Random blog about food

Food.  There are some amazing foods here in Ethiopia.  I was thinking yesterday about all of the new foods that I have been eating here that I never/rarely ate in America.  And surprisingly, most of the “new” foods are not Ethiopian foods.  In America, I was a very picky eater.  I ate pretty much the same things all of the time.  I loved to cook and try new recipes but they weren’t exactly “new” recipes they basically were just “slightly varied” from other foods I made.  

As far as vegetables-if they weren’t deep fried or in a salad heavily coated with ranch dressing, I didn’t eat them.  Within the past year I have been eating (and loving) so many new vegetables.  I now love:  eggplant, beets, zucchini, pumpkin, all bell peppers, carrots, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower.  I have experimented and made them many different ways.  Who knew there were so many ways to make veggies?!  I am kinda sad that I missed out on the last 31 years of veggie eating.  But I think I have started to make up for it.  I eat so many veggies now it’s crazy.

Fruits-not much has changed since living in Ethiopia.  My favorite is still green apples but they are very expensive here.  The fruits I eat on a regular basis are oranges, bananas, and pineapples.  All others are either very expensive (like apples and plums) or I don’t really know what to do with them (like mangos and papayas).  I guess I will have to start experimenting with my fruits when I return from the USA.

Cooking.  As I mentioned earlier, I did cook in the USA.  However, I did not cook every day or even every other day.  Because it was primarily just myself and Jasmine eating the meals we often had leftovers and would eat them before I would make something new.  But in those meals I used a lot of packaged and canned foods.  I rarely made anything from actual scratch. . .actually I don’t think I ever did.  I didn’t even known how to make spaghetti sauce from tomatoes!   I also ate a lot of fast food in the States.  Oh, how things have changed.  Most days I cook three (or even four) meals a day.

Prepackaged food and fast food is a thing of the past in my life.  Which is actually good because they are not healthy for you.  I would say the only packaged food that we eat is pasta noodles (praise Jesus I don’t have to make pastas from scratch!!) and the canned meat that gracious people from the States ship to me. 

Everything else is pretty much from scratch.  I have taught myself how to cook things that have turned out amazing.  In the States, I always used recipes when cooking.  Now, I never use them.  Most days I don’t even have much of a plan for a meal-I just walk into the kitchen assess what we have and generate something.  In the States if I was missing an ingredient I would just hop in the car and go grab it but here I don’t have that luxury.  Other than basics like potatoes, tomatoes, and onions I would have to walk a bit, get on a taxi to head into town by the missing ingredients, and head back home.  So now I make meals based on whatever we have available, not based on what I want to eat.

So now I pretty much cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day (maybe not lunch every day due to my schedule but I never used to make lunch in America so it seems excess now!).  Some days after making breakfast I even have to make Fiker’s lunch for school.  I try to make more dinner than we need so I can give her the leftovers the next day but that doesn’t always work out.  

I eat a lot less meat here, also.  I hardly ever eat red meat.  This is mainly because for quality red meat I have to get it from Addis (the capital city about 45 mins away).  I will sometimes stock up and freeze it but we don’t go to Addis that much anymore.  When we do eat meat it is usually chicken or tuna.  I can get chicken at semi-decent prices but due to wonderful people that mail me presents, I usually have a stock of canned chicken, tuna, and salmon on hand.

So you would think that with all this veggie eating and less meat that I would have lots a ton of weight, huh?  Not really.  I have lost some, I don’t know how much.  I lost quite a bit in the beginning but I gained some of it back before the wedding and I have gained a good bit back in the past 2 1/2 months.  I guess stress will do that to you, huh?  I eat a lot of carbs here, more than I ever did in the States.  When I return back to Ethiopia, my mission is to find a way to cut out more carbs.  

Yesterday, we carved a pumpkin.  Today, I am going to make pumpkin and sweet potato soup.  Which is a first, by the way.   :)

Things we want and/or need

My visit to the States is quickly approaching!  I am so looking forward to visiting but I know I am going to miss Ethiopia deeply.  But God will provide comfort in my sad hours.  Some of you have already asked what you can send back to Ethiopia with me.  I thank you so much for caring for our needs here.  Here is a list of things I/we need/want:

*Art supplies (glitter, paint, paintbrushes, markers, crayons, construction paper, child scissors, stickers, etc)

*Canned/packaged meat (ham, salmon, tuna, chicken)

*Sports equipment (soccer balls, jump ropes, ping pong paddles & balls, whistles)

*Children’s underwear and socks (ages baby-teenagers for boys & girls)

*Underwear and bras for women (most women here are smaller sizes like 0-6 but there are some bigger)

However, I will have a limited amount of space in my luggage due to airplane restrictions so if everyone donates a lot of varied items I may have a hard time packing it all.  If you would like to donate any of the above mentioned items, I would greatly appreciate it.  But, if you could donate a Wal-Mart gift card then I can purchase items that I can make sure I can pack in an efficient manner.

Every donation we receive is so appreciated.  It is really hard to find high quality items in Ethiopia.  Also, most items are imported making the costs very high.  Some things are impossible to even find here.  Thank you in advance for your help and sacrifice.

Baby with no name

Names.  Are they just a way to identify people and/or things?  Or could there be more meaning and emotion involved?  Are names just a necessity to keep everyone from getting confused?

These thoughts came to mind today when I met a mother that didn’t know her own child’s name.  I tend to see and speak to the same children around Zion Church.  I have spoken to this one particular little girl before but she never answers me.  She was with her friend today (who I see all the time-her name is Fiker).  A friend I was with asked Fiker what the baby’s name was and she replied “Boradoe”.  Boradoe means cockroach so we knew that wasn’t her name.  My friend sent Fiker to ask the baby’s mother what her name was.  She then came back and said “Mitu”.  Mitu is a term of endearment that they use for baby’s here so we knew that wasn’t her actual name. 

The mother then came a short while later and we asked her what the baby’s name was and she said “Mitu”.  We asked her for another name and she said “Boradoe”.  My friend (who is Ethiopian) asked the mother to be serious and tell us what the baby’s name is.  She then said that she forgot what she named her.  Take a moment and let that sink in.. . .

This woman named her baby girl when she was born but she has now forgotten.  I, of course, was wondering to myself how you could possibly forget what you named your own child.  I thought to myself: “Does she mean so little to you that you forgot her precious name?”.  Then I thought:  “Well, how important is a name really?  Maybe it doesn’t matter if she doesn’t know her name.  It’s just a word.”

But I couldn’t actually believe these thoughts.  They were just rolling around in my head because I was trying to come up with a logical reason as to why this woman would forget her child’s name.  I know deep down that names are important.  Just imagine how devastated you would feel if your own mother forgot your name?  It is just a word but it is a word that holds a lot of meaning and emotion.  I know that people whose parent’s suffer with Alzheimer's are devastated when the day comes that they forget their children’s names.  And I know that God thinks our names are important.

Isaiah 43:1 says: “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by your name; You are Mine”.

Read that again.  He has called you by your name.  He didn’t just say “Child 54,839,327,293 of mine you are redeemed”.  No, he said “Jonnett,  you are redeemed.”  “Jasmine, you are redeemed.”, “Rebirra, you are redeemed.” etc.  How powerful is that?  The Creator of the world, the King of kings, and the Most High God has called us by name.

