We’re Moving!

Friends, most of you have heard by now that we're moving.  With Sam's recent career change to HopeMongers, our non-profit entrepreneurial adventure :), we felt like it was time to make a move to Colorado Springs.  We have been in the Springs for nearly a month now getting oriented and 'setting up shop'.

Now, we are back in Sugar Land this first week of February to pack up our house, load the truck and trailer and say our goodbyes.  We would love to see you if you're available. Below is our 'tentative schdule' for the days we're in town (and keep an eye out for Evites).  Feel free to stop by any time that's convenient for you and your family.  We hope to see you soon!

tentative plans:

Feb 5, Fri - Pack, lunch break at kids' school (CC) to say goodbye, Packing Party 4-8pm (grab a box and a marker and I'll point the way)

Feb 6, Sat - A.M. pack, pack, packing party - P.M. dinner w/friends who can make it 6:30-8:30 place TBD, but probably Swinging Door BBQ in Richmond.

Feb 7, Sun - final Sun a.m. at the Sanctuary Fellowship, 1-5pm LOADING party - load truck, trailer and van right before the Super Bowl starts :).

Feb 8, Mon - praying for a house closing and leaving town (Please pray with us – the lending company for our buyer is dragging their feet with as much due diligence as possible :0). thanks!

We’re renting a furnished place in Springs while we look for the perfect property there.  We just didn’t want to pack/unpack our belongings more than once if we could avoid it.  The man renting his furnished house to us has been gracious and generous and is even feeding our sweet cat, Susan, while we’re gone.  The entire setup is such a huge blessing. Thank you for your continued prayers that we find a permanent home there to buy as soon as possible.

Technorati Tags: moving,Colorado,Texas

Traveling w/Kids

I know so many of you – moms, grandmas, aunties and friends are wondering just what it’s been like to travel with 4 kids abroad – okay, not just abroad, but to an impoverished place, like Ethiopia. Not too shabby, actually.

Some of you have done the same or are thinking of doing the same and want the scoop.  I’m happy to share our journey…that being said, there are so many variables…  I don’t expect everyone to have the same kind of trip we’ve had but I’ll tell you a little about it, so you can get an idea.

Our trip was just about three weeks long. 

THE TICKETS:

After weeks of researching the cheapest flight options and being discouraged at the prospect of 25+ hrs of travel with 3 stops with 4 kids, yada, yada, yada, I decided instead to research “best airlines to travel with children.”  The first name on the list sounded wonderful, as they have something called, ‘Sky Nannies’ – wow!, but unfortunately Gulf Air doesn’t fly into Addis.  The second on the list was Emirates Air, so I dug a little deeper, and got really excited about their ‘kid meals’, ‘activity packs’ and most of all, their in-seat entertainment  system that allows each person to choose his/her own shows, movies and games whenever they want. Turns out they have a direct flight from Houston, TX (our airport) to Dubai (only 14 hrs), and then a 4 hour ‘hop’ over to Addis – 18 hrs total flying time.  Marvelous!!! I thought, and then the snag…9 hr layover in Dubai.  Turns out the snag is a blessing because if you have a layover greater than X hours (I think 6 or 8), with Emirates, they will put you up in a hotel complimentary with meals until your departure.  The BEST part was that Emirates.com prices were cheaper than all the search engines and because kid tickets are discounted on their site, we ended up averaging only $1100 per person/per ticket – woohoo!

THE FLIGHT:

We boarded the flight around dinner time, the kids played on their entertainment systems and ate (2hrs), then we transitioned them into jammies and gave them blankets and special ‘mints’ that induce sleep (melatonin), and they slept for about 10 hrs, and then 2 hrs more with breakfast and entertainment and we’d arrived in Dubai.  Through the airport off to the hotel and dinner/snack, a 3 hour nap, then a 3am cab tour of the city, breakfast at 5am, then off to the airport again for the 4hr flight to Addis – the kids slept the whole way.  We arrived in Addis in the afternoon and all stayed awake until 7pm, and tada! everyone was on schedule. Down at 7-8pm, up at 6-7am – a huge relief!

