severns ron linda 1994 ethiopia

8/12/2019 Severns Ron Linda 1994 Ethiopia

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8^

~UG

^ V

on

in d a Seve rn s

MISSIONARIES TO ETHIOPIA

P.O.

Box

2187

PortOrchard, WA 98366

206 871 4991

RO N A

UNDA

SEVERNS

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP

Prayer

Newsletter

June 1994

Dear

Friends

A

change

inplans.

Isn tit

comforting

to

know

that

God has

a

sense

of

humor? The last general newsletter Linda andI sent

out toldofour hopes to leave for EthiopiaonJune 16.

The same daythat letterwas

mailed,

wefoundout that

we may beable toadopta baby who will

be born

in

August.

I think God is

really

enjoyingour excitement. We

knew immediatelythis decision would changeour

plans,

though

we

didn t

know for

sure

how.

(We ll

still

be

finding that out 18years from now, I m

sure )

Since then,we ve talked with the birth parents and an

attorney and

have

a litde better ideawhat ishappening.

First

ofall, in

meeting with

thebirth

mother, we

found

that this will

probably

be the

hardest decision

she

has

evermade. It wasobvious that she loves this litde baby

and doesn t want to give him up (yes, the

ultrasound

indicates

he s a

boy).

But, she

also realizes

that she

wants

her

child

to

grow

upina

two-parent

family;

she

can t

provide

that right now. It is avery

difficult

decision,

and

one

that

will no t be final until after the

baby is

born.

We found that staying to adopt the baby will delay us

onlya few months.We nowexpect that weshould be

able

tobe inEthiopia byThanksgiving time. This

allows

timeforpre-and post-placement home

studies

and

the

final

legal decree.

Children are a

blessing

from

God.

Whowould

have

thought

thatGodwould fulfill our dreams of

becoming parents

after twenty years

of

marriage?

We

are excited thatGodwill give us the privilege of raising

a son. Wewant toguide andnurture himintoa

loving

relationship

withhisheavenly

Father.

We arealso

excited thatour child

will

beable to grow up bilingual

and

bi-cultural, experiencing

boththe

Ethiopian and

American

cultures. Bythe timehe s

ready

for school,

he

will

probably speak

Orominya

better than

we will.

Children are a natural bridge tomaking new fi-iends

and learning the

language.

Rejoice with us inGod s

goodness.

Howwill thischange our

work?

Wewill have to juggle schedules, like most families

with two working parents, but thatwill probably be

easier

forusthanmostpeople with eight-to-five jobs in

the

States.

It will bea

challenge,

but one

we believe

Godwill give usthewisdom to

handle.

Whatwillwe he doing between now

and

our departure?

I

will

serve as missionary-in-residence with our home

church, which provides

major

support for our

ministry. Mydutieswillinclude workwith our senior

citizens, some

pastoral

calling, a home Bible

study,

and

some preaching. In

addition, we will

bevisiting

some

churches to

finalize

our one-timeoutgoingexpenses.

Our salary

will

continue through CMF.


2/4

What s

happening in

Ethiopia while

we are

delayed?

Our mission team hasgrownfrom one

family when

we

were

there lastJuly to three

families

currently

working

in

Ethiopia. And ministry

is

blossoming.

Construction of die clinic buildings at Haro and

Yasow

where Linda

will serve as nurse ~ are well

underway.

A

leadership

TrainingCenter

has

been

set

up at Kiramu to work with church leaders from CMF s

pioneer ministry in Ethiopia from 1964 to 1977.

We ve also foundout that Linda s work permit has

been

approved by the Ethiopian government. In a day

when

missionaries

arenot always

welcomed

it s good

to know that we can enter the country under her work

permit as a nurse and LwilLbe free to woik wkh_- ^

church leaders

andhelpin church planting. We re

anxious to get to Ethiopiaand

begin

ourwork

as soon

as

possible

in God s timing.

We would appreciateyourprayers

for:

The birth mother asshe

seeks

God s will and leading

in he r

life.

The

baby s

healthy

development.

Our preparations to be parents.

6/94

Ron and Linda Severns

Christian

Missionary Fellowship

P.O.

B OX 5 01 02 0

INDIANAPOLIS. IN 46250 6020

Address

Correction Requested

The churchin Ethiopia.

The

many

people in Ethiopia

who

still have not

heard ofJesus.

The

team we

will bejoining in Ethiopia: the Giles

Swarts

and Van

Wagenens.

Completion

ofour

one-time outgoing

support

raising.

We willkeepyou informed aswe know more. Thank

you foryour part in our ministry.

Yours in Christ

Ron

Severns

NoaproricOiguuzaiioa

U.S.Poitage

PAID

Pomit No. 2975

IiuiiaiupoUt Iiufiasa

Mission

Services

di tor i l

p 0

Box

KnoxvUle


3/4

Ron

L inda Seve rn s

(ho

Miss ionar ies

Ethiop ia

P.O. Box

2920

AddisAbaba, Ethiopia

Eas tAM ca

RO N

UND SEVERNS

CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY FELLOWSHIP

Prayer

Newsletter

September 1994

Dear

Friends

As you

know,

Linda and I were hoping to

adopt

a

baby that was due

to

be

born

in mid-August. After

much

soul-searching, the mother

decided

to

keep

the

chUd.