Even though this young mother doesn’t know her own baby’s name, God does and He sent His Son to die for her sins.

One Year Later

It was one year ago that I said goodbye to my family, friends, church, and home country and boarded a plane to Ethiopia to live.  Leaving the States was so bittersweet and I was really unaware at the time of all that would change in my life during the upcoming year.  I am tired just thinking about it all.

Before moving to Ethiopia I thought I had prepared as much as I could.  I did a great job preparing for the logistics of moving and living in a foreign land but I did a bad job of preparing myself emotionally.  I was so caught up in the excitement of this new journey that God had me on that I didn’t allow the fact that I was actually moving and leaving to sink in.  Sounds weird but I prepared to move but didn’t actually prepare to leave.  It didn’t hit me until my last Sunday at HPC.  I am crying now just thinking about how emotional that day was for me.  That is the day that I had to leave the place that God used so strongly to change my life.  

Sometimes I think about my life back in the States and wonder how it would be if I moved back.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t desire to go back but of course it crosses my mind of how things would be “easier” if I go back.  When I have a really bad day here I wonder why God called me to leave the comforts of the States and my family, friends, and HPC.  But God has allowed me to wonder recently why we, as Christians, think that it won’t cost us anything to follow Him.  

Does it hurt to leave all of my precious family and friends behind?  Do I miss not sticking out wherever I go?  Do I sometimes get tired of the culture here?  Do I so long to be back in HPC that it actually hurts?  Yes-all of these things happen-but these are the costs that I must pay to follow Him.  He never said it would be easy but He said it would be worth it.  

And it SO has been worth it.  I have learned so much from Him that I wonder if I would have seen it all had I not followed Him.  I have learned so much about the world, other people, myself, and God.  I have seen things here that I have not seen anywhere else in the world.  Some things I have seen I can’t even adequately put into words.  

God has used Ethiopia to grow, change, and mold me into what He wants me to be.  At times it has hurt and I have fought Him and I won’t even lie and say that I have never told Him no.  Because I have told Him no and there are things He has asked of me that I have refused.  But God is a God of grace and He scolds me and we move on.  But in those times that I have said yes even when I didn’t want to I saw true beauty.  Beauty in a God that loves us more than we can ever imagine.  Beauty in people that truly love God.  Beauty in people that I serve.  Beauty in people that serve me.  Beauty in who God has made me.

Obviously there have been big changes in my personal life.  I never thought when boarding that plan one year ago that I would finish my first year in Ethiopia with a husband and two children.  I knew the children (Fiker and Rebirra) would happen eventually because God told me the prior year but I didn’t know when or how it would happen.  I definitely never, ever thought that God would bring me a husband within my first year.  People had joked that I would find my husband in Ethiopia but I never truly believed it nor made it a priority.  But God had big plans for me and I am so happy that I have followed Him.  It hasn’t been easy and I have had to pay some costs but when I start having a pity party about all that following Him has cost me, I think about all that Jesus paid to follow the will that God had laid out for him.  Jesus paid it all, I can at least pay some “comfortability”, can’t I?

God recently brought the following passage to mind:

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:12-14

Sometimes we have to leave things behind to gain what God has in front of us.  We can’t move forward to the life and promises God has for us if we are hanging onto the past; even if those things are great and wonderful things.  People often talk about how you have to leave your past behind to move forward with Christ and usually these people are talking about mistakes and sins from the past.  This is true that we must leave those things behind but sometimes we can stunt our growth in Christ by hanging onto the good things of our past as well.  Sometimes we have to let go of wonderful things, things that are truly blessings from God in order to grab what lies ahead of us.  We may be comfortable in todays blessings but what if we all strained for tomorrow’s blessings and take hold of all that God has for us?

So as my second year in Ethiopia begins I strain for what God has in front of me.  Straining to grab hold of all that He has in store for me, even if it hurts or pushes me beyond my limits.

Irecha Day

Today is “Irecha Rite” day here in Ethiopia.  This is a day that people that practice witchcraft gather around Lake Hora here in Debre Zeit and worship the lake.  Ethiopia is full of people that worship the devil.  A lot of them (especially people from the Oromo tribe) gather on this day to join together and celebrate their idol, Lake Hora, and offer her sacrifices in hopes that she will improve their life and/or situation for the next year.  

People offer sacrifices such as: animals, expensive whisky, a traditional drink, etc.  In the past it is said that people sacrificed children to their god.  It is unclear whether or not this still happens but some people believe that it does. 

Obviously, the Protestant Christians in Ethiopia hate this holiday.  Many Christians here carry a great burden for the people that follow this religion.  For the week prior to Irecha Rite day Christians climbed Couch Mountain in Debre Zeit to pray over their city.  Mussie and I wanted to participate more in this activity but due to not having early-early morning babysitters, the first week of school and my being sick we were only able to participate one day.  Looking back we probably could have tried harder to overcome some of these obstacles.  Next year, I will make more of an effort to attend the mountain prayer every day.

Mussie and I dropped Fiker and Rebirra off with Asaua at 5:30am on Thursday and left with Michelle, Kiara, and Lydia and headed off to the mountain.  We walked approximately 2 miles until we found a taxi that would take us closer to the mountain.  We reached the mountain peak at 6:45am just as the sun was coming up.  Everyone broke off either by themselves or into smaller groups and prayed for Debre Zeit.  We then all gathered into one group and sang songs and prayed together.

It was a great feeling to sit with Mussie on top of this beautiful mountain, sing worship songs together, and pray together for our city.  And, it was so powerful to be standing on top of God’s creation and pray for the people that have succumbed to a false religion of worshipping creation.  From our vantage point we could see the whole town and I prayed that God’s Truth would be recognized by the whole, entire town.

Lord God I pray that you open the eyes of Debre Zeit.  Many people in this town live in the clutches of Satan.  This town, this country is full of false religions, false teachers, and people that live in untruth and darkness.  Lord God, I pray for the people today that are worshiping Lake Hora.  I pray that even in their ignorance you keep them safe from today’s activities.  Satan wants today to be a prosperous day for him-he wants to see people die.  He wants to see people worship someone other than you.  He wants people to make empty sacrifices and believe false truths-anything to keep them from You.  I pray that you awaken them, soften their hearts, open their eyes so they can see You, open their ears so they can hear You.  I especially pray for the children that are being raised in this false religion.  Guard their hearts so they don’t turn like stone against you.  Lord, I pray for the Christians of Debre Zeit to rise up and proclaim your glory.  I pray for strength so we can be your light in the darkness that surrounds us.

Meskel Holiday

Yesterday was a big holiday in Ethiopia.  It is called Meskel (which means cross).  This is an Orthodox holiday that is greatly celebrated through all of Ethiopia, especially in the Southern region.  Protestant Christians don’t celebrate Meskel but it is a day off from work so most use it as a day to spend with their family.

It is believed that Queen Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, found the cross that Christ was crucified on.  She claimed that in a dream she had a vision that she was to light a bonfire and the smoke would lead her to the true cross.  She claimed that she light that fire and the smoke lead her to the place where she found three crosses buried in the ground, one of which was the true cross.  This holiday is celebrated in September in Ethiopia, even though it is believed that the cross was actually found six months prior.

This day is huge in Ethiopia.  People celebrate with fireworks and making bonfires.  Since it is believed that the cross was found because of a bonfire people light bonfires all over the country in celebration.  Some people even put a cross above the bonfire and burn that. 

