Dear friends and Church Family,
Over the past year Kim and I have tried to pay close attention to the Lord and His plans for our family. It has been a struggle, but we have discerned that it is God’s will to accept the Senior High Director position at First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs, Colorado. We start the first week of January and will be moving the last week of December. I will also continue my master’s work at Fuller Seminary, which is down the street from the church. We are saddened at the thought of leaving this incredible church and community, but excited when we think of what God has planned for us.
Kim and I would love to sit down with each of you to talk about all of these changes, but we know this is not possible. Telling you this information by letter does not excite me because it seems distant and formal. Our prayer is that we will have time to spend with many of you to say our “good-byes” before we leave in January.
To be honest with each of you, it makes no human sense for us to move. We love the church, the students and the incredible friends we have made over the years. For this reason we know God must be at work. We trust that He will lead us into the next chapter of our life. In the same way we trust God to continue to guide St. Andrews-Covenant and especially the youth ministry with what lies ahead for you as well.
We believe that St. Andrews-Covenant has loved us and cared for us like children. When I came here over 7 years ago I loved the Lord and working with students, but that was about all I knew. Over the years Steve Hein, the staff and my dear friends who have worked along side me in the student ministry have nurtured and encouraged me as a young leader. I am also deeply thankful for the way you welcomed Kim into the church family when we got married and Ruthie when she was born in March.
God has been working through this church family way before I arrived, He is working now and He will continue to work way after each of us is gone. I know that He works in seasons and this has been the most life-changing season of my life. Kim and I are grateful that God allowed this season to happen. Please pray for our family to continue to seek Him in the midst of selling and buying a house, making new friends and working at a new church. In the same way we will praise God every time with think of you.
God is Good,
Nate, Kim and Ruthie Stratman
”Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Home?
On the 2 day trek home, my heart was hurting to see my 2 ladies. In africa I met so many parents who loved their children with wreckless abandon. They literally risked their lives to provide for their kids. Some parents were known to walk day and night to get medical attention for their babies. There was such a humility amongst the Ethiopian people that they came across as very shy. When I sat in their homes and asked them about their children, the shyness went away and they spoke in a firm and confident voice. Being a rookie father myself, I could feel the pain in the voices of these fathers. These men wanted more for their children and just couldn't seem to provide some of their needs. I sat with moms and dads who had to watch their children suffer, and yet they were quick to sing praises of God's goodness.
The pictures above are as follows; 1) you can tell this little girl was absolutely filthy, but her smile melted my heart. She was a little girl who hung around the church/compassion project, but was not in the program. While compassion has teamed with the local church to reach children in the name of Christ, hundreds wait outside the wall because there is no room for them.(I'll address this in a second)
2) Here is my Maasai Tribesman friend Peter who is also a follower of Christ. When I told him my daughter's name was Ruth, he began to recite the entire book of Ruth from scripture. 3) This is another Maasai named Tony. He had HUGE holes in his ears and he let me stick 4 fingers through the hole. (Kim grossed out when I told her this....but my thought is "when in Ethiopia, do as the Ethiopians do") Both Tony and Peter are missing a tooth in the bottom front of their mouths. They told me that Maasais do this to their children so they can still put water and medicine in their mouths when they are sick. I challenged both of them to a jumping contest.....I got crushed. (in case you didn't know...the Maasai are famous for their leaping ability, I saw this on the History Channel...so being the Alpha male I am, I had to challenge these guys.) 4) I found these boys in the middle of nowhere tending after the cattle. Each of them are shepherds who watch the family cows. They begin at age 7 and spend all day with the herd...we laughed when we thought of what we did at age 7 here in the states. These boys give you a good idea of what King David the shepherd boy may have looked like.
This is why my heart is heavy with conviction:
I was exposed to so many African Christians who are devoting their entire lives to caring for the poor and sick in their homeland. We heard story after story of orphan children rescued from the streets who are now healthy, educated and giving back to their villages. Without a doubt I saw so much Hope in what I thought was a hopeless situation.