The last

few days have

been difficult

ones

forLinda

and me as we have grieved the loss

of

this child

we

hoped would

be

ours. We are hurting.

In

ftct

we

are

mourning the loss ofthis baby more thanwe

mourned the death ofour own baby 12 years ago.

But

we

arealso

seeing

God's love and care forus

again. On the

Sunday

we announced ourplans

for

adoption to our

home

church, I

gave

acommunion

meditation based

on

Hebrews 12:2, Let us

fix

our

eyes

onJesus, the Pioneer and

Perfecter

ofourfaith, whofor

thejoy set

before

him

endured the cross despising its

shame.

I'd

like

to

share some

of

those

thoughts

with

you.

Joy seems

to be

tied

up very closely with pain. The

joyofanew life

follows

the

pain

of child birth. The

joy

of

adopting

a

baby

includes risking

the

pain

of

the

birth parents

changing their

minds at the last minute.

The

joy

of raising

children includes the

pain of

hurting when they hurt,

of

limiting your freedoms,

and stretching

your budget. Greater joy requires

greater riskand pain.

When God

created

the

world.

He

chose the

joy of

creating human beings

in His

image capable

of

choosing to love

Him.

In so doing, He chose the risk

ofbeing

rejected.

The

greater

joy ofa loving

relationship

required the

great pain

of

possible

rejection.

When

human beings

did

reject

God,

He chose

the

pain ofbecoming a

human

being and living among

us. He chose

the

pain of

birth,

hunger, thirst... all

the pains that you

and I

experience

... and

eventually

the pain

of

crucifixion, death on the cross, for the

joy

ofrestoring a

broken relationship

with the people

He

created.

I

confess

that it

was

easier to say that

four months ago

when

we

were

planning

for

a

baby

than

it

is

today

when those dreams have been crushed. But I still

stand bywhat I said then.

We

appreciate

your prayers

over the past

few

months

for both Linda and me and the baby. Wewould ask

thatyoucontinue to pray for us.

As

I write

this,

it

has

been a week-and-a-halfsince we found out for sure

that we would not

be

getting the

baby.

Wehave had

some

good cries

and

some

long talks

about our

future

and a recommitment ofour lives to each other and to

God.

Last Friday, Linda and Igot 18balloons to symbolize

the years the child would have been our primary

responsibility

(although

we recognize you

never

cease

being a parent ). We tookthe balloons to the

waterfront

near

where we live and, after

a

prayer

of

relinquishment, released them and watched them float

away until we could no longer

see

them. Then we

took a

single

balloon and,

with

a prayer of

commitment for

our

livesand our future, released it.

The

single balloon

went a different direction.Our


4/4

thoughts were

that we

and this baby are both in the

arms

of

God,

but

our

lives will

go different

directions

from

here.

Having

let goof our

hopes

for that litde

child,

God

is

now

giving

us a renewed enthusiasm for our work in

Ethiopia.

Just

yesterday

we

received

a

phone call from

Addis Ababa.

The team there

requesting that we

plan to

arrive between

October 15 and 18.We will

talk

to a

travel agent tomorrow

and

find ourselves

once again moving

into

high

gear and

getting excited

about the work God has c al le d us to .

In

September, we

will

spend

10

days visiting churches

in Kansas, then return to Port Orchard where we will

participate in the first two weeks of their faith

covenant program. October 9 will be our lastSunday

in th e U.S.

Hopefully, the nextnewsletter you

receive

from us

will

be

sent

from

Ethiopia.

We

are

looking

forward

to

getting

on with the

task

God

has given

usin

Ethiopia.

We re

thankful

to

you

for

your

part

in making

that

possible.

Please Pray For

The

baby

and

parents.

Our

final preparation

and

packing for Ethiopia.

Safe travel.

9/94

Ron and Linda Severns

Christian

Missionary

Fellowship

P .O . BOX 501 02 0

INDIANAPOLIS.

IN

46250-6020

Address

Correction

Requested

ission

Services

ditorial Dep t

P

Box

d.^2.7

Knu x v i i l e T^4 379

Building relationships with the Oromo

people

of

Ethiopia

so we

can

learn

their language and share

God s loveeffectively with them. When I

was

teaching

at

Manhattan

Christian

College,

I

told my

students

that learning the

Maasai language was one

of

the

most difficult but also

one

of

the

most

rewarding things I had done. I anticipate that

will

be

true of the Oromo language as

well.

Thank

God

For

His

grace

that sustains us.

The friends and

churches who

make it financially

possible

for us to go.

The opportunity to tell the Oromo people how

much Jesus loves them.

Yours in

Christ

Ron Severns

NooprefiiOi^izarioo

U.S,

Pottage

PAID

Pcnoii

No. 2975

loduapolii

lotfiana

severns ron linda 1994 ethiopia

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