Malnourished No More

Mmmmm…we get plenty of fruits and veggies and a fair amount of dairy and meats, but one way in which our diet is definitely suffering is in the area of chocolate. Sure we can buy some chocolate at the supermarkets but either the prices still seem too high to us or we don’t feel like we’ve been here long enough to deserve such a treat.

Well last night our taste buds were reminded of the beauty of chocolate. You see, on the morning that we left our Wisconsin home in April, we were visited by two very dear friends and their two children. The children had made some things for us, putting together a care package for us and they wanted to drop it off on their way to school. Inside were a number of fun things: a little rubber ball, some Bible activity books, deodorant, soap, PB pretzels, gum and M&Ms.

Although we appreciated all of the items they gave to us, the M&Ms must have been extra special since we have been saving them for these past three months. Believe me I’ve wanted to eat them MANY times already but practiced self control. However, self control has its limits and so last night, Andrea and I made some peanut butter cookies with M&Ms. Because Addis Ababa is at a high altitude, baking is always an experiment. We added double the egg and held back some of the baking powder, baking soda and flour. We had done similar adjustments with other baking and had good results, but this time was different because we could be jeopardizing our precious M&Ms.

We were relieved when the first batch (and subsequent ones as well) came out perfectly and the taste of warm Peanut Butter M&M cookies has never been better! Now if we can just figure out how to make ice cream…

Sharing in Christ's Butter

This week, we were switched to a new class as we began Phase 2 of our language school. Our class consists of us and two teachers from the local K-12 MK school. One is a female elementary school teacher whose bubbly personality definitely fits the stereotype for that job. The other is a laid back French teacher who has a quick wit. Both are about our age. It has been fun getting to know them in class, knowing that studying a foreign language together requires vulnerability with each other and the ability to laugh at one’s mistakes. This morning’s class was a perfect example of language mistakes that resulted in the whole classroom bursting into laughter.

As we were learning the letters/fidels of the alphabet, we were studying the letter “ke” (each letter/fidel represents a syllable, not just a single sound). So, as an example of this letter/fidel, our teacher said the word “kibe” (pronounced “kih-bay”). The elementary school teacher then blurted out “Oh like in the song we sang in chapel.” “Oh no,” the teacher replied “that’s kiber which means ‘glory’, this is ‘kibe,’ which means ‘butter’” At this point, our faces cracked smiles and the jokes started to flow. Imagine one of us preaching in church as we pound the pulpit and passionately proclaim: Jesus revealed the butter of God (John 1:14) but he also came that he might bring butter to God (John 14:13). Christ is the radiance of God’s butter (Heb 1:3). Jesus prayed “Father, butter-fy me in your presence with the butter I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). Moses was allowed to see the backside of God’s butter. The blind man in John 9 was commanded to “give butter to God” for his healing (John 9:24). We bring butter to God through our obedience. According to the Westminster confession, the chief end of man is to butter-fy God and enjoy Him forever (kinda like popcorn?). Finally, one day the Son of Man will come on the clouds with power and great butter (Mark 13:26), at which time those who had shared in Christ’s suffering will also share in his butter (Rom 8:17).

It took a minute or two for us to settle down and get back to work. But nevertheless, we learned very well the importance of differentiating kibe and kiber and we definitely had fun doing it.

Kaylah's Hands

Have you ever been deeply moved by something entirely simple? At times, it’s the simple ideas that turn out to be the most profound and the simple acts of love can communicate the deepest emotion. Last Friday, our hearts jumped as we saw our organization’s receptionist set a box down in front of us as we worked in the guesthouse manager’s office. “For us?” we questioned. Sure enough, our names were on the box sent from the US just 10 days prior (pretty fast if you ask me!). It was our first care package since arriving in Ethiopia and one from a very special family (Travis’ brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces whom we miss quite a lot).

As with all our mail, we wait until evening before opening it so that we can spend quality time reading it and praying for the senders. This time was harder than others though because of the unexpected surprises that awaited us in the box. So once dinner was finished and dishes were cleaned up, our attention turned to the care package. The first things we found inside were two giraffe pictures cut out of coloring book, each colored by one of our nieces. They, of course, did an excellent job of coloring so we promptly posted these treasures on our display strings hanging down from the ceiling (see picture).

The next item we found was a large piece of paper folded many time in order to fit in the shoebox. We opened it to find many children’s drawings stretching over the whole 4-5 foot length of the paper. With the paper removed, the final contents of the box now caught our attention. A bracelet kit for us to share with the kids at the orphanage nearby, and a bunch of “comfort foods” from home. Trail mix, Laffy Taffy, A&W Root Beer Barrels and Swedish Fish (all of which are definitely favorites!).

After finding the bottom of the shoebox our attention turned back to the colorful poster now laying on our bed. As we looked closer, we saw that it represented the drawings of many children which attend the Daybreak Preschool that my sister-in-law volunteers at. There are colorful pictures of people, animals, flowers, a house, traced hands and many more things if one adds a little imagination. The traced hands were most interesting as many of the hands had names written on them: names of children some of which we know from my brother’s church: Mina, Gwen, Sterling, Anna and the smallest hands on the who whole paper proudly displaying the name of my favorite 2-year-old niece - Ellie. I love looking at Ellie’s tiny hand prints remembering how small and “cute” she is and the fun that we had with her and her big sister Peyton this past year.

As my eyes came full circle around the poster, something caught my attention that I had not seen before. In the midst of a color explosion were written the following words that sent shivers down my spine and a smile on my face. It simply says, “Kaylah’s hands are praying for Travis and Andrea.” Throughout our time of travelling and speaking in churches, we challenged children to pray for us, believing that the faith found in a child’s prayer uniquely stirs the heart of the Lord to move in powerful ways. Here, the simple statement that Kaylah’s hands are praying for us meant more to us than any of these precious children will ever know. What a privilege it is to be the recipient of Kaylah’s prayers! Even now, I can’t write this without tears of joy and gratitude welling up in my eyes. If you know Kaylah or any of the children represented on the poster which is now mounted on our wall, please give them a HUGE hug and whisper “Travis and Andrea say thank you SO much for praying for them.”

