Day 11: Our second son, Pip, was named after two of the most special people we’ve ever known—Tim's dad (Philip) and our dear Ethiopian friend Daniel. In honor of today being Pip’s 5th birthday (!!!), I’ll tell you about his Ethiopian namesake. We first met Danny in 2003—he was working with the HIV/AIDS care and treatment project that we interned with that summer. He did a lot that summer to take care of our team practically, but he also modeled to us how to love like Jesus did. 

I remember being with him visiting people desperately sick with AIDS, and he would sit close to them, hold their hands, pray for them, and speak words of comfort. I also remember leaving a restaurant one night with a take out box of my leftovers, and we passed a poor older woman sitting on the side of the road. He took my box, bent down and talked to her for a while, and said something like, “Here is your dinner, my mother”. One time he was talking about all the needs in Ethiopia, and concluded by saying that over and above all of those practical needs, the greatest need in Ethiopia was for people to know the love of Jesus. 

He married a woman who is a perfect fit, a social worker with a beautiful heart like his. So remember—people like us aren’t going to Ethiopia to be heroes. We’re going to lock arms with our dear Ethiopian brothers and sisters like Danny to show people what the true Hero of the story - Jesus - is like. If Pip grows up to have a heart like Danny’s, the world around him will be given an amazing gift. #31daysofcalling #lovesinethiopia