Sunday, May 26, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Healing
Thank you to all who have prayed for Eygadu over the past 2 months as she has come to our door for wound care. We are hopeful that with the supplies we left her, the wound will be nearly healed when we return to Gesses tomorrow. We believe God will use her to grow His kingdom in a village unreached by the gospel.
(Eygadu with me)
(Her wound after one month of cleaning - it was pretty dirty when she arrived but you can see the new skin around the wound. It was about 1mm of healing per week.)
(After second month of healing.)
Eygadu's baby girl named Eyfok. The kids all helped care for Eyfok when Eygadu was washing her wound.
(Eygadu with me)
(Her wound after one month of cleaning - it was pretty dirty when she arrived but you can see the new skin around the wound. It was about 1mm of healing per week.)
(After second month of healing.)
Eygadu's baby girl named Eyfok. The kids all helped care for Eyfok when Eygadu was washing her wound.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Empty Well, Sick Kids and 1 Less Pet (April 29)
It has been a full week filled with success and failures, pain and loss. Success: I visited Eygadu's village this past week and was thrilled to see a number of men, women and children gather to hear God's word. Eygadu came along and was urging her neighbours to come and hear God's word! Her leg continues to heal very slowly but it is healing and meanwhile she is growing in the Lord! God most certainly has a purpose in her life. The grinding mill building has been started and the walls and rafters are up so it may even be ready for the mill to be installed within the month.
Failure: We were required to have a hand dug well dug in the village of Kushamba but after hitting rock between 7-8 metres, those involved in the project gave up. There is no time at this point to find a new site and new workers willing to do the job. So we may have to wait until next year or it may require a rig to come in.
Pain: Four of our five children have been hit by a virus causing high fevers. I assume this is a virus since I know numerous other children of Gumuz friends who have been suffering from this week long virus. Eygadu's baby is one of those and it has been cared for by all our kids as I dress Eygadu's wound. Last night was hopefully the worst of it as I got little if any sleep. Sonia has the worst of it and yet despite this persistent fever and very restless sleep, she was mostly cheerful. Do pray for this virus to end in Gesses!
Loss: Rolf returned home at supper time with news that Kalia's dog Cindy was hit by a truck and killed. Cindy was a dog loved by our neighbours as well and so two of the men actually told Rolf the news and offered to dig the hole! They said that really good dogs should be buried properly. So more tears in the home as our children said goodbye to a really fun loving pet.
It's hot, we're tired, it's hard but we really do love this place and these people. Last night, Amanda, Kalia, Sonia and I spend a couple of hours around a fire singing with the women and it was a beautiful time to sing and dance with these women that work so hard.
Yet the failures, the pain and the loss fade in comparison to the success of seeing God's kingdom grow. Our hearts have been heavy this past week as my home community has mourned the loss of a loved one. Yet how thrilling to hear of the true "celebration of life" that took place because this dear woman loved the Lord. Her life was a success even though her time on earth seemed too short. It causes me to yearn for heaven when loved ones leave this earth. It also deepens my desire to see God's kingdom grow in this broken world. Jesus came to heal the broken hearted, to free captives from darkness and to conquer death!
Pray that as the Gumuz celebrate Easter this coming weekend (according to the Ethiopian calendar) that many would understand how Jesus' death on the cross has set us free and conquered both fear and death.
Failure: We were required to have a hand dug well dug in the village of Kushamba but after hitting rock between 7-8 metres, those involved in the project gave up. There is no time at this point to find a new site and new workers willing to do the job. So we may have to wait until next year or it may require a rig to come in.
Pain: Four of our five children have been hit by a virus causing high fevers. I assume this is a virus since I know numerous other children of Gumuz friends who have been suffering from this week long virus. Eygadu's baby is one of those and it has been cared for by all our kids as I dress Eygadu's wound. Last night was hopefully the worst of it as I got little if any sleep. Sonia has the worst of it and yet despite this persistent fever and very restless sleep, she was mostly cheerful. Do pray for this virus to end in Gesses!
Loss: Rolf returned home at supper time with news that Kalia's dog Cindy was hit by a truck and killed. Cindy was a dog loved by our neighbours as well and so two of the men actually told Rolf the news and offered to dig the hole! They said that really good dogs should be buried properly. So more tears in the home as our children said goodbye to a really fun loving pet.
It's hot, we're tired, it's hard but we really do love this place and these people. Last night, Amanda, Kalia, Sonia and I spend a couple of hours around a fire singing with the women and it was a beautiful time to sing and dance with these women that work so hard.
