Part 3. Two Years and counting...

It was about 1pm on a cloudy Saturday afternoon, the seven of us, our twenty one suitcases and a plane load of anticipation landed on the tarmac of the Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa.  We had three things going for us from the get go: our colour, our culture and our children. 

Who knew that being born brown with black hair and having children who were born even browner was going to make life more comfortable for us during our time in Ethiopia.  Somehow looking like the locals makes a total difference in being able to work and connect with them.  We can walk down the road with unassuming passers by taking a second look but for the most part, not even noticing the “ferenji” in the room or on the sidewalk.  One man said out loud what I see on so many faces as he was able to articulate it in English.  He yelled out to Jamal and I after walking past us one day, “Ferenji? Habesha? What are you? Please tell me!”  Even when we tell people sometimes, they don’t believe.  It can work for us or against us especially since we can't barely speak the language soon and we are assumed to know what is being spoken to us.  Thankfully we have learnt how to respond in such situations but look forward to the day where no explanation will be necessary.  We take being called “Habesha” –the people of Ethiopia, as a compliment as they are beautiful people.

My beautiful daughter and Ethiopian little sister

The second advantage we came with was the cultural mix we brought- not the Anglicised culture that affects many around the world but one that was akin to the indigenous culture of New Zealand, Aotearoa; our homeland- the one that derives from the Samoan heritage which flows through our veins.  The culture that respects our elders, the culture that lives off the land, the respect of the biblical foundations that were passed down through generations and the role that food plays in relationship as a communal event. While there are some similarities, there are still many differences.  Ethiopia is the only African country not to have been colonized so that has affected their culture and their guarding of it in so many ways.  Their culture is strong and pure.  It's great.

The third advantage was the fact that we carried five children here with us.  Not only does that also fit in with the culture of having many children, but it opens up streams of communication that wouldn't have otherwise been opened.  It’s like when you JUST have your first baby and you can have a conversation with any woman who has had babies from then on about the whole birthing experience.  You always have a story to tell.  Our stories were packaged in five beautiful bodies, packed with an enthusiasm for life like not many others.  Every day they would thank God for this opportunity to be here and for the blessings he had given us.  We came for children, with children so the relationships they were able to have with these children extended beyond our capabilities.  

So we are now six, our lives have been shaken, molded, bent, stretched and humbled in so many ways.  

It's really hard to imagine what life is like in Ethiopia unless you come and visit yourself and to say life in Ethiopia is the same for me as it is for a family living down the road, would be ignorant to say the least.  So for us, here is a little bit of what life looks like.  I snapped some pics on my phone as we walked to the main road to catch a taxi the other day.  And when you think Taxi, don't think it's the expensive way to travel.  It cost us about 10c in USD each to catch the taxi that day.  And the taxi seat is often shared two between three people or three between four.  This has been our mode of transportation for the last two years.  Taxi, bajaj and horse and cart!

A common sight when we walk down our street as we sit between a rural area and an ever expanding new development area

The rural area uses what is typical in Ethiopia as agricultural instruments- the old Ox and yoke

These precious girls were carrying this 20 litre bottle of dirty water they had fetched.  

This is what we see.  How we respond is another story.  How we live has also changed.  From a humble three bedroom house to an extravagant two-storey seven bedroom home then back to another humble three bedroom house with really sporadic and lowly dimmed power, no hot shower and common water issues.  But we are contented with what we have now.  The kids have adjusted to the cold showers.  God provided some nice furnishings to make it feel like our home and we are still able to sleep in peace as mostly it is quiet. 

Outside our current house.  Most houses are closed in like this. No picket fences here!

This coming school year, which starts in just less than two weeks, our children will go to a local International school for the first time in two years all together.  The boys have been there since January of last year and now the girls will join them.

Work for us will include teaching at the school just adjacent from us.  This school was our only source of power as the lines haven't been built up around our area yet.  So we made an agreement with them that we would help at the school if they helped provide power to our house.  Asaua is really excited about teaching English this year as well as a little sport.  I too will be helping out when I can.

We also have been building capacity to work through Zion Church to rehabilitate prostitutes in the area that surrounds our church.  Our church family are a major part of our life here and we were captured by their vision for the community, the poor and the future of Ethiopia.  Their five fold vision was just shared with the church members this past weekend as we come to the close of another year and the vision looks like this:

1.  To Preach the Gospel

2.  To Make Disciples

3.  To bring Deliverance to those who are bound

4.  To Plant churches in rural areas where there are no churches

4.  To Help the Poor

We are trying to help the church realize their vision in whatever capacity we can.  Right now they are also planning to build an actual building to replace the sticks, tin and tarpaulin that has made up the building for the last 12 years.  

We have started an English service that continues to grow and serve the English speaking community of Debre Zeit but we have a long way to go!

