ESCAPE FROM WAR
When four of my children were newborns, they had their moment playing baby Jesus in the church’s Christmas live nativity. I remember standing in the wings, watching them wrapped in simple cloth, and thinking about Mary—how she must have looked at her own Son with wonder, love, and a quiet awareness of all that was to come. Those moments always brought me back to Luke 2:19: “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
As a mother, I understand that kind of pondering—the way we hold our children’s stories close. And while I cherish the sentimental things about Christmas, like the live nativity or selecting the perfect tree, I’m always brought back to the truth that Christmas is all about Jesus. Even as Mary cradled a newborn, she was already carrying the weight of the promises and trials that awaited Him. It’s that same tenderness and hope I see in the mothers at Grace Center, including women like Beletu.
At Grace Center, we see many women who come to us with deep and complex stories. It seems sin has taken over in many ways, but even in the darkest moments, there is redemption. There is grace. Beletu came to Grace Center after she escaped from the town where she and her husband were living. She had just given birth. What was her sin? She rebelled against her family. As the oldest of her siblings, instead of following her parents' wishes to marry and stay close to the family, Beletu married someone from the tribe they are fighting against—the very people trying to kill them. On one level, it’s a raw and real Romeo and Juliet story.
Believing her husband would keep her safe, she went to live with him in his region. It wasn’t long after this that militia came through. She and other women ran to the forest to hide while the men went forward to fight. She heard that her husband had been shot—but, miraculously, he survived! She couldn’t risk her life—or her child’s—by seeing him again, so she escaped, taking nothing, fled to Bahir Dar, and came to Grace Center. When I met Beletu, some people were letting her stay in a small mud room rent-free. Grace Center helped her with food and all the essentials she needed for her house. A smile covered her face as she pondered upon the simple ways we had begun to help her, and she shared how she now had nothing to worry about because of Grace Center.
When I see the level of faith and strength in the people of Ethiopia, I am so deeply moved. It seems incomprehensible. And when I asked her how I could pray for her, she said, "Please pray that my husband has some way to find me so we can be together again."
I asked logistically how he could find her, and if she had anyone she could call or talk to who might give him the information—she said there was no one. If I were in her position, I might feel lost and alone, but she seemed so overly hopeful that God would work everything out, as He had already answered so many of her prayers. I have seen this repeatedly for more than 20 years in Ethiopia—their faith runs deep, and they see God in everything. Even when life seems hopeless, they remain steadfast and hopeful. Amazingly, her husband did find her. He even came to Grace Center to thank us for all we did to care for his wife and child when they had no one else.
As I think about Mary, treasuring and pondering all that God was doing through her and around her, I can’t help but see the same quiet faith reflected in Beletu, who fled with nothing, yet held such hope in her heart. She, too, is pondering the miracles of God’s provision—how He met her in her deepest need through Grace Center and through people she’s never even met. And just as Mary reflected on the mystery of God’s plan unfolding through her child, I invite you to ponder with us—how your prayers, great partnership, and faith are part of God’s ongoing story of redemption.
Every child cared for, every mother restored is a living testimony of what happens when we each say yes to God’s call. It is because of the awesome God we serve—our Lord Jesus, who came to earth as a little baby and is now calling us to continue reaching out to those in most need, bringing healing and restoration for all His children throughout the world.