JOYFUL RATIONING RESOURCES

We completed several units of disturbing yet gripping history on WW1, the Holocaust, and WW2 this past school year. One of the lighter and well understood topics that came up in this study was the area of rationing.

Reading the wikipedia definition of rationing (as stated below) reminds us that we have experienced rationing on all levels and in many areas including food, water, and fuel during our years in Ethiopia.

Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, or services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular day or at a particular time.

WATER RATION

Our kids from the youngest to the oldest understand rationing water. We ration water for 8 months of dry season. We use a compost toilet instead of a flush toilet. We shower only when we stink. We wash our feet/legs and sometimes arms the rest of the days. We do laundry once a week and in dry season, we skip the rinse cycle. We ration because we have to and our children never complain for they are acutely aware of the shortage. They watch young Gumuz girls strain under the burden of filled water jugs carried up the steep mountain path behind our house from the valley below where spring water flows. When the wells dry up, life gets harder. When our tanks empty, we are not caught unaware. We understand that water is a gift to be cherished.

(As I am editing this on my back deck in Manitoba, Canada 6 months after this was written, I am ironically observing my children spraying water from two garden hoses just to have fun and cool off.)

FOOD RATION

We ration food supplies. We bring out food for 2-3 months at a time from the city of Addis Ababa which is a 12 hour drive. We ration our meat and milk products, pasta and rice. If we run out of our city supplies, our choices become very limited. If we forget something, we go without. It's no longer a question about what should we eat but what can we eat! In order to ration our 2 month supply of food, we eat as much local food as we can handle (bean or pumpkin stew with sorghum, millet or teff flat bread (injera).

We ration items we have brought with us that aren't found in country (such as bacon bits, chocolate chips, parmesan cheese, taco seasoning and salad dressing mixes). The occasional box of imported cereal, chips or pickles purchased in Addis are savoured! It is no wonder that we are utterly overwhelmed the first time we walk into a local grocery store.  

ENERGY RATION

We ration energy. When the sun shines, we can use more energy. When it is overcast, we use only necessary lights, turn off our freezer for night, and go to bed early. We completed a unit on energy in our Geography class. It asked the question: how can your family conserve non-renewable energy? We had a delightful discussion. (What is better: using our tank of butagas or chopping down trees for cooking fuel? Could we reduce the amount of driving we do? But driving generally primarily includes medical emergencies and driving to the capital city every 2 months.)

FUEL RATION

We use four forms of fuel:  gas for Rolf's motorcycle, diesel for our land cruiser, butane for our gas stove, and firewood (for cooking or fireside).  Gas was not often available in town (10km) away, we filled both tanks of our land cruiser at the gas station 4 hours away, (sometimes it was available 1-2 hours away but there were no guarantees), we brought in 2 bottles of butane gas (double the size of a small BBQ tank of gas) from Addis Ababa (12 hours away).  Firewood was readily available but required physical labor.   For obvious reason, we rationed our fuel.  If too many medical emergencies took place and there was no fuel available in the nearest large town, we could literally get stuck in Gesses.

COFFEE RATION?

We may have to ration sugar but we never have to ration coffee! One of the perks of living in a country that grows export amounts of coffee. And since salt is added instead of cream and sugar, the green coffee is roasted fresh each day .

Although there are days when I am overwhelmed by the physical/mental energy required to ration food, water and energy, overall we have learned to LOVE rationing.

WE LOVE RATIONING and here is why:

1. We are enthusiastic about seemingly small things: a bar of chocolate divided up into 7 pieces, a homemade smoothie on a hot day (despite it being basically the same kind every day)

2. We have learned that a little goes a long way: a handful of bacon bits in soup, one chicken for 4 or more meals, 1/3 the sugar in a recipe, 2 L of water will fully wash your entire body.