One of the cross bonfires I came across.

The crazy, expensive celebrations kind of reminded me of the gross expense that goes into the celebration of Christmas in America.  Some families send their children to bigger cities to work and they save the money the make for the entire year and then spend it all on the Meskel celebrations.  Then they go away the next year and save all of that money and blow it all again on a day of celebration.  

It was interesting to see how people celebrate this holiday here but it actually made me really sad.  People are celebrating a thing-the cross-instead of celebrating the person that died on that cross.  The cross is an object.  It was a means that allowed Jesus to offer himself as a payment for our sins so we could be cleansed.  The cross didn’t do anything.  The cross can do nothing for us.  I am not saying that we can’t use it as a symbol to remind us of what happened that day on Calvary but the Orthodox don’t believe that Christ’s death is the payment for their sins so I really don’t understand this whole holiday.  In simple terms, the Orthodox believe Mary is more important than Jesus.  They believe that Mary is the intercessor for their sins and that she will be their advocate.  I hate seeing so many people worship a false savior.  I pray that the eyes of the Orthodox in Ethiopia will be opened to the Truth.  It seems that we have a lot more work to do here in spreading the Truth.

Ethiopian New Year

Yesterday was Ethiopia’s New Year.  Ethiopia works on a different calendar known as “Ge’ez” as opposed to the Gregorian calendar that the USA (and most of the world) uses.  Ethiopia actually has 13 months in their calendar because for the first 12 months they have 30 days.  They have a 13th month that has 5 days to make up for the “extra” days.  So, in Ethiopia I get to celebrate two of every major holiday.  Two Christmases, two New Year’s, and two Easter’s.  The difference in calendars can be confusing.  When you ask someone for their birthday or when getting dates on receipts it is often confusing.  As if the calendars didn’t make things confusing, I also have to deal with different clocks here in Ethiopia.  Instead of their new day starting at midnight like I am used to their new day starts at 7am.  So if an Ethiopian says a program starts at 1pm you have to ask them “ferenji or habesha time” to know if you should show up at 1pm or 7pm according to your clock.  So confusing!

Anywhoo, we had a lot of fun celebrating New Year’s.  We went for brunch at the Tiatia’s house and then we had dinner at the BCI foster home at 4pm.  Ethiopians really put a lot into their holidays.  I love that they are so rich in culture.  One of the coolest ways that they celebrate is that boys go around from house to house singing for money (kind of like trick-or-treating).  It was cool to see and hear singing everywhere we went.

The New Year was really special because it was our first holiday as a new family.  It was cool to look back at this time last year and see how much our lives have changed (which it pretty much changed in every way).

But after all of the celebrations and good times Mussie and I ended our night with how I have ended every September 11th since September 11, 2001.  A few weeks after September 11th CNN was selling DVDs called “America Remembers”.  I bought one of them and every September 11th since I have watched it.  I never want to forget that day.  Not in a morbid way but as a small way to keep the memory of those victims alive.

I remember that day like it was yesterday.  I lived in the Baltimore area and my mom and step-dad lived about 20 mins outside of DC in Maryland.  I remember getting ready for class that morning and seeing on TV that the first plane hit.  Like most everyone else, thinking it was an accident, I went to school and then heard about the second plane.  My mom worked a few miles from the pentagon and my step-dad worked in DC so sheer panic set in.  I couldn’t reach them on the phone right away because the phone systems were completely overwhelmed.  I didn’t know what to do with myself so I started driving to work only to realize that I would be heading in the direction of Camp David so I turned around and went home.

It was cool to watch the DVD with Mussie last night because I was able to tell him about the experiences of that day, weeks, and months to follow.  It was also cool to hear how the Ethiopian people reacted to the news.  They were celebrating New Year’s and around 4pm the word started to spread that America was attacked.  He said that their New Year’s pretty much came to a halt while most Ethiopians spent the rest of the evening watching the news and praying for America.

September 11th is now a weird day for me.  A day of New Year’s celebrations and a day of rememberance for the loss of innocence that hit my home country.  

Two weeks in!

I have been a full-time mother for two weeks.  I know that doesn’t sound like a long time for most of you but for me it feels like a really long time.  Not because we haven’t had a good time or because things have been horrible, but because I have waited two years for this and I have been soaking up every moment.  

It has been an amazing two weeks.  Even though we have had our ups and downs it has been just priceless.  I really have been amazed at how well the kids have adjusted.  I know it is still early and maybe we will run into issues later but it has been much easier than I anticipated.  Don’t get me wrong, we have had some disciplinary issues but nothing major.

Fiker has known for two years that I wanted to adopt her and I have spent a lot of time with them for the past year while in Ethiopia.  They also have spent a lot of time with Mussie over the past two years and they love him so much.  So it’s not as if they moved in with complete strangers.

Also, the children are able to communicate easily with Mussie.  I have been thinking about International adoptions lately and I was thinking that it must be really frustrating to adopt a child that you can’t speak with.  I have learned quite a bit of Amharic so I can get my point across and I can understand most of what they want but I can’t have full conversations with them.  I really got to thinking about how frustrating it must be for a child to be adopted and then now their new parents don’t understand them.  Children get really frustrated when they aren’t understood and I can see where that would lead to a lot of behavioral issues.  But thankfully the children can communicate with Mussie.  It is such a blessing that he is able to find out their desires and wants.

As a mother, I want to make sure that I am meeting not just their needs but also their wants (not every want) and I can’t always figure out what they are saying.  It is great that Mussie is able to tell me what they want.  Because of the language barrier I do feel left out-especially during our prayer and Bible reading at night time.  We do it in Amharic because we really want the children to understand the Bible stories.  So I kind of just sit there during this time.  When the children pray, Mussie tells me what they said but it would be so sweet and precious if I could understand exactly what they said.  Sometimes, things get lost in translation.

It has been really hard on me that I can’t communicate freely with them.  I’ve already had people tell me that we should only communicate with them in English so that they will be perfect in English one day.  That is not the approach I want to take.  Yes, I want my children to be fluent in English one day but they are 7 and 2.  For now, I want them to be understood and I want them to be able to express themselves in their language.

I really love the fact that we adopted them and kept them in their native country.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not against International adoption but for our family-I think it is best for them that we are staying here.  One of the things that I love about Ethiopia, is it’s rich culture.  I don’t want my kids to lose that.  I think that a big contribution to their well-adjustment is that we didn’t rip them away from everything they have ever known.

There are some downsides, of course, but in comparing keeping them here and taking them to America-keeping them here wins every time!

I love that Mussie and I are able to provide them with nutritious meals.  They never went  hungry where they lived before but they were not fed nutritious meals.  Mussie and I are able to provide them with milk, fruits, and vegetables every day.  I praise God for that.  Although, Fiker is totally addicted to bread.  My goal is to break her of that!  Some Ethiopian families primarily fill their children with bread because that is all that they can afford.  I am not completely against bread but it should not be the main course!

