It's long, (30+min.) so feel free to click through it. Don't miss the Videos at the end!
Here is a Preview:
 |
| Photojournal: Extreme- Humera Ethiopia, March 2010 |
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Photo Journal: Extreme Ethiopia Mission Trip March 10-20, 2010
It's long, (30+min.) so feel free to click through it. Don't miss the Videos at the end!
Here is a Preview:
Monday, March 29, 2010
Spiritual Warfare-Part II
At this time, I am still trying to finish the "Ethiopia Mission Manifesto,"( or whatever I am going to call it later on...) my report containing precious and privileged details about our trip, for my gracious sponsors and precious prayer partners to look through. The thing is, I am having a hard time, at this writing, concentrating for even 30 minutes on it. Life has sucked me back in, and perhaps with a vengeance! Going back to work was coated with a plethora of demands, not HUGE, but the surprises are still there- (not that I am surprised..:-) People accusing me of stuff, redundant disciplinary procedures, and clients who may have wanted to quit on me because they thought I was going to DIE, or leave the United States for good- stuff that I can only expect to surface while I am busy with a missionary trip- the devils way of saying "welcome back...punk." Ha!
Well, I am still going to love everyone, and that is final. "Whatever..." seems to be the key word of this day and age. But I just dislike to use it as much as I dislike bully "supervisors."
Well anyway, I am just venting, but I will soon have this Journal ready, and I would like your prayer for my protection as I complete this and more work of Gods kingdom on earth in practice. The devil and the world have a thick hold on the city where I live.. and that is one of the first observations I realize over again when I come back home from a mission trip. It was 10 days in this case, of mostly total surrendering and concentration on God, and doing His work, and being around mature Christian believers- what a blessing! They have all been instrumental in the blessings I received resulting from this trip- Gods love at work. I take no credit for having done anything good on this trip or any trip to any third world country for that matter. I can only stand there, and watch Gods power change lives, and move mountains, and decimate strongholds of despair, fear, anger, envy, bitterness, and strife- mouths are open, and God wants to feed people. That is the beautiful take away here, among many, many other things.
"Brother... you know, we cannot do without Him, and He cannot do without us." ~George Cutting (to Watchman Nee)
Well, I am still going to love everyone, and that is final. "Whatever..." seems to be the key word of this day and age. But I just dislike to use it as much as I dislike bully "supervisors."
Well anyway, I am just venting, but I will soon have this Journal ready, and I would like your prayer for my protection as I complete this and more work of Gods kingdom on earth in practice. The devil and the world have a thick hold on the city where I live.. and that is one of the first observations I realize over again when I come back home from a mission trip. It was 10 days in this case, of mostly total surrendering and concentration on God, and doing His work, and being around mature Christian believers- what a blessing! They have all been instrumental in the blessings I received resulting from this trip- Gods love at work. I take no credit for having done anything good on this trip or any trip to any third world country for that matter. I can only stand there, and watch Gods power change lives, and move mountains, and decimate strongholds of despair, fear, anger, envy, bitterness, and strife- mouths are open, and God wants to feed people. That is the beautiful take away here, among many, many other things.
"Brother... you know, we cannot do without Him, and He cannot do without us." ~George Cutting (to Watchman Nee)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Spiritual Warfare - Part I
I am completely drained and devoid of what to write here. But I keep getting this feeling of urgency that I need to give something more here. I don't know what to say, there is so much to do , and give, and prepare and plan. No, not really just the traveling, that is just, fill a suitcase and get over there early... Logistics are easy, comparatively. I am talking about the whole thing, the whole picture here. There is always anxiety with change, but when shall I factor that in? There are career goals to establish daily and set up to fulfillment, quotas, deadlines, and pessimistic people daily, wherever you go. There are people waiting for mail from me, and God is still waiting for His chats with me too.. MAN! What is going down? Three to four hours of sleep nightly, and zombie daze until two or three thirty in the afternoon when I awake from a semi irregular napping or is it a trance... after I finish with my chaotic work mornings at the health Club from 5:00 am then until afternoon and sometimes later... If I am not careful. There are bills to pay, Products to buy and others to review... business people and websites to control... and there is traffic, emailing, dishes, bathroom and sinks being refinished, so I can't sleep in my home for two days, taking showers at the gym instead of home, and sleeping in my car, and progress... all in the name...of progress... Hah! Did I mention that there's writing to do? And people- people to care about the whole time along the way- including when they are trying to cut me off from BEHIND me on the road... MAN! Is it always the same raised Takoma Pickup, or a Beamer!?
