We came to this decision last week and told our parents as soon as we were ready to commit to going. This isn't something we planned for a long time, although we knew we wanted to be ready when the opportunity was presented. Looking back, there are many circumstances in our lives which we feel prepared us for this decision.

At the end of February we received an email from our friend and business partner. He had been contacted from a friend from his church. http://rockglobalmissions.com/ethiopia/ A woman named Kristen was desperately raising support for a YWAM mission with the Kara tribe in Ethiopia.

Here's the story: The Kara (pronounced Karo) people have a long history full of tradition and superstition. They believe they are a "pure" tribe. When children are born in the tribe that are seen as imperfect they are believed to be "mingi" or "cursed". Children can be mingi for a number of reasons: born out of wedlock, conceived of a married couple without permission from the elders of the tribe, or if the child's teeth (either set) grow in from the top first rather than the bottom. In order to maintain the "purity" of the tribe, these children are destroyed--either abandoned or thrown in the river to drown.

Long story short, the Kara people have agreed to safely surrender their children, having them removed from the tribe and allowing them to live. But there was and remains today an urgency that could not be ignored. A small team moved quickly to set up a make-shift orphanage and rescue some newborn infants. http://www.ljurban.com/ Although the team was successful in securing temporary housing and care for nine children between the ages of 18 months and five years old, they were too late. Two infants were destroyed within days of their arrival.

Our dear friends and their three children are preparing to leave as soon as possible. We want to help them get there. We have some things to take care of before we can go, but then we will be the team--our two families--to raise an orphanage and help these children. Another team is committing to five years, living with the Kara people to bring truth and light and hopefully bring an end to these needless killings.

Our plan is to leave in August. By then our youngest son will be nine months old--old enough to safely receive a much needed vaccination against yellow fever. The safety of our own three children are of course our first priority, but our hearts have been forever changed by learning of these kids on the other side of the world that need our help.

We explained to our kids (ages 6 and 4 by next week) that the Lord tells us "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations," (Matt. 28:19a) and what "God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress." (James 1:27). We cannot ignore the call we know the Lord has put on our hearts. . .

We will be looking to sponsors to raise the needed support for this mission, but first we need to let go of the material things of this world. We are making a list of things to sell, things to give away. All of our resources will be going in this direction. If you are interested in being part of our team, either by prayer or financial support, it would be greatly appreciated.