It is possible.

"It is possible." This is a phrase that we came to hear OFTEN while in Addis, and ultimately a phrase that brought a smile to our faces. Our kind & patient friend Debelle, who accompanied us on all of our Addis travels, used this phrase frequently. I wish you could hear it said with his accent. We learned that "it is possible" meant yes, maybe, and sometimes maybe not. We loved it, and quickly adapted the phrase as one our team used often as well (and usually with Debelle's accent).

The phrase makes me think of you all though. It IS possible. It is possible to follow a God-sized plan all the way to Africa. It is possible to get on an airplane and leave your jobs, your schoolwork, your small kids, your ailing parents, your western mentalities....and travel to the other side of the world to be a part of what God is doing there. It is possible to overcome doubts, fears, questions and just go. It is possible to deeply love people you have only known for 8 days. It is possible to see people living in extreme material poverty, but who have more spiritual wealth than most of us have ever seen. It is possible to see the world a little more like Jesus does.

We implore you to connect with someone from the Africa team to hear more about our experiences - not the 3 minute "It was amazing" description, but the hour long over coffee and maybe a few tears description. We implore you to learn about the places and people we visited, and the partnership that we are building with them. We emphasized to our new friends over and over and over that we are only the tip of the iceberg. The 14 people they saw standing in front of them were the visual piece of hundreds more at home who are praying, giving, caring....loving. These people are counting on YOU. Please learn their stories. Pray for them. Or starting planning on going. We're already excited to see the new team that God brings together to return to Africa. Just as it was when our team first started meeting, it may seem impossible from the outskirts of the adventure; however we believe you will come to see that it IS possible for you too.

Wow
You’re back
How was it?
Was it safe?
It’s really dangerous there right?
How was the food?
Seriously, how was it?
I smiled and I said
Awesome, really it was amazing
But what I wanted to say was
Let’s go get coffee
Can I show you the pictures
Here check this video
The smiles of the children are imprinted
on my mind like the tattoo on your arm
The smell of humanity mixed with earth and depravity
Lingers in my surroundings
When I close my eyes I see the dancers stomp
and through the rays of sun I see the dust rise from the floor
The sound of a drum beating and a tambourine shaking brings me to my knees for with these sounds my soul is pleased and my heart is teased
My hands don’t clap like theirs.
Really it’s beautiful let me show you
See I told you
Did I tell you about the HIV/AIDS association?
They learn to sew but while they sew they sow more hope into each other than any nation.
They have the meds but no food to join with it
So the cure becomes the killer
But
When you give them a needle they make a dress or a basket
When they sell a dress they make some cash
When they have the cash they buy some food
And when you give them food, you give them hope
Hope for a future free from want
Hope for a future where all men and women are equal
Hope for a future where these scars stop throbbing
But for now most of their scars remain
In plain sight
For some it’s on their face, others hidden beneath their sleeves and jeans
But there are those scars that remain for now unseen
And the Church, the capital C church
God’s Church
Oh it is good
I mean it
It is very well
Men and women shoulder to shoulder celebrating
Dancing
Sharing
Praying
Giving
Laughing
Singing
But not like we do
Like their lives depend on it
And at the helm are women and men
with more courage and faith than I have ever known
Aron, Eraste, Providence, Jean Claude,
Theophile, Simeon, Delphine, Janique,
Israel, Sam, Jean de Dieu
They lead the hope parade
With arms in the air
Smiles wider than Lake Kivu
Feet that have walked 10,000 miles for love’s sake
Eyes that have seen the unthinkable
They celebrate our God of Justice and Peace
And reconciliation and Peace
And joy and forgivineness and Peace
And people listen and they follow
They cannot be silent
They cannot be still
So I’m not sure what we have to offer them
For they have offered me more than I could ever ask or imagine
That’s pretty much all I wanted to say.

(excerpt from "What I Wanted to Say", by John Cassetto after returning from Rwanda earlier this year)

Rest. Re-entry. Remember. Respond.

(Jan's journal entry - Saturday, Oct. 17th)

Wow, am I missing you all. Your voices, your laughter, your smiles, walking down the streets of Addis arm-in-arm. Eating together crowded all around the table with Ghette’s delicious, lovingly-prepared cooking before us. Our morning Devos, our evening de-briefs. OK, yeah, now I’m crying.