Well, I am sure I left a few peeves out here, I just can't think of some of them right now... But it was well worth it! Satan is always behind despair, fear, and anxiety, there is no other antagonist of worry. It is 6:41 pm Thursday evening and I am still trying to figure out all the thank you letters for all the people who made a way for us to send 12 missionaries over to Africa next week. I am so amazed to be on this team. Just trying not to get too used to it or cozy since all of the details of the trip will not be available to us until they are actually occurring, except for a limited few things on a need to know basis, and no guarantee of their accuracy... but that doesn't worry me at all, really... just getting enough protein while I am there ;-) I don't want to come back all scrawny looking like a cancer patient like the last times I was there, not to mention that I will have to be taking mefloquine (Quinine derivative) meds for anti-malaria for four weeks after I return.. Bummer... (This stuff is hilarious! Read what it says on the bottle prescription: "Call your doctor immediately if you experience mood changes such as new or worsening feelings of sadness, depression, or fear." Excellent! Lol! Well, I 'll pop that pill ASAP then! lol Sounds fun!- Who wants to join me? ;-D)
Well, I am almost finished venting, of which you are now the honored (and hopefully grateful) recipient :-) We will now explore the topic of this letter Spiritual Warfare... in Ten words not my own: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."
And now here is some encouragement for you, my treasured prayer warrior in fellowship:
"...For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ..." 2Cor 10:2-5.
Your prayers are of infinite value. I appreciate all of your donations and gifts of those who have and are still helping us in going. That finite support is how every thing else has been made possible, when it comes with your infinite and cherished help from above. It is not like us asking God gets him to do anything that needs to be done, since he is already doing it, and everything else at once, with perfect balance and in harmony with love. I think it is that when we pray, an atmosphere of Gods love and light drifts into our frequency and intermingles with all spiritual forces down here on earth, making certain noxious and fallow disharmonious soul and mental vapors and putrefied (or putrefying ) inter and intra-spiritual rifts impossible to cohabitate with in the same area as those whose prayers are cast forth. So as I said, your prayers are of infinite value, i.e, they do not lose value, or force, or momentum. Believe me, friend, each prayer is an individual thing, and it exists forever. God does not forget, and His ears and His eyes have wings we do not usually see, called angels. (? :-0) When we go to a spiritually rich (or poor) place like Africa, we will be enabled to grow in ways that will be hard to translate over into this LA culture. Your prayers here inviting and cultivating that spiritual presence of Gods Comfort are incalculably valuable- for when we come back, there is a shocking horror when we realize just how painful the air is here to breathe, how abrasive the L.A. lifestyle really is all over again, and how bummed and dumb the mind becomes ever so quickly as we are tempted to sink back into our lives, and our jobs, our simple habits, and our mundane pathways to obscurity... Delving deeper, and deeper... into that hypnotic and tranquilizing state of "me-me" all over again.... Please pray for us, friend, and pray for this city, and pray for the lives that we are going to Ethiopia to heal, that they will heal us back, so that we can bring more courage next, and the Good News of Rescue from death and darkness will be felt and heard.
"Remember me always..."
-Christ
Adam F. Martin
PS.
Thanks to everyone who is participating on this mission through much needed prayer and the sharing of their vital finances, we are sending out 12 missionaries including myself into this field Wednesday, March 10th.
