Nine months on...

So I must be the laziest blogger ever but once again I have to admit that there have been many blogs that have run through my mind since the last time I have blogged.  I do send out fortnightly email updates, however, so if you would like to get on my email list, then message me at the bottom of my blog.

I did want to update my blog on how life is going for us here in Debre Zeit Ethiopia.  I still struggle to pronounce Debre Zeit properly; I have to admit, so I love to write it as there is no pronunciation necessary.  There are a few words (that I have already learnt) that I struggle to pronounce properly, although I have acquired a whole lot of words in my Amharic vocabulary list, which I didn’t think I could do a few months ago.  I have come to the conclusion, that this will be my Ethiopian accent.  Most ESOL speakers don’t pronounce their words as we would so we just call it an accent- I’m sure my mispronunciation of Amharic can pass as the same. 

Well, we are almost done with our 42 week internship here with BCI.  The time has flown by so fast, it seems like we just got here.  But in a good way, it does seem like we’ve been here so long.  We have settled in, past the first two phases of “Culture Shock” and we are feeling like this is home-like for real home- not like the feeling we had when we first arrived. 

We have made new friends and have built trust that exceeds the definition of acquaintance and extends to the relationship we would define as family.  There is mutual respect although some respect and honour us far too much.  We are really inspired by those who we love here.  We have nothing to boast of but the grace of God which allows us to be here.  Even for those who admire us from afar, we can’t really comprehend their admiration for what else are we to do, but to do the will of God. 

Before we came, we were full of fear.  The task seemed so overwhelming and the sacrifice so great.  Yet the Bible always seemed to resonate with what we wanted to do.  Now, as we read the Bible, we see that actually, this is the NORM!  We are meant to be sent, to live courageously, to feed the poor, to advocate for the fatherless, to leave our home country.  We are not doing anything supernatural; we are just living in obedience to what God expects of His children.  No brownie points for being obedient either, because we have been so disobedient so many other times before.  It’s only because of Him that we are able to be obedient.

Today my son Matthias (who’s almost 9) was telling us about his lost lunch.  There is a boy whose family worship the devil that goes to school with him.  He thinks that he stole his lunch.  I started to get mad at the devil.  He has tried to rob us so many times of our inheritance.  He does steal from us, what rightfully belongs to us.  The Bible says he comes to steal, kill and destroy.  He makes his way seem too exciting, delightful, fun…yet the end is always filled with regret, hopelessness and shame.  He is not going to have his way in my life or my families! 

I love with the ministry here at Zion Church.  I love that they know their authority against the devil.  I love that they seek to restore to people what the devil has taken away.  We are starting an English service at their church this week.  We know that the devil doesn’t want this to succeed.  That it’s easier for him to kill a seed than to destroy a harvest.  And we believe that there will be a harvest because that’s what God called us here for.  Please pray for us this week as we begin this exciting new venture.  Pray for our protection and also pray for the harvest-  Mat 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."

We have had such an amazing experience thus far, met some amazing people, and enjoyed some amazing company over some amazing food.  There have definitely been challenges but in all of that God has shown us so much more of Himself.  We have grown as a family- in confidence, in love and in our walk with God.  There are no limits to what we have ahead of us, other than limits we put on ourselves.  Thank you to all of you, who have encouraged us, read our updates, prayed for us and asked others to pray for us.  God has heard your prayers and He has lavished us with blessings beyond our imagination. 

Egzabiher Yirbakachu! (God bless you all!)

Love Rescue

A couple of weeks ago, we were able to spend time with a family from the States who were here to take their new daughter home after a long adoption process.  The daughter they take is very close to our hearts as she was the first Ethiopian girl to befriend our daughters.  Fluent in English, very hospitable, beautiful in nature and appearance, Lidiya opened her heart to our daughters, to us and thereby opened our hearts to her.

For the first time that week , I heard the story of Lidiya from her mom and her social worker.  This is the short/gap filled version of her story…but sufficient enough for you to get the picture.   Both of Lidiya’s parents died (her father first, then her mother) and she was left with her mother’s sister who took her under her care.  This aunty had a baby of her own, a beautiful girl we know as Haben.  Haben and Lidiya were like sisters but when Haben turned two, her mother left them both with her 13 year old sister Zenash while she went to live in Addis Ababa.  Abandoned and afraid, the three girls were left to fend for themselves in their little mud clad room in one of the darkest streets in Debre Zeit.  There were many nights where Zenash had nothing to feed the girls so she would give them water and tell them that this was their dinner. 

