Max Lucado in Ethiopia

Max Lucado recently traveled to Ethiopia with his wife Denalyn and a team from World Vision. This is a letter written after his return on to the US on May 10, 2009.

Dear Friends,

Dadi’s mud-bricked shack seems even farther away than the 6,000 miles it is. I’m writing in the air conditioned and carpeted comfort of Detroit’s airport. Was it just three days ago Denalyn and I sat with Dadi and his family beneath the thatched roof of his Ethiopian hut?

You’d need a four-wheel drive vehicle to reach them and a skilled team to find them. Thanks to World Vision, we had both. They were hosting five of us on a survey trip. Joining me was my wife, Denalyn, our daughter Jenna, and her husband, Brett, and our co-worker from Oak Hills, Mark Tidwell. The week-long visit to the hills of Eastern Africa was intended to expose us to the strategy of World Vision.

Did it ever!

The needs are great: 45% of the country subsists on less than $1 a day. A quarter million children die every year from water-related diseases. Thousands rely upon dirty rivers or muddy holes for their water supply.

Yet for all their problems, I’ve never seen such smiles. The Ethiopians are a soft, gentle, hospitable people. They brim with gratitude for the slightest act of kindness.

Dadi did. Denalyn and I sponsor his 6-year-old daughter Mimi. That is to say, we send $35 a month to World Vision in her name. World Vision ensures that Mimi has access to education, basic health needs, food, and water. Part of our sponsorship is directed toward community efforts like a borewell or health post.

With the aid of an interpreter, Dadi and I discussed the one thing we have in common: children. His five children range in age from 18 months to 18 years. He’s a farmer, but ever since a plague killed his ox, his soil has gone untilled. He’s making about 80 cents a day as a day laborer. I asked him what a new ox would cost. About $280. I’ve got seldom-worn blazers that cost more.

All he needs is a helping hand.

We met dozens of such people. Many of whom were success stories because of someone’s kindness.

A single mom of six who moved into a two-room house

A recovering alcoholic who turned the gift of a cow into a fertilizer business

A farmer who went from 19 cents a day to $3,000 a year thanks to a World Vision irrigation system.

World Vision is an army of kindness: living among the very people they help. They don’t present the gifts and leave. They administer the gifts and linger as good neighbors should. Part social worker, part Sunday School teacher, helping body and soul.

I’ve never seen a group like this. With God’s help, between now and the end of 2010, I hope to increase their number of child sponsors by 25,000. Would you pray as we embark on this initiative?

And would you pray for Dadi? I’m going to make sure he gets the ox. After all, everybody deserves a helping hand. It’s time for Dadi to get his.

Prayerfully,

Max Lucado