Just woke up from a three-hour nap. Made myself get up so I can sleep tonight when it’s dark. I can’t wait to see each of you tomorrow morning at worship!!

I went to the grocery store this afternoon and saw John Duma from a distance…decided to just let him soak in strolling through the aisles of dizzying choices of every item imaginable at our fingertips. Cases of Diet Coke, Cold Milk, REFRIGERATED meat all wrapped up.

It’s OK to feel ‘unsettled’; about the food in your fridge and pantry. A toilet that flushes every time you push the handle and multiple rolls of soft TP at your fingertips. More square footage in our closets than many of the families of 5-9 or 12 live in in Merkato. it’s normal to feel grief and sadness. We are all looking through a new set of “spiritual eyes.” Life here in Johnson County probably won’t come as usual or as easy for us for awhile. I’m thinking that’s a good thing. I don’t want to forget. I’m feeling a huge responsibility to remember. It really helped me today to get on our blogsite and watch and LISTEN to the video clips Allyson posted a week ago. A WEEK AGO…. Wow it was a week ago we were at the Sheraton skyping back to Cedar Ridge. It is really helping me to sit down and write this to you all. You should probably keep writing in your journals also. Didn’t you miss having morning devotions together this morning? Doug and I jumped out of bed this morning and dashed off to two FREEZING soccer games!!!

I talked with Lana today and we scheduled our final de-brief for this next Friday evening, October 23rd at her house. (Julie and Holly, how about skyping in!?!?!) We are scheduled to present as a team to the church NEXT SUNDAY between services! Please let me know if any of you CAN’T be there Friday evening and/or Sunday morning between services. I’ll be getting back to you about what exactly our presentation will consist of Sunday morning. We will have 30 to 40 minutes. Allyson, I’m sure we could use many photos!!! Probably put to music!!!

Sitting here at my computer watching a most beautiful Fall Kansas sunset this evening. It’s almost 3 a.m. in Addis right now….. what would we be hearing if we were lying awake in our beds? Roosters crowing, dogs barking and birds “gaulking”…

Love you all in an amazing new way, God’s beloved Ethiopia team,
Amasiganallo,

Jan

What we learned in Ethiopia....

*Plan on the plans changing.
*NEVER flush the toilet paper (if you are lucky enough to have any).
*An umbrella is a necessity in Addis, rain or shine.
*"Five minutes" in Africa does not mean five minutes.
*saying "no thank you" to curious monkeys does not keep them at bay.
*In the words of our dear friend, Debelle, "It is possible."
*Ehtiopian traffic "laws" are a bit different than what we're used to at home (i.e. there are none).
*We have A LOT to learn from our friends in Ethiopia.
*You do not need much materially to be rich spiritually.
*God is doing incredible things all around us, if we will just take the time to notice and get involved.
*a lot of "things" that seem important to us here really don't matter at all.
*hope in and through Jesus Christ can stand up to any and all challenges.
*Ethiopians are very gentle and soft spoken people, until you get them in church - whoa!
*God's glory is being shown all over the earth, and where there is darkness his light shines even brighter.
*what is looks like to really humble yourself before God and submit to his will.
*A mother's heart in Ethiopia is the same as a mother's heart here in the States.
*Prayer is more powerful and effective than we often choose to acknowledge.
*As long as you keep drinking the coffee, our Ethiopian friends will keep filing it back up.
*A delicious macchiato in Addis is only $0.30.
*kids can have fun playing with sticks and rocks, and no one gets hurt!
*you can live a full life with out a lot of "stuff".
*An Ethiopian's idea of a "large, big man" is different than ours.
*We are all seven years younger in Ethiopia - really!
*African spiders are much larger than spiders in the U.S.
*Everything in Ethiopia can be repurposed, and usually is!
*No amount or quality of pictures can capture the beauty of Ethiopia (but we all tried anyways).
*Where "the joy of the Lord" is your strength, you can smile through the most desperate circumstances.
*When you encounter someone who doesn't speak English, talking LOUDER does not really help.
*Learning does happen even when the teacher/child ratio is 1:35, the floor is made of dirt, and there are 8-10 children squeezed on one bench - and the teachers are in total control.
*Real mean hold hands.
*A "call to prayer" has a whole new meaning for us.
*Don't let Lana hold your camera.
*If Amber laughs...you'll laugh too!
*It is possible to become a "medical expert" in Ethiopia - ask Bonnie!!
*The saying "ants in my pants" has a whole new meaning - ask Allyson!!
*If you need a spider killed, ask Julie!
*Hooked on phonics works, even for Amheric (right, Dustin??)
*Holly has the patience of a SAINT!!
*Leprosy will eat the flesh, but it doesn't have any power over the spirit.
*work brings dignity.
*Africa is not the only place Jesus wants us to see people like he does.

