Irresistable Grace

I've made a new friend. His name is Sammy. Sammy is a guide/translator for the Ethiopian Guest House where we stayed. He has been with us on most of our escapades in Addis. I recently found out his story. Sammy's family lived in a leper colony. However, when Sammy was 4 years old, he came to live on the dump at Korah. He lived there for 8 years with some other childhood friends. At age 12, Sammy tells that he and a friend decided to go and try to join the army. They did this because they were so tired of being hungry. They figured that in the army they would at least be fed. Twelve years old. Army. They walked a day to wherever the army recruiting area was. Unfortunately for them, they were "found out" and sent on their way back to the dump. Hunger is a fierce motivator, so they tried again. Again they were turned down. Somewhere in their journey, the boys happened upon a Young Life mission team. They were welcomed in to the group. They were shown love and care for the first time in 8 years. They were also told of the love of God and his care for the sick (lepers). This story resonated with Sammy, and he committed his life to following Christ. Because of his new relationship with the Young Life team, Sammy was able to leave his hopeless life on the dump. He stayed with this team and was discipled by them for four years.


As an adult, Sammy has felt called by God to return to the dump and share the good news of the Savior. He feels called to bring hope to the hopeless. Hear just a little of his testimony.


It is hard to process the physical (financial) poverty that you are faced with at every turn in Addis. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, everywhere you turn, there is poverty. Severe poverty. But at the dump, it defies description. Poverty here has a smell and a look all its own. It is gray, it smells sour, and it looks scary. Sammy could run far away from this place and never look back - grateful that God delivered him. But love drives him back there. He recognizes that it was God's grace (as Sammy describes it, "God's irresistable grace") that brought him out of the dump, and it is this same grace that could do the same for another. He wants to be the messenger of that grace and hope. Sammy has recognized that there is a poverty that is far worse than financial poverty. It is spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty believes that this world is our home. Spiritual poverty denies that a relationship with a loving Heavenly Father is possible. Spiritual poverty is void of the love, grace and mercy of God that can catapult us beyond our circumstances. I'm grateful that Sammy sees, not only their physical poverty, but their spiritual poverty as well.

Interestingly, we can live in the most affluent places in America and still live in spiritual poverty. In the end, those with Christ in poverty-stricken Korah are better off than the unsaved people of our affluent American neighborhoods. Praise be to God, He has provided a way out of our spiritual poverty. Christ became our poverty (took on our sin) so that if we believe in Him and submit our lives in obedience to Him, we might become rich (inherit the kingdom of God).
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." 2 Cor. 8:9