Ethiopia

I am not able to post pictures on Facebook due to slow connection, but I can post a few on here!

Yep, this is me, trying to do a traditional dance...in front of everyone...first night out with friends too!  Thanks again to Jess and Jonathan for moving and giving us those seats so that I would get picked to go up on stage.  You never know just when you are going to get a chance to make a fool out of yourself!  Might as well take them when you can!

Here is the group (Terry took the picture) at the Celebration of Epiphany.  Epiphany is the day that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus during His baptism and God spoke.  Ethiopians put on a huge spread for this holiday.  Where the celebration was held had thousands and thousands of people there.  To date that was the largest group of people I have ever seen!

Almaz (Rob's beautiful new bride), Colin, me, Terry and Yosi at the restaurant our first night out.

 

Thank you again to all our supporters.  We will be here till Wednesday and then we will head to our new home in Uganda.  We are excited and looking forward to setting up our new home and starting our adventure there. 

Just a Jump Across the Puddle

Well we made it to Ethiopia!  YAY!!  We left Tuesday afternoon and had a nine hour flight to Frankfurt, Germany.  The flight was great!  There were so many empty seats that all of us had our own row.  Colin and Terry were able to have four seats to themselves and got to stretch out and sleep if they wanted.  We watched movies and ate way too much air plan food.  We had a short layover in Germany and then we were on the last flight to Ethiopia.  That was a great flight as well, just a bit more full.  We got into Addis at 9:00 pm, around lunch time on Wednesday in TX, and were sleeping soundly by 11:00.  We woke up and had breakfast and then talked for an hour or so and then I just couldn't do it any longer.  I went back to bed and slept for three more hours.  I have never had to deal with jet lag like this, so this is kicking my backside.  I really think I could go back to bed, but I know if I do that I won't be able to sleep tonight.
On our way home from lunch today Colin was told that hyenas like to hang out at the dump.  So tonight's entertainment will include all of us loading up into the Land Cruzer and heading to the dump to go see the hyenas!  I hope to get some good pictures and maybe some video of that trip. 
We are going to meet with Jess and Jonathan, a couple that we got to meet while they stayed in Paint Rock and are now in Addis.  I think Jonathan is going to join in on the hyena hunting this evening.  I guess you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the boy!
Thanks again for all the prayers as we started our adventure.  I have to think that the reason everything went so smoothly was due to the prayers that were being sent up for us.  God is so great and we feel so blessed to be called on this wonderful journey. 

Trusting in Him

God is infinitely wise and all His acts are done in perfect wisdom.  When God asked Ronnie and me to move to Uganda and drill wells, He already knew the outcome of that decision, and He knew what would happen to us through that action and how our decision would affect others.  We can be sure that God, being perfectly wise, knows the best possible way to accomplish HIS purposes.  He does not have to guess at any outcome. To God, NOTHING is a surprise.  We trust that whatever happens as a result of our obedience is part of God’s perfect plan, and we are doing the part He has called us to do.  We recognize that He is our sovereign Lord.  Therefore, if God chooses to use Ronnie and me to bring glory to Himself through our life and our deaths then He can do it, and we are thrilled that He chooses to use us at all.  We have no idea what will ultimately come of our moving to Africa.  We hope that we can have a long and fruitful life, raise a family, and have a thriving ministry, but God may use us to bring glory to Himself in some other way, a way that doesn’t appear to be very glamorous or comfortable – and we are okay with that.  One thing we have learned about God over the last few months is that He does not do anything or call us to do anything that is not for our good or the good of others.  Every time God asks us to obey, He does so for our own good and well-being.  We find a lot of comfort in God’s wisdom and goodness, because we can be sure that whatever the outcome of our moving far from home, it is part of God’s perfect plan.  If God has asked us to go then He is responsible for us.  “With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack?  Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.”