3. We have become creative. You want something? You can't buy it so you will have to make it. A bat for your ball? There's wood. A gift for a birthday? Crochet/knit or build. Need shorts? Cut off the pants that never get worn. (It's not actually a waste.) It's not like these are new concepts but my generation didn't have to work very hard to save and adapt what we already had.

4. Our food waste is almost minimal. Leftovers are enjoyed and there are always hungry neighbour kids stopping by. The challenge? It now causes great anxiety to see people dump large portions of food from their plates into the garbage. We no longer have to try and conjure up images of “starving Chinese children”, we know kids by names who eat one meal a day and understand hunger as part of daily life.

5. We are appreciative and aware of God's gifts. The wild fruit trees that bear fruit in different months of the year, wild potatoes and edible greens, pumpkins as a staple food, rain that fills our water tanks and sun that powers our home. We know where the milk, eggs and meat come from. The only way Gumuz eat meat is to slaughter a chicken, goat or entire cow after the guests have arrived.

So back to history....we found it extremely interesting to read of how North Americans and Europeans at times chose to ration basic items so that the soldiers could be sent more. Sometimes they were forced into rationing but other times they chose it.

We wonder if our world might just be a better place if we couldn't have everything at our fingertips all year around and rationing once again was part of our life. When I hear the enthusiasm in North America for freshly picked berries, corn, or peas....I hear the wonder that has become part of our life for so many years. As we contemplate our return to Canada, we ponder how we might intentionally choose to ration, make fewer trips to the grocery store and continue to find pleasure in the small things, to be creative with what we have, waste little and appreciate all that God has provided.

(This blog was written in April and never posted. I have added a few comments now that we have been back in Canada for 6 weeks. I decided to post it anyways. Our hope is to continue being aware of the resources God has given to us and use them wisely. Missionaries are finding it harder than ever to adjust to life in remote places and the reasons are obvious. We are a society of instant gratification and know little of rationing our resources. There are certainly some who due to economy or choice live differently and it is our desire also to be intentional in how we live.)

Are we willing to go? Are we willing to return?

This post was written in May but the struggle continues...

My heart has been torn so many times. I have said goodbye to so many different people and places that I cannot count the number. Yet each time, the Lord has gently restored my heart allowing me to love again and then let go. The heart of a “nomadic” missionary (one who moves locations during their missionary career and is often on the move in their location) must be willing to love, willing to suffer loss, willing to open up their hands to the Lord and say, “Anywhere, Lord, that you call me, I will go.”

And this is what I have learned: The greater the love, the greater the joy and the greater the pain upon leaving. To love less will shield oneself from pain and joy. The temptation is to shield oneself from pain and 5 years ago, I had the idea of doing just that.

Five years ago, we arrived in Gesses, to learn yet another language and love yet another people group shunned and discriminated by the majority people groups surrounding them. I had this crazy notion that I could do women's ministry without learning the language and without loving too deeply. After all, we were only planning to be here for 5 years. It would be better to just use a translator from Amharic to Gumuz, right?

But the Lord knew my heart. He knew of my deep love for women and the gospel. So, it happened all over again. I so desperately wanted to communicate God's love and message of salvation that I learned the language and opened up my heart.

But this time it was different. This time, our children were older. They no longer just tagged along with their mom or dad to the village. They no longer sat quietly playing in the dirt or drinking tea. They began to engage with the people. They opened up their hearts – they loved and they served. They made friends and learned language. And now our 5 years has come to a close and they don't want to go. And neither do I.

We have been called as a family into cross cultural ministry. We were called as a family to the Gumuz people. And now we feel called back to our homeland for a time of rest and integration but we are not entirely sure that we like this call back. In fact, we are deeply struggling with the realization that we are leaving Ethiopia after more than 16 years of ministry. We have raised our children here and this is home to them.

Each time a child says, “But mom, I don't want to go. I want to stay here,” my heart bleeds for them. We listen to the cry of their hearts to remain in a place that is known to them. Yet deep down, we know and they know it is time. We have come to realize that it doesn't just take God's calling to GO but it also takes God's calling to RETURN. It takes faith to follow God to a land that is unfamiliar or undesirable.

