"Why Ethiopia?"

After hearing about our upcoming mission trip, some people have asked me, "Why Ethiopia?" This leads me to believe that I've not done enough to talk about why we're going. That's pretty obvious. My plan all along has been to spend quite a bit of time talking about it after we get back and I feel like I've got more to say, rooted in first-hand experience. I think this was part of the problem with our (short-lived) involvement in Kenya - I didn't have enough firsthand experience. So I've not wanted to moderate my talking about it. But I've realized people like to know why their pastor and another key leader (Rebecca Chadwick) are going to another continent for the better part of two weeks. And there is a story. So I guess it is time to tell at least part of it.

The story of "Why Ethiopia?" begins, I suppose, with "Why not Kenya?" The leadership of River Valley Springs Children's Project are wonderful people who are passionately devoted to Jesus and his Kingdom. The work they are doing is good and I think it makes Jesus happy. Yet, after roughly 18 months of involvement, several things became clear: 1) there was a gap in our expectations; 2) our level of involvement to see the kinds of things happen that were really on
our heart would require more time and energy and expertise than we really had; and 3) it became clear that we shared a different philosophy of ministry. This last point had especially to do with wanting to connect what we were doing in with the larger Vineyard work in Kenya and East Africa; we wanted this, but it became clear it wasn't going to be possible.

Anyway, so around the same time that we were wrestling with the decision to potentially leave the River Valley Springs partnership and consider another, the church sent Rebecca down to Florida to participate in an international African Vineyards Partnership Summit. It was inspiring and challenging. She met with leaders of several partnerships and heard lots of great testimonies of what God is doing in Africa through the faithfulness of everyday Christians and everyday churches just like ours.

Among the best interactions was the opportunity to meet a dynamic young African-American couple from suburban Los Angeles who've been going to Ethiopia for the previous several years. There had never been a Vineyard church there, but now there was a growing church and a local leader dedicated to planting churches in his culture. Since that time, a number of other small faith communities have sprung up, so that now it seems there are seven Vineyard groups throughout the country. Ethiopia has a legacy of deep Christian commitment and a history of famine and intense suffering. More recently, Ethiopia has become a front line in Islamic missions. A number of prominent Muslim leaders have declared that they want to make Ethiopia into a Muslim country, in a fashion similar to much of the rest of North Africa. And, like much of the rest of Africa, Ethiopia faces looming environmental and economic crises, besides the ever-present specter of AIDS and other diseases. In other words, it is a people and a land ripe for God's Kingdom.

Throughout most of 2007, I spent time in prayer and discernment over where God would lead us for our mission to the nations. Africa and the Muslim world have consistently stood out, because of their timeliness on the world scene, our church community's passion for these areas, and our own setting here in metro Detroit (with such large African-American and Muslim populations). And as I've prayed, Ethiopia keeps coming to the forefront over other possibilities. So that, in brief, is "why Ethiopia."

Now for the trip and we'll see what God will say and do.

And then, when we get back, we'll talk further about it as a church. This is, after all, a partnership of church communities, and so, as much as possible, we want to own this together.