Often we are frustrated, disappointed, stirred and discouraged but this verse I found this week reminds me that even though we may not see fruit yet, we must keep carrying on...

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Cor 15:57-58

There is huge potential in Debre Zeit for business and income generating activities and our hope is to help lead the people here into a place where they can tap into the resources that are already available to them- through education, through rehabilitation and through a growing faith in a God who wants to give His children good things.  

Without the support of people like you who read our updates, who pray for us, who give financially to support us to be here and support those we work with, we wouldn't be able to do any of this.  So for the two short years this has been a reality for us, we want to say AMESAGENALEW!! THANK YOU! We are blessed.

Blessed to be a blessing

The Tiatia Family in Ethiopia…who are we and what are we doing here? Part 2!

Right now it’s hard for me to talk about the next member of our tribe because I miss him so much!  He performed in a talent quest just two nights ago and I am reminded of all the small things in his life we will get to miss out on.  Like his first steps as an independent adult.  He’s sixteen now and not quite as adult as he needs to be, but adult enough to be a part from us and know the importance of still staying connected to us. 

We came here unsure of how we would educate our children (a seemingly foolish life aspect to be ignored) but we were assured that it would all be sorted when we arrived.  So we forced Jamal into a school and a grade that he didn’t belong so that at least he would get some education and social interaction.  Fairly soon Jamal was asking out.  He had discovered how far advanced the students were here in their academics and how far behind in their English.  At last, I was called into school because Jamal was disturbing the class.  “We don’t have time in our 45 minute classes for students to ask questions”, the vice principal told me.  “Either he learns to be quiet, or he needs to leave.”  I understood Jamal’s predicament as I was the same in a school I was accustomed to.  To get full understanding, I would always ask questions.  We had given him three months and it didn’t seem to work so we decided as a family to pull him out and home school him and join the Bingham home school program so we could access some materials. 

Some people called Jamal my shadow for that first year.  Not really out of choice for this handsome 14 year old, but more out of lack of other cool people to hang around with.  This for me was a catching up for all the times I neglected to spend time with him in New Zealand.  All those times he had come home and gone out again to hang out with his friend Johnny and we authorized it because it suited our lifestyle.  And all those times I had come home and gone out again to be with friends, or at church.  Now there was no Johnny.  Now there were no church commitments.  There were very few kids in town his age who even spoke English, let alone understood his culture. 

The place, therefore, where Jamal was able to shine was when he joined forces with visiting short term teams who did small projects around the city.  From laying the foundation of concrete at the school, to assisting with activity days in the sports to helping buy souveneirs at the markets for decent prices.  Jamal is such a social being who loves to lead.  He became involved in our English service by playing guitar which he improved in so much over his time here.  He often entertained visitors with his dancing skills and helped us curb the chocolate cravings by baking some good chocolate brownies. 

Eventually Jamal was able to go to school at an International school in Addis Ababa that we were introduced to through friends of our pastor.  It was a Greek school that was started by the Greek community in Ethiopia.  I am half Greek so that was good for me.   They also taught from the Cambridge curriculum so that was a big bonus.  As it fit into our budget at that time we enrolled him and we had friends who were able to transport him to the school every day, an offer that ended up changing when Jamal decided he was confident enough to catch public transport.   He loved it so much he said to me one day that when he was in New Zealand he couldn’t wait for the weekend but now he didn’t even want the weekend to come.  He made good friends, caught up with his academics and got to show off his dancing skills (something he missed doing on a regular basis.  

Although Jamal never gave up his desire to go back to New Zealand, he definitely made his own mark while he was here.  He came here having never had read a whole book, and left reading many just in one year.  He came to Ethiopia a disconnected son and left a part of our family and our mission.  He left New Zealand spiritually dependant and left with his own personal convictions.  In New Zealand he always wanted to be paid for any work that he did, and yet he returns with a collection of service duties performed for free and a servant heart.

 Now he continues his journey in New Zealand with his grandparents and Aunty and Uncle where he is able to go to school in the system that will hopefully take him into a good tertiary education.  His residency there will force some more frequent trips back or trips for him to come back and help in some way.

Asaua is the head of this family.   We met when I was 16 and little did he know then that 10 years prior, I had committed to going to Ethiopia.  We were young and stupid and drank and partied and fought and then, we got pregnant and decided to wake up and get married.  Our lives changed dramatically when we decided to invite Jesus into the mix as not just a religious event, but as a major part of our lives.  Even before that though, Asaua volunteered at an after school club at his church for 7-9 year olds.  And he loved it and the kids loved him.  He had done this for a couple of years I think by the time I met him at the age of 17.  Soon I was to find out how good he was with kids as my little brother and sister and then nephew hung on to him like a big brother.  Almost like a dad. 

