After all of the candy from the recent Halloween and Harvest events, Juliette complained of a sore tooth. Looking in her mouth, I didn't need a DDS to tell me...she had a huge cavity. With no dental insurance, I called around; shopping for the best price. Many offices will not even DO an amalgam filling. We were looking at $210 to $450 for a filling. Well I kept calling around and I got a referral. Baja Dentistry...that's right, this freak of a Mom actually took her daughter to Mexico for dental work. Let me tell you...the office was cleaner and higher tech than many offices I have seen in the US. The doctor was knowledgeable and very patient and kind in answering all of my questions. Juliette was at ease and said it didn't hurt a bit. She ended up needing a root canal and a crown, not just a filling. We were out the door for $250.00, and the price of a cab ride from the border and back. I would take my kids there anytime. The care and service were excellent. They didn't even mind all four of us cramming in the room and taking pictures. Juliette was the first to experience "international medicine". And we're not even in Ethiopia yet!
We got to answer a question on a bio the other day: “Describe your call to missions”
We have also heard this one: “Why Ethiopia?”
Here is our answer:
We have a pastor who has a heart for missions, especially in E. Africa. Hearing him share stories of transformed lives of individuals in Tanzania, Congo, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia created an unexpected “heart-tug” in us, that would not let go. However, growing up in non-Christian homes, where missionaries were nothing short of “crazy”, the idea of us traveling anywhere beside nearby Mexico seemed “foolish”. In fact Tim likes to joke that on all of those career assessment tests, “missionary” fell in to the “not applicable” category. Praise to our unlimited God that He had other plans for us.
Tim journeyed to Ethiopia in 2005 to build a church extension in Shashemene. Following this, he came home and told me we needed to “sell everything and move to Ethiopia”. I was so totally not there. Well, about 2 years ago, Tim took a position as Director of Development for Empowering Lives International (ELI), a dynamic ministry in E. Africa. At this time we were both asked to visit Kenya and Sudan to become familiar with all aspects of ministry. This time in-country confirmed our love and desire to help the poor and oppressed in this area of the world. Over the next year and a half, as Tim worked in the US for ELI, our desire to serve globally increased and was confirmed in many ways. One of the most significant aspects of this confirmation was a vision, followed by seed of an idea expressed to us, which we nurtured with prayer and which ended in appointment by FMWM to serve in Ethiopia.
Somebody pinch us…okay not really. But really, this all seems so surreal.
As you probably know by now…The Trier Family - North, (not to be confused with the Trier Family – South…) has been approved…officially…after a four month process by Free Methodist World Missions to “Go” and serve as Extended Term Missionaries to Ethiopia.
The purpose of this blog is to answer frequently asked questions, share our journey and preparation, and report to you, our supporters, whether in prayer or finances, the amazing things that God is doing through us (this includes you!). You see, we consider ourselves a team, partners in ministry. We will be on the ground in Ethiopia, and you will be here, but we are all “workers in His harvest field” (Mt. 9:38).