Well, I am sure I left a few peeves out here, I just can't think of some of them right now... But it was well worth it! Satan is always behind despair, fear, and anxiety, there is no other antagonist of worry. It is 6:41 pm Thursday evening and I am still trying to figure out all the thank you letters for all the people who made a way for us to send 12 missionaries over to Africa next week. I am so amazed to be on this team. Just trying not to get too used to it or cozy since all of the details of the trip will not be available to us until they are actually occurring, except for a limited few things on a need to know basis, and no guarantee of their accuracy... but that doesn't worry me at all, really... just getting enough protein while I am there ;-) I don't want to come back all scrawny looking like a cancer patient like the last times I was there, not to mention that I will have to be taking mefloquine (Quinine derivative) meds for anti-malaria for four weeks after I return.. Bummer... (This stuff is hilarious! Read what it says on the bottle prescription: "Call your doctor immediately if you experience mood changes such as new or worsening feelings of sadness, depression, or fear." Excellent! Lol! Well, I 'll pop that pill ASAP then! lol Sounds fun!- Who wants to join me? ;-D)
Well, I am almost finished venting, of which you are now the honored (and hopefully grateful) recipient :-) We will now explore the topic of this letter Spiritual Warfare... in Ten words not my own: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me."
And now here is some encouragement for you, my treasured prayer warrior in fellowship:
"...For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ..." 2Cor 10:2-5.
Your prayers are of infinite value. I appreciate all of your donations and gifts of those who have and are still helping us in going. That finite support is how every thing else has been made possible, when it comes with your infinite and cherished help from above. It is not like us asking God gets him to do anything that needs to be done, since he is already doing it, and everything else at once, with perfect balance and in harmony with love. I think it is that when we pray, an atmosphere of Gods love and light drifts into our frequency and intermingles with all spiritual forces down here on earth, making certain noxious and fallow disharmonious soul and mental vapors and putrefied (or putrefying ) inter and intra-spiritual rifts impossible to cohabitate with in the same area as those whose prayers are cast forth. So as I said, your prayers are of infinite value, i.e, they do not lose value, or force, or momentum. Believe me, friend, each prayer is an individual thing, and it exists forever. God does not forget, and His ears and His eyes have wings we do not usually see, called angels. (? :-0) When we go to a spiritually rich (or poor) place like Africa, we will be enabled to grow in ways that will be hard to translate over into this LA culture. Your prayers here inviting and cultivating that spiritual presence of Gods Comfort are incalculably valuable- for when we come back, there is a shocking horror when we realize just how painful the air is here to breathe, how abrasive the L.A. lifestyle really is all over again, and how bummed and dumb the mind becomes ever so quickly as we are tempted to sink back into our lives, and our jobs, our simple habits, and our mundane pathways to obscurity... Delving deeper, and deeper... into that hypnotic and tranquilizing state of "me-me" all over again.... Please pray for us, friend, and pray for this city, and pray for the lives that we are going to Ethiopia to heal, that they will heal us back, so that we can bring more courage next, and the Good News of Rescue from death and darkness will be felt and heard.
"Remember me always..."
-Christ
Adam F. Martin
PS.
Thanks to everyone who is participating on this mission through much needed prayer and the sharing of their vital finances, we are sending out 12 missionaries including myself into this field Wednesday, March 10th.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Eyeglasses or Rice!? (And Eliminating The "Christianese"...)
Hey there! This is my fourth Post here on my Missions 2010 blog. We just had another team meeting this Sunday For the Into Focus Vision Ministry journey to Ethiopia this March. We went over sharing our testimonies in a little depth, focusing on the importance of how the translators will interpret what we say.... The discussion was on eliminating all of our "Christianese," and I can say I am really very glad that we covered that. I am all too familiar with some of the conversations I have had with non- believers (which is where my vision of Gods Love starts) and hearing how much they have come to despise how we present our beliefs to them and the world. I am a huge believer in the idea that this very "Christianese" is how many people have been turned off and away for good from the Good News of the Bible(that and the fact that many have heard this Good News in a way that has been so unnerving and infuriating/ insulting that it gets so completely misconstrued and they cannot possibly consider it to be Good News in any way at all!..) I cannot say that I have been blessed to never have been turned off from this mouthful of religious meanderings often heard in and out of Churches, and I AM a believer still. So it seems likely that avoiding cliche's and spiritual catch phrases in a country far away will be a very good thing, especially when we are only going there to provide minimal health care for these very poor, perhaps starving people (I don't Know!)
