I know Jesus can look different in everyone's life, as they act as His hands and feet in different ways...but do you ever think that sometimes it's harder to act in faith because of the fluency that we live in here in America? Just a thought that's been swimming around in my head...
I want to be these people when I grow up...!!!
I am going to post these two blog posts here so that when my blog is printed in book form my children will be able to read this amazing testimony of what it looks like to have faith...
Post number 1, found here:
"Dan and I have intentionally not shared many of the specifics related to our adoption. Most people generally know what we did, why we did it and where it happened, but we’ve kept the fine details – dates, names, places and so forth to ourselves.
We have our reasons for keeping quiet. Some details we don’t share for the protection of Hannah and Joseph. Some details we can't share in order to protect the privacy of our friends in Uganda.
But some details we don’t share simply because they’re private, they're our memories – and they belong to our family alone. One of those stories we’ve kept to ourselves for too long. Dan and I think it’s time to share this one because it’s a story of faith, radical sacrifice and reckless abandonment for Christ like you’ve never heard before.
Buckle up and get ready. This will rock your world. Religion that is pure and faultless is this…
That’s Ernest and Catherine. Ernest is a 65 year old Ugandan pastor. Catherine is his beautiful wife. They are kind and loving. They live very simply and they are poor because they give everything away. They are sold out for Jesus.
Ernest is a church planting evangelist of rock star proportions – he has planted over 80 churches throughout Uganda and Tanzania over the last 45 years. He does this incredible work with no resources to speak of. He has the Holy Spirit in his heart, God’s Word in his hands and that’s all he needs.
Ernest and Catherine have never had biological children. But oh, they’ve had children. Over the years, they’ve taken in dozens and dozens of orphaned children. They have fed and clothed and loved these children as their own. They’ve raised them to adulthood and found ways to pay for weddings and college and medical school and more.
And here’s how Ernest and Catherine tie into The Owens’ story…
When Dan was in Uganda in July 2010, we began pursuing adoption of Hannah and Joseph. At the time, they were the youngest permanent residents of “M.” Their living conditions were horrible, their health was declining, their safety was in question, at best. We had not even begun the adoption process in the US so Dan couldn’t bring them home. But Dan simply couldn’t go back to Atlanta and leave our two small children in that place.
In desperation, he and the Sixty Feet team turned to Ernest and Catherine for help. Dan showed up on their doorstep, unannounced and uninvited and asked them to take Hannah and Joseph – until we came back for them. And we had no idea when that would be.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they agreed. They actually rejoiced, as they’d been praying that the Lord would send more children for them to care for. Seriously.
At the time, Ernest and Catherine had 9 children. They lived in a tiny bungalow with little indoor plumbing. And they rejoiced to take in Hannah and Joseph.
However… the church Ernest worked for did not rejoice. In fact, this church responded in the opposite manner. They were horrified at the thought of having these children live on their land.
It’s one thing to take in helpless orphans. It’s another to take in children from M. Those children are truly "the least of the these" – who would want them? They’re sick. They’re uneducated. They have no social skills. By no fault of their own, they are labeled as outcasts.
I know this next sentence is unbelievable but it’s true: The church ordered Ernest, in no uncertain terms, to get rid of Hannah and Joseph. The church told them they simply could not stay. Orphans, yes. The dirty, dangerous, sickly children from M, no. “Return those children to M, immediately” were the instructions.
Ernest and Catherine refused. They stood up to their church, to the white, American-born senior pastor, to all the elders and said “no way.” We will not leave these children as orphans. We will not return them to M.
“Then you stand to lose everything,” said their church. "Either Hannah and Joseph go -- or you go. You will lose your home, your job, your income. This will cost you everything."
I imagine that most of us would lay down our lives for our children. Most of us would give up our homes, our jobs and our sole source of income for them. But how many of us would give those things up for some random, dirty, orphaned children who just show up on your doorstep one day? I like to think I would – but in reality, I probably wouldn’t.
Guess how Ernest and Catherine responded.
Well, I hate to leave y’all hanging but that’s it for now. This is getting long and it's getting late so this one is To Be Continued... Meet me here on Sunday night and I’ll finish this incredible story. "
Post number 2, found here:
"When we left off last time, Ernest and Catherine had a decision to make. The choice was this: either return two small children to the horrible place that is M – or stand to lose every bit of security they have in this life – their home, their farm, their income, everything.
If faced with this decision, I’ll tell you what I would do. I’d make the responsible choice. I’d be smart about this. Ernest and Catherine were already caring for a house full of orphans. Shouldn’t their first responsibility be to those children? Without their farm, how could they feed everyone? Without Ernest’s income as a pastor, how would they provide? We can’t just go around making foolish, impulsive decisions based on emotion. After all, Jesus calls us to be wise, right?
And yet the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. – 1 Corin 3:19
So what did they decide? Well, for the faithful few, such as Ernest and Catherine, the choice between earthly security and obedience to Christ is not really a choice at all. I’m sure you’re not surprised to hear that they stood by Hannah and Joseph. It didn’t matter that they already had a house full of orphans to care for. It didn’t matter that Hannah and Joseph were not their own children and never would be. All that mattered was Jesus and His command to care for least of these.
The church made good on their promise and they eventually forced Ernest and Catherine off of the land. Ernest lost his job, his home, his farm, his income, his church and his friends. But he didn’t lose heart.
He and Catherine took the children and moved on. And in January of this year, they started taking in other children from M. And since they were moving to a new area anyways, they went ahead and planted a new church. I mean, why not?
Last week, members of the SixtyFeet team were privileged to spend time with Ernest and Catherine in Uganda. We were able to help them put a roof on their new church and they invited Scott, one of our board members, to preach last Sunday. To which Scott remarked “what could I possibly teach these people about faith?”
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| Flora, Ernest, Boaz, Scott, Faith and Moses standing outside the new church, new roof in progress. |
Dan and I feel a heavy burden to support Ernest and Catherine because of the amazingly sacrificial gift they gave to our family. Sixty Feet also desires to support their ministry, as they are now intentionally seeking to serve more and more children from M.
We’ve found a beautiful piece of property, including a large 9 bedroom home, in very close proximity to their church. $4,500 will pay their rent for the entire year and move them in immediately.
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| Scott and Ernest checking out the big house. |
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| View from the house. God's handiwork is amazing! Saints like Ernest and Catherine deserve this view. |
You’ve heard me say it before but I’ll say it again… one little family can’t change the whole world, but you can change one little corner of it. Take this opportunity, right here and right now, and do something big for the Kingdom."
Okay, wow...go check out their blog now...so major funds have been raised for these awesome people! Yippy!!!!!!!!
