Reflections from Joe

After being here just a week serving at Hope Enterprises Feeding Center, I think its time to be completely transparent. It's not possible to have experienced all of this and not be severely impacted.
As much of a positive twist that I would like to leave you with, I feel as though I would do each of you a disservice if I did not relay the actuality of the pain and suffering that we have encountered while serving at the feeding center.

"There really is no shortage of suffering on this Earth"-Karen. Whether it be in East Palo Alto in California, underneath the overpass in Eugene, the street kids, beggars, cripples here in Ethiopia, or in my life or yours, the suffering we experience can be all too difficult at times.

But God has been gracious and through time spent in the Word He has revealed numerous passages to remind me of His All-Powerful and merciful nature. I often hear lingering in my head- Consider it pure joy Joe that you are facing the trial of seeing My heartache. (James 1:2) Karen also reminds us, "when you serve, see Jesus, because that is who we are serving" (Matthew 25:40). The reminder that God is truly here in control has given me comfort within this storm.

Let me take you through my morning:

Breakfast- Imagine: At least 200 street kids ages 5-13, clothed in little at best, having inadequate shoes, lacking basic hygiene and having empty stomachs. I've seen too many children today alone that have been forced to grow up too quickly. Too many have not had the opportunity to just be kids. Loud, obnoxious, playful, running around, just being kids!! Oh, what an injustice that has been done to each of them...As I write this a rain storm has begun (something common to each day). Most of those kids will be getting wet right now, and if they're lucky to have found 1 birr, hopefully the sleeping spot they had to buy will have some covering.

Lunch- The tickets that people have to turn in to receive a meal describe the meal as "for the destitute." They're not lying.

1st shift- The elderly.

Greeting each with a handshake at the door, I try to pay the respect that each deserves. Crippled, blind, and frail they utter "Wat, Wat or soup, soup". You see, even though their bodies are weak and in desperate need of the beans and protein, they can't handle it. The injera (tortilla like bread) is tough enough.

Oh how I wish I could speak Amharic. To hear the stories these old men must have of their glory days would be priceless. But even to see their faces light up with joy when they are recognized is enough of a story to bring my tears. There has been one old man that stops me each time and looks intently in my eyes and says something to me in Amharic. As he points to the sky the only words I can really make out are Jesus Christ and Thank you. How excited I am to be able to find out how God saved his life when I meet him in Heaven.

2nd Shift- The crippled and maimed

Have you ever seen the Hunchback of Notre Dame? Take that image, make his left foot contorted to an unusable fashion used only to balance, and make his left hand his new foot. Or how about a man with the disfigured face from acid or a fire; He wears a head scarf to cover his face and when you first look Him in the eyes- if you can make it that far- the look of fear and shame is something you'll never forget. And then, when you smile at him...O when you smile at him...how that wall begins to fall, and just like what happens with the others, an amazing joy filled smile comes over Him. How I pray that He has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior so that I can hear his story too.

3rd shift- The women and children

16 year olds pregnant- too young to know about the pain of child birth ahead and unable to get sufficient prenatal care for their soon to be child...The majority are older, having multiple kids under a few years old. Most everyone carries her children on her back, causing deformity and most certainly severe back pain. For the 2nd day in a row there has been a small boy running around naked with an open shirt draped on him offering little covering. It's tempting to have a big smile and think about how cute that image was/is, until you realize that what he has on is it. It will be what he wears yesterday, today, tomorrow, during the last rain storm, this rain storm, and the next rain storm.

Oddly enough, some women have chosen the street; some have been forced onto it. Sofia is a 3rd trimester mother of 2 whose husband just died 3 months ago. All the money is gone and she and her family have been forced out into the streets.

4th shift- The men.
I can't. By this point, it just seems too much...Romans 12:21 comes into my head, "Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good."

Joy within it all:
I believe that Christ is my Lord and Savior, that He spent His days on this Earth serving men, women and children like this. I must remind myself that because of His grace and this feeding center, over 660 adults at lunch and 200+ children at breakfast are fed 6 days a week. Each of them have been given a little relief from this harsh and painful world.

How wonderful it was to be able to hear and see some accept Christ as their Savoir the other day. This is reason enough to have joy! Eternal salvation is offered and accepted hopefully each day by Hope. People are getting a meal. People who are shunned all too often by people like me are being served- treated as Christ would want them to be treated. OH! How there is great joy! I know it, have felt it, and have been blessed to be apart of it! I know I sound like a crazy man, and I'd be one of the first to ask the "Why God?" question. And how I wish I had an answer, but I don't. What I do have is faith that my God is real, that "The Lord is full of compassion and mercy" (James 5:11) and that our prayers are powerful and can yield change. Most of all, I have faith that since Jesus has already conquered death, he can surely conquer all that we have seen and will continue to see on this trip.