In our last months in Gesses, these are the conversations we are having. “Are WE willing to return to our passport country if that is where God wants us?” Can we love HIM more than THEM? Can we believe HIS calling embraces more than THERE or HERE. We need faith to say, “Anywhere Lord, that you call us, we will go....”

The Gift of Soccer to serve others & bring Him glory

 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 

1 Peter 4:10-11

During my years in Ethiopia, I am continually amazed at the diversity of gifts that God has given to men, women and children.   Scripture only names a few but Peter states the purpose of these gifts so well....they are given to serve others and to bring God glory!

I love to see God's people using their unique gifts to serve others.   Last month, we were able to see a dear friend do exactly that among the Gumuz people.  This friend has many gifts... in soccer, in evangelism, in encouragement but what struck me the most was his servant attitude.  As he shared his gifts with the Gumuz evangelists, he served them.

 He could have focused on his skill at soccer which would have brought glory to himself but he continually brought the gospel into his teaching.  Worship songs were sung as they collected balls and joined together in the centre of the field.  Encouragement flowed from his lips.  The gospel flowed from his mouth.

As he trained these evangelists to use soccer to share the gospel, he didn't separate the physical and spiritual gifts of soccer and speech.  He continually brought them together....for the glory of God.

Our hope is that the men trained last month will not only have gained skill in soccer but a realization that as they teach the Gumuz children, they are teaching them and serving them....for the glory of God.  What are your gifts?  How are you using them to serve others to bring God glory?  He is doing great things...through YOU!

Surviving the Heat - March/April

 It happens every year. It's March and the inside thermometer says 38C (100F) and it's only 10am.  I wonder: Can we do this again?  Can I do this again with 5 children whom I school in this weather, feed in this weather and put to bed in this weather. So as the indoor thermometer reaches PLUS 40 (105), I need a battle plan.

 


WHAT I REFUSE....

I refuse to let my children survive the heat using electronics. There is nothing pretty about addictions.

I refuse for our minds and bodies to be miserably inactive in the heat.

I refuse to get dehydrated even though filtering our stored rainwater and cooling it to a drinkable temperature feels like a full time job.

I refuse to let heat be an excuse for flaring emotions. (That includes me.)

I refuse to cancel school until the classroom temperature reaches 38C (100F). I'd have to cancel school for 3 months if it depended on a comfortable classroom. But once it's hotter than that, there is really no point.

I refuse to dwell on the fact that rivers have dried up, we are in a land locked country and the lakes are too far away. I love swimming. Sigh.

I refuse to envy friends heading to ocean resorts to get a break from their unbearable temperatures (ie the cold). If we had a choice we would do the same.

I refuse to dwell on images of stores lined with freezers filled with delicious cold treats, swimming pools and A/Cs blasting out cold air.

YET....it is incredibly time consuming living this out with 5 kids. I need a battle plan.

So several years ago, my husband constructed a basic back porch compost toilet (which saves a huge amount of water). In dry season, I put a minimal amount of soap in the washing machine and skip the rinse cycle and I average one load of laundry per week.  If I need to do sheets, I do those first, save the water and use it for the second load.  The laundry water is saved for a second use.  

Because of this, we are able to use some of our precious rainwater to fill an old water tank with 3 feet of water for the kids to swim in. Because of the limited space, they need to take turns but it makes a huge difference. Sometimes we just take turns jumping in several times a day which cools us down immensely.

But now it's 5:30pm. The kids have taken their turns jumping into our pool of water, they've eaten frozen mango juice, they've munched on popcorn, they've read books. It's still 38C....we can do this.

The request comes: “Can we watch something?” I feel my resolve dissolving.....I'm melting. They're melting. So I weakly suggest: “Jump in the pool one more time or put your head under the sink.” 

