tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36815530399002722772024-02-19T05:44:54.546+03:00DeeAtGraceDeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-35165148487962222822012-06-13T08:30:00.001+03:002012-06-13T08:30:55.852+03:00Grateful<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out with some mothers in our<br />
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Today we celebrate 6 years since we first arrived in Ethiopia. I look back on the last 6 years with its many ups and downs. How far we have come! I am blown away with all that has been accomplished, the people we have met, the lives I am privileged to know. I am blown away. Not in a million years would I have comprehended all God had for us in the journey. I am humbled and grateful beyond words that he chose our family. Completely grateful. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lydia at 8yrs old feeding Marcie's<br />
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I heard a great sermon on Sunday called ‘What’s your problem?’The speaker spoke about problems not really being problems at all, but an important part of fulfilling the dream. His dream of having a wife and family did not envision 2am nappy changes. But it is PART OF THE DREAM. We often want the victory, not realising or willing to see that we need to have victory over something first. Just as a farmer cannot receive a harvest without the Ox first ploughing the field. I loved this analogy as it so relates to life here for majority of Ethiopians.</div>
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It is so good for us to get out of our own headspace and look around. Once we have the dream, we can so easily look at stretching times as problems, when they really do not have to be problems. If we embrace them and ‘count them as joy’, have the perspective that they are what we signed up for OR a growing opportunity to get to where our dreams lie, then our attitudes can so much more easily reflect joy and gratefulness for ALL that we have. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So grateful for my princess Berhani </td></tr>
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I want to be more like that, always. </div>
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I am so grateful for the life that we are living. Sometimes when 'problems' arrive, and I am tired and drained or have too much on my plate, I can so quickly say ‘I didn’t sign up for this’, but if I stop and think, I realize that I did in fact sign up for this. This is part of the dream. I have wanted this dream for as long as I can remember.</div>
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And what is more amazing than living my dream. The thought that if God has done ALL THIS in the last 6 years, beyond anything I could have fathomed, what must lie ahead!?</div>
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What are you grateful for?</div>
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Have you forgotten that your problem can be part of your victory, an important part of fulfilling your dream? </div>
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Dee xx</div>
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ALSO, JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT ON MONDAY 18<sup>th</sup> OF JUNE THIS BLOG IS MOVING TO <a href="http://www.gracecentres.org/">www.gracecentres.org</a>. It comes with a revived Grace Centre Website that it easier to use! I encourage you to sign up on the new blog if you would like to continue to take this journey with us. God bless and thank you so much. x<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First photo with the directors and our families together</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace long term volunteers!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hanging out with some of the staff from Grace<br />
that we are so blessed to know!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This photo was taken on the day our first baby 'Hope' died. It was an unbearably sad day. From it, was birthed 'Hope Memorial Clinic', a health centre that serves hundreds of families.</td></tr>
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</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-69405397517672868622012-05-23T21:57:00.000+03:002012-05-23T22:20:08.762+03:00Let It Rain. Let It Rain. Let It Rain!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Today’s blog comes with a plea for prayer and an expectation that God will move. A couple of weeks ago I posted photos on my facebook of the kids celebrating the rainy season beginning. They ran around and splashed in puddles and had a shower in the pouring rain. Since then it had rained only once. The weather has been so hot and dry, but not much rain. This is a concern. A much a bigger concern than watching my garden die.</div>
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The Amhara region in Ethiopia is largely responsible for producing much of the countries staple produce. There is a great concern that the rainy season has not properly started. In saying ‘great concern’ I mean <i>huge desperate concern.</i></div>