The thing that burdens me is will our efforts and time there really help these people? Will it really help them more than sending them 25 tons of food in bags of Rice and beans?! Will it help them more for us to go there personally than to just take all the 50,000+ dollars that we cost to get there, and apply that toward their food and lively hood? They need buildings, they need schools, and clinics, and hospitals, and health care, and paid staff and doctors to host them, and they need churches and memorials, to unite them from past wars and grievances, and a big load of other things, before they are even a partial registration on the scheme of the economy of capitalism that the rest of the world is built around.. (apart from coffee beans.)
How then , can us providing them with prescription eyeglasses actually help them at all?
These thoughts I expressed at out meeting, having a confident Idea in my mind that there is still a good reason for what we are doing, despite all the other places in the world that need God's love, and the care of the Churches. The synopsis is simple, and perhaps perfect to end that potential dispute.
In many countries, such as Ethiopia, where health care is very limited, if not non-existent, and where there are interval times of lack of vital nutrition for many there, as well as lifestyle of necessary exposure to the sun and the other elements, health problems including bad eyes and blindness are way more common than they are here.
For example, one of my teammates explained, "a woman who cannot see there is also not able to get married, therefore cannot have a family, and can't do anything but stand in the street and Beg," or just tag along with others until she is old and unappreciated. The man there has similar problems if he cannot see, read, or recognize faces... There is much work to be done in Ethiopia, like other countries, however problems like early life blindness, or farsighted/nearsightedness are very common.
When one person is suddenly able to see, and have glasses that were just given to him/ her, with no strings attached, and no debts to pay off, it is indeed for that person like a real miracle, whether big or small. That one person can now have a job, get married, learn to read, get an education, play games, if it is a child, support a family, if older. We are bringing thousands of glasses and prescription lenses.... Please Pray that we get to where we are going safely with them. (Meaning that they get through customs and escape all bandits.)
Giving sight to people who were merely expecting to live a nominal life gives that person a chance to make a living, have a family, and make a real difference. In areas where people are used to becoming very inept to their surroundings, including seeing people dying, getting very sick, and going blind both very young and old, the news of having a foreign group that is coming way over to their side of the isolated country is very much an encouragement, and inspires much hope. And to see the results is even more encouraging for them.
I can't say that bringing them 50,000 pounds of rice and beans will not help them, and I want to do that as well. ( But they will then need us even more!) But if just giving more of these people the ability to become mobilized and get educated can positively impact their cities, bringing them more jobs, and churches, Hospitals and orphanages, enriching their lives in a bigger way, that will mean their being able to develop their economy there in a way that is independent of the western kindness, then I am for it. And apparently that is what we are praying will be done as the result of our work out there.
So as long as we can prevent ourselves from clinging to old catch phrases, and spewing out American Christianese, I think the other side of this outreach will be a success, the penetration of the Gospel. The lives of many people In Ethiopia were brought up with an Extremely traditional form of Christianity, and, to summarize what I have learned and heard, many of them do not know God, but are simply following traditions, and many of them do not really know why! But that's what they do, and what they have always done. Many of them have never even read the bible, and do not even own a copy of it in their language.
However, we have translated Bibles for them, so they now will.
We need your prayers that this outreach is successful, virtually obstacle free, and for protection against the many things that can hinder this work and progress from taking place, including the unreasonable search / seizure of our equipment, and/or luggage by customs officials... some of which has happened before.
If you haven't already, please visit this secure site and pledge a generous donation to this outreach. Every bit counts, whether great or small. Into Focus is dependent upon Love Offerings of people like you to make this outreach happen:
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Adam M.