It just broke my heart to hear their story.  Zenash was in a place of desperation, as she did not have the capacity to look after these two babies.  The desperation got so bad that one day when some men came and offered Zenash some money to take Lidiya from her, she took the money and Lidiya went into a house that could have led to other places, if not for the intervention of the social worker and director from BCI who rescued her from their dirty hands. 

Somewhere along the way, BCI were able to take them into their programme and Lidiya came into contact with a short term missionary, whose name was Beth Trexel.  She asked Beth to take her home, to put her into her suitcase or find another way for her to go with her to America.  Lidiya cried out in desperation to her God, that He would rescue her from the life that seemingly was not the life of freedom she knew God wanted to give her.

God heard her cry.  God hears the cry of the broken and He rescues.  I was reminded of this yesterday as we said goodbye to Lidiya and prayed for God to use her in this new country she would call home. 

The Israelites were in the same position of desperation and they called out to God to rescue them:

Exo 2:23-25 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for RESCUE from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel--and GOD KNEW.

So God pulled aside Moses and showed him what He would do:

Exo 3:7-10  Then the LORD said, "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey... And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will SEND YOU to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."

God uses PEOPLE –simple, plain people – even people who have made mistakes and who seem ill-equipped- to be rescuers. 

God is using the Trexel family to be that Love Rescue for Lidiya.  He wants to use so many more people to be Love Rescuers for Him.  There are so many people crying out to God to be rescued from their desperate situation.  He is calling people aside to be vessels of His Love because He sees and He knows their situation.  Unfortunately because of our limited abilities, we don’t know the whole situation so we don’t always feel like we necessarily need to or can be the rescuer.  But that is where faith and obedience comes into play.  If God says Go, we need to Go in faith that He will be there along the way. 

I love that God rescues.  He rescued me. 

“The rescued are often the best rescuers” – Israel Houghton.  Has God rescued you?  He will use you to rescue others.  

My name would be Michelle Fred Constantine - if I were born in Ethiopia

For the last 6 months, we have learnt many things about Ethiopia…a little language, a lot of food, a few cultural norms and a few paradigms of thought that need a little shifting.  There are challenges here as in any society, but it has made me think…if I were born in Ethiopia instead of New Zealand, if my parents had migrated here, rather than the land of the long white cloud, how different my life would be…This is a little of what it would or could look like –

My name (even though I’m married) would be Michelle Fred Constantine (Ethiopians take their Father’s name as a second name and Grandfathers name as their third name)

I would be born in 1970 on the 1^st of June (Ethiopia’s Calendar is 8 years and 8 days behind the Gregorian Calendar we use.)

I would have been born into a time of civil unrest as the Derge took over power here, abolishing the emperor rule of Haile Selassie. 

If born in Northern Ethiopia, at the age of six, I would have been affected by the drought and famine that wiped out one million people and could have possibly been one of those who died.

If born in a rural area, I would have been well trained to look after the household chores, like fetching water that could be half a day’s walk away, harvesting teff or making injera.  I could possibly even have to take my younger sibling on my back while making these long trips or doing these daily chores – left responsible for daily taking care of one or more babies in the home, learning to feed, clothe and bathe them while other girls in the city were able to attend school.

If I were born in a rural area and I didn’t seem to be of much use to my parents, or in fact, my parents had died of HIV or other diseases, I would be given away to someone in a city where I would work as a house slave from as young as 3 or 4 years old – never getting an opportunity to go to school and even sometimes being expected to marry the one who I was given away to –even if he was 20 years my senior.

If I were born in Southern Ethiopia and my bottom teeth grew out before my top teeth, I would be classified as “mingi” or cursed, and be forced to die by starvation or having dirt thrown down my mouth and left outside to suffocate.

If I were born in Eritrea, I would most likely have suffered the horrific violence of war as my tribe fought to become an independent state, living in fear and hatred to others who considered themselves to be like me.

If I were born in Ethiopia, the likelihood of me surviving my first five years would have been one in five.  If I did survive those first five years, the likelihood that I would have been severely underweight would have been one in three and if I had made it to my school years, the likelihood that I attended school would have been one in three.

