiopia. I believe that God will touch your heart as He has mine to pray for His grace to be poured out in a wonderful way in that ancient land.

The post God at Work in Ethiopia appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.

As this sign indicates, Liberians are hopeful that the end of ethnic and class strife will bring peace. We know, however, that without the transforming power of the Gospel, there is no peace. I encourage you to explore these resources and to pray for Liberia and for those God is sending there.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18 For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. Eph 2:14–18

Resources on Liberia

First I read The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper, which describes the her life growing up in Liberia as a member of the privileged “Congo” class of descendants from slaves who returned to Africa from America. She helped me understand the tragedy of a culture that perpetuated the sins that were perpetuated on them…Africans treating indigenous Africans like the Southern slave holders treated them.

Then I saw the movie Pray the Devil Pack to Hell at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, which documented how a determined women’s movement in Liberia helped bring an end to the bloody civil war. In September 2011, I was privileged to hear Leyman Gbowee, one of the activists featured in the film, at UCSB, just a few weeks before she became a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

A few months ago, Amazon had a special on the kindle version of the autobiography of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the president of Liberia: This Child will be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman President. How could I go wrong for $1.99? I ended up getting the Audible version for a few more dollars and listened to the book over a period of about four weeks.

During the same time, I learned that dear friends in Ventura would be moving to Liberia in the fall. Dr. John Fankhauser will  be a part of a team starting the first family medicine training program in Liberia, a further sign of rebirth and hope for this war ravaged land. The entire family will be serving in various capacities. You can read about their ministry on their blog Lift up Liberia.

Beth Fankhauser told me about meeting Melodie, who grew up in Liberia and will be moving to Kenya with her family.  Melodie blogs at Africa’s Melodie. Melodie’s mom Nancy Shepherd has written a book about the journey the Lord took her through during years of ministry first in Liberia and then during the civil war to Liberian refugees in the Ivory Coast. Confessions of a Transformed Heart is a great resource for anyone thinking of the missions field because it addresses in a personal way the need to relinquish our own ideas of ministry and learn to submit to the way of the Cross.

The latest Liberia discovery is a new project to create a children’s book about a child caught up in the civil war: The True Story of Chu-Chu: A Boy from Monrovia Liberia.  It is written by Bola Jones and will be illustrated by my friend, the very talented Neal Parrow, who has illustrated several other children’s books such as Mika: An Orphan’s Story of Faith, Hope, and Love. This book on Chu-Chu is being financed through Kickstarter and you can read about it here. I encourage you to support this effort.

The post Thoughts on Liberia appeared first on Make The Vision Plain.