Egzabier Mesken

Egzabier mesken!! That's "Praise G-d," a common greeting in Amharic. I'm still working at Women at Risk and spending lots of time in the village. (most of the photos: by Raquel Sandoval)

View of Addis Ababa

Kids at the daily injira feeding!

At the wedding (see last post)

Wedding again!

More wedding photos

At Meetu's house

Becoming Ethiopian! Learning how to do the coffee ceremony

Small Things with Great Love

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love."

St. Therese of Lisieux

The bride looked elegant in her white gown and pink decorations colored the walls. Around me people swayed and danced to the blaring music. In some ways, the ceremony itself was not so different from weddings back in the states- vows, kind words about the couple, songs.. but what struck me was the focus. 75% of the service was praying and worshiping. The focus was not really on the couple, but on G-d. And worship in Ethiopia is not just singing, but dancing and shouting and really finding joy in standing in G-d's presence. It was the ceremony and the party all in one. So I danced, sang, prayed, laughed... in awe of finding myself at an Ethiopian wedding.

The bride was a staff member at Women at Risk, the organization I've been working with the past few weeks. Simply the fact that I was at the wedding shows just how welcoming and generous the community there is. And truly, being here in Ethiopia has been about getting to know people and investing in community.

Aside from working at Women At Risk, I've been spending time in a local village where a lot of the women are single moms affected by HIV. They have barely enough food and almost no money, and yet I've found myself in many of their one room homes partaking in coffee ceremonies. They have almost nothing, but what they have, they are quick to give. Thus, the past couple weeks have been filled with drinking coffee and hearing stories. Though so many of the stories are heartbreaking. Through tears, they've talked about living on the streets, prostitution, constant hunger... And again, I find myself asking, what can I personally do? Long term, I'm not sure. But right now, I will continue to spend time with them and show them love in whatever small ways I can- drinking coffee with the women, picking up garbage with them in the village, playing soccer with the kids... doing "small things with great love."

Last week, Kate gave a talk on our identity in G-d. She said that in the Genesis story, after Adam and Eve eat the fruit and find themselves naked, G-d asks Adam, "Who told you that you were naked?" (Because it wasn't G-d.) G-d has given them all they need and a perfect home, but suddenly they find themselves hiding. Kate shared this with some of the women in the village. These women are powerful, they are beautiful, and they were made in the image of G-d. But there is such desperation that it's hard to see any of that. The world has made them believe that they are hopeless. But where does the loss of hope begin? Who says that someone is unworthy or worthless? Kate asked, "Who told you that you were naked?" 

Hope

Spending time with Meetu

How do I help people help themselves? How can I actually be effective rather than deepening a mindset of dependency? How do I give people HOPE?

Hope Enterprise, the Koshe Project, All 4 Christ, Women at Risk... the list of organizations seems endless. The many service opportunities here are keeping me busy, and between serving enjira (the local food) at Hope Enterprise and playing games with the girls at the Koshe Project, spare time is spent with friends: drinking cups of sweet coffee with Meetu, playing soccer with Hermela, discussing politics with Adonai... It's a blessing getting to spend time really investing in relationships and getting to work with some of the volunteer organizations...

But the more I hear stories of locals, the more I question what seems to be a mindset of dependency. It seems like there are a million and six organizations helping people to get food, to get education... but how can we stop the problems at the root? The issues are so complex that it's dizzying trying to consider what might be a solution.

Yet there is hope. Organizations like one I visited yesterday, called Women at Risk, helps empower women to help themselves. It gives former prostitutes education a means of providing for themselves through learning how to weave. For the next month, I'll be spending some time working with Women at Risk and attempting to learn more about the issues particularly surrounding women's rights. Because the question gnaws at me: How do I give hope?