So in this young couple both from dysfunctional families, (he with a father who was an alcoholic and I with a father was bipolar) was this common love of children divided between a visionary (me) and a vision builder (Asaua).  Asaua has been just that here.  I see the big picture, he works on the minute details and makes them happen.  He has been helping to build not only the vision that WE came with, but the vision that others here have.  And he does it by connecting with kids that extends beyond the boundaries of language. 

 Before we came to Ethiopia, Asaua had two dreams of him on a field surrounded by Ethiopian kids but he came here under a Social Work internship.  As interns we really just came to fill gaps where we and the organization recognized as suitable for our giftings.  Asaua had been teaching Alternative Education for ten years and within that had taught Literacy and Numeracy but mostly enjoyed connecting with the kids on a relational level through sports and activities.  So the gap was identified in the school for a sports teacher and it was a gap that he could fill.  As newbies to this country, this school and this community, we took plenty of photos.  While going through the photos one day, he realized the work he was doing was a fulfillment of those dreams. 

My dreams also existed but started a long time before.  I had images of me standing at a table with a pot full of food serving people lined up for miles.  This was after I saw the graphic images of starving children in the famine of 1984 and wondered how such an injustice could occur in a world full of food.  What was planted in my heart at that tender age of six stuck and has still never left me.  I heard it said “Let what you love, be how you love” and I love to cook and so I love to feed people.  That is my expression of love.  And so here now almost two years into our trip I am thankful for the opportunity God has given for us to fulfil this dream as a family unit.  I have had some opportunities to feed and to cook for people but I have also had many opportunities to feed people spiritually by sharing the word of God, to discouraged mums, hungry Christians needing to hear the message of grace and to rural churches set on hills.  I love it.

Right now, we are in a phase of transition where we are making way, building capacity for the next phase of our journey.  We are now officially missionaries under Ethiopian Evangelical Mekane Yesus Church, which translates into the Camp of Jesus church.  It is based on Lutheran foundations but exudes the faith filled and Holy Spirit filled beliefs of the New Testament church.  Here we are looking to start a development project working to rehabilitate prostitutes and help orphaned children.  We are also working alongside a school who's new owners have a common vision to ours.  One thing we have learnt over the years, is that if it's a God vision, it's a shared vision and if it's a God vision, it's a resurrected vision.  The school owners and the leaders of the church share visions that we have to help develop the city of Debre Zeit and the children and families who reside within.  To give you more information on what the future will unfold, you will just have to keep following!  

17 

Learn to do right; seek justice.

    Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

    plead the case of the widow.

 Isaiah 1:17

The Tiatia Family in Ethiopia…who are we and what are we doing here? Part 1

Two years ago we set sail from Auckland, New Zealand, the only home we had known as a family except for a year we spent in Rotorua.  South Auckland to be exact.  Otara, then Takanini were places that we called home.  Our first boy was born on the North Shore as that is where we resided as 19 year old parents, Michelle from Glenfield and Asaua from Otara.  Shortly after his birth we gave our lives to Jesus and moved to where that dedication was made- Flat Bush, South Auckland where we served in Children’s Ministries and eventually youth ministry. 

In the meanwhile, two babies came at the same time!  Beautiful little girls, the ones I had longed for after having a boy and being limited by the amount of clothes I was able to dress him up in.  They never looked quite as pretty as the girls dresses I would see in the shops.  Two and a half years later, we had another boy to balance out the family. 

Not long after the girls were born, in 2001, a couple who were missionaries to Ethiopia for 10 years then Kenya for 15, came and visited our church on what just happened to be our Missions emphasis weekend.  They shared slides and spoke of the years they spent serving God in Africa.  I (Michelle) grabbed my first opportunity to speak to the wife of this couple and told her of my long desire to go to Ethiopia as a missionary.  She said to me, “They need missionaries in Ethiopia!” and a large lump formed in my throat at the very thought of it ACTUALLY becoming a reality and all I could say was “Well, you need to convince my husband of that” to which she replied, “No, we need to let God convince your husband of that.” 

So there we started a conversation and a journey of understanding what and how and when and if God was really calling us to Ethiopia.  After one more baby and ten long years of growing and learning and discerning and waiting, we set sail for a place called Debre Zeit.  The both of us had come on separate trips to Ethiopia.  Firstly myself, with a group called the Mocha Club accompanied by 12 others from the States and Canada.  I visited a ministry called Women at Risk in Nazaret who worked to rehabilitate women who had been involved in commercial street work.  Then we visited a church in Ambo who were working to reach out to Street kids who numbered about 100.  That trip changed my life forever.  I wrote this poem as a result in my frustration of what to do from there. 