But here is the rub;
In Matthew 26 Jesus tells the disciples that the "poor will always be with us". I have always struggled with understanding this verse....I honestly wish Jesus didn't say it...but He did. As followers of Christ we must never have the mindset that we have arrived until we meet him face to face. I am reminded even in our own culture that the Harvest is plenty and the workers are few. Praise God for the children who have been reached by the global church. To those of us in the United States, we must "KEEP FOCUSED" because we have been given so much and now are required by God to act. Look at the first picture, this girl longs for the day when she can get the same attention the other children are getting. Due to a lack of resources, she might never get in along with millions of other children.
What can we do?
If you are interested in sponsoring a child from these projects, please let me know. Kim and I realized that one meal in a restaruant per month comes close to $32. This is a small amount of money now that I have seen how it is put to work.
COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL
God is Good,
nate
Monday, September 24, 2007
last day in Africa
Today I got to spend the entire day with a Maasai Tribesman named Peter. He escorted me to my room the night before because Hippos are known to attack in the area. He wares the traditional garb and carries a spear.
Peter starting telling me about being one of the few followers of Christ in his famous tribe. His parents and family rejected him for several months. He had an assurance about his faith that was staggering and a humility that was Christ-like.
This trip has given me perspective. God is becoming larger as parts of me are becoming smaller. God is at work in this world....from the trendy people who hangout at Starbucks to the Maasai tribesman in Africa. I am ashamed for making God so small in my mind and I thank Him for the reminder this past week of how Big He truly is.
God is Good,
nate
ps...I had an eagle attack me and take my chicken leg out of my hand while standing by a river watching hippos.
Peter starting telling me about being one of the few followers of Christ in his famous tribe. His parents and family rejected him for several months. He had an assurance about his faith that was staggering and a humility that was Christ-like.
This trip has given me perspective. God is becoming larger as parts of me are becoming smaller. God is at work in this world....from the trendy people who hangout at Starbucks to the Maasai tribesman in Africa. I am ashamed for making God so small in my mind and I thank Him for the reminder this past week of how Big He truly is.
God is Good,
nate
ps...I had an eagle attack me and take my chicken leg out of my hand while standing by a river watching hippos.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Ethiopia 3
Dearest Foldiers,
I want to write you a short note telling you of what we have seen and experienced in Ethiopia. I wont be able to do justice in this short letter because the internet costs a fortune, but I do have lots of pictures and video footage of all the kids, sights and donkeys.
Tonight we ate dinner with three students who are now in college here in Ethiopia. Why is this such a big deal? These three students are Compassion Children just like Geomyra, Juan and Malini. They were tiny kids when someone in the states picked up their sponsor card and began to support them. 2 of them will be teachers and want to do so in a Compassion project and the other is finishing his degree to be a Water Engineer as well as a music minister in his church. This boy will save many lives as he seeks to figure out the water problems here in Africa.
I cried during the dinner because I was looking at 3 students who have received Christ as their Savior and have become servants to the poorest of the poor. They can't help but serve God for all He has done for them. In my 7 years at SACPC I have witnessed this same type of miracle.....and it brings me to tears every time.
This afternoon we went 100 Kilometers outside the city to visit a project and church in the middle of no where. I was the first white boy some of them have ever seen. We walked through many fields to a small grass hut to visit the family of a sponsored child. It had dirt on the floor and the area they cooked in was half kitchen and half stable for the 2 cows they had.....I loved that!! The family shared how God has changed their lives through Compassion. Their children have all been nurtured with incredible education, health training and spiritual nurture. I have some great pics!!
I got to jam on the cow drum thingy with the music class, got schooled in Ping Pong by a girl who had mad skills, stepped in two ant hills, got trampled by 70 Ethiopian children when I opened a bag of balloons and chased many goats and donkeys throughout the village. Oh yeah....I ate some serious cow stomach last night too..