And that's it. Cooled down and they are off playing, writing, crocheting, building, exploring. The sun will start setting in another hour and we will no longer feel the heat. The kids will run, dance, skip and play outdoors until it's dark. (We'd continue this late into the night if the scorpions weren't coming out to do the same:)

Canadian (prairie) winters are known to be long and bitterly cold. Yet the predictable and dependable seasons our Creator have given us, fill us with with hope. Hope that spring will come and with it warmth or in our case, rain to cool the air.

It's emotional and it's physical but we can beat the heat. This is our life and every morning we have a new opportunity to not only survive the heat but thrive in the heat.

PS For those of you in hot and possibly humid countries without conveniences...I'd love to hear your battle plan.

And I'm guessing I'll need a battle plan next year when the temperatures hit -40?

An untamed fire

Every year, the mountains glow with the annual fires.  Some say it makes for good hunting.  Some say it is necessary to burn off the tall elephant grass so the new grass comes in well.  Some say it helps clear the land for next years crop.  I grew up the daughter of a grain farmer.  I grew up hearing the debate on burning or leaving the stubble.  And every year my little brother ended up in the hospital due to his severe asthma when the smoke filled the air.

The trouble with fires is with a little wind, they rage out of control.  And we have experienced many of these fires in the mountains of Gesses.   This year, like last year, a fire was accidentally started too early.  The grain was still in many of the Gumuz fields: cut, and waiting to be threshed and carried home.

Sunday morning, the sky turned an unusual orange colour.  A few hours later, smoke filled the air and the sun was nearly blocked out.

Within a brief span of time, the fires had eaten their way over the mountain and were heading towards the Gesses mountain surrounding the villages where we live.   Women rushed to carry home the bundles of grass needed for house building.  Without it, there will be a lot of leaking roofs.  This is not the time for fires, this is the time for house building and so no one was expecting it.

Crackling fire was followed by shouts of men and the race began.  Men sped to their fields with bows and arrows (for the hunting) and tore off the few green leafy branches along the way.  There is no water available for fighting fires.  It's beaten down or stopped with backfires.

Our staff and friends nearby rushed to our yard which was quickly becoming surrounded by fire and the smoke hung thick in the air.   Branches were stripped, leaves were swept away in a path around the compound and backfires were started.  This should have worked.








An unusual wind (for this time of the year) fed the fire in such a way that it jumped the firebreaks.  Panic set in.  I moved our land cruiser and contemplated emptying our homeschool room as the fire crept closer.

We handed out precious stored rainwater as children, men and women beat out fires and poured water on areas where the flames were high.  Smoke inhalation became a concern and our eyes were stinging with pain.  Two hours later, the fire was out.

The fire nearly hit our outhouse and came 10 feet from our homeschool room and one of the guesthouses.  The ashes told their story.













We praised God for his protection on all those who came to help and we prayed for those still fighting fires all night in order to save their crops.


















The night sky. Several of our staff spent most of the night fighting the fire to save crops of their neighbours or family.  The next morning Rolf took one man with burns on his legs in an attempt to save his crop, and several people lost their grain but it could have been so much worse.













One of my firefighters.  The Gumuz are still talking about how hard this young man worked although I didn't realize at the time how little protective clothing he was wearing.  Interestingly the following Sunday, the sermon was from James on the tongue.   It was a very effective sermon!

"Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.  The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell."  James 3:5-6

A Daughter's Worth: Wealth or Blessing? (March 2016)

“Five children? (Gleeful laughter.) Four daughters? Oh. Only 1 son? You must have more children.” These words have been spoken to me over and over since my arrival in Gesses 5 years ago. Over and over again, I have spoken of the deep blessing each of my girls is to me, that they have been created equally by God the Creator. Over and over again, I am told to birth more boys. Many of my closest Gumuz friends have a bunch of girls. There is a sigh of dismay when I am told the news. It's another girl.

