Widow's Mite, Hippos and the Axe-man!

Tim preaches the WORD!

Beautiful Widow

Jervaun enjoys a Sunset Hippo Cruise
This is the Baby...look at its protective mom.


Isn't this a handsome boy?Juliette Gets ready for soccer!With the "Axe-man". Isn't he just about the sweetest looking man holding an axe you have ever seen? And he played soccer with Juliette, just like this. Tim Promotes Eden!
Superintendent Mekbib changes a flat. What a handy guy!

This weekend we attended the Joshua Campaign hosted by the Shashamene Ammanuel Light and Life church among other Shashamene churches. We know that at least 64 people accepted Christ, and others were delivered from oppression and illness. About a thousand attended on Sunday alone, it was standing room only.

One moment that captured my eye was during the offering when I glanced up and saw this woman giving. I don’t know if she was a widow, but she was alone; or if this was her last birr, but she certainly was not wealthy, and it just reminded me of the story of the widow’s mite in the Bible. Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” It is one thing to read that story, quite another to witness it.

We also took a little time for some R&R and went to see the hippos on Lake Awassa again. It was a bit of a disaster. Last time we did this (in May), one of the hippos chased our boat. So when we got close to the hippos this time…there was a bit of “freaking out” from the male hippo-watchers on the boat (not naming any names). So we cut it short…but not before I got a few awesome shots.

We had a flat tire and Juliette played soccer with a man carrying an axe. You really don’t see that every day. He was the sweetest axe-carrying man I have ever met, really. Timmy entertained himself by throwing stuff. Tim entertained himself by standing on the road and waving at cars…wearing his EDEN shirt. If he had had a sign to spin, it would have been perfect. We entertained the locals…by having a flat tire. Supt. Mekbib changed a tire in his suit…you really do have to do what you have to do. We praise God for a safe trip and productive campaign.

Children in Jimma

Flag Pole at Jimma School

The Third Grade Class
Helping write letters


The Three Amigas

So stinkin' cute

The sound of children’s voices singing the Ethiopian National Anthem with gusto as the flags of Ethiopia and Oromiya are raised. I wonder how the student is chosen who gets to raise the flag. I will have to ask next time.

Watching sixth and seventh graders, who felt honored by the way, come in and help the younger kids write letters to their sponsors (the kindergarteners and first graders especially needed assistance), really opened up the personalities of the older kids to me. One young boy, Abel, was so incredibly studious, polite, helpful, smart…you know, that stand-out kid. There were a couple of little faces that grabbed my heart too. You know, I am really smitten with all of these school kids. Shooing them away just isn’t my style. I would be prone to hang out with them for hours, maybe I would be breaking some rule or something…but you know what? It so wouldn’t be Jesus’ rule now would it? I kept telling myself over and over again “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

My trip to Jimma was great, although it was hard to be away from Tim and the kids. I had a great time learning the responsibilities of ICCM and like I said, hanging with the kids. My souvenir? A nasty cold.

Contrasts

You know how some people cringe at the thought of snakes? Rats? Spiders?
Here’s mine…
And then…there is such beauty in my life that it makes me want to cry.

The kids entertaining themselves.
My bed with my WOTC Quilt. Now one of my most treasured posessions.

Ethiopian Ladder. Ephrim and Tim tring to get me more light

in the kitchen to scare the crawlers away. Didn't work :(

I got a really sweet compliment the other day. It was something along the lines of “no matter where you are living, you always make such a nice home for your family.” It came from the one who set the example: my Mom.

We are settling in…with only two pieces of furniture (beds and mattresses), a stove, a fridge, and a washing machine (that does not work yet), we are slowly making our home in Addis Ababa. We do school and eat on a blanket in the living room (absolutely no eating in the bedroom, we don’t want bugs up there!) I have cooked a few meals, but there are no California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas, everything is made from scratch. I did find some Cup-a-Soup though…cream of tomato. That and garlic bread…there’s lunch. Clean up the kitchen…time to start dinner.

Juliette's Birthday

We celebrated Juliette’s 12th birthday at Family Restaurant. Known for their nachos and fabulous desserts, this was Juliette’s choice! Our friend Ephrim, two adoptive families and the Triers had a great night. Juliette got a cool purse, a mankala set, a jewelry box, 150 birr and a gigantic wedge of parmesan reggiano. She had a Cookie Mountain Surprise for Dessert. I am hoping to post pictures of the house soon. I am really able to easily post pics to Facebook. So if you feel like you are missing out…log on to Facebook and find me by first and last name.

Where is our focus?