Mussie and I are still learning as we go on how to handle things.  For example, Fiker refused to eat her oatmeal this morning.  Even though she tasted it and it said it was delicious she refused to eat it all (it was a really small portion).  Fiker once said a few months back that she didn’t like eating because she didn’t want to get fat.  I wouldn’t be completely surprised if I heard that from a 7 year old in America but in Ethiopia?  She hasn’t been subjected to all of the fashion magazines and tv shows with unrealistic girls and women.  Where did that come from?  Fiker is soooooo skinny.  She is 7 years old and was wearing a t-shirt for a 24 month old the other day.  She is in no danger of getting fat anytime soon!  So we are still learning how to handle such situations.

I ask that you pray for our family.  Pray that the children know how much we love them.  Pray that God gives us the wisdom to not only care for them but to raise them to love God.

Church

For most visiting foreigners church in Ethiopia is exciting and fun.  But they usually follow up their statement saying something like “but I can’t imagine going there every week”.  This is so true for me.  Church in Ethiopia has proven to be one of my most difficult adjustments.  

Even though I understand a lot of the language here by now, I still have a really hard time following church services.  Even if I have a translator (which of course I almost always do) I still find church really hard.  I think that God speaks to all of us in a different way and I have always felt closest to God through music.  I don’t like the music here.  I don’t like the sound of it and understanding the language is even harder in a song then in regular speaking.  

I have tried and prayed for peace about the church situation especially since marrying Mussie but I still have a really hard time.  So much so, that it is actually painful for me to sit through these services.  The music is soooooo loud and it is so hot and the benches are very uncomfortable.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not looking for a huge, beautiful building, perfect sound decibels, air conditioning, and leather recliners to sit in-but all of these things are really hard to take when you don’t know what is going on.  I can handle all of things when it is understandable to me.  Like, at our new English service.  All of these same discomforts are still there but they annoy me less.

One of the churches I have worked a lot with since I’ve been here, Zion Church, has started an International Service on Sunday nights.  I am on the ministry board at the new services helping out with music.  I am playing clarinet again and I am happy doing that.  

I really love that we have an International service in Debre Zeit.  I now have a church to go to where I can be fed spiritually, serve. . .and understand what is happening.  But now that we have adopted two children we are trying to decide what is best for them.  We obviously want them to be able to attend church and understand what is happening.  They have been coming to the English service but I don’t want that to be their only form of church because I know how frustrating it is not to understand what is happening and I don’t want to do that to them.  But if we go to Ethiopian church in the morning we won’t get out until 1pm and then English church is at 3:30pm and somewhere in between we have to eat and Rebirra has to take a nap.  So we are praying for wisdom on what to do.  Any suggestions?

Table for four, please.

That is my life now.  Mussie and I have adopted two children from Ethiopia.  We are blessed and thrilled to have Fiker (7 years) and Rebirra (2 1/2 years) as part of our family.  Fiker and Rebirra’s mother died almost 2 years ago from cancer.  Their father (who was separated from their mother at the time of her death) was injured while serving in a war and he is disabled.  He has been unable to care for his children since before Rebirra was born.

I first met Fiker and Rebirra when I came to Ethiopia for two weeks in October 2010.  When I first visited Ethiopia I had no intentions of adopting but when I met them I felt as if God was leading me to be their mother.  When I returned to the States in October 2010 I started researching international adoption and looking for adoption agencies.  Things were progressing but I felt as if things were not right.  I still felt as if God was calling me to full-time missions in Ethiopia so I was confused as to why he would tell me to adopt two children.  I continued to fast and pray about this decision and God showed me that I could do both.  I could move to Ethiopia, be a full-time missionary, and also be their mother. 

I shared this news with only a few people when I returned from my first missions trip.  I am a very private person with my personal life and when I am in the process of making major decisions I am more prone to keep it quiet.  I don’t like getting a lot of outside opinions that may lead me to make wrong decisions.  Also if I suffer disappointments I don’t like a lot of people knowing because I don’t want to relive it every time someone tries to console me.  Right or wrong, this is just the way I am.

Some people have wondered if I knew that I would marry Mussie when I originally moved here.  I had no idea.  That was an unexpected, wonderful blessing from God.  But I did know when moving here that I would eventually adopt Fiker and Rebirra.  

Because Mussie is an Ethiopian and because we live in Ethiopia, the adoption was very easy and cheap.  I thank God that it all went so quickly.  I have known for almost 2 years that these are my children so it was a huge relief that the actual process went so quickly and I am now able to live with them as a family.  

They moved in with Mussie and I last Saturday.  Mussie and I were living in the BCI guesthouse but we found a house to rent.  All four of us moved in on the same day which was hectic and crazy but I kind of like that the first night any of us spent in our new house was together as one family.

The kids have transitioned very well.  I think it helps that Fiker has known for almost 2 years that I would adopt her one day.  I was initially worried about Rebirra’s transition because he has lived in the same house with the same caretaker for the past 2 years and he is too small to truly understand what is going on.  However, he has transitioned remarkably well.  I think it helps that he moved with his sister. 

Currently, the adoption is only legal in Ethiopia.  We still have to clear it through US Embassy before the USA recognizes them as my children.  

I am hugely blessed and I deserve none of it.  I have been in Ethiopia for almost 11 months and when I moved here I had no idea that in just 11 months I would have a husband, and two children.  But that is the wonderful thing about God-He takes you to places you never imagined but they are beautiful, wonderful places where He is with us always.

God's love

I have lived in Ethiopia for 10 months now.  I see poverty, desolation, and pain all around me.  I don’t understand all of the things that I see.  I don’t understand why God lets certain things happen to his children.  I don’t know why God allows some families to struggle financially while other families never have to worry about money.  Through my prayer for the families I have met in Debre Zeit, Ethiopia God has shown me that it is not for me to ask why-it is for me to do.  While I can’t financially help everyone I meet, I can be an advocate for them.

We are told many times in Scripture that we are to help the poor. In Matthew 25 we learn that if we help someone in need than we are doing it as if we are doing it unto Jesus.  That is amazing to me.  When we feed or clothe someone in need it is as if we are feeding or clothing Jesus.  I love that! 

When we do these things we show God’s love lives in us.  Contrastly, 1 John 3:17 says “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from his, how does the love of God abide in him?”  The Apostle John is telling us that if we have and we refuse to give to the poor then how can God’s love be in us?  God is a giver.  He gave His Son to us, He gives us His love, He gives us His joy, He gives us His Creation.  If we are to be like Him, how can we not give as well?

I had all of these thoughts after I met Alemayhu Abera and his family.  Alemayhu is an eight year old little boy in the BCI program.  He lives in a small house with his mother, two sisters, and brother.  His father died about four years ago after falling off of a house while doing construction.

Getahun, Alemayhu, and Assagidutch

Alemayhu’s family has struggled intensely for the past four years.  His mother walks approximately two miles one way to work where she works for 12 hours a day, seven days a week.  She works at a local factory where she cooks injera (local bread) for the factory workers.  At the end of the week she is allowed to take the injera scraps home to her family.  These are moldy, soggy scraps of injera that she collects to take home to her children, because she very limited things to feed them.  

Even though she works 84 hours a week she only makes 300 birr ($17) a month.  The rent on their house that has no kitchen, no bathroom, no running water, and no electricity is 100 birr ($5) a month.  That leaves 200 birr ($12) a month to feed and clothe a family of five.  Even though food and clothes are cheaper in Ethiopia than they are in America, it is impossible to feed and clothe a family of five off of $12 a month.  The family relies on BCI’s monthly grain support to help them eat, however, only Alemayhu is in the BCI program so the BCI support is not enough to cover the whole family.