Made to Worship

Praise God along with us for the International Evangelical Church! As part of our orientation to the branch, we were scheduled to visit many different churches the first several weekends. When we first went to the International Evangelical Church (IEC) we were skeptical: leaving with two critiques. First, IEC is a large church, possibly considered a megachurch. We REALLY loved our “microchurch” in Dallas where personal relationships where far more important than numbers, buildings and programs. After this experience, it’s hard for us to see ourselves ever gravitating toward a megachurch. Second, we walked away from IEC saying “this is too American!” Sure there are many white faces in the congregation, mixed with a good number of Africans, but the whole service seemed to be cut out of an American church bulletin. We didn’t feel the celebration of the cultural diversity which was represented in the room (apart from the two Ethiopians who participated in the “worship team”).

However, while these two critiques are still open for discussion (the second has gotten some better in subsequent weeks), there is one very important reason why we want to call IEC our Addis Ababa home church, namely – we genuinely worship God every time we attend! The worship songs that they lead the congregation in are VERY well chosen and VERY well introduced (both are important to us!). Not only are they some of our favorites (How Great Thou Art, In Christ Alone, We Will Dance), but the lyrics powerfully challenge us in the congregation to focus our attention on God (not ourselves). Thus far, the sermons have been top notch quality – drawing truths from the Biblical text and applying them powerfully to our everyday lives here in Ethiopia. Last week was the first Sunday of the month and therefore “Communion Sunday” (like I said, it’s VERY American). Although the man who led the communion portion was not so eloquent in speech, he had a ton of really good content as he led our minds and hearts to the Lord’s table in a way we’ve never seen (starting and ending in Jer 31).

Like I said, we never would have seen ourselves as part of a church like IEC, but the single fact that our hearts uniquely connect with our God in worship when we attend this church draws us back for more. Although we still miss the microchurch feel and maybe want to see more international elements, we have realized that church is not about individual preference, it’s about worshipping God in community with a portion of the universal body of Christ. So as long as IEC is a place where

You Never Know When...

As we continue to charge full speed ahead in our language school, we are sometimes curious about the particular words we are taking time to learn. For example, for the first few weeks, we spent a lot of time learning the vocabulary for tools (hammer, saw, different types of wrenches, etc). Some Ethiopian friends asked us, “why are you learning words like that? Why not something more useful and everyday?” We too felt the same way at times, but nevertheless were happy to be learning something. Plus, you never know when these less common words may show up.

We were reminded of this Saturday morning when we were awakened around 4:45 am by a very loud noise. It sounded like a sudden downpour of hard rain (or hail) on a tin roof overhead. I quickly jumped out of our mosquito net and checked the bathroom only to hear the sound coming from just outside our open bathroom window (which is too high off the ground to see out. I then went to the door (our bed, bathroom and door are all only 2 steps from each other so it wasn’t a long trip). As I opened the door, I heard footsteps coming up the metal spiral stairs which lead to our balcony. A second later, our guard appeared and immediately said words I didn’t want to hear “Chigger ale!” (Eng: Problem there is!). We grabbed the ladder and quickly climbed up to the roof. There, the source of the sound (which was now dying down) was clear. You see on our roof, there is a solar water heater which had not worked properly for several months. However, our maintenance man had just installed a new thermostat last week which allowed for some nice hot showers! Praise God for that! Well, apparently, the temperature had been set too high and so the pressure had blown off one of the hoses. The sound we had heard was the sound of steam blowing out of the water heater while the unattached hose shot blazing hot water everywhere. In that moment, I was thankful that just two days earlier, we had learned the word for “hose” – ye wuha goma (Eng: the water rubber). Also, to tighten the clamps, I was able to ask for the particular tool I needed. I knew this tool’s name well because it was by far the hardest tool name for me to memorize – kutchabete ifelegalo (Eng: screwdriver I need).

We are learning as much vocabulary as we can, knowing that a particular word may be exactly what’s needed in a particular situation down the road. Let’s just hope that next time it’s not while standing on our roof at five in the morning sporting only my pajamas.

Ready or Not...

After a month or so here in Ethiopia we began to hear many of our colleagues talking about leaving for vacation or home assignment (furlough/deputation/whatever other term you’ve heard it called) around the middle of June. We quickly began to realize that although we would have been in the country for less than two months we would soon be among only a handful of expatriates (non-Ethiopian) left behind to hold down the fort.

So when the guest house manager asked if we would take care of her responsibilities while she and her family were away we thought…ready or not, I guess we’re jumping in with both feet! Even though we’ve been here such a short time we were the best option because we’re living in the guest house and she and I have the same name (Andrea not Travis).

Although it’s often easier (and more worthwhile) to cook for more than just the two of us there’s a bit of extra stress when you don’t know what your guests will like to eat or if they have any allergies. Last week 3 guests arrived within a couple of days of each other and two of them were only here for 3 days. Hence, we took upon ourselves the task of making dinner for those 3 nights for the 5 of us. All in all, things went quite well even though we didn’t have electricity any of the 3 evenings (Thank God for gas stoves and burners!).

Even though our primary role this first year is language learning it’s been kind of fun to have a small role in helping others begin to adjust to this new culture. Even as we ourselves are still adjusting we know how much our colleagues helped us begin the adjustment process and are privileged to be able to assist others do the same. Nevertheless, I think I’ll be glad when the other Andrea comes back.