“New Flower”*

I was six years old when God gave me the dream

Through images of poverty like I’d never seen

Children crying – so hungry and poor

Death stealing the lives they knew once before

To go to Ethiopia a dream had come true

Though I feared the long flight over the ocean blue

To know a world that was close to my heart

To make a difference and give a fresh start

But nothing could ever prepare me to see

The raw streets and culture that was before me

The eucalyptus scaffolds, the pavements of mud

The beggars, the markets, the horses that trod

On the street with the people – so many there were

But where they were going, I could not answer

HIV/AIDS so many had carried

Fistula relief was why women tarried

So long and hard their journey began

With labors that left dead babies in hand

Nazaret prostitutes number five thousand

Living for money but lowering the standard

Women At Risk reaching them slowly

Offering hope and love to the lowly

Healing and forgiveness is what I had witnessed

Knowing God’s love now through Grace and Forgiveness

The Street boys in Ambo so dirty and torn

Not just their clothes but the families in which they were born

No dad or mum to kiss them goodnight

No house to call home, no hope in sight

So broken and hungry but kings of the street

Orphaned and lonely no shoes on their feet

But hope was given as we entered their vision

For education, restoration, love and provision

What a blessing it was to be Jesus to them

To serve and feed, to show love through men

But now I have seen my heart breaks much more

Each life I have touched I feel responsible for

To bring them more hope? To bring them home?

To bring out my heart, to touch yours alone

So what would you do if you saw their pain?

Would you come back empty? Would your trip be in vain?

Or would you want to change the world One Soul at a time

That was my Ethiopia trip 2009

In April of 2010, Asaua came for only 8 days and spent his time in Addis Ababa visiting different ministries including similar ones to which I had visited.  He too came back with the conclusion that we had to do more than just a short term trip but when we would go and what we would do was still a mystery.  After doing some searching on the internet, we found an organization that seemed to fit our vision of working with orphans and street kids as well as women.  It was able to accommodate our needs as a family and also our financial needs, so it seemed.  We contacted them but then left the idea for a while until one morning Asaua woke me up at 5am on a Monday morning.  You can read about that here .  He told me that we have to go to Africa.  So we made arrangements, sold our house, our car, all our furniture and belongings that we had held so ridiculously dear and we moved into Asaua’s parents house for a month.  During this time we worked as much as we could to raise the extra money we needed but we still left New Zealand short of the deposit we needed to pay the organization we were coming with.  And also fully short of the monthly commitment we had made to pay.

So for two weeks we took our kids on a journey to see what it looked like outside of New Zealand.  We visited family in Melbourne, hung out with my cousin and her daughter in Kuala Lumpur and then spent two nights in a hotel in Dubai paid for by old friends.  During that two weeks, God fully came through and provided for us to stay in Ethiopia.  He has continued to do so in so many different ways.

So for almost two years now, this has been home.  We have met so many different people, run into so many different embarrassing situations, fumbled in so many conversations and been blessed in so many different ways.  We went from the known to the unknown, the comfortable to the uncomfortable, from familiar relationships to total estrangement.  But we knew without a doubt that this was God’s calling for our life and our season to make a change in other people’s lives outside of ourselves. 

And it’s been a journey that sometimes feels like is still in it’s infancy stage.  We learn the language like an infant, by totally immersing ourselves around people who speak it.  So we sound like babies with funny accents.  We have learnt the culture and seen how similar it is to that of our Samoan culture where relationship is so important, but we are still challenged by the different systems and processes that exist.  We have seen great need yet we feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface on helping to make a difference in that place of need.  We have met babies who were struggling and who are now toddlers walking around and laughing with their friends. 

And we have all had a different part to play in this journey.  I just wanted to introduce you to our family, in case you don’t know them and how they have served in this place.  This is our mission team: The Tiatia Crew.

Wesley is our youngest and came here when he was six and just turned eight.  As a cute six year old, living in a culture where physical affection is part of the norm, he was smothered by anyone and everyone who wanted a taste of his cuteness.  Still now his character draws people to him and he loves to just ignore them and just get in there and play.  He has made some good friends here and loves to join in where he can in being a part of what’s going on.  His friends age from 7-12 as his maturity level is higher than most.

Matthias is now 10 but came when he was 8.  For the most part, when people see him walking on the street, they will say “China!” which means they think he is Chinese with his straight hair and round face.  But he has adjusted and doesn’t flinch at it.  He also has made some great friends here at school and from our church service.  Matthias loves the local food and says that if we ever move back to New Zealand we have to take back as much as we can.  He loves to get involved in making food when we have guests and even just cooking for our family which normally takes a lot longer as most foods have to be cooked from scratch.  He has also grown so much spiritually since we’ve been here and prays and reads his bible from a place of passion. 

Lydia is the second of our twins who graces the stage of our English church service every Sunday with her beautiful singing.  She is now 12 and a half and counts down each day till her 13^th birthday.   She has gained a love for horses through our South African friends who have horses and a cow and chickens on their farm in Koka.  She has also gained a love for photography and has taken over my instagram account to display some of the beauty she has captured.  She is a girl who sees beauty all around her and often points it out to our unseeing eyes.  She has also been a big part of our ministry and is always willing to help  out especially when it comes to working with children. 