Half way home!

Hello once again!! Just a quick update....We have arrived a little bit early in Amsterdam, and are waiting for a cafe to open for breakfast. It is 7:00 a.m. here, and midnight back home. It is hard to believe we will be traveling for another 17 hours! We are all SO ready to see the faces of our family and friends!! Two of our team members (Holly and Julie) have already departed from us, as they are on a different flight back to Detroit. It was sad to see them go, and to realize that our time together is quickly coming to an end. We have depended on each other like family, and have come to know each other as "our Africa family". Speaking of family, there were several U.S. families (one from Wisconsin, one from Minnesota, and one from Iowa) bringing home new members of their family from Ethiopia. It was fun to watch all of the babies on the plane! And it made those of us with babies that much more excited to see our own!! We'll see you shortly...

Love from Amsterdam,

The Africa Team

Torn.

We have had a nice and relaxing day here in Addis. We have enjoyed the streets and a bit of shopping, and are now getting packed up to head to the airport. We are all SO eager to see our family and friends, but at the same time our hearts are saddened to be leaving the people that we so quickly and so deeply came to love. We have all expressed that there will forever be a piece of Ethiopia in our hearts - we have been changed by the time we have had here.

Yesterday afternoon was incredible. We started our afternoon back at the LIA Merkato Compound, where a few of the boys were playing table tennis and had already put up the new nets we had given them. We started our afternoon in prayer with the LIA Merkato Staff, and then divided into two groups to head out into the streets of the Merkato Community to observe more about the challenges this community faces, and to pray for the needs we encountered as we walked. Personally, I wasn't really sure about this outing... Any time we have gone out into the streets, we tend to draw a lot of attention. However, this was much different than I had expected. Again, God had something bigger and better in store. The group I was divided into only had four of our team members, plus three LIA Merkato staff. Perhaps because our group was smaller in size, and we weren't toting along our bus, bags or cameras, we were able to walk through the streets as someone who lives here. The people near us went about their daily business (children playing, women visiting and doing laundry, etc.) without so much as a nod in our direction. The street that Dereje walked us down was a long, sloping downhill that allowed us to look out over the Merkato slum and see its expanse. I began to feel overwhelmed with the amount of poverty around us. As far as the eye could see - to the left, to the right, in front, and behind - there was poverty. It struck me that we would be escaping this poverty as we stepped on the plane in a short amount of time, and I was overcome with sadness for the people who live here, many who will never see anything else. I was feeling a sense of hopelessness. But then, God brought to mind Psalm 139:6-12....

"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depeths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."

We looked up and saw in the distance the lush green mountains, where the golden sunshine was shining down through the clouds, and it was as if God was reassuring us that there is Hope amidst the darkness of Merkato - just as the people here have shown us with their smiles and their stories. I stepped around the corner when we returned to the Merkato compound to gather myself and my thoughts, and a dear woman who was popping popcorn over open coals saw me and motioned/asked why I was sad. I tried to explain to her that is was all just so overwhelming, and she quickly replied "Xabier..." (God...) and smiled and pointed towards the heavens. I know she was telling me that God is with them.

We then shared in a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony (very RICH and DELICIOUS) coffee. They roasted the coffee beans and prepared the coffee over the coals right in front of us, and then we shared in a time of coffee and fellowship with our new friends. They kept the coffee and laughter coming....it was wonderful.

Following coffee, we returned to the guest house for a brief meeting with Dr. Yared. He is so wise and godly. It is a privilege to listen to him. He shared his favorite scripture with us out of Titus 2, and then several thoughts as we prepare to depart. I will always remember him saying with a smile on his face "Do not be discouraged by what you have seen. God is with us. We are in a season of planting seed....the harvest is yet to come."

