Meklit is a stay-at-home mother of three. She lives in a crowded urban neighborhood in Ethiopia. Meklit used to keep her family close, protected within the walls surrounding her home. She worried about the diseases her children might catch and the bad behavior they would learn if they spent time with the neighborhood kids, particularly the street children who lived on the corner.
Meklit’s view changed when she attended the BIG Story Training in her home city, Addis Ababa. There, she encountered God’s heart for the world, God’s view of the potential her own children, and God’s plan for her family to become a blessing to others. Meklit left the training a changed person. Fear was replaced by love for the world and a new vision for how God might use her family to impact unbelievers in her neighborhood.
Meklit cleaned out a spare room in her home. Then she hung up a world map and began to teach her children how to pray for the nations, especially unreached peoples without access to the gospel.
Next Meklit opened her doors to the children in her community. Now, along with her family, she is intentional about getting to know the boys and girls living outside her walls. Meklit involves her own children in telling and acting out Bible stories for the neighborhood kids and takes every opportunity to share with them about Jesus.
God is honoring mother’s steps of faith and she is beginning to see fruit. Because of her demonstration of love for their children, some neighbors are listening to what she shares about God. A few have even made the decision to follow Jesus.
Meklit continues to model for her own children what it means to be Jesus’ hands and feet to those around them … and they continue to follow her lead. What could be the future impact of a home where God’s mission is lived out in such tangible ways?