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This morning we sat together in the Grace HQ lounge room with our leaders as we do each morning at 9am ready to start our day in prayer. Worku our Senior Social Worker came with a burdened heart. The burden for his mother’s village and the surrounding areas who were desperate for rain. The village people are so worried that they are calling a day of fasting and prayer. No food or entertainment. A day dedicated to seeking God’s face and believing that He will move and bring the rain. We are going to join with them and fast that day and believe that God will move!</div>
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So we prayed this morning that God would send the rain. Today we saw Him move as we watched the clouds come over and received the heaviest rain we have had this year! What an answer to prayer, what an encouragement! The clouds have again past over, but we are believing that God will continue to send the rain. This is just the beginning!</div>
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We ask that you please join us in praying for rain for the areas of Ethiopia that need it. Pray that enough rain would come and crops would grow full and well. That God will be glorified and hearts would be turned towards Him.</div>
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I’ll keep you updated!</div>
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Dee x<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-76576863996805305832012-05-11T23:22:00.000+03:002012-05-11T23:22:02.189+03:00A Part of Her Life. A Part of the Miracle!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The other day I was walking to work and my heart was overcome with so much joy as I saw Tigist approaching me in the distance. She was heading from Grace to the nearby clinic to pick up her TB meds. To the normal eye at first sight, one may be horrified at her frail, skeletal body. But to me she was FAT and BEAUTIFUL! How could I think this? Only 4 months before, Tigist and her daughter Hiwot were very close to death. </div>
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Many prayers were said and tears shed as it looked like they were not going to make it. </div>
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Tigist was brought to Grace by a kind Ethiopian man who had been at the hospital visiting his mother and saw Tigist and Hiwot in the frightening position they were in, with no money to cover their costs. He came ready to plead with Grace to do something. Anything. </div>
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Being transferred to Grace’s ‘Hope Clinic’ with a fulltime nurse and carer by her side, Tigist, about 25yrs old, started at a mere 25kgs! Each day she continued to put on weight began to heal inside and out. But the miracle does not stop there. Hiwot, her 4 yr old daughter who had almost died of malaria and malnutrition when she first came to us, is now thriving and has found a permanent place in all our hearts at Grace! Each day she paints our faces with smiles as we are greeted with her love, enthusiasm and giggles every day. </div>
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They have found ‘family’ through Grace. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tigist and Hiwot. Their smiles say it all!</td></tr>
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Today Tigist greeted me with her arms outstretched and said ‘Nay, Arkist Dee’('come here Aunty') just as her daughter Hiwot does and gave me the biggest hugs and a kiss on the cheek and told me she loved me. How blessed are we to serve these people! How blessed are we to be able to have a part to play in their precious lives.</div>
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I am privileged and so very humbled to be able to meet and speak to and love on these families in person, but without YOU it would be impossible. Seriously... IMPOSSIBLE. </div>
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I want to thank you with all that I am, for supporting us and Grace with your prayers, financial support and aid and donations. </div>
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I know Tigist and Hiwot thank you with their smiles, thank you FOR their smiles. They are so grateful for life itself.</div>
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<o:p>Again THANK YOU for being His light. His hands and feet. His heartbeat Thank you.</o:p></div>
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<o:p>Dee x</o:p></div>
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</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-21214170326749989162012-04-16T00:51:00.000+03:002012-04-16T07:44:53.019+03:00Happy Easter- Melkam Fasika!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">It was Easter in Ethiopia this weekend, a week later than the rest of the world. Here it is called Fasika. I love Easter in Ethiopia. Actually it is my most favourite time of year here. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little Salam poses for photo on Good Friday</td></tr>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Most Ethiopian Orthodox Christians finish a 55 day fast on the morning of Fasika (precisely 3am in the morning). The last 3 days before Fasika, many strict Orthodox will not eat anything or drink any liquids at all. They will spend as much time as possible at church praying so that they </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">can feel closer to God. