Ah-muh-se-guh-nah-what? September 6, 2007

Written on 6 September 2007

We’ve decided to share the “responsibility” of updating those curious minds who are wondering what we’ve been up to—if we ever even made it to Africa…(the short answer is yes). I have undertaken the daunting task of writing our first blog entry—The entry which includes many of our first experiences. So I’ll attempt to fill you in, although we’ve all been keeping our own journals (and Josh has his own blog) so we’ll have plenty more stories and personal experiences to share with you.

Right. The first 2 weeks. We flew through London where we had a 24-hour layover. We took the tube to Big Ben and the Thames (Josh’s first time), and spent the night in a smarmy hotel before expertly making our way back to the airport. From there we had a short fuel stop in Alexandria, Egypt, then arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday the 27th at around 2am local time.

The trip up to that point had gone very smoothly, but in the Bole International Airport we met our first real challenges. #1) One of our bags never left London. (Not a huge deal, we can pick it up later) #2) No one was there to meet us as we had planned. No one was answering the phone, we didn’t have much birr (Ethiopian $), or even an address that we could give to a taxi. That was when our cunning and problem-solving skills came in handy. Finally we were able to contact another friend who came out to meet us (by this time it’s rounding 4am) and after an eye-opening drive through the streets of Addis in 2 rickety old taxis, and a huddled prayer of thanks for the Lord’s provision and protection, we slept on the floor of his home.

The next day our friends from HOPE (who had been expecting us the following day—miscommunication occurs regularly here) picked us up and brought us to our temporary home, a guesthouse in southwest Addis. We are still staying in the house, which includes a place to sleep, breakfast and dinner, companionship in the form of many other house guests (mostly adopting parents with their new children—we have seen the joy and the struggle of adoption), and some other minor comforts. This place has become our refuge and we have looked forward to coming back here at the end of the day…We are thankful for the sense of home we have been able to establish here in the past 2 weeks.

The first few days proved to be exciting and unpredictable. Driving through the city is always an adventure…HOPE has 2 locations in Addis: the school where we will be teaching, and the College Headquarters (HOPE University College opens fall 2008) which also includes the Feeding Center. The Feeding Center is the only one in Addis and feeds over 700 people every day except Sunday. The poverty here is different than in the US—I can’t quite describe it. My heart breaks for these people and yet I have such hope for them. Even the slightest touch or acknowledgement seems to strengthen them. HOPE has taken action against the poverty, both to meet the immediate needs of the people and to tackle the problem altogether through reform on government and social levels.

We’ve been on the school campus nearly every day, familiarizing ourselves with the programs, classrooms, and culture. The teachers and administration have been fun to get to know and we look forward to meeting the children in a week and a half!

Other than our escapades around Addis to the Feeding Center and to the school, we took a short road-trip (11 hour drive) northeast to Dessie with Dr. Minas (President of HOPE Enterprises). HOPE has a school in Dessie and we were making the trek to attend graduation. The drive was quite interesting—in a good way. We saw many other villages and the beauty of the land. The countryside is very green (rainy season is just wrapping up), rolling hills, patchwork fields full of crops…We can’t wait to share pictures with you!

The graduation ceremony was much like our own, except that afterwards all of the graduates wanted to take pictures with us. We all felt like celebrities and had to laugh about that social difference. On the ride home we stopped for lunch and what Dr. Minas called “the biggest surprise ever!” Here we witnessed the slaughter and preparation of our lunch—4 chickens. Wow. 2 things we have learned: Ethiopians love their meat and they eat it fresh.

Now we await the start of school. We’re learning what exactly our responsibilities are, preparing as much as we can, and getting ourselves situated. During our time we’ve also made some very dear friends. It’s my pleasure to introduce to you Dr. Minas, Pastor Mathewos, Tefera, Geneti, Danny, Zeneba, and Hannah. You will hear more of these incredible people throughout the year, but Josh is giving me a pressing look which I’m interpreting as: “Hurry up and finish the blog, Maren, so we can post it already.” So, I’ll refrain from telling you about these people except to say that they have taught us and loved us and we have grown to love them in return. The size of their hearts is remarkable and I pray that we continue to learn from these wonderful mentors!

I’ve told you just about everything we’ve done, but I can’t do it justice in a short blog entry (I suppose “short” is relative). I will say this and I think I can speak on behalf of all of us: We have been completely overwhelmed. Our senses have experienced so much “newness” over the past 2 weeks—the sights, smells, tastes, textures, and sounds are so different. Our emotions are still reeling from leaving our loved ones behind and are struggling with the capacity to process what has taken place in our hearts and minds here in Ethiopia. We are confident God will continue to stretch and challenge us—and that He will be our source of strength for the next 11 months. He is very evident here—not only in the country’s rich history and culture, but also in the peace and passion He has provided to complete the work He has set before us.

Hopefully we’ll be able to write more consistently rather than trying to cram 2 whole weeks (let alone the first 2 eventful weeks) in one entry. Ameuseugeunallo (thank-you) for taking the time to read up on us.

With an expectant heart,

Maren (and the crew)

Praise the Lord: We got our last bag and WE GOT A PERMANENT HOUSE!!! For our friends, safety

Pray for us: Health (including homesickness), continued adjustment, safety, confidence in our responsibilities