If I were born in Ethiopia, I still would most likely have been a teenage mother.  If a man asked me to marry him at a young age, I would have no other choice but to say no.  In some areas, I would be made to walk everywhere while my husband enjoyed the luxury of riding on a horse.  I could possibly have to share him with other wives and made to bare many children – even though I couldn’t afford to feed them.    My husband, having caught HIV off one of his concubines, would have left me to care for these children alone and disabled me from being able to work because I had the children to care for-leaving me with only two choices- either to live off the little that we have in our garden or to move to Addis Ababa and beg. 

If I were born in Ethiopia and had my five children and volunteered as I do, there would be no government support for our family or even the NGO that we work for.  I would have to live in a small mud hut with a tin roof and barely be able to pay the rent for that apartment.  My children would attend classes for half a day and would share their classroom with up to 70 children.  They would know little English and struggle to transition into High School where they would have to learn in English which would be totally foreign to them since the government regulates Primary school learning in Amharic.

Though these stories are unthinkable to people like me who are brought up in New Zealand – which was recently researched as the least corrupt run country in the world- they are all scenarios of different people’s lives who I have met in Ethiopia.  These realities exist.  Though they are not the reality of me and my family, they are the harsh realities that people have to face every day. 

We can hear these stories or look at these people and think that they are not relevant to us, or we can look at what God says about them-

Mat 5:42  Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Isa 1:17  Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.

Jas_1:27  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

So what will you do with the advantage given to you by your birth place?  What will you do with the blessings that have come into your life because of reasons that you had nothing to do with? Will you do something to help those, who for the very same reason will not be able to experience blessings?

Luk 6:38  Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you."

A shock to the system

I have had many “shocks to my system” since I have been in Ethiopia; different ways of life that I’ve had to adapt to that have made me step into the uncomfortable but that have also brought much needed change to my life.

There is a term, mainly used in the youth culture in South Auckland that says “Changes” – like it’s a bad thing.  The thing is that, most of the time, change is a good thing – if it’s change for the better or change that comes with growth.  People use it because they are uncomfortable with other people changing, but people need to change in order to grow, to find their place in this world and to be able to move into their purpose in life.

Anyway, back to my point…I have had to change in many ways here.  One of the “shock to the systems” for me, was realizing that I had to cook three meals a day for my family.  This has come because of the lack of cereals available for breakfast (the only really affordable breakfast meal here is Oats-so porridge is our main breakfast), the culture of having cooked food for lunch (which means sandwiches and bread are usually exclusive as breakfast meals-and also lack of sandwich fillings available also) and cooking dinner probably became more intense when we had visitors stay with us for 6 weeks.

This has meant that my sleep in time while Asaua gets the kids ready for school (which I am ashamed to say has happened for quite some time) has slowly evaporated into thin air.  It took a while…I would ask Jamal to cook breakfast and I would get up in time to cook lunch…I would make the kids pack their own lunch and I think even for a period, Asaua was cooking breakfast because he was getting up early to go for runs – I mean, who does that??

Me.  I have started now getting up early to go for runs.  It was really hard at first and at the same time I was doing the Daniel fast so energy levels weren’t so good-especially when I cut out the coffee!  But now it’s become a habit, and it gives me time to compose myself in the morning so I’m not drooling over the breakfast pot or trying to see through my sleep as I cut onions. 

Food here is something you have to get used to.  A trip to Kenya to stock up on spices and dairy is not a bad idea either.  There are limits to what you can buy, but there is also an abundance of really good vegetables and now fruit!  Plums, mangoes, bananas and strawberries are now in season and  they are all so cheap and taste soooo good!

You can also get fresh juices, that at the moment are avocado (yes, avocado), pineapple, mango and guava all mixed together.  Oh, these are so good.  Fresh vegetables to make salads are also available.  I just finished a 21 day Daniel fast which eliminates sugar, yeast, meat, dairy, and processed foods from your diet.  I thought that doing the Daniel fast here would be so hard, but it was actually easier than I have found it in New Zealand.  There are so many natural foods here that are prepared, and fasting these types of foods are done by Orthodox Christians twice a week, so there are alternative options available at every café and restaurant.  There are peanuts, fresh chickpeas, barley, injera (which is made from Tef), lentils and beans which are all locally grown and are so fresh.  I can see your mouth drooling right now lol. 

         See that Beet(root) ^ it's not out of a can- who knew!?

Another shock to the system I experienced here was more than literal.  Earlier here, I had eaten some Ethiopian food and immediately started feeling nauseous, which lead to sweaty, which lead to my head down the toilet numerous times in a period of 24 hours.  Not long after, I had the same experience and concluded that I was allergic to Ethiopian food.  I have since narrowed down exactly what I am allergic to and haven’t had any such bad experiences since. 