THE STUFF / PACKING:

We started months before saving things to bring: medical supplies, snacks and food supplies, donation items, and appropriate clothing and shoes. We packed 13 pieces of luggage at 50lbs each, with the intent to give away or consume the contents of about 11 of them before returning home.  In retrospect…it’s never enough! I don’t know what the cost would have been to add additional luggage, (I think Emirates has a lower cost than some others) but I would have brought more – NOT FOR US, we had plenty and then some – but to leave…so many needs…

We LOVED giving all the clothing and shoe donations to the children of Korah Leper Colony for Christmas! The ball point pens (about $200 US for 3,000 pens) were a huge hit and not just at the Leper Handicraft Shop, but everywhere we gave them, people said, “Amazing!” “Thank You!” “Really, this helps so much!”  Apparently, pens are expensive and sparse there.  All the extra medicines, prescriptions, vitamins and supplies we brought went to an American couple, the Baers, doing great work in a small village close to town (SHAMELESS PLUG: You must visit their BEAUTIFUL village when you come to Addis! and see what they do! Bring them some supplies! You won’t regret it!).  There is a HUGE need for Bibles – both adult and child versions – English and Ahmaric, and we only had 2 of those!  I brought PLENTY of wipes but just a little short on Diapers – and word to the wise: If you’re visiting any place that cares for babies while you’re here, bring the diapers with you! (They’re bulky, but you can balance it out with packing heavier things like Bibles :).  You can buy diapers pretty much anywhere here – even Pampers, but it is so much cheaper to buy them in bulk and bring them – especially for better quality, like Pampers.

THE EXPERIENCE

The kids were resilient and flexible.  They learned to try all kinds of new things and wait until the next meal time.  I learned that kids that young (6 and under) don’t notice nearly the number of differences we do as adults.  Only my six year old noticed some things that stood out to her as ‘unique’ to poverty in Ethiopia.  The other three kids thought, “Wow, there sure are a lot of animals around here!”  Overall, we all stayed exceptionally well for being in country three weeks.  We were in a lot of very unsanitary places and ate out at least once a day.  Five out of six of us used our antibiotics (for fever/loose bowel combo) once and Sam twice.  My daughter brought home some ringworm on her arm, which is apparently very common when you play with sheep and cattle, which she did.  We ingested a lot of vitamins while we were there, a lot of water, and ate most of our snacks. Two of the 50lb bags we brought were full of just food and medical supplies, which turned out to be such a bonus with the kids’ gluten allergy and our plans to visit so many places. 

For fun, we took a trip up into the mountains/cliffs of the Ethiopian Highlands to visit the Orthodox monastery, see baboons, and meet a very special man; took the kids to swim at the Sheraton which was nothing but luxury, and eat a Christmas morning breakfast buffet.  I wouldn’t trade our family experiences there for anything.  The short is, if you have an opportunity to take your family to a place like Addis, do it! I’m happy to share any other information you might want or need – just message me!  And by all means, if you decide to visit Addis, stay at Ethiopia Guest Home and find Sammy – world class service and guide extraordinaire!

Technorati Tags: Ethiopia,Family,Trip,Travel

HopeMongers & Russia Needs Your Help!

You guys did an AMAZING job of supporting HopeMongers during the All I Want for Christmas Campaign in Ethiopia! Most of the projects were funded and thousands of dollars were given to orphan communities.

If you want to see the same awareness and funding spread through areas of Russia, then HopeMongers needs your help!  We have an opportunity to go profile projects that would help prevent humans from being trafficked into the sex-trade industry.  Girls like the one in this video would receive hope.  Our deadline for Visa application is today for a trip that would depart this spring.  The remaining visa amount needed is $490.

If you’d like to give, just go to www.HopeMongers.org and specify to what you are giving.  Or you can use the PayPal Donate button on the right and put “Russia” in the notes.  Thank you so much! You are the reason we can monger hope!