I went to visit this family to see how we could help them.  I would like to find full sponsorship ($90/mth) for Alemayhu’s sister, Emebet.  Emebet is 10 years old.  I wasn’t able to meet her because she has been sent away for the summer to live as a servant in her teacher’s house.  Emebet attends school four miles from her house.  During the summer, she is sent to live as a servant for the teacher’s family.  Emebet does not get paid but the teacher provides a uniform and books for Emebet to be able to attend school the following year.  

If a full BCI sponsorship is found for Emebet then she will be able to enter the BCI program where she will receive a free education, monthly food support, and health care.  She will no longer have to be a servant just so she can go to school.

I also would like to find someone to help send Alemayhu’s oldest siblings to BCI Academy.  Assagidutch is 15 years old and Getahun is 14 years old.  They will be entering grades 7 and 8 next year.  Currently, they attend government school.  Government school in Ethiopia is not great.  It is only half day, whereas, BCI Academy runs all day.  Also, the class sizes in government school average 80 kids to one teacher.  The class sizes at BCI Academy average 25 students to one teacher.  The children will receive a much better education at BCI Academy then at government school.  

BCI Academy costs $208 a year for non-BCI, paying students.  If we find “education sponsors” for Assagidutch and Getahun for this coming school year then they will be able to attend BCI Academy even if they are not in the BCI program.  

Would you please prayerfully consider helping out this family?  They are the “least of these” by economic standards but their faith is so strong in God.  They praise God everytime they receive the monthly grain support from BCI and they praise God every week that the mother’s employer lets her bring home stale and moldy injera for the family to eat.

If you would like to either:

*Sponsor Emebet to enter the BCI program at $30, $60, or $90 a month.

*Help to send Assagidutch to BCI Academy next year ($208 is needed).

*Help to send Getahun to BCI Academy next year ($208 is needed).

Please email Melissa at Blessing The Children.  Her email address is melissa@blessingthechildren.org and she will help you to make payment arrangements.

Any and all help for our orphans is great appreciated.  I can’t even express to you how even a small gift can make a huge impact on their lives.  Be blessed!

New Members in God's Family

We had another great day at our Women’s Bible Study.  I really love the Bible study that I co-lead at Zion Church.  The women are great and we always have a great time together learning about God.  Yesterday I shared a message entitled “Our Identity in Christ”.  I talked about how the Hebrew boys in Daniel that were taken from their homes and brought to Babylon to serve under King Neb (I love the shortened version of his name!) were given new names.  Their old names referred to and honored God.  Their new names gave credit to Babylon’s false idols.  I may post my message about this later, but right now that is not the point of this blog.  

Yesterday, we had two new people to our study.  I met Kori earlier this week.  I heard that her daughter died of HIV complications and left behind two children for her to care for.  I decided to go visit Kori and the kids.  I had never met them before but I wanted to go visit to check on them, pray for them, and see if I could help in any way.  

Zerahun was also new to women’s Bible study.  He (yes, he) is cousins with one of our other members.  It was different having a man at women’s Bible study but if someone needs to hear God’s word, then they are welcome!!

After I shared my message about who we are in Christ and about the labels from our past that we need to get rid of, Nigist asked Kori and Zerahun if they wanted to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior and they both said yes!  We then prayed for them and it was such a sweet time with the Lord.  They are scheduled to start Bible classes with the church next week.  Praise Jesus!!!  I wish I could hear the Angels in Heaven celebrating!  :)

A prayer realized

I don’t even know where to start with this blog.  So much has happened in the past few days and my heart is so full.  A few weeks ago I posted a blog about a little girl that I have completely fallen in love with.  Her name is Rosa and her mom, Genet was working as a prostitute.  Since November, I have had a heavy heart for Genet and Rosa.  I have prayed and cried and yelled over this situation.  I have literally felt like my heart would break because I knew Rosa was living in a brothel.  As I mentioned before, I would lay there some nights and worry about Rosa.  One night I cried out to God and asked why He would let a little girl live in a brothel.  I asked why He would let a woman feel like she has no other options but to sell her body in order to feed herself and her baby.  

God answered me and what He told me is that the world is a broken place but Christians are to be the light and Christians are called to help the least of these.  That is when I asked Genet if she wanted to leave this lifestyle and move to a new house and I told her if she did then I would help her.  I was worried about how I would do this but I shouldn’t have worried because of course God came through.  Two people have come forward that said they wanted to help.  So not only is Genet’s rent covered but now she will have extra money for food and clothes.

Michelle Tiatia is a BCI intern from New Zealand and together we started a Bible study for some of our BCI moms.  Genet has faithfully come to these studies even though she wasn’t a Christian.  I have noticed in the past two months that she sits at these studies with tears in her eyes.  I have been praying relentlessly about her salvation.  I had faith that God would use something to push Genet’s faith over the edge but I didn’t know what that would be.  

This past Thursday a group of missionaries from Illinios was to lead the women’s Bible study.  I asked one of the women to give her testimony.  I had heard her testimony before and I really wanted Genet to hear it.  This women’s journey was not the same as Genet’s but there were similar threads and I prayed and prayed that God would use her to reach Genet.

The Bible study was due to start and Genet still wasn’t there.  I sat there and prayed that God would force Genet to come to the Bible study.  She didn’t show up so we started the study with singing.  And finally Genet and Rosa came in!!!  I locked eyes with the woman that was to share her testimony, because she had never met Genet and Rosa, and nodded my head that yes, this is Genet.  

During the woman’s testimony I just continued to pray that God would give her the words to say that would touch Genet.  I don’t want to share all of her testimony here without asking her permission but the part that I wanted Genet to hear is that her pastor asked her if she was ready to accept Jesus as her personal savior and she said no because she wasn’t good enough, clean enough.  Her pastor told her that there is no such thing as cleaning up your life to come to Jesus.  He explained to her that you come as you are.  Dirty, wounded, with baggage and Jesus takes you in and cleans you, heals you, makes you whole.  At this point, everyone in the room was crying.

Nigist, BCI social worker, turned to Genet and spoke to her and asked her if she was ready to accept Jesus as her savior and to allow God to heal and clean her.  Genet said yes!!!!!!!  I was so excited I couldn’t hardly stand it.  This is what I had been praying for and it was happening.  God was doing it!

Rosa was asleep in Genet’s lap so I took her and while everyone else gathered around and prayed while Genet was accepting Christ as her savior I got the honor of holding that precious baby while her mom was changing not only her own life, but was changing Rosa’s as well.  At this point I was ‘ugly girl crying’.  You  know the kind of crying where you have tears and snot running down your face?  The kind of crying where you can barely breath so you are making hideous sobbing sounds?  Yeah, that kind of crying.  At one point I looked down at Rosa while she was sleeping peacefully and realized that I had comepletley drenched one side of her face with my tears.  I wish Rosa could have watched her mom accept Jesus but I’m sure it would have scared her to have 10 women circled around her mother crying.

After we prayed Genet went around the room and hugged everyone and when she came to me we just clutched each other, with her baby between us, and just sobbed.  It was so amazing to be able to witness her salvation.  But the more I sat there, the sadder I got.  Here we were, celebrating her new life and all I could think of is that in about 30 minutes she was going to have to go back to her house (which is a brothel) and possibly have to “work”.  