We ended our evening with an amazing dinner at an Ethiopian cultural restaurant. We shared injera and delicious food (really!!) as we sat and visited together with Dr. Yared, Debelle, and Ashagre. We also enjoyed some incredible Ethiopian tribal dancing. It was unbelievable!!! What a joy it will be when all of God's children go home to be with him and sing and dance together for eternity.

Thank you for your continued prayers for safe and smooth travel. If all goes according to plan, we will see many of you tomorrow evening around 5:00! We love you....

With full hearts from Africa,

The Africa Team

Live from the Merkato Compound.

As I type, there are approximately 50-75 women are gathered outside the window of the LIA Merkato Compound listening to the women of our team share basic health and hygiene information with them. Their faces of courage and hope spark an excitement within me that can only be described as love. It is amazing how much we all share in common, especially as mothers. We seem to share one heart. It is a joy to hear these women's stories and to play a small role in helping them have healthier futures. The men of our team have been in a back office sorting vitamins to give to the women at the end of our time together.

Yesterday was an incredibly powerful and moving day. As we shared yesterday, we were headed to the Merkato compound to have a morning of sharing and testimonies with the hard-core boys. The team was able to track down 43 Bibles (after visiting several book stores across town and spending a lot of time on our bus). At one point, we were about to throw in the towel on finding the Bibles prior to our visit. We were thinking it might be best to give the Bibles at a later time so as not to miss any fellowship time with the boys. However, God had different plans. Develle was determined to find enough Bibles for us to give to the boys, and ultimately he succeeded. We would discover later why God wanted us to have the Bible on hand....

Four of our team members humbly shared their testimonies and life struggles with the boys that were gathered (41 in total). The boys were absolutely GLUED to these stories. They were amazed to hear that many of us have had similar struggles in life - drugs, alcohol, doubts, money issues, family brokenness. They then spent several minutes asking challenging questions of our group about our country's faith, how to share Christ with friends, and more. Depth is definitely not lacking amongst this group of precious boys. After our time of sharing, the boys were called forward one at a time to receive their Bibles. I wish you could have seen first hand the way these boys handled these Bibles, and intently opened them and began thumbing through the pages. The Compound Director, Dereje, was tenderly showing the boys where to find the various books of the Bible. It was simply incredible. God's Word is so powerful, and to know that each of these boys was venturing home with their own copy was amazing. To cap it all off, three boys came forward saying they desired to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. We were privileged to witness Develle pray over these boys as they invited Jesus into their hearts. This is empowerment at its core - being empowered with God's Word and His Spirit. So often as Americans, we believe our empowerment lies in our education, our jobs, our bank accounts, ourselves. However, these boys are finding that true empowerment begins with Christ. We were all so moved.

We were able to take individual pictures of each of the hard-core boys and wrote their names as we photographed so that YOU can "meet" these adopted children of ours and pray for them by name as well. We are betting that you fall in love too.

We returned to the guest house for lunch, and then came back to the compound to spend our afternoon with the Community Health Evangelists/Educators (CHE's). We were completely blown away by the stories of heartbreak, courage, and strength these beautiful women shared with us. Most of them are widowed or divorced, and are struggling to provide for and raise their children on their own. Many of them are unable to send children to school because they cannot afford the requird uniforms. Some shared of being denied access to basic healthcare. In addition to these burdens, they have taken on the role of educating their communities about health and personal care. They have not drowned themselves in self pity, but have resolved to courageously be the force of change. The mothers in our group were especially humbled to hear these stories. Their courage brings so much hope to me as a mother, for myself and for our children. We were mutually blessed. These women kept thanking US for all we are doing, but truly THEY are the hands and feet that are out in the community on a daily basis striving to make a difference and improve their communities. It would be so easy for them to give up, but they perservere. It was another powerful afternoon.

We were home a little earlier (5:30), and able to relax, eat dinner and debrief. Today is our last full day in Ethiopia. Our plans changed a little bit for this afternoon. Instead of painting, we will be doing a prayer walk through the streets of Merkato and having a traditional Ethiopian coffee & fellowship with the LIA Merkato Staff. I cannot think of a better way to wind up our time here. See you all soon!!

With full hearts from Addis,

The Africa Team

Good morning from Addis!