So I am back to eating Ethiopian food- loving it actually and thinking that if I keep the Ethiopian diet up, that maybe I will have an Ethiopian figure haha-or even just a healthy heart-as long as I limit the amount of oil that I use in the cooking. 

Other minor/non-food adjustments we have had to make are as follows:

Having a daily skin Vaseline bathing routine (to keep the kids skin from drying out due to the cold mornings and hot days)

Not having instant coffee, but rather having coffee that takes a good hour to prepare and consume.

Sporadic power and water outages =T.I.A

Squatting toilets at the most unconvenient times

Not having washing machine (for more info on this, check out my friend Jonnett's blog here

Shoes and clothes shops not having my size –more importantly in the shoes

Not driving myself or family around for the last 5 months (sometimes very frustrating)

But who said adjustments weren't part of moving to another country? No-one. It's all part and package of the life we signed up for and I love it!

Christmas in Ethiopia

It’s been a while since I have updated my blog…I’m not a blogger, really, I just want to share what’s going on here in our new home.

There have been so many things that have happened over the last month.  We celebrated Christmas and went all out with the locals to show them what our Christmas is like.  We made Roast Beef with some good salads, chicken, cheesecake, chocolate cake and plenty of punch made with homemade ginger beer.

There are many foods here that we need to make from scratch and although it’s time consuming, the product of our hard work is always worth it-especially knowing what the process of cooking has been. 

After celebrating a really dry New Year’s with our friend Jonnett and Mussie, we looked forward to celebrating Ethiopian Christmas.  There is no school Christmas holidays here which is very different from New Zealand where everyone enjoys about 6 weeks of holidays. Instead, we spent the week at school where the children passionately dressed their classrooms with Christmas decorations, made of the last of our art construction paper, balloons, and toilet paper – which actually looked amazing. 

There were also drama rehearsals happening and poem reciting that would be blurted our randomly in class to my surprise.  We had no idea how this would evolve but I jumped on the spirit of Christmas band wagon and helped to put together some props- only one which successfully made it to the stage, but that’s okay. 

So two days before Christmas here, on the 5^th of January 2012, everybody came to school in their best dress - including the teachers.  We set up a stage in the library and after gathering everyone together, we sat around the library waiting for the MC to come out and welcome us.  Out came Kiara Tiatia, introducing each item in English.  We had newly arrived visitors from the States here so there was extra excitement in the room.  Kiara, with the help of the teachers, shyly introduced the students who were about to impress us all. 

Firstly came the choir who sang Joy to the world in Amharic and English, followed by four girls from Grade 3 who came out each holding a balloon and they recited a beautiful poem about balloons- in English!  There was a preacher who came and spoke about patience – something we all need encouragement in, and then the crowning glory of the whole day, the Christmas drama!

There were about 20 children who participated in this drama.  They spoke so clearly in English as their English grammar teacher had coached them through this process.  The whole thing was memorized so well, there was no need for prompting lines. 

I am always blown away with the children at our school.  Although not all of them are part of the BCI program, many of them suffer or have suffered with such difficult circumstances in their lives, but they still manage to smile and play and learn in a way that makes me happy I do what I do. 

After this production, the children went home and we got to celebrate Christmas with the staff at BCI.  There was firfir, drinks, great fellowship, and gift exchanging.  It was a great celebration time and it led us into the weekend where we celebrated Christmas three times over in three different homes.  This definitely left me feeling like I had an over-extended eating fest at the end of the day...We were so blessed and were so happy to finally be spending Christmas in Ethiopia after our failed attempt two years ago.  God is a God of second chances and this was so much better than spending it away from our kids. 

Perspective

This past week, Asaua and I had the privilege of going to Kenya for 8 days for Visa purposes.  We were amazed at how different Kenya is to Ethiopia.  While still Africa, it displayed many characteristics of the Western World- Malls, Supermarkets, Civilization, Development.  Although we were able to visit the slum area of Nairobi and see the poverty that exists there, we were also able to enjoy the benefits of its colonialism.

This was a benefit yet also a resurgence of our materialistic nature that comes with being brought up in a country that is full of it.  How can we help it when reminded that this is Christmas season and spending and eating is what you are meant to be doing? 