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Easter in Ethiopia. There is so much opportunity to share God’s love and have a response of understanding and desire to really know Him. Many hearts are turned to Christ and are open to His sacrifice.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">We held an Easter program on Friday for our families at Grace. At the end we showed the Jesus film. Most of the mothers had never seen his life brought to life like this. They do not have TV's nor watch films. It really moved me to look into so many mothers eyes as they left, seeing that they were REALLY so very grateful for what their Savior had done for them. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">Thank you Jesus for all you have done. Your sacrifice was not in vain.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #333333; font-family: "Tahoma","sans-serif";">He made the ultimate sacrifice so we would truly know Him and know His love. Let’s not forget about the many who are still yet to know His life changing sacrifice.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mothers and children watching the Jesus film </td></tr>
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</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-9947032416649637342012-03-07T17:35:00.000+03:002012-03-07T17:35:52.302+03:00Step Forward!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Some days it is hard to step up and be all I am expected to be. Like today, I want to run and hide. I want to go back to being the person who has responsibilities only for my husband and children. And some days even that is a challenge. I don’t want to have to be confident and bold and to be seen... and criticized. Today I cannot see what Jesus sees in me, why He picked me for this extraordinary life, the extraordinary opportunity to speak into peoples’ lives. I want to disappear. </div>
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Do you ever have days like that?</div>
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So I took my heart to God today. “I don’t know what you see in me. Can you please show me... again?” I turned to my bible for answers, for his love, his redemption and what I needed to hear.</div>
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In Mark 3:3 the words in red on the page stood out to me. “And he said to the man with the withered hand “<span style="color: red;">Step forward</span>”. I went back and read from verse 1 all the way through. And read again. I could not get my eyes off the words STEP FORWARD. I so related to the man with the withered hand, with all my imperfections and shortcomings. Jesus was asking ME to step forward. </div>
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All of a sudden the answer became very clear. I knew it well, had lived it well, but through circumstances, daily life and self-pity, I had taken my eyes off the answer. HIM. It was not about- MY Ability, MY Strength, MY Godliness. </div>
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It is about HIM. </div>
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It is about Obedience. Obedience to STEP FORWARD. He is the healer, He is the redeemer, He is what is needed. All I am asked to do is to step forward so I can be used. Used to be able to display His miraculous power, His Love, HIS ABILITY. He will use my withered hand or whatever I have <i>on hand</i> that I consider imperfect.</div>
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<strong><i><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians+12:9&version=NIV">2 Corinthians 12:9</a></span></i></strong><i><br />But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in <b>weakness</b>.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my <b>weakness</b>es, so that Christ’s power may rest on me<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Today, I encourage you to Step Forward. All of heaven is waiting on you to STEP FORWARD. No ‘buts’, no thoughts of your inabilities, because....it is not about you, it is not about me. It’s about Him. It’s about why he came. It’s about the lost and their need to find Him. </div>
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It’s time to move our butts forward. It’s time. He's calling you to “STEP FORWARD”</div>
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</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-47352032867449382432012-02-21T13:33:00.000+03:002012-02-21T13:33:09.770+03:00This Story Has To Be Told!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo">You know how when you meet someone so extraordinary, or something happens in your life that is so compelling, so out there that you can’t help but want to share it? How can you not! That’s how I have felt about Workinesh and her daughter Shashi. The change in their lives has been so amazing it is hard to believe unless you have seen it with your own eyes. The change has been so impacting, I wanted you to know about it too. A story like this can’t be left untold.</div><div class="mobile-photo"><br />