"Do not be overcome by evil; but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21

Can you speak Amharic?

Dehina Nachioo,

It’s Katie here, time for another blog update. The past two days have been fun and busy, full of many new experiences and challenges. As you probably already know, the students that we are going to be teaching are taking their national exams this week. Since we won’t be in the classrooms until next week, this week we get to spend time with many of our other projects that will be ongoing for the next month (or two).
Monday began a little behind schedule but after a yummy breakfast of French toast we were off again in our faithful taxi. We first dropped off Susan, Karen, Stephen, and Josh at the HOPE school in Addis where they spent the morning working in the wood and metal work vocational schools. Joe, Victoria and I then headed to the HOPE headquarters where the breakfast and lunch feeding programs take place. This experience was one of my favorites from last year and this year proved to be the same. We enjoyed spending time with the children during breakfast and shared some songs and the Bible story of David and Goliath with them. The highlight for me was listening to the children sing “Jesus Loves Me” in Amharic. One of my goals for the trip is to learn this song (in Amharic, of course). The lunch program serves both children and adults, and many of these people are physically or mentally disabled (which is true for 10% of the population). It is hard to see these disabilities but I am always struck by the joy and peace that these people have despite their suffering. Joe had the opportunity to preach to the people before their lunch and shared from Luke 16 about the beggar and the rich man and their eternal rewards. The Holy Spirit was definitely evident in that moment and it was a cool experience to see these people (as well as Pastor Matheos) touched by the words that Joe shared.
After lunch, we headed back to the Addis school to meet up with the rest of the team. They went home to shower, probably because after they finished painting they had to wash their hands with gasoline. In addition to painting, Josh had spent the morning making doors, Karen had shown her aptitude for metal grinding, and Stephen was bending metal for chairs. Joe got hard to work, continuing to bend metal and Victoria and I began painting in the rain. No wonder that Karen and Susan had to spend so much of the morning sanding rust off of metal objects. The items made in the woodworking and metal shops are later used as desks and chairs in the HOPE schools.
Today we began our Amharic lessons, which were difficult but well enjoyed. We learned many greetings and some simple commands and nouns. For example, if I say “asayoo t’erep’aizah”, that means (of course) “show me the table, please”. As you maybe can tell, this language is going to be a challenge but we are all eager to try out our new Amharic on our taxi driver and hosts.
This afternoon we went to the ceramics studio, another HOPE ministry that provides opportunities for former street women to develop their ceramic skills and sell their products for income. This upcoming Saturday, there will be a craft bazaar with many charitable organizations (NGOs) selling products, and these ceramics will also be sold. We are going to be helping these women load up all their products for the fair but were able to do some personal shopping before they packed.
We are looking forward to having our whole team at the breakfast programs tomorrow and are excited for several other ministry opportunities that we will investigate over the next few days. We thank you for your continued prayers and would appreciate prayers for each ministry that we will work with and for our Amharic studies.
As far as the interactive part of the blog, today we will test your Amharic skills. Please post your translations of the following:
Gidgidah=?
Mets’ihaf=?
K’ooch’beloo=?
If you can translate 2 out of 3, you are very gombez! Good luck!

Igizeeabiheyr Yimesigen!
Dehina Waloo,
Katie (and Susan, Victoria, Karen, Stephen, Josh, and Joe)

Rootbeer and Random Stephen Thoughts

Greetings from Ethiopia,

For those who enjoy the quick summary of the day I have chosen to give you the option to stop reading at the end of the two paragraphs and then to choose to either continue reading, save the rest for later, or leave for someone else to read - your choice.

It is with great pleasure and honor to write the blog entry for the day. We are still doing well and continuing to be blessed by the people here. Saturday night we concluded with a fun game of “Fictionary”. The owner of the guesthouse, Ray, joined our group, adding an excellent addition to the game (it was actually his idea to play). In the game each person takes turns picking an obscure word from the dictionary. Then each person has to write a definition of what the word is. The person picking the word writes down the actual definition and then everyone tries to guess the correct definition. I highly recommend it to anyone, not simply because I am a school teacher, but it is quite entertaining to listen to what people come up with. If you haven’t noticed already, our blog has an interactive theme going. I hope all of you have taken the time to answer the dessert question. In true form, below you will find a few of the words from Saturday nights “Fictionary” for you to try and figure out the real definition amongst the fake ones. Give yourself one point for guessing the correct answer. This will have to be based on the honor system, trusting people will not look up the definition until after trying. Please reply back with your total score. I am sure we can find some kind of prize for the winner. But, I don’t want to promise what I don’t have (that is one of the original Viking codes-good code).
Ask Susan for your prize when she gets back.