Kiara is the eldest of the twins and is at least five centimetres taller than Lydia.  I always have to tell people that they are twins and always receive a shocked reaction because they look so different.  Kiara is great with people and especially children.  Her heart exudes through her smile and her welcoming hugs.  Out of all our children, she has probably been the one who has most caught the vision here as her own.  She has a dream to build a village to house orphaned children and get them off the street.  She knows what it looks like, what she will call it and she plans to be a part of looking after the children in it.  She is superbly artistic and is constantly putting out works of art that blow me away.   I have seen her take control of a class full of children in a way that totally eluded me and she totally excels in that area.

So they are the youngest four of our team here in Ethiopia.  I will let you know about us older three in Part 2!

The Mass Exodus

Last week I went with my Ethiopian sister to go and watch a movie in Addis Ababa.  I had to go into town for a short visit to the dentist and so I thought I’d use it as an opportunity to catch up with her.

 

Checking out the line up on the movie list, nothing really appealed to me at that time in the English speaking movie section. However, since we had planned to see a movie, there was an Amharic movie on at that time so we thought we’d go check it out.  Not knowing what to expect- thinking there wasn’t even going to be subtitles and nervous about being the only one in the cinema not laughing at the funny parts, I was so happy to see the first English subtitle pop up at the bottom of the big screen. 

Triangle.  The English interpretation of the movie title- Soset Me'azen

It began with a group of Ethiopian asylum seekers walking through the Egyptian desert, one wife talking about how her husband blamed everything that went wrong in their life, with the country of Ethiopia itself.  She was part of the six main actors who we followed through their journey in search of a better life in America. To do this they risked life and limb to cross Egypt, travel by boat across the rough Mediterranean sea to Italy, illegally boarded a plane to Mexico then after a long drive up North, had a five day walk by foot and truck to Los Angeles. 

Along the journey they suffered many struggles; an attempted rape, malnutrition, dehydration, bribery, a dust storm that killed one, the death of one man’s wife (had to get the tissues out for that one), and a hijacking of their plan at the end by the American’s who took them into the country. 

The thing that amazed me about this movie is that this happens all the time.  The movie is a collaboration of many stories people have told about their exodus out of Ethiopia.  It is a mass exodus.

I remember telling my friend in New Zealand before we came here about my strong desire to go to Ethiopia.  She was like "are you crazy?  Everyone is trying to leave that country and you are trying to move in?!"  I didn't know how right she was.

Desperation.  We’ve seen it so many times here.  It leads people to go beyond their limitations to find something better, reach for something more.   It lines the immigration steps every day, all day.  4000 women every day are there to apply for visas and passports so they can go to the Middle East to work as modern day slaves of many kinds. The thing that frightens me the most is that these women are living on a word of a man they do not know about a country they do not know where they speak a language they do not know. 

My friend here volunteered some time at the Refugee and Returnee Services in Addis Ababa and she said that some women who returned from these countries took three to four months to regain consciousness after being drugged for such a long period of time.  Used as sex slaves under the disguise of   house slaves.  And I say slaves because these women only earn around USD200 a month- maximum!  For a job that requires 24/7 labour.  That is worse case scenario, I know, but why risk your life, your dignity, your self worth?  Desperation.

Recently the news here promoted the news story from the Australian government who announced that any asylum seekers who try to enter Australia by boat will now be deported immediately to Papua New Guinea.  How ironic that this news comes out at the same time as this movie.  That it’s broadcast here in Ethiopia to send a message to Ethiopians who might be getting ideas about illegally trying to enter the land so wide that is called Australia. 

Why does this desperation exist?  Why must it exist?  There’s got to be some hope at the end of the tunnel.  And I would like to say that hope is Jesus- because it is-but even within the church I hear stories of women going to Arab countries to work as slaves, and men risking their life to illegally travel out of the country in hope for something better. 

It’s a breaking free from the bondage that is set here by governmental policies, a need to be satisfied with the land flowing with milk and honey that defeats the dry barrenness that can be perceived to exist here. 

I wish I could say I empathize; that I understand.  I have had tastes of it here and there and I know the frustration of living in a country that’s so far behind in so many ways but I can not say that “I know how it feels.”  I have a country I can escape to at any time.  Many countries I can go to without having to go through a rigorous Visa process.   

But I see Ethiopia as a land of opportunity and potential.  It's economy is growing and it's landscape is beautiful.  The people here have hospitality built into their DNA and have so much to offer the world.  If only they would see.  If only the world would see beyond the poverty.  If only the government would see beyond their current policies.

I think some people are getting it.  I have met some well off Ethiopians here lately.  Some who have lived overseas and have returned because of the prospective business potential Ethiopia holds.  The lifestyle here is more suitable for them.  The return on investment is getting higher and higher.  They have a vision for the country and for their lives that involve the country.