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</div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal">Last week I sat in Workinesh’s home as she made coffee and we celebrated Shashi’s 2nd birthday. We sat and reminisced, she shared her story with those that had not yet heard.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first day we met Workinesh and her children </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Baby Shashi and her twin sister were brought to us 2 years ago. They were 4 weeks old, weighing 2 kgs each. Their grandmother brought them in, she feared for their lives, she knew that they would be dead soon. We were told that their mother, Workinesh, was at home very sick and unable to care for the children. Workinesh today tells us that neighbours had stopped asking how she was, but would only walk in to check if she had died yet. Workinesh remembers laying on the bed while the children slept on the dirt floor. She waited for them to die before she did. She said that if she did not hear a noise for a while she would think <strong>‘oh good, they are dead, it is better this way as they are starving’</strong>. Workinesh never once breastfed her babies, she was far too sick after giving birth. Their grandmother would beg from neighbours for milk for the first month, until she came to her daughter one day and said, "If these children stay with us, they are dead, can we at least give them for adoption so that they might live."</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So we found the twins, their older brother and grandmother at Grace’s gate in need of much help. We visited Workinesh and found her close to death, we spoke about the medical help she needed, and about the care of her children. We offered to take the children into temporary care until she was strong enough to take them back. Looking at her, it was an obvious concern of the ‘what if’s’ that were left unspoken. There is always hope, especially when God is involved, and more than that, there can be miracles when God is involved. And over the next year we watched one in front of our very eyes. But not without loss...<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Very shortly after the twins came to us Shahsi’s sister passed away. She was HIV+, and struggled to gain weight. It was a sad loss. We visited Workinesh regularly and told her of Shashi’s progress. Sister Ababu was so diligent at bringing Workinesh to all her appointments and making sure she took her meds and ate right.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><strong>I think there are 2 kinds of miracles in life, both God given and God breathed. Both are God’s amazing ability not our own. Sometimes we have to work hard to see it happen and sometimes we do nothing at all, but the outcome is always only in God’s hands. This miracle took prayer, faith, diligence and determination</strong>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">The first time Workinesh was healthy enough to hold Shashi again was amazing. Everyone present could not believe the amazing change in Workinesh, nor could she believe the amazing change in Shashi, the daughter she thought she would never hold.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Today Workinesh tells the story of when Shashi was first reunited with her, 1 year and 2 months after she came to grace. The relatives did not believe it. They had all presumed Shashi was dead or in a foreign country, never to be seen again. A huge party was thrown in Shashi’s honour, a celebration of a child that they thought was lost, but very much alive and in her mother’s arms!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">To look into Workinesh’s eyes, they are full of such love, admiration and pure joy for her daughter. And there is such a sweet, sweet bond. It is a beautiful thing to behold.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I look at Workinesh’s life, and feel such honour to have met her, to have been able to play a part in keeping her family together. I see the bond of a mother and daughter, who against all odds are happy and expectant of the future, and seeing this, I know that there is hope for all of us!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dee<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Workinesh overjoyed to see her daughter Shashi.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZuhtlckghCbH73tmRL9dFMBor5c3nkgcKL15JykEXKzQ5BW-F31PH9yWg8IbCSrOoopItP7Hw4DhQxef1Ck5tkmZ70ZrscSKwjdzgDs9EQx5pR-7CROWGgQvnTEWgRgex6dARcbeB7hZw/s1600/thailand+abd+monkey's+at+park+214+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZuhtlckghCbH73tmRL9dFMBor5c3nkgcKL15JykEXKzQ5BW-F31PH9yWg8IbCSrOoopItP7Hw4DhQxef1Ck5tkmZ70ZrscSKwjdzgDs9EQx5pR-7CROWGgQvnTEWgRgex6dARcbeB7hZw/s400/thailand+abd+monkey's+at+park+214+-+Copy.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Celebrating Shashi's 2nd birthday</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-85606400151391753122012-01-05T17:49:00.001+03:002012-01-19T21:11:03.409+03:00Wow. What a month. Wow. What a year.