Bring Love In

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:18

This verse speaks to my heart - as I know it speaks to Renee's.
To me (and I'm sure Renee would agree) it means:

go
do something
love on orphans
stepping out of my comfort zone
being thankful for what I have and the fact that I am NOT an orphan
snuggling my kiddo often
being change
loving others with passion
making a difference
making a dent
sharing the love I have been given and blessed by with others

Yes, Renee and I have decided to journey to Africa together. However, that certainly doesn't mean we have the whole trip planned out and scheduled - ready to go. It's a work in progress. We just knew God was calling us both there and we felt we should go together.

That being said, I have been praying that God would open doors and show us where we should go in Africa. That he would provide a way to love on the children and use our photography to help bring awareness to all of the amazing (and sadly the tragic) things that are happening there. I have been praying that whatever we end up doing there and whoever we end up working with would be right. Does that make sense? I want it to be a well thought out trip - not just some random visit to Africa. I am praying that it would have great meaning to both Renee and myself. I'm praying that it would stretch us and teach us and break us. I am praying that it wouldn't be some fleeting moment of a trip - that it would be continual, even after we arrive home. That we would be able to share our hearts with whomever we come across in Africa. Praying that God would use us and that we would be open to him using us in ways where we feel strong, but also in ways we feel weak. You get me? In any case, I've been praying.

Recently, I finished reading a book called No Greater Love by Levi Benkert. It's a story about a husband and wife that felt God calling them to do something greater than themselves. Here's the jist:

"Levi Benkert was playing with his children in the park when he received an urgent phone call from a friend asking him to drop everything and fly to Ethiopia to help organize a rescue orphanage for children destined to be murdered as part of a tribal superstition known as "mingi killings." Moved by his friend's story, Levi packed his bags and left for what he thought would be a short two-week trip. But upon meeting the children, Levi knew there was no turning back. Six weeks later, Levi, his wife, Jessie, and their three young children sold their home and all their belongings and relocated to Ethiopia indefinitely.

No Greater Love documents Levi's journey-from the challenges he faced establishing and running the orphanage to finding adoptive homes for the children."

Towards the end of the book, Levi (the author) talks about the organization/community they created in Ethiopia called Bring Love In. I wanted to know more, so I searched for their blog and found Bring Love In here. 

From Levi and his wife, Jessie:

"Bring Love In is a community (not just an organization) that exists to show the love of God by giving families to children who have none. We are based out of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where we couple orphans and widows from within local Christian church communities, to create new forever families here in Ethiopia.

Bring Love In is passionate about creating new families, not just temporary families, but real, lasting, permanent families from orphans that we get from the overcrowded government orphanages in Ethiopia. We place them in a new family led by a widow who would otherwise not have anything herself.

We are not just creating new families, but families that raise up future leaders for Ethiopia. Leaders who will stop the cycle that created the orphan crisis in the first place."

The gist? Uniting widows and orphans to create new, forever families in Ethiopia. When I read this I thought, how beautiful! What an amazing thing to do! It brought tears to my eyes, to think that these sweet children no longer had to live in orphanages, but were being brought into a new family.  A FAMILY. I have one of those...and it means SO MUCH to me. I can't imagine what it means to these sweet orphans.

While reading the Bring Love In blog, I also came across this video, which of course, brought me to tears. Again. I get teary easily in my old age :)

My heart lept out of my chest. This was it! This is what I had been praying for.

Renee and I send videos, music, quotes to each other and exchange emails on a regular basis. I sent this particular video to her and without mentioning much, asked her to let me know what she thought. I waited and hoped it would speak to her as loudly as it spoke to me.

It did.

I contacted Levi and let him know a little bit of our story, our hope, and our hearts. I asked if it would be a possibility to travel there in 2013 and work with them (in whatever ways needed), love on orphans, meet widows, and take photographs. Fingers crossed, I hoped and prayed he would write back.

He did.

...yes, we'd love to have you. 
...let us know your travel plans.

And so it begins...


- Michelle