A Gift Like No Other

Esau was a gift like no other. A gift for the women of the “Tins & Trash” area. He offered them hope and freedom like never before. Esau,the servant would carry not only their trash but also others, thus generating cash for his rightful owners.

Patricia, our youngest of 8, along with Demis our guard, walked 5.5 hours through the littered streets of Addis to deliver the “Gift”. Esau was now theirs with no strings attached.

The next day with great anticipation, I journeyed to their home to find Esau and the women. What I found was a people who tried to avoid me. A people who spent their energies diverting my attention away from themselves to other things. I found myself not welcomed. Feelings of bewilderment took hold of me and for some reason I knew by their character something was terribly wrong.

I came to find out that day Esau was sold for quick money. Money that lasted only for a day. Never did they give it thought that through Esau, their lives would be changed forever.

I can’t begin to tell you the pain I felt when I saw my gift abandoned. A gift I was sure God inspired. A gift that would break them from the bondage and curse of poverty that gripped them. And yet, they were willing to sell out for but a fleeting moment.

I often wonder if this is how God feels. He gave us “A Gift Like No Other”. His Son. How many times have we sold out but for a fleeting moment? Like us, do you think God hurts?

There is a Cost

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “You can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy” was very true in our son, Matthew’s case. Here was a young man of 15 years, uprooted from his community to an area that didn’t even resemble what he was use to. Loneliness and feelings of abandonment engulfed him causing Matthew to learn the lesson “There is a Cost”.

At the local dump where my life was being blessed by the “tins & trash” another scenario was developing. Another lesson that I would painfully learn, but not yet. I noticed how the women, old and young alike, pregnant and crippled would struggle to carry their day’s findings to a scale where one wasn’t sure whether it could be trusted or not. The sight of mothers with babies strapped to their backs, infants carried in their gestation period and small children adhered to their sides was a familiar scene. One I shall never forget.

As mind-boggling as it was, I knew I could ask God for guidance. Guidance as to how we as a family could be of help. It was then on my walk home from the dump that He showed up. In a herd of donkeys, God gave me the idea how we could bless.

A donkey, which Matthew named “Esau”, bought from a local herder would become the ladies gift but not until the “country boy” would claim ownership. Esau allowed Matthew to connect with his homeland. The bonds he treasured with his Uncle Lester’s animals were ignited in the presence of this donkey. The pain of not being home diminished.

Washing, clipping, combing, feeding and riding filled Matthew’s day even though he knew it would not last. Matthew knew the time would come when he would have to give his donkey up in order that someone else may be blessed. He realized “there was a cost” in loving this animal but the rewards that awaited him were worth it all.

We too can say the same. “There is a Cost” to following Christ but the reward is real and truly immeasurable!