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">January 1, 2012</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">After a week of settling back into home here, we entered our crazy life, catching up on the last 3 months and awaited decisions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Many new faces greeted us. New young mothers and a few new employees at Grace. A lot happens in 3 months, whether we are present or not, there is need, and hope is found through Grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>First day back</b>... The first day back at Grace, I found myself choking back tears throughout the day. I dove straight back into the thick of it with a hospital trip to see 2 young Grace kids. One little boy had his appendix out. I stood shocked at the sight of his frail skeleton body. He was a young healthy boy three months before. The stench of the hospital made me want to throw up. It smelt the same as always, the smell of body odour, old blood, filth and urine. Tears welled up as I heard sister Ababu in a cheery voice say ‘oh, I am happy, it is cleaner today’. I couldn’t see ‘clean’. I could smell was death and rot and see grot and old bloody sheets that had not been changed for days. <i> </i>I could feel the hopelessness and desperate need around me and it was overwhelming. I felt incapable and inadequate to my calling, and I needed fresh air. I needed to breathe. And when I did...breathe....I realised it was all a part of transition and re-entry. This site and occasion was no different from any other hospital visit, but after three months in Australia, I was no longer immune or used the sights of poverty that hit me in the chest and left me breathless as today.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">We walked into the paediatric ward, with a courtyard of visiting family members. Each time we go, we discreetly keep our eyes open for situations that may need our assistance. Sometimes the nursing staff will alert Sister Ababu. It may be a desperate mother who cannot pay her bill. Sometimes it may be children who are there with a terminally ill mother but the young children have nowhere to sleep. The extreme illnesses of the children is the most heart breaking of all. Children with illnesses like asthma or pneumonia in Australia can easily access medical help and can regain health quickly. Here these illnesses are often life threatening. My gaze skims the room. A little girl of about two sits on the bed moaning in pain. Her legs so swollen she cannot walk. Another small child, his chest so swollen breathing heavily, waiting for heart surgery, but unable to get it. A little 3 year old girl, her rectum sitting out of her anus screaming in pain. Kidist asked the mother how long she had been like that until they came to the hospital that day. “One month” she replied, (big breath...moving on). The little girl we came to visit, sits lethargic with her little sunken eyes staring at us. She had had diarrhoea and been vomiting for three days. This seems less of a concern than the other children in the ward, but we have seen children die from simple things like this. Sister Ababu spent years working in paediatrics at the hospital before we were blessed to have her work for us. She is well known and has the approval to walk in and attend our beneficiaries. She attends to baby Eyerus, inserting her IV and getting her settled. We prayed for Eyerus and her mother, and left. A couple of weeks later, Eyerus is doing much better and is back in Baby Day Care healthy and well. </span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Two weeks on</b>... We are feeling more grounded and at home. I am blown away with the opportunity we have to make a difference and impact the world around us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>In just the last week</b>-</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">-We found a very sick mother and premi baby in a house in need of admission into hospital. It was a close call and the mother may have died if it was not for Sister Ababu’s intervention. Mother and child are doing well and have made much improvement in 24hours.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">It is amazing how close to life and death we are here<b>.</b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">We really need to appreciate <b>every minute</b> of <b>every day</b>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">- Grace Children’s Home celebrated with a Christmas party for the kids. Lots of fun, laughter and joy. Watching the children open gifts (donated by Lara Knight and the New York Mothers volunteer group www.mama-love.org), some children opening gifts for the first time in their lives. At a time where many children may be feeling loss, we are able also bring love. </span><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ15xtdYRUvSWGv4SOg7K-MBkkgVtnUA_igTQpFAAmgjT1O8zFojcNtlxSwhF39pYZkW09ScBDelY2bK0BehGKVXdba7z5yP84cIICaRXZScuM_JufnZReq1tTopBa14_eICKIqjfXufvv/s1600/December+Grace+special+needs+Christmas+194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ15xtdYRUvSWGv4SOg7K-MBkkgVtnUA_igTQpFAAmgjT1O8zFojcNtlxSwhF39pYZkW09ScBDelY2bK0BehGKVXdba7z5yP84cIICaRXZScuM_JufnZReq1tTopBa14_eICKIqjfXufvv/s320/December+Grace+special+needs+Christmas+194.JPG" width="213" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">-We were also able to bring Christmas presents to the Special Needs School. It was the first time for me to visit the class, I was moved to tears and so appreciative to be part of the special time, and to witness firsthand the joy seen on the children’s faces.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">-Grace helped facilitate a 5 day Voluntary Counselling and HIV Testing course, thanks to Milli, a nurse from the US, volunteering with Grace.