Common Ground

Dieting tips, calorie counts, and health advice become white noise as Rumana dumps spoonfulls of sugar into the coffee cups... The irony of Western television in the midst of the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Rumana tells us about her family, about her religion, and about local politics. Most of her friends, she explains, are back home in Eritrea. She pulls her headscarf over her forehead and fans the coffee pot as she speaks. "Studied Psychology," she says. We find common ground and laugh as we mention Piaget and Freud. She says she's read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. This 21-year old friend I've made is so relatable, so intelligent, and yet the hope of finding of job seems dire for her at the moment. She's done with school and hopes to get her masters degree, but needs to save up money to do so. In the mean time, it's a waiting game.

The story seems so common- what is the solution for the women who so often seem to be stuck in this waiting game? No work, little money.. what to do?

View of Addis Ababa

Making friends

Three Cups of Coffee

As we stand up, the elderly woman's brow furls and she motions towards the clay pot. A man sitting across from me translates- "Ethiopian ceremony-more coffee.." He holds up three fingers. I glance at the empty cup in front of me- "I'm sorry.." Amanda, Glen, and I shake the hands of the men sitting across from us, attempting to compensate for our rudeness. "So sorry- late. Need to go.." I pull my guitar onto my back and step onto the street, grateful that the rain has paused. We hurry around the puddles, hoping that the team won't mind our tardiness to the usual 8pm meeting. After all, 40 minutes is not so late here..

Still, I consider the events of the last 2 hours: Being invited into the grinning girl's home, noticing shot glasses beneath the Jesus posters that covered the metal, realizing that the home was also a local bar... The sound of the monsoon pouring down.. Pulling out my guitar and beginning to play worship songs.. Did they realize worship had begun during their usual night cap? Watching the roasting and grinding of the beans... the adding of sugar, stirring, waving the smoke, clipping herbs.. and finally sipping coffee.

Addis Week One

Salamno!!

That's hello in Amharic, one of the 80 official languages in Ethiopia. We arrived safely here around 6am on Saturday morning and, now, with nearly four days under my belt, have had a sweet introduction to the area. It was a sleepy Easter Sunday, though one of the most awake and lively Chruch services I've ever been to- dancing, loud music, excitement! Monday, we got a feel for the bus and taxi system here and explored the city.. Tuesday I worked with the Koshe project- a program to assist girls who previously worked in a garbage dump here in Addis.. And today we worked at the "Hope" food dispensary, and got to hang out with so many kids. I love it thus far. Another bonus: so much good fruit!! Mangoes, bananas, avocados.. And coffee!!! yeah!

Please keep us in your prayers as we continue the journey here in Ethiopia!

Much love

You Know the Drill

I flip up the tray table and shove my worn leather purse under the seat in front of me before the words ring throughout the A3-30: "As a reminder, please fasten your seatbelts and stow all carry-ons to prepare for takeoff." The flight attendant speaks again, and as per her suggestion, I "sit back and relax" but as I begin to enjoy the sweet solitude of my thoughts, this need to reminisce settles in me... It's all so familiar- I slipped off my shoes at Security, killed time scanning magazings at an airport shop, watched my luggage as I sat in the boxy Gate seats, stood in line to board the plane...

Upon arrival in the plane, I find my seat and oh! Luck! The flight attendants left goodies! As I unwrap my blue blanket (taking care not to get shocked by the static as I toss it over my jeans), anticipation rises... Who'll it be today? Five minutes pass... could it be?? A free seat next to me?! I pray that no straggler will come runnings on, searching for seat 32B. At last, the "click" shut of the aircraft quells my fears and an accented voice overhead waelcomes me. Yes, the greatest of my fears has passed- not even the turbulent take-off can flip my stomach anymore. It's actually comforting to hear the familiar voice overhead, "This is your captain speaking..." Hoorah hoorah! My Captain!! It's good to hear  from you old friend! Indeed, "My captain speaking" has taken me all over the globe in the last 7 months... From the smell of sweat seeping into an India-bound plane in September, to a 3am offer of salty porridge en-route to Hong Kong, to a sleep-filled winter flight to Germany, I never could have imagined that I'd be starting at the "Ethiopian Air" logo on the seatback screen in front of me.

