Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Photos From Our Trip Out to Visit Bantu
First Days
A huge thank you to all who have covered
us in prayer these past 6 days. We’ve
had a relatively smooth transition from home to here. Twenty-seven hours of travel were not nearly
as difficult as we anticipated them being.
The boys slept about seven hours on the first flight and two-three hours
on the second. Their own T.V. screens in
the seat backs in front of them took care of the rest of the time. We got to the guest house very late (actually
very early) on Saturday morning, and it was probably 3 a.m. before the boys
settled down enough to sleep. Saturday
was just a day for us to rest and settle into being into a new
environment. We left the guest house to
eat at a pizza place we’ve always liked here and get Ethiopian cell phones, but
other than that we just took it easy.
Sunday we attended the International
Evangelical Church here in Addis. They
have an English speaking service and a children’s Sunday school every week, and
it was so nice to have the opportunity to worship. Joshua, Matthew, and I went to one of the
children’s classes during the sermon, and it was cute to see how similar it was
to our church. They sang songs, played,
had a lesson, made a craft, and ate a snack.
The teacher was a young Ethiopian women who did such a great job
engaging the kids. We will routinely worship
with the village church in Bantu, but it’s nice to have this option if we’re in
the city on the weekend.
That afternoon, I was able to visit the
local grocery store with Viola Palmer.
She and Jim are leading a medical team a few hours north of Addis this
week, and we needed to buy supplies for the team. It was a great opportunity for me to learn
what it looks like to buy for a team and to see what the stores offer for our
purposes. We found two stores I think
will supply what we need food-wise with a little creativity. I was pleasantly surprised by what they had to
offer.
Jim and Viola left Sunday evening to
head out with the medical team, so we’ve been on our own for the past two
days. Our vehicle for the summer was
delivered Sunday night, so we had transportation and the freedom to explore and
get out a little. Yesterday was a really
great day in terms of feeling like we were figuring out life here. We (and by we, I mean Larry) drove to the
grocery store, to meet the pediatrician, and to lunch and dinner
successfully. That may not seem like
much to many of you, but the traffic here is pretty amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. To the casual observer, it would seem as if
there are no traffic rules. There are
rules, and we are learning them, but at times it seems very chaotic. Pedestrian traffic is constant and
everywhere, and yesterday at one time or another we encountered horses, cows,
donkeys, sheep, goats, and chickens in the road (literally IN the road, in
downtown).
Today we spent the morning here because
Josh woke up with an upset stomach. It
was a rough morning for him, but he seems back to normal now. We’re so thankful it was so mild and
short-lived. Larry went out this
afternoon and bought a fridge, generator, and bed for our house in Bantu. We are so ready to be out in the village and in
our home there. The guest house here in
Addis is wonderful, but we’re ready to unpack, make a home, cook our own food,
and just settle in. Nights are a little
difficult in the city with traffic noise, other guests moving about, and lots
of barking dogs and screeching hyenas.
Tomorrow we are making a day trip out to
Bantu to visit and show the boys the village.
We move out there on Friday!
Thank you for all your continued prayers!
Thursday, May 22, 2014
10 and 2
A little less than a year ago, Larry and
I sat with John Jackson in Bantu, Ethiopia wondering what God had next for
us. We’d sensed His call to something
more for awhile, but we just didn’t know what that meant or looked like. Over the past 11 months, God has shown us one
step at a time, and in more ways that we could have imagined, the path He is
leading us down.
Today we take a big step down that
path. In 12 hours we will be on an
airplane departing Houston for Ethiopia.
We are excited and ready to be where He has called us to be. Would you be willing to cover us in prayer
while we are gone? Please click the “Daily
Prayer Guide” link on the right for a day by day prayer list for our ten weeks
in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of Central
Time. We are asking specifically for
prayer at 10 and 2…10 pm CST and 2 pm CST.
10 pm Central is 6 am in Ethiopia and we will be in the middle of our morning
devotional and prayer time. If you will
join us in prayer at 10 pm, you will help us cover our entire day in blessing
and provision for what lies ahead. 2 pm
Central is 10 pm in Ethiopia. We will be
headed to bed, tired and possibly emotional at the end of the day. This is usually my most vulnerable time because
exhaustion can make things seem the most difficult. If you will pray for us at 2 pm, you will
help us resist the negative emotions that can arise from a long day.
Finally, would you pray over the next 40
hours for the following specific prayer requests?
1. We are excited but not looking
forward to the goodbyes coming later today. Please pray for the five of us, my parents,
and Larry’s parents as we say goodbye this afternoon.
2. I have known for nine months that
preparing and packing for our family of five to leave home and live in rural
Ethiopia for ten weeks would be a massive undertaking. I was not wrong. Please pray that things will be taken care of
here while we are gone and for a smooth check-in with our packed items tonight
at the airport.
3. Travel from our home to the guest
house in Addis Ababa will be about 27 hours.
Whew! Please pray for sleep on
the plane for all of us, joyful spirits, patience with each other, smooth
flights and connections, travel safety, protection, and health for us all!
Can’t
wait to join God’s work in Ethiopia…to God be the glory!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Our Next Ten Weeks...
This summer will be busy! We leave for Ethiopia on Thursday evening,
May 22. Our first leg of the journey is
a 12 hour flight from Houston to Istanbul, Turkey. After a 3 hour layover, we will board a 6
hour flight from Istanbul to the capital city of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa. We arrive in Addis at 12:15 AM on Saturday
morning. Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of
Central Time, so that is 4:15 PM on Friday in Houston. Needless to say, we will all be very tired
after 21 hours of travel. We will spend
our first few days in the capital city of Addis Ababa at a guest house as we
acclimate the boys to Ethiopia, rest from traveling, and prepare to move out to
the village of Bantu.