P.S. (Revised 03.04.2010~UPDATE: Thanks to all who participated on this adventure through sharing of their finances, we are now able to send out 12 missionaries including myself into this field March 10th. Thanks to everyone!) Click here to make a tax deductible donation that will help us pay off our autorefractor- the $9,700 laser machine we are taking there that measures eyes and gives us their prescriptions. Thanks!
Here is the address if the link is not working:
The thing that burdens me is will our efforts and time there really help these people? Will it really help them more than sending them 25 tons of food in bags of Rice and beans?! Will it help them more for us to go there personally than to just take all the 50,000+ dollars that we cost to get there, and apply that toward their food and lively hood? They need buildings, they need schools, and clinics, and hospitals, and health care, and paid staff and doctors to host them, and they need churches and memorials, to unite them from past wars and grievances, and a big load of other things, before they are even a partial registration on the scheme of the economy of capitalism that the rest of the world is built around.. (apart from coffee beans.)
How then , can us providing them with prescription eyeglasses actually help them at all?
These thoughts I expressed at out meeting, having a confident Idea in my mind that there is still a good reason for what we are doing, despite all the other places in the world that need God's love, and the care of the Churches. The synopsis is simple, and perhaps perfect to end that potential dispute.
In many countries, such as Ethiopia, where health care is very limited, if not non-existent, and where there are interval times of lack of vital nutrition for many there, as well as lifestyle of necessary exposure to the sun and the other elements, health problems including bad eyes and blindness are way more common than they are here.
For example, one of my teammates explained, "a woman who cannot see there is also not able to get married, therefore cannot have a family, and can't do anything but stand in the street and Beg," or just tag along with others until she is old and unappreciated. The man there has similar problems if he cannot see, read, or recognize faces... There is much work to be done in Ethiopia, like other countries, however problems like early life blindness, or farsighted/nearsightedness are very common.
When one person is suddenly able to see, and have glasses that were just given to him/ her, with no strings attached, and no debts to pay off, it is indeed for that person like a real miracle, whether big or small. That one person can now have a job, get married, learn to read, get an education, play games, if it is a child, support a family, if older. We are bringing thousands of glasses and prescription lenses.... Please Pray that we get to where we are going safely with them. (Meaning that they get through customs and escape all bandits.)
Giving sight to people who were merely expecting to live a nominal life gives that person a chance to make a living, have a family, and make a real difference. In areas where people are used to becoming very inept to their surroundings, including seeing people dying, getting very sick, and going blind both very young and old, the news of having a foreign group that is coming way over to their side of the isolated country is very much an encouragement, and inspires much hope. And to see the results is even more encouraging for them.
I can't say that bringing them 50,000 pounds of rice and beans will not help them, and I want to do that as well. ( But they will then need us even more!) But if just giving more of these people the ability to become mobilized and get educated can positively impact their cities, bringing them more jobs, and churches, Hospitals and orphanages, enriching their lives in a bigger way, that will mean their being able to develop their economy there in a way that is independent of the western kindness, then I am for it. And apparently that is what we are praying will be done as the result of our work out there.
So as long as we can prevent ourselves from clinging to old catch phrases, and spewing out American Christianese, I think the other side of this outreach will be a success, the penetration of the Gospel. The lives of many people In Ethiopia were brought up with an Extremely traditional form of Christianity, and, to summarize what I have learned and heard, many of them do not know God, but are simply following traditions, and many of them do not really know why! But that's what they do, and what they have always done. Many of them have never even read the bible, and do not even own a copy of it in their language.
However, we have translated Bibles for them, so they now will.
We need your prayers that this outreach is successful, virtually obstacle free, and for protection against the many things that can hinder this work and progress from taking place, including the unreasonable search / seizure of our equipment, and/or luggage by customs officials... some of which has happened before.