In case you were wondering, because I know there are some inquisitive minds out there (especially if they are reading this blog), we will actually start our ministry tomorrow. I assure you that you haven’t supported us to come to Ethiopia to simply play games and tour the city. At the International Church today there was a guest speaker who had spent 15 years as a missionary in Ethiopia. He spoke from the passage in Isaiah, 11:1-10. He made the parallel between the contextual situation of Israel and the current situation of the world. Both the Israelites and our current world seem to be on a downward trajectory with no apparent hope. Yet, Isaiah offered hope to the people reminding them that out of the stump of Jesse a root will grow and out of that a branch will grow. Even though it may look bleak, there is hope in God who fulfills his promise. Isaiah was giving them hope of a savior who will come giving perfect justice, peace, and righteousness. Similarly, we have hope that Jesus will return again, restoring justice in our world. Thus, just like Isaiah giving hope to the people of Israel, we too have hope in this passage waiting for the return of Jesus. After church today we gathered all of our school supplies and organized them and started planning for the coming week. We were initially supposed to start working at a school but their exams haven’t finished yet. Tomorrow half of us will be going to Hope Enterprises morning feeding program and serve the children food and then have a quick English lesson. Erstwhile, the other half will go to a vocational program where they teach men and women woodworking skills. There we will be building relationships with the workers, have them show us what they are learning, and help them with various needs they might have in English. In the afternoon, those at the feeding program will go to the wood working place and the rest will go to another vocational program that works with women in ceramics. We will be doing similar work at the ceramics shop as the woodworking shop.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. God Bless. Below you find the interactive portion of the blog and additional highlights

Stephen (Karen, Susan, Victoria, Katie, Joe, and Josh)

Additional Highlights:
 Cutest little boy in a suit at church today - the girls were quite smitten with him
 Met some people at church today and had dinner with them
 Ate at an authentic Ethiopian Tex Mex restaurant for lunch
 Discovered “Coke-Floats” - basically “Rootbeer-Floats” but with coke. For the die hard traditional Rootbeer-Float drinkers you will be mildly disappointed by the taste; but quite good for the novice drinker
 Another discovery: unsure if salsa is edible for North American stomachs, but the guacamole is fantastic
 Today we watch a video shown to us by a pastor from Dallas about the revival happening in Fiji - “Let the Sea Resound” - it is an amazing story about what God will do when his people respond.


Interactive Blog - Whoa!
Word of the Day Game:
The last two days a few of us have tried to incorporate a word that doesn’t seem to be heard very much any more in everyday language. We are trying to bring back these words and expand are ever decreasing lexicon despite the ever increasing amounts of words found in the dictionary. Try to the find yesterday and today’s word in the blog and reply back - give yourself a million points for finding them or a pat on the back from us - again, we like to give people options, or ask Susan for a prize.

FICTIONARY
Such a game demands to be completely capitalized. Enjoy and remember the honor system.

A. Ostracod
1. a dolphin that has been ostracized from its pod due to engaging in playful activities with humans.
2. the pile of ashes left at the scene of an arson fire.
3. the offspring of an octopus and a cephalopod.
4. a fish that has been banished.
5. completely removing oneself from society.
6. a person whose is an outcast from the community group.
7. a minute fresh water crustacean with a carapace.
8. a feline with a binary uterus.

B. Ultravirus
1. a disease carrying parasite that makes humans glow when exposed to light
2. a filterable virus
3. an easily transmitted disease with no known cure.
4. a theoretical virus created from the overuse of the antibiotic agent triclosan
5. a comic book villain infamous for spreading disease among unsuspecting civilians - arch nemesis of the Superhero Ultra-vaccine.
6. a plant disease discovered by the French biologist Surivart Lu.
7. a general term doctors use to describe an internal disease.
8. a virus whose form has mutated to such an extent making it impervious to treatment.

C. Decuple
1. the ability of a plant to flower annually.
2. a ten hour session of time.
3. tentimes; tenfold.
4. the segregation of two teams in a sporting event.
5. a common word in Canada used to describe a pair of animals; ex: Did you see decuple of geese-eh?
6. the tenth rib protrusion from the thoraxial cage.
7. the act of separating one railcar from another.
8. to break apart from a political party.

D. Eisteddfod
1. an object used in South American religious ceremonies; often considered sacred.
2. a traditional harvesting tool used by the Aborigines.
3. the harsh corrosive ester CH2Si3O, as used in chromate coating on metals.
4. a type of food developed by traveling Romanian circus groups.
5. a small deep water ocean fish dependent on iridescence for navigation.
6. an annual gathering of Welsh authors and poets.
7. an organic spread found primarily in Southeast Asia.
8. a small intricate tool used to cut tiny pieces of wood.