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-size: large;">-Kidsit and Worku left on a road trip in hopes to reunite a little boy with his father.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3NyYQRki2PIfL1d-RO_1hHuNv6R1o9JOQhwh2zYgDTX_kJmqmq8EPH3KOLxkItgpwsH13GgHJaHK1jUv14MAbA7Y4ugMmCRVfH104NfQCn_WETGbOw32trnztD1IIcR2WGpb6kMMjHFq/s1600/training+day+Dec+2011+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 282px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 319px;"><img border="0" height="212" nfa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3NyYQRki2PIfL1d-RO_1hHuNv6R1o9JOQhwh2zYgDTX_kJmqmq8EPH3KOLxkItgpwsH13GgHJaHK1jUv14MAbA7Y4ugMmCRVfH104NfQCn_WETGbOw32trnztD1IIcR2WGpb6kMMjHFq/s320/training+day+Dec+2011+007.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-size: large;">-Melishew held a one day training for 40 Grace Centre Day Care and Kitchen Assistant staff. It was a great way to spend the last day of 2011, and step into the New Year, being inspired and equipped. Melishew had the opportunity to learn many things during the 3 months in Australia and she was eager to share it with the rest of the ladies and see positive things being implemented in the centres. It was exciting to see Melishew implementing what she had learnt, and more exciting seeing the ladies excited about what they had learnt from her.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">In the last couple of months we have had new children come into Temporary care, referred to us by Woman Affairs. Children who have been abandoned or had parents die. This has left us with little space, but much opportunity to love more children that very much need it, and a big reminder that we need to build a bigger place to enable the children to sleep, eat, learn, love, grow and play in a home that has enough room.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">We are anticipating a great 2012! January will start us off with 3 groups coming to Grace. One from America and 2 from Australia. The American group, lead by Millie McCarty, will run a 5 day training program for newly graduated psychologists from around Ethiopia, some people from other local NGO’s and our 2 social workers, Kidist and Worku. Grace Centre is proud to be able to offer this training to the community as it is our goal to not just equip people at Grace, but the community around us. By building bridges and joining hands, more can be done for those in need. Leith Harding, who brings a team at least every year (more commonly every 6 months) comes with a bunch of enthusiastic volunteers. It is always a pleasure to have Leith and Zed with us, they are very much family and a great support to all that is being done at Grace. Leith will also be involved in selecting a psychologist that QUT Australia has funded for Grace.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">With the New Year in, it brings excitement and expectation. At Grace, we are so expectant of great things this year. We are expectant that God will do above and beyond, prayers will be answered, lives will be changed, mothers and families will be equipped, budgets will be met, and goals will be fulfilled. We want to thank you for your ongoing support. Support through your prayers, through your sponsorship, your donations, your encouragement, and support through simply taking an interest in what is happening through Grace. Thank you for remembering the poor and needy, the fatherless and the forgotten. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">May God truly bless your year this year!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;">Dee and Andrew x</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI3NyYQRki2PIfL1d-RO_1hHuNv6R1o9JOQhwh2zYgDTX_kJmqmq8EPH3KOLxkItgpwsH13GgHJaHK1jUv14MAbA7Y4ugMmCRVfH104NfQCn_WETGbOw32trnztD1IIcR2WGpb6kMMjHFq/s1600/training+day+Dec+2011+007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-20155780906283089802011-11-15T14:52:00.000+03:002011-11-15T14:52:53.189+03:00Why We Do What We Do!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">So we are heading back to Ethiopia in two weeks. I have had some time to do some reflecting, not a lot (5 kids etc, that’s life), but have been asking myself why I do what I do. Many people have asked me this too. And I have found myself asking this question several times being back in the land of plenty. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Coming back here, there are a lot of things I can see that stare me in the face. Things that our kids miss out on being in Ethiopia, for example, an excellent education, a passionate youth group, English church, the social aspect of a class room full of children to do life with, resources, the beautiful beach, family, close friends, air-conditioning, clean roads, good hospitals... the list obviously goes on and on, but you get the point. So it is natural that I have been weighing up pros and cons of our choices we make for our family.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">... so I started listing some of the reasons we do what we do...