Over the last few months while Asaua was away, the option of moving back to New Zealand seemed like a logical move to make.  But in my mind, I couldn't imagine living back there.  I like it here.  I really do.  I think that if I had an option of where I would bring up my children, that right here is where it would be- even outside of the calling.  Last night even as I was talking with my husband about our kids, he said, these four that remain here with us, they really like it here.  Yes, they miss New Zealand and our family and friends but life here is adventurous, it's exciting (too say the least) and it's good for our family.  We feel spoiled and blessed to be here.  So let's stay.

 

Pray for this beautiful country.  That within it, there would be a contentment and a realization of the potential it holds. And as Psalms 68:31 says...that

Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

The girl who inspired me

When I was five years old, my parents made the decision to move our family of five to Melbourne Australia to be closer to my dad’s side of the family.  It was a short lived experience which produced life changing results.  My mum fell pregnant to twins while we were there, we learned a lot about Australian culture and it was during that period of time that I witnessed the famine in Ethiopia on the news and announced that one day I was to be a missionary there!

One of the most vivid memories I have of my first year in Australia and perhaps one of the things that inspired my previously mentioned announcement, was a tragedy that occurred at my school.  I can’t remember how and I can’t remember her name but there was a little girl who was in my year who passed away tragically at the age of seven.  I didn’t know this girl but I knew who she was.  The whole school was in mourning as they remembered her and thoughts in my mind focussed on one thing that was said about her. This girl was said to be so selfless that when she had celebrated her last birthday she asked not to receive any presents but she wanted to give presents away to those less fortunate. I was so inspired by this girl that I wondered what would be said about me when I died.  Would they be able to say amazing things about me like they did about her?  My conclusion was probably not!

But as I look forward to my birthday this Sunday, the milestone that brings me half way through my thirties, I want to be able to give away that which may have been given to me.  So I am asking you for a gift- yeah, apparently my sister says I do that often but I swear I don’t ;) And the gift I am asking for is a tradition my Nana Anuilagi Perese started on my maternal side of the family.   For our birthdays sometimes she would give us cash as we were growing up and the amount she would give was based on the year we were turning.  So as I turn 35 this year, I am asking for $35 from anyone who is willing to give to the cause.  It’s not a big ask really…like less than a night out at the movies, or a bucket of KFC for two Samoans haha. I know that this won’t quite pinch your pocket the way it could potentially enlarge some lives.

So what is the cause, you may be asking…I am SO glad you asked.

For the last four years, I have been burdened by the prostitute situation here in Ethiopia.  Since I was exposed to the complexities of this lifestyle while on a visit to Women at Risk in Nazaret, Ethiopia in 2009, I knew that some day, some way, I needed to support this area of ministry.  Prostitutes here are not in this business because it’s lucrative, nor because it is glamorous.  Normally they get into this lifestyle out of desperation and because of poverty.  And they normally stay in there because they don’t see any way out.  They work in a bar that fronts a room where they may get the equivalent of $1 or $2 a trick.  They risk their lives and their dignity just so they can survive.

Women at Risk showed these women that there was a way out and that’s also one of my new agenda’s.  Along with Zion Church support and a possible partner NGO, we are wanting to start a rehabilitation project for the women who line the street of Zion Church.   Some of them have already found freedom from this lifestyle but they need holistic rehabilitation.  There are some also who are wanting “out” but don’t know how to make the next move.  We want to open that door for them and show them the way through. 

This involves a day program that will run over the period of six months.  Through addiction rehabilitation, spiritual discipleship, skills training, business training and parenting classes, and one on one psychological counselling, we hope to bring redemption to these women.  Redemption meaning, restoring them back to the original purpose they were created for and setting them out into the world for greater things.

These women are mothers, daughters, sisters who have the potential to make a difference in their families and also a difference in their community and society.  They are women who have great value and worth.  Beautiful women who don’t know their beauty.  Often women who are reaping the consequences of their lifestyle through diseases such as HIV that, with great regret, have now been passed on to their children.  In the last month, we have heard of two toddlers who have died on this street from HIV.  Two babies who didn’t get to see their destiny fulfilled because of the desperation of their mothers to feed them.

Emebet is one of the women who has recently come off the street.  At first when we started talking to her she was totally apathetic about life and about her situation.  She didn’t want to change nor did she desire help.  Her four year old daughter who is the size of a small two year old, would wander the streets with her friend Fikir and when asked what her name was, we got Bararew (which means Cockroach), then Mita (which is also a non-name) and then finally when we asked Emebet what her daughters name was, she said she forgot. 