We woke up to a beeeaaautiful morning in Addis, which we are all so thankful for. Although rainy season has passed, it has been very soggy most of our time here. We have woken up most mornings to heavy skies, damp air, and cool temps. So, it was encouraging to wake up to blue skies and sunshine today! We are able to see all of the beautiful mountain peaks and hills that surround the city. Surely the sunshine is indicative of the beauty and light that God has in store for us today as we return to the Merkato Street Kid project to have a time of fellowship and sharing with the hard-core boys. We will be spending our morning encouraging the hard-core boys with our own testimonies, hopefully showing them that we are alike in more ways than we are different. The rest of the team is off purchasing Amheric Bibles for us to gift to the boys this morning, so they will each have their own personal copy of God's Word. So exciting!! We also plan on sharing injera (a traditional Ethiopian food) with the boys as we fellowship.

This afternoon we will be heading back to the Merkato Compound to fellowship and share with the Community Health Evangelists (CHE) from the community. These are leaders that have been trained and equipped to provide wholistic ministry to their communities. We are eager to get to know them more, and share in a time of encouragement with them. I am sure God has many blessings in store for us today!

Just to recap our day yesterday...We started off our day by joining the LIA staff for the weekly prayer time (they fast and pray every Monday morning as a group from 9-1). I have never seen people pray and worship with such humility and sincerity. When we entered the room everyone was either on their knees, covering their faces, or turned towards the wall in complete worship to our Savior. They intermingled prayers, singing and scripture as we all joined in worship together. Peggy had been asked to prepare a word of encouragement ahead of time, and she had been led to 1 John 3. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence". Amazingly, right before Peggy shared this, Dr. Yared told us that their prayer focus for this month is "loving in action". It was incredible when Peggy shared this word of encouragement and scripture that went perfectly hand in hand with LIA's focus for the month. We see God working like this all over the place here!! What a blessing to be able to share in this time of fervent prayer and worship. There was laughter, tears, and a clear presence of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is truly at the core of LIA's ministry, and we were so glad to share in a piece of it. What is even better is that we can continue to participate in LIA's ministry through prayer all the way from the U.S!

Our afternoon was spent visiting the ALERT hospital, which specializes in treating/serving leper and tuberculosis patients. Aside from treating the patients physical conditions, they also provide a trade/craft for them to do (embroidery, loomwork, woodworking, etc.) We were able to witness several affected women and men (and a few children) joyfully crafting and creating beautiful pieces of art. They are given these trades as an alternative to begging. Their pieces of art are then sold in the ALERT giftshop, and all proceeds go back to the hospital and supporting its patients. It was so incredible to see the joy and sense of value these "cast-offs from society" have been given at ALERT. We serve such a creative God, and to see his creativity at work in these people was amazing. We could have stayed there much longer - such a special place!! We are looking forward to returning there on Thursday!

Following our ALERT visit, we went to LIA's WASH project, which focuses on water sanitation and personal hygiene. To hear the statitics of the number of people here who do not have access to clean water is staggering. This factor contributes to much disease and premature death (most often due to preventable diseases such as diarrhea, and most often amongst children under age 5). It was so encouraging to see the hope that is brought to the people through clean water supply and education! We visited the community that the WASH project is beginning with (it is in its very first stages, so the team that returns next year will be able to see how much this project has grown and impacted the community). They have built latrines, wash stations, and showers, and are also equipping people to be community educators regarding hygiene. So awesome!!

After our WASH visit, we headed back to the Merkato church to share in their Monday teaching service. We were able to join them in their time of song and worship, and then we were able to share some words of encouragement and worship with them. A few team members shared scripture and words of encouragement, and then we led them in two worship songs (Lord Reign In Me and Holy Is The Lord). What an incredible thing to share in worship that stretches across language and cultural barriers. We serve such an enormous and amazing God!!

We are in the home stretch of our visit here. We have learned so much. The next two days are really focused on the service element. Tomorrow we will be painting at the Merkato Church, and spending the afternoon providing health education and focus groups with the women of the community. Thursday we are doing a little shopping at ALERT, packing, and heading to the airport for our long journey home (we will be heading to the airport about 11:00 a.m. Central time on Thursday, and return home Friday around 5:00 p.m.). Please continue to pray for our health and strength as we finish up our time in Ethiopia. May God use us to the very last minute we are here!! We can't wait to see you all again, and share more stories and faces of Africa with you.

Much love,

The Africa Team