I handed Rosa to Michelle and I went outside to call Mussie.  Remember, he had no idea any of this had happened, when he answered the phone I instantly started ugly girl crying again and I was trying to explain to him what just happened.  I was begging him to help me find a place for Rosa and Genet to stay that night.  Genet had told me a few months earlier that she couldn’t be a Christian because she was a prostitute so I didn’t want her to have to go home and be forced to have sex for money.  I was worried that she would then think that because she did that, that God wouldn’t want her anymore.

One of the other women in the Bible study was also outside and she must have realized that I was trying to find a new home for Genet so she told Nigist that she had a room that Genet could rent from her.  I was so happy!  Nigist and I spoke to Genet and she said that she wanted to move to that room but she couldn’t that night because she had to settle accounts or something with the owner of the bar/brothel that she lived in.  I made her promise that she would not work that night and she agreed.  The next day, Genet and Rosa moved to the new room.

Unfortunately, Genet didn’t feel comfortable with the new room.  Mainly because there was nowhere for Rosa to play and it was on a busy road so Genet was worried about Rosa’s safey.  Genet found a different house through another one of BCI’s moms (who also used to work as a prostitute before getting saved and just so happened to have lived/worked in the same brothel that Genet just left).  Seriously, I love how God brings things full circle!  

Today we moved Genet and Rosa to their new house and it is a much better, safer place for Rosa to live.  I can’t wait to see how God uses Genet.  When she was moving out of her house/brothel her friends (most also prostitutes) came out and were crying over Genet and they were happy for her, that she was able to leave this lifestyle.  I know that some of these women want to change their situations and I know that they received hope that day.  Hope in Someone bigger than themselves.  

Please continue to pray for Rosa and Genet.  I know that this is a huge change for Genet and while we may not understand it, it will be a challenge for her not to slip back into her old lifestyle.  Please pray that God strengthens her and lifts her up.

A good day

Yesterday was a good day.  There is a little girl here that I have just really been hurting for.  I won’t mention names but I have really become attached to her and now her mother.  Her mom works as a prostitute.  In America, when we think prostitute we think of a woman standing on a street corner waiting for “clients” to come by.  Here, a lot of prostitutes work in bars.  The “clients” come in order a drink and then order sex.  The women lives in a room behind the bar and she just takes him back there to her one-room house.  

The little girl’s mom lives in a place like this.  She sells beer and herself.  As I mentioned earlier, the mom lives behind the bar-so that means the little girl lives behind the bar where the men go and she sleeps in the same bed that her mom uses with these men.  I have literally lost sleep thinking about the little girl living in a place like this.  A lot of the children I encounter here live in tough situations but this is the worst for me to accept.  

I know that the mom has chosen this job because at some point she had no other way to support her daughter but it makes me sick to think of the little girl living there.  I have horrible thoughts about some disgusting man turning on the little girl.  This is why I lose sleep.

The mother has absolutely no education.  In fact, just a month ago she started kindergarten.  That’s right, kindergarten.  It is next to impossible for her to find a job here because she can not read or write.

I don’t know how to solve all of their problems, all I know is I have to get the little girl out of this environment.  Two weeks ago, I spoke to the mother and asked her if she was able, would she like to move out and she said yes.  She said she used to be a Christian but she can’t know because she is a prostitute.  

I told her that if she was willing, I would find her a new home and I would pay the rent for her.  She is worried about how she will afford food for her daughter.  I told her that we would try to find a job for her, somehow.  But she wanted time to think about it.  I didn’t know what there was to think about but I agreed to give her time.

Yesterday, she told me that she would like my help.  She said she still doesn’t know how she will make a living but she wants to get out of that environment.  I told her I didn’t have all of the answers right now but that with God’s help we will figure it out.

I don’t know how this is going to all work out.  But I know I have to try.  This typically isn’t my way of helping.  I realize that throwing money at a problem doesn’t always fix it.  And agreeing to pay someone’s living costs until who knows when may actually make them more reliant on help instead of giving them a new chance.  And who knows, she may turn back to prostitution but I have to take a chance.  After all, Jesus took a chance on me.

"It's culture"

“It’s culture”.  For the most part, this statement annoys and frustrates me.  I think too many cultures in this world use this reasoning as an excuse to continue to do vile, hideous, and ungodly things to their people.  Sometimes the “it’s culture” statement is used in matters that in the grand scheme of the world don’t actually mean anything.  For example, Ethiopians primarily use “squatty potties”.  I, of course, prefer “western” toilets.  But is it really my place to tell people that they need to install “western” toilets in their homes, offices, or schools?  No.  Because after all “it’s culture” but more importantly, it isn’t hurting anyone (other than me, perhaps!).

Before I start in on my tirade let me just say: I love different cultures.  I love that different cultures have huge customs that are celebrated.  I love the different dress, colors, music, dances, food, and celebrations that each culture has to offer.  I wish I could travel all over the world (actually, Africa would be just fine. . .I would even start with just Ethiopia) and see how they all live.  I have heard of some pretty crazy (by my standards) things that different cultures in Ethiopia do but I would like to go and experience it.  

It makes me sad when countries lose their culture because another country (and it is usually somewhere from the Western world) moves in and takes over.  I love that Ethiopia has fought to keep their culture.  I have been to some other countries that try to look and act like America or whoever.  I think that you can learn things from different cultures and you can take something from them to enhance your own country but it just makes me sad when another country strives to become westernized and they lose themselves in the process.  This isn’t good for anyone.  It isn’t good for these particular countries and it isn’t good for the world.  

The amazing thing about this World is that there is so many different ways of doing things.  We can learn from each other.  Just because America or Canada or England does something a certain way doesn’t mean it is the right way.  Perhaps we are just the loudest?  I know America is guilty of pushing our culture on the rest of the world.  Seriously, how many big companies and aid organizations have to fail (sometimes at a huge embarrassment level) because an American shows up in some third-world country and tries to push “America” on them?  Maybe we need to take a step back and see why these countries are doing these things before we knock ‘em and try to push ourselves on them. 

Okay, I got off on a tangent.  Anyway, there are times when “it’s culture” doesn’t bother me, actually it makes me happy when different people groups fight for their culture.  However, it annoys and frustrates me when people use the “it’s culture” excuse to do things that are against God.

Beating your children, beating your wives, feeding your sons but not your daughters, not tithing, female genital mutilation, living in your posh life and ignoring the horrors of the rest of the world, “honor” killings, polygamy, and keeping up with the Joneses are a few examples of attitudes and actions around the world that people love to use the “it’s culture” statement to excuse their behavior.  I believe that it is culture but I believe it is culture of the devil-not necessarily culture of specific countries or tribes.  Sounds harsh, I know, but that is my opinion.

Let’s look at female genital mutilation (fgm): how did this start?  It doesn’t say to do it in the Bible, in the Torah, or in the Koran.  So we can hardly argue that it is religious.  From research I have read about it the sole purpose of fgm is to prevent women from enjoying sex and to prevent them from cheating on their husbands.  That sounds like a lie from the devil to me.  “If you mutilate little girls they will be good wives”.  Really?  The Bible says a good wife is to honor her husband.  Do you really think your wife will honor you if every time you have sex with her it is sheer torture for her?  Granted, the men are not the ones that are actually doing the mutilation but in these tribes the men will not marry women who have not been “cut”.  