Please Pray for Safe and Comfortable Travel Home

We're prepping for the airport and Sam and I are fighting sickness - please keep us in prayer! See you guys soon!

Out and About

interesting tidbits about Ethiopia

some of you, seasoned Ethiopia travelers, will know most of this, and much of it is similar to other countries we’ve visited, but so many people have asked, “What’s it like?’ that I thought I’d share a few observations.

goats and donkeys, and sometimes cattle, run the streets pretty much everywhere all day – even downtown

wed & fri are ‘fasting’ days for orthodox religions, so most restaurants have ‘fasting’ foods on the menu, which essentially means no meat (or cheese)

random people walk up and take your baby/toddler and carry them around and they kiss the larger children on the cheek or hand (Will, age 3, is still considered “baby” which he is NOT excited about :)

there aren’t any real traffic laws that I can determine – one ways are a suggestion, as are lane stripes and pedestrian crossings

the pedestrians are as brazen as the drivers

toilet paper, if used, is to be deposited in trash cans all over the city, except at the Sheraton – a palace-like hotel near the Prime Minister’s Palace in town – which has wonderful plumbing and no trash cans in the bathrooms at all (confused my sweet kids who will probably still be looking for a trash can when they return home :)

if you want to enjoy a coke, sprite, etc., you drink it where you buy it unless you take an empty bottle with you – most places won’t even let you pay extra to take the bottle with you…found this out the hard way after we bought 2 drinks and they opened them. we had to pay and got nothing because we had to catch our taxi home.

you actually CAN get dark and white chocolate bars at the supermarket – cost the same as in the US, but YUMMY! and EXTRA yummy with peanut butter – which you can also buy!

decongestant and expectorant have become my best friends in not having sinus misery here – no idea why, except maybe excessive grain consumption and pollution, but it’s been bad

people here eat PIZZA and a LOT of PASTA…of course being a gluten-free family, this isn’t particularly helpful, but the brick oven pizza is mighty tempting after a few weeks…

chicken is often the same cost or more expensive than beef

the children are enjoying the plain yogurt you can buy in all the supermarkets here because the stores also sell strawberry jam and honey which are yummy mixed in to make a ‘drinkable yogurt’ – that’s also how I’m getting them to take their vitamins each day :)

Christmas here is celebrated January 7 (oh, and it’s the year 2002)

When getting engaged, the groom’s PARENTS ask the bride’s PARENTS and often have to petition them several times

raw meat (goat/ox) is served as an appetizer

locals serve you large portions in hopes that your tummy will be filled, but they are not offended if you don’t eat it all - “no problem!”

the child beggars here are gifted with particular English words like “mommy” and “i love you too, mommy” which they use repeatedly to get your attention as you pass by.

traditional coffee ceremony, which we love, is given to guests entering or exiting your home and includes POPCORN!

the people are VERY relational and nurturing: any time a child stumbles, cries, or falls, everyone within 10 feet rushes to help them.

so there you have it…just a few, of course, as so many are not fresh on my mind right now…in fact, I hear a child crying…gotta run!

Emmanuel "All I Want For Christmas" Food

This HopeMongers community, Emmanuel Orphanage is led by a man, Job, a shining light with the only Christian church in town. He has had to turn kids away due to a lack of resources, has had three babies dropped at his gate (the ones pictured on flickr w/my kids holding them), for which he hired a nanny, but hasn't been able to pay his staff for at least three months. They are in need of food and mosquito nets urgently - that is their "All I Want For Christmas" wish.

In addition, Job and his staff have dreams of building a new church building (about $500 US), converting the old church building back into a stable/barn for livestock, and developing some agricultural and livestock income for sustenance. Please use the blog badge to highlight Emmanuel Orphanage and their needs. We have 18 hours to deliver!!! And if there's anything I've learned this month, it's that our God is enough, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and he delights to use us for his Glory! Thank you for granting so many wishes this Christmas season! Let's see if we can squeeze in a few more before the week is done!