 Although a girl's birth is not honored she IS considered to have value. After all, girls are a father's possession; part of his wealth, along with his cows, goats, and grain. Everyone knows that the father can use one of his daughters to pay off a debt.  And when it's time for her brother to get married, he trades her to the brother of his future wife.   (Sister exchange marriage).

Within 10 years a Gumuz girl is capable of a grown woman's workload. They can carry 2 large jerricans of water, heavy loads of wood or grain for 10km, grind grain on a stone for hours, cook, cultivate, plant, weed, harvest and thresh by hand. She is an immense blessing to her mother as they work alongside each other.

Last week, I walked into the village and rescued an 11 year old girl from a hostage situation. When her mother (a dear friend of mine) came with the news, I knew that I had no choice but to get involved. In fact, we were already involved. Her father has been working for Rolf to pay his debt for several months. I had spoken with him often about his daughter's blessing and his role as protector and father.

Her father and Rolf were a 4 hour drive away and I had no phone service, so in prayer I strode across the road, through the village and to the grass hut where she was sitting guarded. I told the guard that if someone asked about the girl, they could come and talk to me. I took her by the hand and we walked home. No one stopped me.

As I passed the local teahouse, I cried out against their culture. “How long Oh Lord, before these people, whom I love, let go of the evil in their culture? When will the fathers stand up to protect their daughters? When will the elders of the village love their daughters? O Lord have mercy on these people who are bound for judgement.” I am not always this dramatic but it was 40C (105F), I was hot, tired and defenseless. 

An hour later, I was not surprised to find the chief and 2 community elders at my door. My girls and our rescued girl were busy crocheting and the Lord filled me with peace and passion. We spoke for 2 hours.

We occasionally have opportunities to engage with community leaders regarding cultural practices. They are unbending. A debt must be paid. If you don't have animal or monetary wealth, you pay with your daughter. Then, there is instantly peace. No one is murdered and there is no revenge. But this “peaceful” cultural practice has produced girls and women who harbour deep hurt and anger.

I spoke boldly. I think they were amused. Fine you can keep her until her father gets back but then he needs to pay his debt. Stale mate. Their hearts are so hard.

Two days later, my husband (who is very fond of his wife - me and his 4 daughters, along with his son) stood up in the court case and spoke out against the payment of daughters.  He said, "They are NOT your wealth, they are not goats or cattle.  They are a blessing. They are to be loved and protected by the men in their lives."  His words were many and they weren't even amused. 

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.  Mercy triumphs over judgment.  James 2:12-14

All they wanted was the payment of the cows.  Now.  No mercy. 

"He has shown you, Oh man, what is good.  And what does the Lord requires of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  Micah 6:8

We continue to pray that the hearts of the chiefs and elders will be softened.  There are a few.  We pray that the women will stand up against the evil done to them.  There are more.  We pray that one day, the Gumuz girls will be valued as God the Father values them....as His children.

An Undistracted Christmas. Will it be the last?

It's December and we are making plans for Christmas. Many of our traditions so different yet so dear. We will hide our stockings in tree houses, sing our carols around an outdoor fire and create gifts for each other out of wood and yarn, and other such things.

We will prepare songs and poems to share with one another from the heart.  We may or may not have an audience but it will be special....even just for us.

 Snow, hot chocolate, songs of Santa, shopping malls and parties are so distant from this world we live in.  In fact, there is basically no stress attached to our Christmas. 

And I wonder: will we ever experience this form of Christmas again? Will the December sun ever shine again with such warmth? Will future advent calendars be filled with events and appointments? Will we have time to ponder the meanging of Christmas? Will we have time to make our homemade gifts for each other? 

My hope is that our Kruse traditions will continue in the years to come and that we may be able to guard our time so that we can ponder all that happened that long ago day when Jesus was born....for us.

Luke 2:19 “But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”