Lest we as Americans are thinking right now “that is horrible, we don’t do anything that disgusting”.  Let’s take a look at our American culture of “more is better” or “we can never have enough”.  The Bible says in Colossians 3:5 “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”  Greed is in the same list as sexual immorality and evil desires.  How many of us have thought “well, I am not perfect but at least I haven’t cheated on my husband like Suzy Q”?  We, as Christians, like to compare our sins to others.  But on judgement day we are not going to be compared to the person in front or behind us-we are going to be compared to Jesus.  

  

In Colossians 3:5 we also see that God considers greed as idolatry.  This greed could be in relation to money, food, or possessions just as an example.  Exodus 20:3 states “you shall have no other gods before me”.  We can see clearly in Colossians that greed is considered a god before God.  Some people may think “I may be sinning because of my greed but I am not hurting anyone”.  Actually yes you are.  Because if you live in a perpetual state of greed then you can not fulfill James 1:27.  It says:  “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”.  If you are living in constant greed are you really helping orphans and widows?

We should not be so concerned about our own culture-we should be concerned about Kingdom Culture.  If something in our culture (or another) goes against Kingdom Culture then we should fight it.  After all, when you are standing in front of God accounting for your sins are you going to say “well that is the way we have always done it”?

What things in your culture do you need to stand up against?  I have a list of my own that I am working on.

Who to help?

Who to help?  That is a question I ask myself almost every day.  I have sponsors that support me living and serving in Ethiopia.  When I use that money, I feel a huge obligation to make sure that I use it wisely and in the way that God wants me to.  I feel pressure to honor God and the person that gave it.  I constantly worry that I will make a mistake and waste the money.  That I will bless someone with the money and they will take advantage of me and the money will be wasted. 

I use a lot of the money for food, milk, and rent for certain children and families.  I feel that this isn’t wasted as it makes the children stronger and makes sure they have a roof over their heads.  But when I feel led to spend “bigger” amounts. . . this is when I start to second guess my actions.  

Let’s face it, some people know how to use the system.  They know just what to say to get you to give them money.  They really know how to talk up their sorrows and also try to convince you that they will make good use of the money.  

But you have those select few that are already trying to help themselves and their families with what little they have.  They aren’t sitting around waiting for a hand-out.  These are the people that I want to help.  There is one woman in particular that I really, really want to help start a cafe.  Most of you already know of her.  You can read her story here:  http://jonngirlonamission.blogspot.com/2010/10/i-have-been-back-in-sc-for-4-days-now.html

Seble is one of those women who makes good use of everything that God gives her.  She has been buying things and saving up over time in preparation to open this cafe.  She hasn’t just been sitting around waiting for someone to knock on her door and say “I heard you wanted to open a cafe.  Here is some cash”.  

I met with her about a month ago to find out more about what she has in mind for this cafe.  I found out the things that she already has prepared and the things that she is still lacking.  

I went back this week with some friends of mine from Canada that have a mind for business so they could talk to her and see if I have missed anything.  I also wanted them to get a feel for her because I have had an attachment to Seble since I first met her so I didn’t want my judgement to be swayed by my love for her.

We discussed more business detailed things with her and asked her to write up a business plan.  She is more than willing to do this.  Please pray for me that the Lord would show me if, and in what capacity, He would have me to help her.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in Ethiopia is much different than how I shopped in America.  I was one of those people that HATED grocery shopping.  I mean, literally, hated.  So every two weeks when I got paid I would go to Bi-Lo or WalMart and stock up for two weeks.  During the middle of the month I would buy lots so at the beginning of the month I only had to buy a little.  There were some months that I bought enough during the middle of the month that I wouldn’t have to go at the beginning of the month (those months were my favorite).

Shopping here is a totally different experience.  First of all, I don’t have a car here so when I shop I either have to take taxi (which is a huge pain because then I am having to carry bags from shop to shop and struggle while getting in and out of the taxi.  Or I can take a bajaj (basically a personal, 3-wheeled taxi).  This is fine except for some reason I feel like I am taking too long for the bajaj driver and I am keeping him from something important (although, he gets paid by the amount of time I use him for) so I rush and sometimes forget things and then I feel bad for making them stop at so many different places.

So let me walk you through a typical “big” shopping day.  Debre Zeit basically has one huge main road that everything is off of so I go all the way to the end of town (approximately 4 miles) and hit up my favorite veggie shop.  In this shop I normally buy green beans, carrots, potatoes, beets, red onions, zucchini, eggplant, and garlic.  Sometimes they surprise me and have different items like, the other day I went absolutely crazy because they had cucumbers and white onions!!!

My fav veggie shop

Then I go to the next shop where I buy pasta, peanut butter, rice, mangos, condiments, and random stuff.  I go to the next shop where I buy a frozen chicken (if I am splurging that week ‘cause chicken is kinda expensive.  It’s about $6.50 for one small chicken).  Then I go to the next shop where I get cheese, butter, eggs, and yogurt.  Cheese is only purchased rarely because it is expensive (1lb is approximately $3.50).  I don’t buy cheese often but sometimes I give in.  

Then I go to the next vegetable shop where I buy red, yellow, and green bell peppers, green chili peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, and strawberries if they have it.  Then I go to another shop to buy bread and milk.  Then the last stop is to buy sugar and flour.  

So that is 7 stops just to buy groceries!!  It is very tiring.  And I have to do it quite often because food here doesn’t have preservatives in it (which of course is a good thing) so food spoils easily.  Plus, the veggies here are already ripe when you buy them so you have to use them pretty much within 2-3 days or they go bad.

I, however, do have the luxury of having a freezer so I am able to freeze many things to aid in their shelf life but I spend a lot of time grocery shopping.  I really don’t know how people function without a fridge, stove, or freezer.  It amazes me to think they can feed their family without the aid of a fridge, freezer, and stove!!  

Oh, and the store’s offerings are very varied so I can never go into a shop and feel as if I “must” buy something because they may or may not have it.  Meal planning is difficult!

And of course there are some things that you can not get in Debre Zeit so you have to go to Addis (the capital city which is about an hour away).  There I buy beef (again, not often because it is pricey), canned whole tomatoes, and other random food and household items that are not found in my town.  Quality meat is VERY hard to get here so that is why I treat any and all canned meat that is sent to me like gold.  Canned tuna, tuna packets, canned roast beef and gravy, canned chicken, and canned salmon are huge blessings to me!!!

After a day of shopping I am so tired and dirty I just want to lay there but then I have to cook the food I just bought!!!  I will post another blog about cooking in Ethiopia because that is also a new experience for me!!

Healing Service

Every week pretty much every church in town holds a healing service.  People come from all over to attend these services.  People that have hardly anything pay to ride the taxi to come.  Very sick people leave their homes only once a week to attend these services.  People that can not walk are carried by their family or friends for miles so they can attend these services.  I always heard these stories but I experienced it for the first time last Wednesday.

I had never attended these services because, honestly, they made me nervous.  I don’t like big crowds of people (sometimes 600 people will cram into a little church), I don’t always enjoy church services here (that is a whole other blog in itself I will write later) so why would I want to attend a second service a week?