We got here and our immediate focus became “getting set-up/getting settled in”, when our focus should have been Jesus. It should always be Jesus. Of course we know this, but as humans we get distracted, don’t we? Our focus gets blurry. I found myself wondering and having doubt as to whether we would ever have any time to “do ministry” as we are running round, jumping through hoops. Of course, ministry is everywhere and effective not in our power but in that of Christ alone. We have children, spouses, the guest house employees, taxi drivers, adoptive parents and children, children on the street, neighbors… Our focus should be on Jesus and we must be available, willing and prepared for those divine appointments.

I was teaching the kids out of Acts Chapter 3 (1-10) the other day…where Peter and John are heading to the temple via a gate called “Beautiful” . They see a crippled man who has been begging for money there daily for quite some time. The scripture says that Peter looked “straight at him”… it is translated that [he] had [his] eyes fixed on him.^[1] . They did not give him their money, (“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you^[2] ), yet they also did not walk by this man and ignore him. Instead, they fastened their gaze upon him, commanded him to look at them and then by the power of the Holy Spirit, this man was healed.

Later that afternoon we were walking by a grocery store and a man was begging; not an uncommon sight in Ethiopia. I thought he was sitting on the ground and kept on following my family. Then I stopped dead in my tracks. He was not sitting, because you can’t sit if the entire lower half of your body is missing. But there he was, as I turned around, holding his hand out to me, looking at me. And I had the honor of fastening my gaze into the eyes of this man, going to him grabbing his hand and holding it, and telling him “Xavier ebarke” (God bless you), and I gave him the small change I had.

It wasn’t exactly like the Acts story, because the Holy Spirit did not work through me to heal this man. In fact quite the opposite: the Holy Spirit worked through this man, in that moment to heal me: to heal my blurred and unfocused vision and allow me to refocus and see Jesus in a beggars’ eyes on the street in Addis Ababa.

Settling into Addis

Are we even close? Not so much. We have secured a home which we will move into at the end of the month. It needs some repairs to the leaky roof and non-working kitchen sink. The owner has also agreed to paint it for us. It is not a mud hut, or even a mud house, but it is also definitely not Lake Elsinore or Canyon Lake! Then we need to outfit the house; beds and a kitchen table and chairs to start. Consider this: Outfit a house, there is no Target, Ikea, Bed Bath and Beyond, or even Wal-Mart. I will probably get to visit quite a few places just to get the basics. It’s okay…. I love to shop….don’t I? (This just may cure me of my affection). I did bring a few of my favorite Pampered Chef cooking utensils, and a few spices as well as frosting and sprinkles to make Juliette her birthday cake. We also brought some towels and sheets as they are VERY costly here. Tim is still struggling mightily with being able to complete his schoolwork for Wesley Biblical Seminary, simply due to internet issues. We are working on getting better internet for our home. Right now we are at the mercy of crowded internet cafes, and patchy internet at the guesthouse. Please pray for this…not because we are internet addicts (I admit we have been, but there is no time for that here…it is all business), but because communication is essential to the call God has placed on our family and the threefold ministry to which he has called us. Everyone is healthy, we have started school and the kids are doing great! We praise God for that and so much more. A few items on our list of to do : get residency with immigration so that we can open a bank account, complete our rental agreement details, and register for language classes. We thank you for your prayers. Serving Jesus together,

Tim, Jervaun, Juliette and Timmy Trier.

Update: Celebrated a unique and lovely birthday in Ethiopia. My kids planned a surprise birthday party for me (coffee ceremony and cake), with a lovely dinner out. We also bought some very cost efficient bamboo furniture for the house J

First Week in Ethiopia

Praise God! All of our luggage arrived with only one item removed (how did a lighter get in our luggage?) and one item broken (French Press, this is very sad indeed!). We were shown incredible favor on our flights, with seats being moved into one row from Chicago to Germany. We did not even ask the airline for this, we asked God! We are staying at a guest house in Addis Ababa in a section called Lafto. It is primarily an adoption guest house, so every few days there are new families and new babies and children. It is amazing to see God’s hand in these children’s and families lives. We are vicariously living these adoptions with these families and they are gracious to share baby love with us! Yippee! Holding babies is a great way to soften the loneliness and sadness of leaving home. Besides getting our body clocks in order we have accomplished the following:

-Looked at 6 homes in the Lafto area
-Had dinner at the Letourneaus home. These incredible missionaries have been here for a year and a half.
-Registered at the US Embassy
-Found a store with an adequate supply of Coke Light
-Had a welcome lunch with the entire staff of Ammanuel Light and Life and ICCM Ethiopia.
-Took a public minivan taxi (with Hibret, not by ourselves)
-Had a campfire celebration at the guest house; ate goat and dulet (goat intestines).
-Purchased an iron for all of our wrinkled vacuum packed clothing
-Attended International Evangelical Church (Pastor’s name is Gary, ironic?)
-Attempted without success to purchase a broadband internet card and system. They did not have one in stock. They said maybe in 15 days, maybe tomorrow. Welcome to Ethiopia!

