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Pastor Frank Malizzo is currently serving with Training Leaders International in Ethiopia. Join us as he shares about the people, lessons and experiences that God lays before him throughout his short-term mission trip.

Meet Gidaju! He is one of the leaders of the church here, and a key part of our training in Ethiopia this week. He is preparing with us to co-lead in our next theology course.

Early on, Gidaju was nearly taken from this world. But the Lord had other plans, and rescued him for a reason.

You see, Gidaju’s parents had seven children already. When they found out that they were pregnant with Gidaju, they decided that they could not handle any more. So, his mother was given a saline injection to get rid of him.

It did not work.

Then, they went to another doctor, where she was given a medicine to drink that was meant to induce an abortion.

But boils broke out all over her body.

Gidaju’s father then decided that God must not want them to get rid of this baby. So they carried Gidaju to term, and he was born healthy - miraculously! After that, they decided to allow God to lead, and they had two more children.

In time, Gidaju’s older brother would come to trust in Christ, and begin to follow Him. Then Gidaju did the same. Eventually, all of his siblings became followers of Jesus Christ. Last of all, his parents also came to believe.

Clearly, the Lord has a reason for rescuing Gidaju, and He is not done with him yet!

You might find it interesting, though, as you learn about the meaning of his name. It is rather ironic, given his humble demeanor.

With his surprising origin, Gidaju’s parents named him, “forceful one”.

Please pray for Gidaju, and all of the Ethiopian graduates who will be co-teaching with us next week. They are learning quickly, and we are also learning a great deal from them.

Five loaves and two fishes. You remember the story right?

Jesus had crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and a crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. When Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down with his disciples he saw the great crowd coming toward him, and asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Simon Peter’s brother Andrew, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (paraphrased from John 6:1-9)

Just as the boy who gave the bread and fish never thought his meager offering would be enough, I wondered how my tiny contribution could make a difference in a country as big as Bolivia during a mission trip there in March. I knew exactly what he felt like!

Throughout the trip I wondered:

“How can conversations using my limited Spanish vocabulary have any Eternal impact?”

I don’t know but I did have fun helping Dakota Powell's sponsor child practice her English homework, I enjoyed getting to know the mothers in the Savings Group by asking them about their children and I enjoyed teaching a group of children about savings.  All in broken English, usually through a translator, but always hopeful that God’s love would shine through me and shower them with His affection.

“Did hiking alongside 14-year-old Tatiana really have eternal significance?”

Again, I don't know, but I learned that Tatiana loves all kinds of flowers and that her favorite animal is a rabbit and for that day she had the full attention of one person who really wanted to get to know her and share the love of Jesus with her.

“How can sewing a hem into a sheet of plastic while telling our bus driver about my pets (because that is the only vocabulary that I knew) make a difference?”

Still, I don't know, but through our translator he shared that he and his wife have lost two babies and I was able to use that time, and my broken Spanish, to encourage him.

So that big question that continually pestered me throughout the trip: “How can my tiny contribution make a difference in a country as big as Bolivia?” I never actually found a concrete answer to that but I do know that I loved communicating with the children, FH staff and people I met in Villa Margarita and God taught me so much about myself and showed me what I COULD do in the midst of everything I was afraid I couldn’t! It seems small but it grew my faith!

And, do you remember the end of the story about the boy who gave the loaves and the fishes?

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There were about five thousand men were there and some likely had family. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. (paraphrased from John 6:10-14)

My trip to Bolivia may not have had the same obvious abundance, at least not that everyone else could see, but it taught me that God can use me just the way I am, I don't have to try to be like somebody else; I need to be willing to do what he asks and trust Him with the results.

If you are interested in learning more about Nicole's trip, or other missions trips at MCC, join us Wednesday, May 16th at 6pm at MCC for a Mission's in Focus program where we will be talking about mission trips to Guatemala, Bolivia and the Czech Republic as well as MCC's Business as Missions program. Contact Jennifer Ward for more information about that event!

Everywhere you look there are children, people, cars, dogs, trash blowing across the road, busses racing by....a constant sea of movement. There are buildings being constructed, people at work, something for sale, a noise that never ceases; always a rush. 

But what for? People work hard in hope that opportunity will come, but sadly enough, for many here in Sucre, it seems that it never does. 

We met with Esperanza, a mother of three who works hard all day, every day, handwashing laundry and still just barely getting by. We assumed she was single by the way she spoke of her "son's father." But none of us had the heart to ask. She lived in the heart of the city but spoke as if she were all alone.  The only family she mentioned were the "cousins" of her children, as she called them, from her "boys' father's family". To get to her humble dwelling we climbed over a concrete guardrail, at a random spot off a steep embankment from a busy road, down a shaky set of rusty steel and plywood stairs. It was a tiny, hidden community unto itself, no more than five ramshackle dwellings. You never would have known it was there. It left us wondering how the women of FH had ever found it?

There were children, dogs and hanging laundry amongst the rubbish and mess. Yet children’s eager faces greeted us, hoping for a sponsor`s letter or even better, a visit! All three children were FH sponsored children and seemed more optimistic than most.

But on Esperanza's sad face, there was loneliness and exhaustion, embarrassment that all she had to offer her guests was Salvetti soda, one of which she provided in a wooden bowl because she had no more cups.

Though we knew that our 20-minute visit, gift of school supplies and simple words could not erase that, before we left we covered Esperanza with our prayers. What else can you do when you feel impossibly inadequate?

God's grace covers what we cannot.

His love was a hopeful light in Esperanza's dim, damp, single room dwelling. She smiled as we left, asking us not to forget her. It was heart wrenching.

How could we possibly forget?

Just as her sad face and situation was a profound example of those need, Jesus is a profound example that we NOT FORGET those in need.

"And the King will answer them,`Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40

Just as Sucre felt like a city that would never sleep, I prayed that we would be a people that would never forget. That we would remember her as a member of the family of Christ and continue to lift her up in prayer.

It left me wondering, what will we do for the least of these? In a world that moves too fast, where distraction abounds and we race to keep up, how will you and I serve, how can we pray and be a people that never forgets?

This is my third time in Bolivia. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would spend my vacation time each year to visit people in need and work with the less fortunate, I'm not sure I would have believed you. But God placed Bolivia on my heart from the very first trip I made, one of the ways He did that was  through working with the women of the community.

I have been blessed to witness the progress made in the village of Villa Margarita.  My first trip, God blessed me with the opportunity to teach the women community leaders about Nutrition. God used that experience to change my heart for those in poverty and show me where there was poverty in my life as well. FH was just starting in the community and the Cascada group of women leaders were few and needed education as basic as understanding the food groups.

Three years later, my heart filled with love, grace and humility as I witnessed the same community with many more members of the Cascada group open their Nutrition Center. Though the building was awesome, it was the pride each women had in their work. The ownership, responsibility and confidence each woman had filled my heart. The women have learned and are bringing the good information to others. All the while, living and learning biblical principles. Their children are learning from their mothers and will be leaders one day too! 

I praise God that He brought me here to be a part of the opening of the nutrition center. It will be a day that will forever remain in my heart.