But here I am.

And why is it that I find myself flying to yet another continent? I have but one thing on my mind: I want to know the love of G-d more deeply. It seems that along-side all the familiarity of flying, there's something different in me this time: a renewed conviction that "the kingdom of G-d is within me." I flew to India with hopes to gain spiritual knowledge, and I left for Germany wanting to know G-d more. This year has taken me across the globe, yet one thing is clearer than ever: Truth is within me. The last couple of weeks, the speakers in Herrnhut talked about knowing the power within me and knowing that G-d is individual, and wants a real, personal relationship. Indeed, focusing on constant prayer this past week has reminded me of the peace that comes through Jesus. The G-d of the Universe wants a relationship with me! Thinking back to December, I remember a conversation that challenged me more than ever before...

"Jesus didn't come  to say, 'worship me,'" Thor stated, he came to say, 'seek after this enlightened state that I've found.' It's not about an external G-d. No, it's all in you." Something in the way this dred-clad man in India said it made me question everything- who is Jesus? Is G-d personal? Is there a G-d? For the first time in my life, I let these questions sink deeply and penetrate not just my mind, but my spirit. And I was left, broken. What came out of it though, was priceless. I had the conviction that no one can tell me what truth is but ME. I realized that the answers I was seeking weren't going to come from a conversation with a guru in India, or even from talking to Christian friends back home. No, I wanted an understanding of G-d that is beyond the knowledge that circular theological conversations could bestow.

And this is precisely it. As people, we constantly seek knowledge without understanding. It's simply in our nature. Take the story of Adam and Eve: The serpant offers them knowledge, saying, "'G-d knows that when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil...' When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was... desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it." And when she took the fruit, indeed, she could see like G-d. She had knowledge like G-d, but lacked the understanding of the knowledge implied. Fast forward to Jesus' time, and as Matthew 13 explains, Jesus talked to many different people about the kingdom of G-d. He bestowed knowledge on so many. But one verse is more confusing. Jesus says to the disciples, "'The knowledge of th secrets of the kindgdom has been given to you, but not to them....'" The passage goes on to say, "Through seeing they do not see, through hearing they do not hear or understand." It seems odd ... but who did Jesus say has the true knowledge? His disciples. The ones who had a relationship with him. So what does this mean? It means that it's not just about an intellectual knowledge of G-d, but a relationship with G-d. As O'Malley put it (paraphrased), so often we try to know about G-d, when we really want to know G-d. This is the conclusion I came to in India: no one telling about G-d can satisfy my need to know G-d. Ultamitely, this seems to be the central point of life: know G-d. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit, they wanted to know about G-d. But in reality, they were already standing in the Garden of Eden, where they could have known G-d by looking around (this last point is paraphrased from Bill Haardt's!! book, The Virgin Point- check it out)! Signs of G-d's protection and love were all around them. It seems that Jesus is saying this same message: "the kingdom of G-d is within you" (Luke 17:21). What we need is a relationship with G-d! Then we can gain a "peace of G-d that transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:7). Yes, I will still have questions about my faith and about G-d. But as I seek both knowledge AND relationship with G-d, there will be a peace that transcends my mental capacity to know about G-d. The peace at our core that Ignatian theology would describe as consolation- from G-d.

I can keep traveling. I can go to every nation and ask theological questions and hope that someone will give me peace in what I don't understand. But the reality is that every time I get on a plane, someone is going to come over the PA with these words, "This is your captain speaking." Because (apologies in advance for the somewhat cheesy metaphor..) it's in the journey that G-d is with us, wanting us to know Him(/Her) more and drawing me closer. Sure, knowledge might come in the destination, but it's about a constant journey with G-d that will bring the peace that transcends our hearts and minds. May peace be the journey! "This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ" (Sir Francis Drake). Cool runnings!!!