Our first couple of weeks in Bantu will
be busy, and each day will bring something new.
U.S. teams arrive for mission service during late May to mid-June. During those weeks, we’ll get to visit with
teams from East Texas Baptist University, FBC Athens, The Woodlands FBC, and
Hope Springs Water. Some of the
ministries the teams will work with include Vacation Bible School in a new
village, women’s ministry, church construction, water well rehabilitation and
installation, and the Rural Pastors’ Bible Institute. Most days we will head out with the teams as
they serve in and around Bantu. This
will give us a wonderful opportunity to meet people and participate in ministry with our
local pastors. The boys and I will head
back home most days for Matthew’s nap and the boys’ school. We want to preserve that time as much as we
possibly can so that the boys can get the rest they need to stay healthy. We’ll have dinner and fellowship with the
teams in the evenings. We are excited
about the time we will have to spend with good friends (both from home and
Ethiopia) and with Larry’s brother-in-law, Russell, who is coming with the FBC
Athens team. We know seeing familiar
faces will be a big encouragement for us.
Late June and the month of July will
look quite a bit different for us. After The Woodlands’ team leaves, we’ll be on
our own in Bantu. I imagine our days
will be a little quieter, and this will be a good opportunity to get to know
many people, make new friends, and learn more about the Oromo cultural
traditions. We hope that this will be a
good time for fellowship with our Ethiopian brothers and sisters in
Christ. We plan to visit the new church
plants in the surrounding villages and help facilitate some of the ongoing TEAM
Network ministries. We also hope to
explore new areas and villages for future mission work. Larry’s mother, Linda, is going to visit us
the end of June through the first week in July.
We know this is going to be a wonderful refresher for the boys and us at
the halfway point, and we are so excited that she will get to experience
Ethiopia with us. We are looking forward
to both the excitement and company the first few weeks will bring, as well as
the time we will spend as a family in Bantu for the remaining part of the
summer.
We will head back into Addis about once
a week to wash clothes, buy supplies, and connect to the Internet. While we will have cell phone service in
Bantu, we will only be able to get online in the city. We’ll check emails, post a blog update, and
get in some much needed FaceTime as often as we can. Most of our trips to the city will be during
the week so that we can be home for worship with the Bantu church over the
weekend. We return back home on July 28th. God is doing amazing things with His church
in Ethiopia, and we are so excited to share in it this summer!
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Where You Go, I'll Go: Updates on the March Prep Trip
We would like to share with you the great ways that
God has provided for us these past couple of weeks. I just returned from a pre-trip to Ethiopia
to work out several details before our family goes in May. Megan is usually the one to write these posts,
but since I am the one who went on the trip, we thought it would be good for me
to share the information.
As we approached the trip this past week, we were
unsure exactly what to expect. There
were questions concerning our living accommodations, obtaining a vehicle for
the summer, medical care possibilities while we are in country, and where we
could obtain food and water. Though we
are familiar with many things in the country, we were unsure about some of the
little details of long term daily living.
Although we did not know the answers to these questions, we both knew that
we would see ways that God has gone before us to prepare the way. I was overwhelmed by what I saw.
Our missionary mentor, Jim Palmer, was already in
Ethiopia working with teams this spring.
He had done some great ground work for us before our arrival, and he too was
excited to see how things were falling into place. Jim has been and continues to be a huge support, and we are excited to work with him and learn from him this summer. I was accompanied by two great friends, John Jackson
and Eddie Hilburn, who put their lives on hold for a week to travel with me and
support us. I was blessed in so many
ways by their presence. There is
something special and strong about a cord of three that was experienced for me
on this trip. “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes
4:12) I am so thankful for these
wise, spirit-filled guys that God has placed in our lives.
In the five days we were there, we were able to
secure a vehicle for the summer, nail down lodging in both Addis Ababa and the
village of Bantu, find a great place to purchase supplies and food in Addis,
and explore medical care options for us and the children. I was able to meet and speak with a
pediatrician in Addis that we can use for the boys. He is a U.S. Board Certified General Pediatrician
and worked many years at a children’s hospital in Dallas. He even gave me his cell phone number for
after-hours situations. We found a
wonderful guest house we will stay in on nights we are in the city. They have laundry service, internet access,
and children our boys can play with.
Down the street is a very nice supermarket where we will be able to
purchase just about all the supplies we will need. We’re also excited about our living situation
in Bantu. We’ve anticipated not having
consistent electricity, water, an oven, and refrigeration, but it looks like we
will have these after all. I could share many
other details that fell into place. I
was in awe at how God used this trip in an affirming way, and we were able to
see how He has gone before us in so many ways.
I came back from the trip physically tired and jet lagged, but
spiritually on fire and encouraged.
However, we understand that it is not all going to
be rosy. It is not going to be easy, but
it’s not supposed to be. It will be a
culture shock for us all. There will be
some adjustments to be made by all of us.
We realize that there will be many wonderful days but also possibly some
hard ones. I was able to visualize some
of the challenges we will face as a family.
I came back home with a good handle on the fact that it is not going to
be easy, yet I am overwhelmed with the fact that God has chosen us for this
task. I am overjoyed that He has provided
this opportunity for our family to shine His light in a place where people are
living in darkness. Our three little
blonde-haired boys are going to shine like beacons everywhere we go. I love these words to the song Oceans (Where Feet May Fail):
“Spirit lead me
where my trust is without borders;
Let me walk upon
the waters,
Wherever You
will call me.
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander;
And my faith will be made stronger,
In the presence
of my Savior.”
This is my prayer for us and our boys.
-Larry
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