My prayer is that every one of you takes the chance to see what God is doing on a Global level. I have sat with so many people who have AIDS and they continue to praise God for His goodness. I thank God for every student in the FOLD, my prayer is that all of us seek Jesus with everything we have and by the power of the Holy Spirit we will make a difference in our community and world, one soul at a time.
God is Good
nate
I want to write you a short note telling you of what we have seen and experienced in Ethiopia. I wont be able to do justice in this short letter because the internet costs a fortune, but I do have lots of pictures and video footage of all the kids, sights and donkeys.
Tonight we ate dinner with three students who are now in college here in Ethiopia. Why is this such a big deal? These three students are Compassion Children just like Geomyra, Juan and Malini. They were tiny kids when someone in the states picked up their sponsor card and began to support them. 2 of them will be teachers and want to do so in a Compassion project and the other is finishing his degree to be a Water Engineer as well as a music minister in his church. This boy will save many lives as he seeks to figure out the water problems here in Africa.
I cried during the dinner because I was looking at 3 students who have received Christ as their Savior and have become servants to the poorest of the poor. They can't help but serve God for all He has done for them. In my 7 years at SACPC I have witnessed this same type of miracle.....and it brings me to tears every time.
This afternoon we went 100 Kilometers outside the city to visit a project and church in the middle of no where. I was the first white boy some of them have ever seen. We walked through many fields to a small grass hut to visit the family of a sponsored child. It had dirt on the floor and the area they cooked in was half kitchen and half stable for the 2 cows they had.....I loved that!! The family shared how God has changed their lives through Compassion. Their children have all been nurtured with incredible education, health training and spiritual nurture. I have some great pics!!
I got to jam on the cow drum thingy with the music class, got schooled in Ping Pong by a girl who had mad skills, stepped in two ant hills, got trampled by 70 Ethiopian children when I opened a bag of balloons and chased many goats and donkeys throughout the village. Oh yeah....I ate some serious cow stomach last night too..
My prayer is that every one of you takes the chance to see what God is doing on a Global level. I have sat with so many people who have AIDS and they continue to praise God for His goodness. I thank God for every student in the FOLD, my prayer is that all of us seek Jesus with everything we have and by the power of the Holy Spirit we will make a difference in our community and world, one soul at a time.
God is Good
nate
Friday, September 21, 2007
Letter from Ethiopia
Dearest Foldiers,
I want to write you a short note telling you of all the things we have seen and experienced in Ethiopia. I want be able to do justice in this short letter because the internet costs a fortune, but I do have lots of pictures and video footage of all the kids, sights and donkeys.
Tonight we ate dinner with three students who are now in college here in Ethiopia. Why is this such a big deal? These three students are Compassion Children just like Geomyra, Juan and Malini. The were tiny kids when someone in the states picked up their sponsor card and began to support them. 2 of them will be teachers and want to do so in a Compassion project and the other is finishing his degree to be a Water Engineer as well as a music minister in his church. This boy will save many lives as he seeks to figure out the water problems here in Africa.
I cried during the dinner because I was looking at 3 students who have received Christ as their Savior and have become servants to the poorest of the poor. They can't help but serve God for all He has done for them. In my 7 years at SACPC I have witnessed this same type of miracle.....and it brings me to tears every time.
This afternoon we went 100 Kilometers outside the city to visit a project and church in the middle of nowhere. I was the first white boy some of them have ever seen. We walked through many fields to a small grass hut to visit the family of a sponsored child. It had dirt on the floor and the area they cooked in was half kitchen and half stable for the 2 cows they had.....I loved that!! The family shared how God has changed their lives through Compassion. Their children have all been nurtured with incredible education, health training and spiritual nurture. I have some great pics!!