After a night of abuse by one man who came into her brothel and imprisoned her in her own home, she slowly started changing her mind.  She came and spoke with my Pastor and myself and shared her desire to get out of the brothel.  She had had enough.  She shared how she was brought up in a Christian home but her parents always fought and eventually she got sick of being in the middle of it so she ran away and lived on the streets.  After finding no way to earn a living she found herself in a brothel at the age of 16. 

While she knew what she was doing was wrong, she didn’t see any other way to live but she loved her daughter and she decided this wasn’t the lifestyle she wanted for her any more.  We talked to her about giving her daughter a new name and Pastor Birhanu suggested Bereket, which means Blessing.  She agreed and started on her journey to redemption.  From being under the curse of her former name “Cockroach”, she now is destined for Blessing!  Bereket is now the girl who is inspiring me.

Faithfully Emebet has been coming to the new believer’s classes every Sunday at 8am, she has moved out of her brothel and has started a new life.  She sat in church on Sunday so hungry to hear the message that when Bereket started crying because another girl had upset her, Emebet didn’t want to take her out so she wouldn’t disturb everyone, but then reluctantly she did and sat outside to listen.  This is what it’s all about!

But there’s more restoration that needs to happen.  More gaps that need to be filled.  And we need your help to fill it.  To support a woman in this program or one of our staff who will supply the rehabilitation process, please donate now.  Don’t be limited by what I have asked.  $35 a month would support one woman through this program for six months.  $350 could pay for our psychologist fees. You can contact me on michelle.tiatia@gmail.com and find out how you can donate.  If you live in New Zealand, you can deposit money into the Love Rescue Charitable Trust bank account which is open now and the account number is 01-1845-0016412 -00.  If you live in the States, you can send a check to Redeeming Love World Missions which has been set up to support this ministry.  Their address is Redeeming Love World Missions Fund at PO Box 209, Enid OK  73703.  Note that your donation is for Project Rescue.  100% of your money will go to these women and this project.  None of it will be kept for administration purposes.  

Fikir, daughter of a prostitute who died in the last year and potential beneficiary of this ministry

8 

Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap was one of my favourite shows growing up.  It was about a man who got to time travel back into different time zones and also into different people – male and female!  He had a travel buddy that always went with him, Al.  During his travels, he was going back to make right some wrongs or to settle some unsettled issues that those people had left undone.  He had a great responsibility and a rewarding job but he was never able to move on from that person’s life until he had completed the “mission.” 

Sometimes I feel like our lives can be just like that.  Like we go, not back into someone else’s life, but maybe back into areas or time zones in our own lives.  Circumstance happens to bring up some “stuff” in our inner being that we can trace back to our childhood or teenage years where there was something left undone. 

For me, this is how I viewed my broken foot experience.  Not only did my foot break, but I also suffered from a couple of really bad spouts of illness that left me bed ridden for at least a week all together.  In the early days a lady came and prayed for me and prophesied over me.  She had been praying for me the night before and asked God for a “word of knowledge” for me.  If you don’t know what that is, there are some good books out there in operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit J

Anyway, her word for me, from God was that this was not from the devil.  That this was allowed by God because He wanted to spend some time with me.  And she was not the first person to tell me this message, so I have to believe it was from God.  See I am not the type of person who likes to rest.  I like to be doing something, going somewhere, spending time with people, helping people.  But as Christians, this can be damaging, even if it’s in the name of “ministry” because we can get so caught up that we forget to spend time with God. 

So I’m back in bed.  Resting.  Learning that going out is not always the best thing to do.  Learning that saying thank you is so important for building relationships that you depend on.  Learning that patience and time will calcify not only my bone but also the relationships and visions and purposes that may have been broken in the past.

While in that place God took me back into other time zones where I had been hurt.  He showed me that while He was COMPLETELY able and willing to heal my foot, that He was more out to heal my heart.  And that this “mission” he was on, was not going to finish until that had been completed.  My weary, broken, hole-ridden heart was about to be filled with His LOVE. 

I think if we all look back, we can see areas in our lives where we have been hurt, where our hearts have been broken, damaged, torn.  Those are the areas that, if not completely healed, will continue to surface and shape the way that we view our world and the future relationships we are entering into.  Hurt people, hurt people.  So important to know this when working with people.  If we are still in a place of hurt, we need to get that right! 

My life has been such a smorgasbord of different events that have shaped who I am today.  There have been good events and there have been bad.  There have been times where I’ve felt betrayed and times where I have been abused.  And over the years, God has brought healing to so many of those places. 

I continue to struggle though and never want to make out like I am perfect because I am so far from it.  I want to help people because I know what it’s like to feel unworthy, to feel shame and to feel unloved and unwanted.  The place that I help out of, though, is a place of restoration.  God has restored me and redeemed me from all of that “stuff”. 