It kind of made me frustrated on our return, being tempted to ask, what are we missing out on?  Should not Ethiopia be more like Kenya, availing everybody to the “spirit of Christmas” that exists “everywhere” else in the world?  But then I did ask the question and was questioned in return about the purpose of all this festivity and celebration so early before the Christmas day that is celebrated on a totally different day in Ethiopia. 

Why do we celebrate Christmas for so long?  I am not totally sure of its reasoning.  Perhaps because of the Advent season that leads up to Christmas day that is celebrated by Catholicism.  Most probably because of the commercialism that comes with the season and the high retail dependence on this time of year.  I know that I have always enjoyed celebrating many different Christmas and End of year “feasts” to have an excuse to have that get-together that all year, we have promised we would have with friends and family. 

The truth is, though, that Christmas is about Jesus, who was born into this world, not in the form of a rich man with many material possessions, but in the form of a baby with no place to stay.  He was born in a home, more like the homes many of the children in our programme are born into-with hay for bedding, sharing his room with donkeys and animals. 

From day one, Jesus was resonating with the poor and the needy.  He invites us into His world and He has asked us to follow Him.  Sometimes, well many times, that means that life will be uncomfortable.  We can choose to work with the rich or the poor.  Sometimes, working with the poor isn’t appealing, and I’m not saying that working with the rich is bad- but it definitely demands less stretching for our human nature.  Would you rather work with the rich, or work with the poor? They both mean totally different things.  Working with the rich, more often than not, means that you yourself are rich.  Working with the poor, however, means getting to know people who have stories and lives that will break your heart.  It means lowering some standards that you may previously have held.  It means that life can get uncomfortable and dirty.

There is a song I’m sharing below by Leeland.  This song is so powerful.  It is more often a tragedy for us to turn away from the opportunities God gives us to serve those who need it most.  He turns our attention to the broken, the needy, the orphaned, the fatherless and the widowed-those who can’t fend for themselves-those who don’t have a government to look after them- these are those in whom the Church has the opportunity to rise up and work with. 

There is a greater perspective that we can have-not an earthly one where we just live life for ourselves and for this life- but we can live life for others, for eternity, like Jesus did.  Jesus only had 33 years here on earth.  He lived each day with purpose.  He has asked us to live like Him, follow Him, and to be USED by Him..  We don’t know how long our life will be here on Earth.  What you got for Christmas in 2011 is not going to matter when you die, but what you GAVE for Christmas in 2011 might.  Give Your All!

Heart

Not long before we left New Zealand I was asked what it was that attracted me to Ethiopia.  I felt almost dumb-struck by this question.  Just on the weekend, my niece, also asked me why we came to Ethiopia.  And so without sounding super spiritual, I often find it hard to explain WHY exactly why we decided to do something crazy like leave our beautiful country and come to a country that is displayed on the media as drought ridden and poverty stricken.  And why we would leave our families and friends to go where we know virtually nobody.

But this morning during my talk at church, I was able to articulate to the people there why we came to Ethiopia-something which I have found hard to do in the past.  Two years ago I came to Ethiopia for two weeks and a year ago Asaua also came.  On our visits here, we both returned feeling like we had to return. 

My way of explaining what happened came to me as I sat in church during worship.  It was almost like God took all the love he had in heaven for the people here, and poured it into our hearts.  So much love He had for these people- that for us to contain it was difficult. 

So we went back to New Zealand full of love for Ethiopia.  Like a bottle that was about to explode, overflowing with no appropriate outlet for us to let out what was in our hearts.  God wanted us to come to Ethiopia and share that love with the people he intended it for.  This for me, explained why it was so hard for me to stay in New Zealand after that, and why at every mention of delay of our return I felt like a pipe that was about to burst. 

I also explained this morning to the congregation that for us to come here, looks like a sacrifice to most– but actually for us to stay in New Zealand would have been a greater sacrifice.  For to stay in New Zealand would mean that we would have been sacrificing something that is far greater than material possessions- it would mean sacrificing our dream.  This is not your typical dream, of course.  Most people dream of luxurious lifestyles and jobs that bring great success and fortune, but our dream was to outpour the love that was placed inside us for the people here.  Sacrificing that would be too much to bear. 

So right now, we are in Kenya, desperate to renew our visas to get back in and stay in Ethiopia.  The mission is not accomplished yet.  There has been some relief in our love pipe as we have shared some love, but there is so much more to give.  Please pray for us to get our visas this week.