Yet the failures, the pain and the loss fade in comparison to the success of seeing God's kingdom grow. Our hearts have been heavy this past week as my home community has mourned the loss of a loved one. Yet how thrilling to hear of the true "celebration of life" that took place because this dear woman loved the Lord. Her life was a success even though her time on earth seemed too short. It causes me to yearn for heaven when loved ones leave this earth. It also deepens my desire to see God's kingdom grow in this broken world. Jesus came to heal the broken hearted, to free captives from darkness and to conquer death!
Pray that as the Gumuz celebrate Easter this coming weekend (according to the Ethiopian calendar) that many would understand how Jesus' death on the cross has set us free and conquered both fear and death.
Nights of prayer (April 26)
Do you ever have nights when you lie awake unable to sleep? Sometimes it is due to internal reasons - one's mind processing all the day's events or all that still needs to get done. Sometimes it is because of external reasons - pain, temperature, barking dogs, crowing roosters, drumbeats and chanting songs. Sometimes it is due to spiritual reasons - and the need to pray is so strong that one is unable to sleep until all are prayed for. For me, sleepless nights are often due to all three! But I can pray.
Last night, the drums and chanting songs lasted from 6pm until 6am as hundreds of Gumuz sang together in Wotak's village. It is one year since he died and Gumuz celebrate this event with many days of singing, drinking alcohol and eating raw meat. With Wotak being an elderly chief and related to all the clans in this area, the gathering is big and the amount of food and drink enough for atleast 3 days of celebrating. So I pray.
We have been able to attend several parts of this celebration which I will write about later and my heart yearns to see the Gumuz mourning and celebrating such events with a true understanding of who God is and how the sting of death has been overcome by the blood of Jesus. Just this week, a song was written by the translators and our coworker in regards to this concept. Sin separated us from God but Jesus took our sin on himself through his death on the cross. Because of this, we are no longer condemned for through his blood we have been brought back to God. We no longer need to fear death!
So as my mind is processing the spiritual needs of the Gumuz people, the throbbing drum, the chanting songs and the drunken voices also make it difficult to fall asleep. But I can pray and I can give all my worries to Him.
In these last couple of days, I have also spent much time thinking and praying for my own "people" in Rosenort who are preparing for a funeral this weekend. A young woman known and loved by children and adults alike is celebrating life in heaven. So we do not mourn for her but rather we mourn for those who are left on earth. Life will never be the same and the ache is great. I weep for her children, her husband, her family and her dear friends. But I also pray. May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
My heart yearns for the day when we are able to celebrate Jesus as King. For then there will be no more pain, no more death, no more hunger or sadness. May His kingdom grow in our hearts and may He draw many more to Himself. Come Lord Jesus. Come. Let us pray.
Last night, the drums and chanting songs lasted from 6pm until 6am as hundreds of Gumuz sang together in Wotak's village. It is one year since he died and Gumuz celebrate this event with many days of singing, drinking alcohol and eating raw meat. With Wotak being an elderly chief and related to all the clans in this area, the gathering is big and the amount of food and drink enough for atleast 3 days of celebrating. So I pray.
We have been able to attend several parts of this celebration which I will write about later and my heart yearns to see the Gumuz mourning and celebrating such events with a true understanding of who God is and how the sting of death has been overcome by the blood of Jesus. Just this week, a song was written by the translators and our coworker in regards to this concept. Sin separated us from God but Jesus took our sin on himself through his death on the cross. Because of this, we are no longer condemned for through his blood we have been brought back to God. We no longer need to fear death!
So as my mind is processing the spiritual needs of the Gumuz people, the throbbing drum, the chanting songs and the drunken voices also make it difficult to fall asleep. But I can pray and I can give all my worries to Him.
In these last couple of days, I have also spent much time thinking and praying for my own "people" in Rosenort who are preparing for a funeral this weekend. A young woman known and loved by children and adults alike is celebrating life in heaven. So we do not mourn for her but rather we mourn for those who are left on earth. Life will never be the same and the ache is great. I weep for her children, her husband, her family and her dear friends. But I also pray. May God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
My heart yearns for the day when we are able to celebrate Jesus as King. For then there will be no more pain, no more death, no more hunger or sadness. May His kingdom grow in our hearts and may He draw many more to Himself. Come Lord Jesus. Come. Let us pray.
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