But Donna (a friend from the USA that is here serving with BCI for two weeks) was scheduled to preach and pray for people at Zion’s healing service.  So I went with a few other missionaries and I am very glad that I did.  Donna, Mussie, and I sat on the front row which means that when Donna went to preach Mussie went with her to translate I was sitting all alone on the front row.  Donna gave a very powerful message about God’s healing powers and then she started walking around the church laying hands on everyone and praying for them.

Shortly after she left the podium to walk around the room chaos erupted.  I believe that people can be demon-possessed but I have never seen it nor do I know anything about it.  I believed it was possible because the Bible says it is but now I believe it is possible because I have seen it.  I am not going to go into all the details of what I saw but basically by the end of the service there were about 6 people that came to the front that I believe to be demon-possessed.  I have never seen bodies move in that way.  I have never heard such loud or scary screams.  I have never seen a woman that can’t weigh more than 110lbs throw four big men off of her like they were rag dolls.

It was a very scary experience because I was sitting on the very front row about 10ft from these people.  But mainly it was scary because I didn’t know what was going on.  This is an area of darkness that I have never witnessed before.  Demon-possession is rarely talked about in the United States.  I am not sure why.  Why does it seem that some countries are more susceptible to demon-possession than others?  Do you think we have it in the USA but it is hidden?  I have decided that I need to read and study about this topic.  It is very prevalent here so I need to be educated.  If you have any resources that may help me I would greatly appreciate it.  

I would like to attend future healing services-not to witness more demon-possessed people, but because I want to see God’s miracles.  I was so caught up in the drama of what was unfolding in front of me that I didn’t pay attention to the people that were there needing other healing.  It was a very powerful experience.  It is hard to write this blog because my thoughts are so scattered and unsure.  I don’t really know how to end this so I will just post a few pictures.

Yebsira Girma

In one day Yebsira Girma’s life changed.  She just finished eating dinner with her family and then it happened.  She had a grand mal seizure.  Her mom, Yesunesh, didn’t know what to do.  She had never seen a seizure before.  Yebsira’s mom, brother, and sister were able to carry her to the clinic that is approximately one-half of a mile from her home.  The doctor gave Yebsira medicine to stop her seizure.  When she woke up and saw her mom’s worried face she started to cry.  She was just an eleven year old girl who had no idea what happened to her.  All she knew is she woke up to see her mother crying and praying over her.

Three years later, Yebsira is a very sweet, fun sixth-grader.  Yebsira has been through many struggles these past three years.  After her first grand mal seizure she went through many tests.  The doctors were not able to find a cause of her seizures but they did find something.  They found a heart condition.  Yebsira has a hole in her heart that causes the blood to back up in her heart before it flows through her arteries.  Other than making her tired, her heart condition does not cause her any problems right now so the doctors are only monitoring this condition for any change.

Yebsira’s mother was overwhelmed with not only one diagnosis for her young daughter, but two.  Yesunesh is unable to work because she cares for her father who is very old and can not do anything for himself.  Yesunesh moved her three small children into her parent’s home when her husband died ten years ago.  Yesunesh kept asking God “how can I provide the care for Yebsira that she needs?”.  Yesunesh’s situation may look bleak to some but she knows that God will not forsake her and her family.  Yebsira’s life is precious and Yesunesh believes that God will provide for all of their needs.

Yebsira has had to have specialized care over the past three years.  Her seizures were getting out of control and there seemed to be no end in sight.  Yebsira wasn’t just having one seizure here or there, she was having as many as six in one day.  The average number she would have in one day was four and then three or four days later she would have approximately four more seizures in the same day.  The seizures were beginning to take a toll on her young body.  She was having intense headaches, memory troubles, and muscle spasms.  

Yebsira’s mother was desperate to find help for her daughter.  Before her seizures started, Yebsira was admitted into the Blessing the Children (BCI) program in 2008.  After her seizures started missionaries began to ask how they could help Yebsira and her family.  Over the years, missionaries have helped to pay some of Yebsira’s medical and drug expenses.  But even with all the help from the doctors and missionaries Yebsira’s condition started to fail.  Yesunesh decided to step out in faith and take Yebsira to a specialist in Addis.  

Yesunesh was given some money from Blessing the Children Canada (BCC) but she still didn’t have enough.  She decided to borrow money from friends and family.  The medical tests were very expensive and even though the doctors still were unable to find a cause for her seizures they did change her medicine.  Yebsira was given the new medicine approximately three months ago and her life has been radically changed since then.

It has been three months since Yebsira has had a grand mal seizure.  Yesunesh never gave up on her child or God.  Even though she couldn’t afford it, she fought to find help for her child.  Recently, Yebsira was down to her last pill and the family didn’t know where the next supply would come from but they never doubted God.  After Yebsira took her last pill they got word that a long-term missionary in Debre Zeit had just sent Mussie (Missionary Team Coordinator and Assistant Director for BCI) to Addis to pick up a new supply for her.  

Yebsira is a wonderful girl that is strong in her faith.  She is a fighter.  She tries her best not to let her condition affect her quality of life.  When asked how much school she has missed due to her condition she said that she always goes to school.  Not only does she not want to miss school but she doesn’t want her other relatives to know about her condition.  

Yebsira, her mom, and two siblings live in Yebsira’s grandparent’s compound.  Yebsira’s grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are not believers in Jesus Christ.  She doesn’t want her family to know about her health issues because she doesn’t want them to doubt God.  She is afraid that they will say “if your God heals people, why won’t He heal you”.  God may choose not to heal Yebsira but Yebsira is now able to tell her family that God is providing for her medical care when it looked impossible.  She is now able to tell her relatives that her God does the impossible.

It is absolutely impossible for Yesunesh to purchase the medicine and laboratory tests that Yebsira needs.  Here are the medical costs that Yesunesh must find a way to provide for:

*Yebsira needs a checkup every three months.  Just to get in to see the doctor is 100 birr ($6).

*The doctor may order laboratory tests during these checkups.  The cost varies but the average is 280 birr ($16).

*Yebsira has to have a brain EEG every seven months.  This costs 500 birr ($30).

*Yebsira’s new medicine costs 1200 birr ($71) for a month and a half supply.

There is no possible way that Yesunesh can afford the above costs.  Even if Yesunesh had a job she still wouldn’t be able to afford it.  The average income of an unskilled woman in Ethiopia is approximately 500 birr a month ($30).  BCI is also unable to cover all of Yebsira’s medical costs.  We need to find someone who would like to help Yebsira by purchasing her medicine every month and a half.  If you would like to help Yebsira, either by giving a one-time gift or a monthly gift, please contact Melissa Strawn at melissa@blessingthechildren.org.

When asked how this condition makes her feel Yebsira said “I feel sad because it makes me different from everyone else”.  Yebsira is a young girl that has a lot of dreams and ambitions but she can not succeed if she is having four to six seizures a day.  Yebsira needs to stay on this new medicine, this is not an option.  When asked how her life has changed in the past three months she said:

“My life has changed a lot since receiving the new medicine.  I am able to play football with my friends.  I love football but I could not play before because of my seizures.  I am also able to learn now.  I always went to school before but I spent a lot of time sleeping in the nurse’s room.  I am now staying with my classmates and learning.  I enjoy school.  Civics and English are my favorite classes.  I want to be a doctor so I can help poor people.”

Yebsira is a determined girl that refuses to give up.  She is very thankful that people have helped her and she has faith in God that he will continue to provide for her.  She knows that even when the situation looks bleak, her God always shows up.