Visiting the Garbage Dump

we left the kids with the nanny for this visit…for obvious reasons…

we parked on the side of the road and walked in

 

these crane-type birds, also scavengers, were EVERYWHERE!

some grafitti in one of the only structures on the property

 

smoke is prevalent and the residents follow around the tractor in hopes of finding new ‘treasure’ as it pushes the garbage around

        

Sam and Sami talking about the outreach program he has been doing with a few other friends from the area

 

women, even with their babies, rifling through the garbage for sustenance

 

everyone flocks to the new trucks dumping out ‘fresh’ garbage; this was a weekday-the crowds and fighting are greater on the weekends

these are old dumpters piled together that the kids often sleep under

   

Sami and some of the boys he ministers to regularly at the dump

 

this is where they do Bible study and relationship each week

   

processing and change

spent most of the a.m. here sobbing over the transitions we're facing upon return to the states.  God has been calling us out and on and with that we've been learning that the right choices aren't always comfortable or easy.  In fact, quite often, it's the opposite.

We decided to put our house on the market while we were out of it for a month.  The plan is to move to Colorado, and although there are exciting aspects to that plan, I am processing and grieving the loss of such an amazing community of people - especially my irreplaceable friends and church family - you guys are one-of-a-kind!

more to come on the move, but first we have to sell the house.  our first offer was great but fell through after a week of working together, so we’re looking forward to who God has next…you can be in prayer for that.  thanks for following the journey.

Great Hope Church

Sitting in church here in Ethiopia two Sundays ago, I listened to the crowd spill out “Amen”s and “Hallelujah”s as the pastor spoke of the Abundance we have in Christ. The tears flowed as I thought about the TRUE abundance of Christ that these precious saints have grasped in stark contrast to the material abundance we often praise with Christ’s name attached….namely our stuff…and not the person and work of Jesus himself.

As if that weren’t enough to set me straight, this past week, we visited a local church/ministry called Great Hope Church – and oh, let me assure you the name is no cliche.  Led by a small group of 20-something young men who grew up (and currently live) here, the primary mission is to serve the families who live as outcasts in Korah, the leper colony, and see Christ redeem this community.

On Sunday's they were packing out three church services with over 200 families who wanted to attend.  After a lady from the U.S. visited and gave them $700 US, they used the money to build a structure large enough to hold all the families AND send 65 children to school for the year. The meager, corrugated tin facilities they have built are amazingly well used.  During the week they provide after school tutoring for ~70 orphans and local children. On Saturday's they teach local families basic health and hygiene and provide soap while the kids attend Bible school and play.

To give you an idea of how poor this community is, yesterday we met a woman who sold her 16-year-old daughter as a slave so she could provide food for the rest of her family.  Amazingly, I found myself empathizing with her decision.  But here's the kicker.  This church, so poor they eat at most 1 meal per day.  This church, whose leaders have endured beatings from local Orthodox and Muslim contingents.  This church, whose children walk to school on almost impassable rocky roads amidst mud huts, sparse livestock and garbage.  This church has started a ministry reaching out to serve 150+ orphans who fight to survive at the local garbage dump.  You heard that right: the leper colony has an outreach to the garbage dump – puts my twice a month service for ‘fill-in-the-blank church duty’ to shame.

We gave them all the donations of clothes, shoes, school and medical supplies that we brought.  We also posted five Christmas Wishes for them.  Please invite your friends and family to help us meet these needs THIS WEEK before we leave Addis. 

Here's the list:
Christmas Dinner for 200 - $350  http://www.hopemongers.org/ProjectDetail.aspx?id=135
School Supplies for 120 - $475  http://www.hopemongers.org/ProjectDetail.aspx?ID=136
School Tuition for 120 - $800 http://www.hopemongers.org/ProjectDetail.aspx?ID=137
School Uniforms for 120 - $2200  http://www.hopemongers.org/ProjectDetail.aspx?ID=138

These guys are planting a church.  They need a church to sponsor them and to help lead the leaders. They have ongoing needs but I've only posted one. 
Food for Saturday Bible Study (200 families) - $325 / wk http://www.hopemongers.org/ProjectDetail.aspx?ID=139

(content written by Sam & Wendi)

Leper Gift Shop – Who’s Buyin?