My friend Marianne nailed it this morning when she read from James 1 in our devotion time:

Vs 2-8 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

What God wants us to be is “mature and complete” but that only comes when we face trials and have to persevere through that.  In those trial processes, we often come full frontal with the REAL us.  Let me own that- the real ME!  The ME that reacts and squirms like a baby when I don’t get my way!  Or the ME that realizes that she’s seeking satisfaction and recognition and love from people and not from the only one who can bring COMPLETE satisfaction-God.  That’s me. 

So sometimes I ask God for Him to help me to be mature and complete and so He sends me a trial or puts me through a test.  But that all comes with this promise found in verse 12 of the same chapter:

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

He LOVES us, oh, how HE loves US.  So we love Him, because He first loved us.  And because we know His love and His love has made us complete and mature, we are able to LOVE others and help them find the same thing.  This is my life.  I feel like I passed this test.  This recent one.  Not the final exam. But this one where He, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, laid me up in bed so HE could spend time with ME!  And show me all the places in my heart that needed healing, and I allowed HIM to heal me.  OH, I am so thankful for that Quantum Leap!

Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap was one of my favourite shows growing up.  If you weren't privileged enough to grow up in the 80s and 90s, I'll fill you in.  It was about a man who got to time travel back into different time zones and also into different people – male and female!  He had a travel buddy that always went with him, Al.  During his travels, he was going back to make right some wrongs or to settle some unsettled issues that those people had left undone.  He had a great responsibility and a rewarding job but he was never able to move on from that person’s life until he had completed the “mission.” 

Sometimes I feel like our lives can be just like that.  Like we go, not back into someone else’s life, but maybe back into areas or time zones in our own lives.  Circumstance happens to bring up some “stuff” in our inner being that we can trace back to our childhood or teenage years where there was something left undone. 

For me, this is how I viewed my broken foot experience.  Not only did my foot break, but I also suffered from a couple of really bad spouts of illness that left me bed ridden for at least a week all together.  In the early days a lady came and prayed for me and prophesied over me.  She had been praying for me the night before and asked God for a “word of knowledge” for me.  If you don’t know what that is, there are some good books out there in operating in the gifts of the Holy Spirit J

Anyway, her word for me, from God was that this was not from the devil.  That this was allowed by God because He wanted to spend some time with me.  And she was not the first person to tell me this message, so I have to believe it was from God.  See I am not the type of person who likes to rest.  I like to be doing something, going somewhere, spending time with people, helping people.  But as Christians, this can be damaging, even if it’s in the name of “ministry” because we can get so caught up that we forget to spend time with God. 

So I’m back in bed.  Resting.  Learning that going out is not always the best thing to do.  Learning that saying thank you is so important for building relationships that you depend on.  Learning that patience and time will calcify not only my bone but also the relationships and visions and purposes that may have been broken in the past.

While in that place God took me back into other time zones where I had been hurt.  He showed me that while He was COMPLETELY able and willing to heal my foot, that He was more out to heal my heart.  And that this “mission” he was on, was not going to finish until that had been completed.  My weary, broken, hole-ridden heart was about to be filled with His LOVE. 

I think if we all look back, we can see areas in our lives where we have been hurt, where our hearts have been broken, damaged, torn.  Those are the areas that, if not completely healed, will continue to surface and shape the way that we view our world and the future relationships we are entering into.  Hurt people, hurt people.  So important to know this when working with people.  If we are still in a place of hurt, we need to get that right! 

My life has been such a smorgasbord of different events that have shaped who I am today.  There have been good events and there have been bad.  There have been times where I’ve felt betrayed and times where I have been abused.  And over the years, God has brought healing to so many of those places. 

I continue to struggle though and never want to make out like I am perfect because I am so far from it.  I want to help people because I know what it’s like to feel unworthy, to feel shame and to feel unloved and unwanted.  The place that I help out of, though, is a place of restoration.  God has restored me and redeemed me from all of that “stuff”. 

My friend Marianne nailed it this morning when she read from James 1 in our devotion time:

Vs 2-8 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

What God wants us to be is “mature and complete” but that only comes when we face trials and have to persevere through that.  In those trial processes, we often come full frontal with the REAL us.  Let me own that- the real ME!  The ME that reacts and squirms like a baby when I don’t get my way!  Or the ME that realizes that she’s seeking satisfaction and recognition and love from people and not from the only one who can bring COMPLETE satisfaction-God.  That’s me. 

So sometimes I ask God for Him to help me to be mature and complete and so He sends me a trial or puts me through a test.  But that all comes with this promise found in verse 12 of the same chapter:

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

He LOVES us, oh, how HE loves US.  So we love Him, because He first loved us.  And because we know His love and His love has made us complete and mature, we are able to LOVE others and help them find the same thing.  This is my life.  I feel like I passed this test.  This recent one.  Not the final exam. But this one where He, the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, laid me up in bed so HE could spend time with ME!  And show me all the places in my heart that needed healing, and I allowed HIM to heal me.  OH, I am so thankful for that Quantum Leap!