King Kong

I had a really strange dream 2 nights ago. The following details are exactly as I remember them. Interpretations, anyone??

King Kong was close by and I was afraid. I and two other guys were in an abandoned bunker setting bombs & traps for the legendary giant gorilla knowing he would soon arrive. We were in the middle of nowhere. I heard the ground quake just like in the movies. He was moving. I popped my head up from the fox hole and he appeared on the horizon. I couldn't really make out the details of the large silouhette. But I hid.

We waited for him to come to us. The next time I looked out, King Kong was in the form of a GIANT Ethiopian girl. She was the size of Goliath. She had a tattered skirt and shirt. Over the shirt she wore a thin sweater. On her head was a bandana like scarf covering all her hair. The oversized girl was with six or eight other normal size children of various races and colors. They were walking side by side with linked hands. The Ethiopian girl was in the middle.

One of my partners raced out and began conversing with the unusual band of travelers. I was alarmed by his boldness and afraid for him still uncertain about what we were actually dealing with here. We did not yet know what Kong was going to do! I tried to warn him but it was too late. I just observed for a minute. When it was clear to me there was not a threat, I too went out to meet them.

I mean the interpretation seems pretty obvious but I've never really had very meaningful dreams. This one really caught my attention (needless to say!) What do you think about it?

SIDENOTE: If you are not already following Katie's blog (of Amazima Ministries)....you should be. I believe God has set her before us to create in us a much deeper imagination for the Kingdom of God. Her writings are worth quoting as they are indescribable. Her stories are beyond inspiring. They put flesh on what we know to be true in our hearts. She is taking what we acknoweldge with our brains and challenging us to exhibit Christ in our lives.

Take a look at this recent post from Katie.

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Please help us bring Selah Evette Dixon home in 2011!

The Valley of Vision

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,
Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox
that the way down in the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear a crown,
that to give is to receive, that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine;
let me find Thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.

Great song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT8aTjVZHVI

*This poem & song were forwarded to me by a friend - also adopting from Ethiopia.

Ethiopian Orphan Crisis

AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE FROM: http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/

"In Ethiopia, the orphan crisis did not receive the media scrutiny it deserved until recent years. High profile adoptions by celebrities including Angelina Jolie, and books, such as “There Is No Me Without You” by Melissa Faye Green, have helped educate many of us concerning the rapid acceleration of new orphanages in Ethiopia. I’m not talking one or two orphanages in a city, but rather five, six and seven orphanages within the span of a couple of years. But the crisis has not stemmed.

According to United Nations Human Development, United Nations International Children’s Emergency and Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, today there are an estimated 5 million orphaned and vulnerable children in Ethiopia; 800,000 of them are AIDS orphans. The country’s cities and villages are overwhelmed; Addis Ababa alone has more than 100,000 orphans. The system is overtaxed, and sadly, new orphanages are not the answer.

While most orphanages are built in good faith they are usually built in response to a crisis. In 2009, Americans adopted 2,277 Ethiopian children. It is easy to see that the numbers just do not add up even with the addition of other countries adopting from Ethiopia. We must be proactive in our approach and not just responsive. Orphanages should not be viewed as acceptable long-term solutions for children. Man has made orphanages for children, but God made the family for children. How then do we place as many children in families as possible?

Bethany Christian Services has started bringing together churches in the United States with churches in Ethiopia into long term foster care projects. These are one-on-one relationships; essentially, the U.S. church provides the necessary financing for foster care and the Ethiopian partner inspires its members to help find families and develop loving, local communities. The two churches coordinate their efforts in a symbiotic fashion, working not only on adoption issues, but also any other missions projects that they wish.

These figures I mentioned previously show that the future of Ethiopia’s children is heading toward a crisis of epic proportion if measurable and immediate action is not taken. The existing structure of orphanages can only do so much and a large number of orphaned children still remain helpless. They are lost, confused, hungry and crying out for a family that will provide them with the basic human need: unconditional love.

We must continue to create other ways of putting children in families. We must continue to direct our efforts in and through the Church. It is our responsibility as believers - it is our honor and privilege to be able to serve the least of these.

Via God’s Holy and Inspired Word:

James 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.'"