Following are all the wonderful handmade items from the Leper Hospital Gift Shop that I wrote about earlier.  All the proceeds from these purchases go back to the lepers who made them and to the on-ground work HopeMongers is doing with the Korah Leper Colony in Ethiopia ongoing.  You can pay with the PayPal button on the right and comment during checkout which item(s) you’re purchasing.  We will ship them (or hand deliver to our local peeps) after we return 12/28.  You can add in your estimated shipping (from 77479) on PayPal now or pay the exact amount after I ship.  Happy Shopping!

$75 Table Cloth w/12 napkin set (didn’t photograph the designs on the napkins very well).  Varying colors and patterns – a few are pictured below this blue set. (seating 6-8, rectangular)

$60 other tablecloth sets: gold/tan/black, greens, blues

$20 table runner in varying colors and design

(burgundy and tan)

$15 decorative pillow case (10-12 inches each side) – again, all stitched by hand

 

$4 potholders (not very insulated, but decorative for sure)

$15 small / $20 large, one of my personal favorites – shoulder bags!!!

$15 Recycled Tote - this cool tote is made of recycled milk bags (in Ethiopia, milk comes in bags, not jugs) – see some of the process below.

 

$12 Head/neck scarf, shoulder wrap, shawl – varying designs & colors

$25 - purse and small scarf

$8 - some funny little dolls w/some funny little girls

$9 small, $15 large: handmade doormats (a rough jute-type of rug) suited for outdoors (~16x20, 20X30)

hand crocheted coasters & doilies and bedspreads/tablecloths – varying prices: $5/coaster set, $5 large doily, $60 bed cover

Other items, mostly from the countryside:

$12 - Wooden Crosses – small/medium (~8-12 inches)

$30 Large Wood Crosses (~18-24inches)

$5 each - Wood animals

$4 each - wool animals (also antelope and giraffe)

$20 wood salt & pepper sets

 

$15 -wood sugar bowls

$8 and $20 wooden candlesticks (single= $8 , triple= $20)

Random Photo Postings

Here are some random pics of our time here in Addis over the past two weeks – wow! has it been 2 weeks already?? Only 9 days left – it’s going too fast!

1st up – the best guide on the planet! Sami – ask for him if you come to Addis – even if you don’t stay at one of Ethiopia Guest Homes, you have to meet this young man! Seriously a blessing!

Fun times in the car with my cuties! “Fereng’s” as we’re called locally (‘white people’ in Amharic).

Repacking donations for the leper colony church & orphans – so much fun! went back through our room several times to see what else we could give. when we leave, they’re getting all our excess – can’t wait to come home lighter than we left because an orphan got to have Christmas for the first time!!!

Some monkeys we saw at a lodge in Waliso – no that’s not us feeding them.

 

More Macchiatos

Hanging out with friends on the HopeChest team trip

my handsome man!

sketchy updates

sorry for the sparse updates...it's been a packed few days and today we literally packed up and moved to the 2nd guest house to make room for some family's coming in this week to finalize their adoptions - what a wonderful Christmas gift for them! the new house doesn't have wireless, but we'll do our best between here and the Sheraton to keep you updated and keep projects posted! only 9 days left in country - it's going too fast! only 7 days left until the Christmas Feast for the 200 orphans of Korah - don't forget to give, so we can give them a Christmas like none they've ever seen - can't wait to play St. Nick! :)

Not Your Every-Day Handmade Goods

We pulled in to a hospital compound built and funded by two doctors many years ago for lepers.  The facility also offers TB rehab and Anti-Retroviral care, particularly for children, and a school for the children of the leprosy patients.