I got to jam on the cow drum thingy with the music class, got schooled in Ping Pong by a girl who had mad skills, stepped in two ant hills, got trampled by 70 Ethiopian children when I opened a bag of balloons and chased many goats and donkeys throughout the village. Oh yeah....I ate some serious cow stomach last night too..
My prayer is that every one of you takes the chance to see what God is doing on a Global level. I have sat with so many people who have AIDS and they continue to praise God for His goodness. I thank God for every student in the FOLD, my prayer is that all of us seek Jesus with everything we have and by the power of the Holy Spirit we will make a difference in our community and world, one soul at a time.
God is Good
nate
I want to write you a short note telling you of all the things we have seen and experienced in Ethiopia. I want be able to do justice in this short letter because the internet costs a fortune, but I do have lots of pictures and video footage of all the kids, sights and donkeys.
Tonight we ate dinner with three students who are now in college here in Ethiopia. Why is this such a big deal? These three students are Compassion Children just like Geomyra, Juan and Malini. The were tiny kids when someone in the states picked up their sponsor card and began to support them. 2 of them will be teachers and want to do so in a Compassion project and the other is finishing his degree to be a Water Engineer as well as a music minister in his church. This boy will save many lives as he seeks to figure out the water problems here in Africa.
I cried during the dinner because I was looking at 3 students who have received Christ as their Savior and have become servants to the poorest of the poor. They can't help but serve God for all He has done for them. In my 7 years at SACPC I have witnessed this same type of miracle.....and it brings me to tears every time.
This afternoon we went 100 Kilometers outside the city to visit a project and church in the middle of nowhere. I was the first white boy some of them have ever seen. We walked through many fields to a small grass hut to visit the family of a sponsored child. It had dirt on the floor and the area they cooked in was half kitchen and half stable for the 2 cows they had.....I loved that!! The family shared how God has changed their lives through Compassion. Their children have all been nurtured with incredible education, health training and spiritual nurture. I have some great pics!!
I got to jam on the cow drum thingy with the music class, got schooled in Ping Pong by a girl who had mad skills, stepped in two ant hills, got trampled by 70 Ethiopian children when I opened a bag of balloons and chased many goats and donkeys throughout the village. Oh yeah....I ate some serious cow stomach last night too..
My prayer is that every one of you takes the chance to see what God is doing on a Global level. I have sat with so many people who have AIDS and they continue to praise God for His goodness. I thank God for every student in the FOLD, my prayer is that all of us seek Jesus with everything we have and by the power of the Holy Spirit we will make a difference in our community and world, one soul at a time.
God is Good
nate
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Journal Entry #2- Ethiopia
Today we drove out in to the country side to visit a compassion project that specializes in taking care of pregnant women and mothers of newborns. This is really trick in an area devastated by HIV/AIDS. We met with many mothers and played with some of the babies at the sight. Compassion does an incredible job of teaching young mothers about pre-natal care. While these children are being taken care of, the extent of the care does not come close to what we expect in the US. This mothers have no medicines for their children. The only thing they can get is a pill to stop diarrhea so that the children do not die. Compassion does provide milk for the many mothers in the project who are HIV positive to keep them from breast feeding their children.
Each day we take a "home visit" where we go visit someone who has benefited from the project. Today we met with a lady who is 25, has 3 kids, her husband left her and she is HIV positive. 5 of us crowded in her small house the size of a bathroom. The house was made out of mud and sticks. She put green weeds all over the floor, roasted coffee beans, popped pop corn and made a native bread for us. Ethiopians get hospitality. These are the poorest people I have ever met, yet we are always greated with the "ceremonial coffee and snacks".
For those of you who are not familiar with Compassion International, I want to explain what I love about them the most. Their key focus is to build up the local church. They are the only child sponsor ministry that teams up with the local church to empower the pastors and leaders to change the community. Many times Christians have been guilty of having a mindset that we "bring Christ" to a country instead of acknowledging that God has been at work way before we were born. Compassion asks for 32 dollars a month to sponsor a child, after seeing what that money goes to, I can say that they are great stewards of our money. We have met many people on staff here in Africa who were compassion children themselves. Many of the younger children have said that they want to be teachers, nurses or doctors who will one day serve the poor in a compassion project.