Setting out to do 10 things in a day is unrealistic. Small accomplishments become momentous. God is clearly in Ethiopia, we sense His presence constantly.
The children are starting school today. Bible and Language Arts only; we call that a soft start. Take into account the Amharic, cultural changes, new people, places sounds and tastes, the children are learning much! So are we!
We have great pictures, but cannot load them at this time. Soon and very soon. Until I write again, blessings to you and we thank God for you daily.

Family Goodbyes!

I have another sister and brother who live in San Diego. They came up for goodbyes, too. It was kind of hard when my sis asked, "so you'll be gone for one Christmas?" and I was like, "no two". Yeah. But they were healthy goodbyes, and I think we left with a blessing. No, I am sure of it. Wwe left with a blessing. God is good! Tim looked at Di's computer....yeah just buy a new one. Really.

Nothing like a friendly game of Scattergories.

Fictional Character: John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt for 3 points!

We have (back row) my brother in law's mom Phyllis ,

my brother in law Steve, the dog Tucker, Steve's dad, Al.

(middle row) Tim, my mom, me, sissy Diana, sissy Rhonda

(front row) Timmy, Jewels and my niece Jordan

(not pictured bro Tony and niece Elise)

Going Away Celebrations.

Over the past two weeks there have been rare sightings of me (Jervaun) as I have come out of "the cave" also known as my office (of Doctrine, Thelogy, and Inductive Bible Study), for the occasional beach day and going away celebration. Here are a few pictures of the unusual sightings. With Wedding coordinator extraordianire and friend : Layne An exact replica of our wedding cake cutting (adding a few pounds and wrinkles)! With my girlfriends, Wendy, Jen and..... Kristy

And finally with the ultimate planner, My sister and friend...Diana Ross!

Tickets Purchased!

The clock is ticking!We have purchased out tickets (one way) for Ethiopia! We leave Sept 1. Pending all of our FM Coursework being done. Hey! I have pulled allnighters before, I can do it agian. Pray for packing, giving away, healthy goodbyes and Timmy to survive shopping with me for socks ("These hurt my toes!")

Garden of the Gods, Rodeo, Hiking and Rock Climbing.

Again folks, this was cramming a summer's worth of vacation into a weekend and a couple of weekday evenings. But we did it well!

Rock Climbing at the Gym for 2 and 1/2 hours!Timmy walks the "tightrope" Juliette attacks her first climb!
Holding up balancing rocks at Garden of the Gods!

Timmy holds on for 8 seconds!The Real Deal! Juliette Gives it a Go!The View from our hike up at Ben Loehman Ridge
Family Photo at the top of the Rigde

Juliette and Timmy pose at the Air Force Academy

We love each other!

The Air Force Academy Chapel.

3 day-old cadets.

And then of course there was class all week long :) Learning a lot, but the pictures of the classroom are just that! So we just included the playtime!

White Water Rafting

I was frightened...I was frightened that the kids would be frightened, and that I would fly out of the boat. I was worried the water would be cold and we would be miserable. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Seriously one of the best adventures we have had. Even though we are at MTI training, we are using the weekend to cram in a little vacation. Because when we get home, it is time to get packed and get going. I will probably buy tickets on Monday....for Sept 1. WOW!

So we are packing a summers worth of activites into a weekend and taking advantage of all of the amazing activities that Colorado has to offer. We LOVE Colorado!

Colorado Update

I've been locked in a box ( really it was fun!), in a simulated Jet Blue immigration holding room, subjected to food torture (three meals a day, much too much good food, that I don't have to cook) beaten at bowling and scrabble and FORCED to hike for 2 and 1/4 hours (Tim and the kids are taskmasters). So tonight was a much needed respite for some fun and games, bowling and watching the Space Station go over: here are a few pics.

Jervaun pulls a spare; my only one:(

The Nickname Team

Here are the boys! They had a blast!

The "YOUNG and the Beautiful!" And finally God's amazing light show.

Colorado is the land of thunderstorms and rainbows, truly amazing!