As Sami explained to us, years ago the caretakers began a program of physical therapy for the lepers which included making handcrafted items.  They soon realized that selling these goods would be beneficial to the families making them and so, they opened a gift shop.  Only one problem: hardly anyone actually visits the hospital compound so few of their amazing goods are purchased.  Their handiwork is among some of the most intricate and attractive I’ve seen in all our travel, and we literally got to watch them making it.

Here’s a photo story of the process for my favorite things they make – table cloths & napkins, runners, pillow covers, and bags.

1st – Spin the cotton into thread

2nd – they transfer all the cotton yarn to smaller spools (not pictured)

3rd – the weavers pass the yarn between the rows of thread on these handmade looms to make the cotton fabric

4th – cut the fabric and iron on the transfer of the pattern

This part was mind-boggling to me: they make the transfer by tracing the pattern onto parchment-type paper with a regular ball-point pen – jotting back and forth several times to make a thick line of the design before ironing it on to the fabric for the seamstresses to follow for sewing (my thought, ‘these folks could use a trip to hobby lobby’ – mostly joking). 

Now, I have to back up a few weeks to before our trip and insert a story of the way our God works.  Erin Moore wrote to me with a list of items that her “sponsor kid” at Kolfe had sent to her – things we might be able to take with us on the trip.  The one thing that hit me most profoundly was the request for pens:   that the kids are only given 1 pen per year.  Well, pens are small and reasonably cheap at your local Sam’s club, so I decided we’d take a suitcase of pens with us – and we did – 3000 to be exact.  When we packed up this morning to drive over to the hospital and Kolfe, we brought double the amount of pens we usually take to any one orphanage.  As we stood there in the design room for the leper gift shop, the manager asked Sami, our guide, if we might have a few pens.  They only had two left for making transfers and they were running out.  Do we have pens?? Are you serious, God??  Of course we have pens!!! We have a bag of more than 200 brand-new blue pens!!!  And they were ecstatic! thrilled and overjoyed.  The words they used were, “You saved our lives because we were about to stop working. No one would be able to work if we can’t transfer the designs with pen.” Wow!  Really? a pen? amazing.  Ask and you shall receive! And in the words of our beloved local orphan advocate, Hannah, “…our God is so fast! we serve a mighty God.”  I’ll say! With that many pens, they may be producing for another solid year!!!  So humbled to be used as a vessel unto honor – an instrument of peace – a deliverer of live-saving pens! Thank you Jesus for hearing an orphan’s request and the request of outcasts before they even spoke and for letting us watch you work.

5th – Sew the design onto the newly woven fabric (despite how it may appear, I am NOT good at this part :)

Here’s one example of a final product – stunning – and literally every stitch by hand!

 

This is a table runner, and yes it is for sale! ($20 for this shorter size) All proceeds go back to the lepers here locally!  In a follow-up post, I’ll have all their goods listed that you can buy from the gift shop. You won’t be disappointed!

Joy & Coffee

We’ve spent the last two days with friends who live in a place called Korah, a leper colony, centuries old.  Nothing short of “powerful” describes the experience among the people there, whose hospitality will bring you to your knees.

As we entered the home (albeit 6’x10’ mud & straw hut) of one of the thousands of families there, the man of the home insisted that we sit on the only cushion in the house and the lady of the house asked us if we would like coffee.  I said, “yes!” and watched joy spill out of this woman’s heart, first in smile then clapping and squeals at the privilege of sharing coffee with us in their home. 

As the six of us and our five “bodyguards” sat down filling their home to overflowing, she began to pour each of us cups of sugared coffee, and I was thankful for the darkness of the windowless room sufficient to veil the tears that were pouring down my cheeks uncontrollably…

I could have given her everything in my possession at that moment and it would not have been enough, nor would it have brought me near as much joy as sharing with us had brought to her….such joy in generosity from a family that, on good days, eat only once.

They gave the one thing they had to give (and even that’s questionable), without a second-thought and with joy unspeakable. Sam and I and our four kiddos received so much more than just coffee and it’s a moment I’ll never forget. Jesus was there, too, and I am so glad he invited me to sit with him awhile because I saw him a little more clearly just then…and myself, too.