I have fallen in love with these people. Most Ethiopians come across as being very shy......but it is really their humilty.
I thank the Lord, my wife and my church for allowing me to experience so much.
God is Good
nate
Each day we take a "home visit" where we go visit someone who has benefited from the project. Today we met with a lady who is 25, has 3 kids, her husband left her and she is HIV positive. 5 of us crowded in her small house the size of a bathroom. The house was made out of mud and sticks. She put green weeds all over the floor, roasted coffee beans, popped pop corn and made a native bread for us. Ethiopians get hospitality. These are the poorest people I have ever met, yet we are always greated with the "ceremonial coffee and snacks".
For those of you who are not familiar with Compassion International, I want to explain what I love about them the most. Their key focus is to build up the local church. They are the only child sponsor ministry that teams up with the local church to empower the pastors and leaders to change the community. Many times Christians have been guilty of having a mindset that we "bring Christ" to a country instead of acknowledging that God has been at work way before we were born. Compassion asks for 32 dollars a month to sponsor a child, after seeing what that money goes to, I can say that they are great stewards of our money. We have met many people on staff here in Africa who were compassion children themselves. Many of the younger children have said that they want to be teachers, nurses or doctors who will one day serve the poor in a compassion project.
I have fallen in love with these people. Most Ethiopians come across as being very shy......but it is really their humilty.
I thank the Lord, my wife and my church for allowing me to experience so much.
God is Good
nate
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Ethiopia - Journal Entry 1
It took me almost two days to get to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia through Amsterdam and the Sudan. This morning was our first day at a Compassion Project. We got off the bus and were greeted by hundreds of beautiful children who were singing praises and holding flowers. Within seconds we had kids hanging from our arms and kissing our hands. The children put on a biblical play for us, 3 kids recited an entire chapter of the Psalms and we had a traditional coffee ceremony. A lady roasted the beans right in front of us.
Today I met with a young girl who will be sponsored by several girls in our youth ministry. I also met the compassion child who used to be sponsored by Marrietta and Ali Valinski, his name is Emanuel and he is beautiful.
The most heart wrenching part was when we left the project and one 6 year old girl was begging hysterically to go with us. She was completely out of control. We found out that both of her parents had abandoned her and her back was full of marks where she had been beaten. No wonder she wanted to come with us. My eyes filled with tears as I desperately wanted to adopt this young girl. I thank the Lord that this Compassion project was fighting hard to find good foster parents.
We have met incredible people and God continues to open our eyes to all kinds of issues.
Sometime I will tell you the effect the weakening of the American Dollar has had on Africa and Compassion.
God is Good
nate
Today I met with a young girl who will be sponsored by several girls in our youth ministry. I also met the compassion child who used to be sponsored by Marrietta and Ali Valinski, his name is Emanuel and he is beautiful.
The most heart wrenching part was when we left the project and one 6 year old girl was begging hysterically to go with us. She was completely out of control. We found out that both of her parents had abandoned her and her back was full of marks where she had been beaten. No wonder she wanted to come with us. My eyes filled with tears as I desperately wanted to adopt this young girl. I thank the Lord that this Compassion project was fighting hard to find good foster parents.
We have met incredible people and God continues to open our eyes to all kinds of issues.
Sometime I will tell you the effect the weakening of the American Dollar has had on Africa and Compassion.
God is Good
nate
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Off to Africa
I was shocked when I saw the website of the place we will be staying on the last days of our trip, it's called Karen Blixen Camp in Kenya. Kim saw the website and wishes she was going with us. We'll be travelling to several compassion projects throughout Ethiopia eachday. Hopefully I can shoot some decent video for you all to see.
Pray for the stratmans......especially Kim, she has a much harder task.
nate
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