If you haven't already, please visit this secure site and pledge a generous donation to this outreach. Every bit counts, whether great or small. Into Focus is dependent upon Love Offerings of people like you to make this outreach happen:
https://public.serviceu.com/payment/default.asp?OrgID=1472&PaymentID=7229(Please remember that your gift is completely tax deductible.)
Thanks!
Sincerely,
Adam M.
P.S. (Revised 03.04.2010~UPDATE: Thanks to all who participated on this adventure through sharing of their finances, we are now able to send out 12 missionaries including myself into this field March 10th. Thanks to everyone!) Click here to make a tax deductible donation that will help us pay off our autorefractor- the $9,700 laser machine we are taking there that measures eyes and gives us their prescriptions. Thanks!
Here is the address if the link is not working:
https://public.serviceu.com/payment/default.asp?OrgID=1472&PaymentID=7229
P.P.S. Read my support letter and see some of my 2006 Photos here: http://extremeethiopia2010.blogspot.com
**Feel free to leave a comment!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Welcome
This is my third post on this blog site, I just wanted to say thank you for visiting. I will be updating this with new posts semi regularly, just on what is going on with this and what my thoughts are about all of it. To avoid confusion, you may want to read the last post first, but anything works. My intention is to raise awareness of the presence and necessity of foreign missions, how and why I am getting involved, and the need for your prayers in the area of raising support.
Thanks again!
Later,
Adam
Thanks again!
Later,
Adam
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Trusting.... The Immortal One
I can see where this whole fund-raising thing takes patience... It is easy to forget the value of true, sincere prayer coming from other believers... when I am facing a deadline on fund-raising... I know that I may disappoint a lot of (or a few?) people if I can't raise enough dollars to go on this.. all the same I remember how many times I have noticed that praying for others seems to make more sense than praying about my trivial needs. I also have to be reminded that if others are praying for me and my team, I have already been blessed, regardless of the way it seems... But that thinking still seems sketchy to me, I fear.
Fear based thinking is still the enemy, and seeing through the eyes of love is a challenge. Especially when the avoidance of pain is even more of a primal motivation for us creatures than the pursuit of pleasure is.. But I am encouraged by the fact that if I am pursuing a calling, nothing else matters. If not, then better to know it now. Anyway, I am reminded that every day, every other calling seems just more and more confusing. What makes sense, is what makes the most sense (I hope you caught that!) Trusting God will provide is the hardest thing, right up there with asking for help, that is the hardest thing for me of all- I just don't approve of that in myself. If walking with God seems counter-intuitive, then what of walking alone? You usually just end up sitting there.
Ain't no one left to follow, once you have put your trust into the Immortal One... No one can ever come close to that intensity. He takes you farther than anything else has ever taken you into the aching abyss of "the human soul." and then he seems to leave you there... for a period, just to see how you do, if you will walk off a cliff in search of someone else, or if you will trust Him in the deep dark fog of uncertainty.. That decision can be quite a frightening conjecture... without His promises.
I have no one left to follow, but You, Lord.
Fear based thinking is still the enemy, and seeing through the eyes of love is a challenge. Especially when the avoidance of pain is even more of a primal motivation for us creatures than the pursuit of pleasure is.. But I am encouraged by the fact that if I am pursuing a calling, nothing else matters. If not, then better to know it now. Anyway, I am reminded that every day, every other calling seems just more and more confusing. What makes sense, is what makes the most sense (I hope you caught that!) Trusting God will provide is the hardest thing, right up there with asking for help, that is the hardest thing for me of all- I just don't approve of that in myself. If walking with God seems counter-intuitive, then what of walking alone? You usually just end up sitting there.
Ain't no one left to follow, once you have put your trust into the Immortal One... No one can ever come close to that intensity. He takes you farther than anything else has ever taken you into the aching abyss of "the human soul." and then he seems to leave you there... for a period, just to see how you do, if you will walk off a cliff in search of someone else, or if you will trust Him in the deep dark fog of uncertainty.. That decision can be quite a frightening conjecture... without His promises.
I have no one left to follow, but You, Lord.
I cannot fail.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
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