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Monday, October 19, 2009

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.

Monday, October 5, 2009

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.