"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me." John 14:1

11/4/12

Here are a few details about life in Ethiopia that don’t really mean anything significant I just thought would be fun to share!

-          No exaggeration, I am asked about 45 times a day, “What is your name?!” immediately followed by, “How old are you?!!”

-          We get to go on day hikes on Saturdays in to the mountains that surround us and when we do a group of older house boys go with us and it’s one of my favorite things. They’re typical teenage boys and act just like our little brothers by hiding behind things and jumping out and scaring us or gasp and yell various things like, “Jib!” (hyena) or “Anbessa!” (lion).

-          Public transportation is one of my favorite things in the world. When we take weekend trips we go to the bus station in Butajira and immediately boys and men start yelling destinations at us in hopes we’re going to the same place they are. After being wrangled onto the correct minibus (12 passenger van) we just sit and wait. Eventually the minibus fills up and we depart. I love that there’s no scheduled time for departure and really no anticipated time for arrival either because several stops are made on the way to pick up stragglers on the side of the road. Another thing I find hilarious is that sometimes we’ll stop in the middle of NOWHERE and someone will get off and everyone thinks it’s normal. It’s like I’m the only one concerned about the fact that they’re being abandoned in a place so remote that not even a tukel (round, mud and wood hut) can be spotted anywhere. One other aspect that I absolutely love is that there is no regard for the manufacturer’s suggested amount of passengers. And by that I mean we far exceed the number of actual seats and pack in like sardines. Our record at this point is 23 passengers (keeping in mind there are only 12 seats.) Also, some Ethiopians have fallen under the false illusion that if it’s the slightest bit chilly they’re doomed to fall ill. This impression they’re under means they hate for the windows to be open. This is an extremely unfortunate fact when being stuck on a minibus with them for 3+ hours. I mean if looks could kill we would be goners because there have been times when it becomes unbearable and one of us ferenges has to crack a window out of fear of suffocating from the combination of heat and stench.

-          In our village and on our compound the cows act as lawn mowers. I love them. They’re hilarious and surprisingly obedient. They’re herded from area to the next by one man and after some quality grazing time they make their return to their own designated area. They usually come out on Sunday mornings so when Betsy and I are having our own church service together we usually have about 15 cows joining our congregation.

-          Birds fly in and out of our classrooms seemingly unnoticed by the students.

-          The women are unbelievably strong. I will never cease to be amazed by the size of the loads the women carry on their backs.

-          The flies are UNREAL! You know those stereotypical images of African children with swarms of flies stuck to their faces? Yeah, that’s accurate and I think I’m progressively becoming that image. I don’t know what sort of mutation they’ve become, but they are the most unbelievably pesky flies in the world. I mean they don’t leave when you swat at them and we often joke that you have to reach over and physically pull them off and throw them so they’ll leave you alone. All that to say, it makes sense that the kids just let the flies be because after a while you just get weary of fighting a losing battle.

-          The headmaster and other administrators and a few other teachers all wear lab coats. Supposedly it’s a thing for someone of authority in schools to wear lab coats. I just think it’s silly.

-          There’s a whole heck of a lot of blatant nose-picking. You could be in the middle of saying something to someone and then suddenly, oh so shamelessly, they’ll reach up and go to town as if searching for gold. Have I assimilated to that aspect of the culture you may be wondering? You know what they say…”When in Ethiopia!”      Ok, just kidding. It’s too weird.

11/15/12

Adding our suspicion and despair to a world that is already fearful is certainly not helpful for the healing of the world. In the midst of all that is horrible in this world there is a God who still has confidence in us. Believing the truth of that statement can help to restore our trust and faith. Do we trust the good in our own lives? –Macrina Weiderkehr

This quote has stuck with me a lot this past week. To be honest, it’s hard not to sometimes fall discouraged and cynical about the state of the world and all that is wrong and seems to be “unfixable.” There are definitely folks around me these days who frequently express their hopelessness with many details of life in a third-world country. After being exposed to such despair everyday and having people dwell on it so often, sometimes I too start to believe the lies that our time and efforts here may be pointless. There is just too much to fix and we’re not helping anything.

And then I’m reminded “there is a God who still has confidence in us.” Do I believe that? I’m trying really hard to. Do I trust the good in my own life? I’m working on that as well. But, thank goodness the works of the God of the universe are not contingent upon the amount of faith I actually have. I feel like I’m learning a lot about the works of God that occur unbeknownst to me or anyone else. The Anonymous God (Acts 17:25).

The reason for moving to Ethiopia was solely to be engaged in ministry. I think for a while I was under some ridiculous mindset that I was going to go make disciples of all nations by proclaiming the works and name of Jesus and people would be added to the numbers daily. Ambitious, huh? A girl can dream, right? However, there seems to be a stumbling block slightly hindering that plan…I don’t speak the same language as these people. It makes it rather difficult to proclaim much of anything. And then last Sunday, after listening to a pod cast sermon (thank goodness for technology), I was hit over the head with truth that it isn’t the name of Christ that holds the power but it’s the person of Christ who holds power. All throughout Jesus’ ministry He would come along and help, talk to, love, and heal people who didn’t even know His name. Did that stop Him from performing miracles? Heck no! That’s not the character of the person He actually is. He’s the Anonymous God who’s at work whether we know it and believe it or not.

So, what it comes down to is I could go around doing deeds in the name of Jesus but I would still run the risk of Jesus saying “I never knew you.” –Matthew 7:23. Yikes, that’s terrifying to me. “By putting so much emphasis on His name, we diminish the person of Christ,” said Shane Hipps in one of his sermons. To me, this raises the challenge of conducting myself in a way that declares the person of Christ. It needs no words. It needs no name. It’s a very freeing idea of allowing God to work without imposing my own thoughts, ideas, or words.

He must become greater; I must become less. –John 3:30

“At the end of the day I want to hear the people say that my heart looks like your heart.” –Chris Tomlin

Prayer requests: Pray that I get out of the way of the works of the Great Anonymous God. Pray that my heart is continually being transformed into looking like that of the Lover of all souls. Pray that I will finally believe that Emmanuel is just that: with us. He is here, active, and working towards healing the world. Can you believe we’re getting to be a part of that???