</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">1. If I can see a need and can do something about fixing it, why wouldn’t I? I am someone who has gets irritated listening to people who complain about something that is not working, but do not have any helpful solutions to fix it. What is the use of saying ‘it’s not working’ when everyone can see the obvious. Right? <b>Let’s be a part of the answer!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">2. I don’t fit, and I don’t want to. I think we can spend most of our lives trying to fit into what society says what we should be, how we should act, what we should do. We care about what people think of us. When really, we should be living out our lives to a one man audience, and be all that God wants us to be, not what society expects us to be.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We spend all this time trying to fit in, when really, we were born to stand out!</span></b><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Mat 5:14-16"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (Message translation)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">3. We see that our kids are getting a better life. This is not so much a reason as a positive outcome. I know my parents would say this is crazy and does not make sense. But it is true. I see all the wonderful things that the kids miss out on, but man they gain so much from living in Ethiopia that this society does not offer. They are exposed to more than most people would be in their whole lives. They understand tolerance and acceptance. And they are not exposed to all the bad stuff kids are interested in- peer pressure, sex, drugs, media, society’s idea of what you should look like etc etc. In living in Ethiopia for 5 years, I was surprised to come back and see 14yr olds looking like 18yr olds, smoking pot and having sex. It’s a crazy world we live in. We are blessed to teach our kids the value of serving others. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">4. I don’t want to live my life as an ‘under dog’, we were all made for greatness! I recently had an interview with a good friend who was doing up a story on me in a past students magazine. I grew up as a very quiet underachiever, and as I told Fiona in the interview, I doubt any one would remember me. I wasn’t someone that people looked at and said “wow she will do great things!” I wanted to believe that I was born for something great, born to make a difference in the world, but didn’t have the confidence that God would see me as that. The great thing is, it doesn’t depend on how great we are, it starts with knowing how great God is, and believing that He will do great things, then stepping up to participate in His greatness. Now as I look at Grace and the people we are in contact with everyday, the responsibly I have, the hand I have in changing peoples’ lives, I can’t help but want my life to say- <b>YOU CAN DO IT TOO!</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">5. There is greater joy in obedience. Your first initial response might be ’yuck, that does not sound fun’. But I have always been a bit of a rule keeper. I see that when rules are bent then the freedom of God’s blessing is restricted. So when God said go, it got to the point that how could we not. We didn’t know what we were jumping into, but just knew where he wanted us to be. And until he says otherwise, Ethiopia is our home. </span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">6. I am selfish. You may wonder how moving to a third world country, giving up finances, friends and family is selfish. For as long as I can remember my heart has been in Africa. I dreamt of helping people in Africa since I was little. Now I am living the dream (granted sometimes the dream goes a little nightmarish). It’s not just about sacrifice; there is also great internal and external reward to the life we are called to. </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I would rather have the moments of nightmare in living my dream, than the nightmare of not living my dream!</span></b><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I feel like I could continue come up with so many reasons, but will close with point 7...</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">...when I was young, real young, I had this recurring dream about a baby lamb walking across wooden planks, he fell into the mud and drowned, I felt so helpless watching and not being able to do anything. It was so disturbing as a child that I would try to re-dream and change the ending. That dream has been with me for almost 30years. I have it deep in me where I cannot be satisfied knowing there are people drowning in life, suffering in a sinful world, I cannot simply stand by and watch, walk by and look another way, do life without trying to do something significant to make a difference. Jesus tells the parable of going out after the one lost lamb in Luke 15:3-7. </span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">There are many one lamb experiences everyday in our lives. And we were not born to simply live our lives. </span></b><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Why do you do what you do?</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Dee x</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmcm1FQgwP4Crn4lIJuULtaPTLOL_c833FbsX2Wp32_XQF3BROpk7C7OKr84G8HeNT_FgCwcp3jf6r-KXqeT8LN4GhMoqPchNJPLJ2w5b5Mwy2dSoD_KxxGIH03HvNcXKIlhoP3t0FIck/s1600/love_in_nature_lambs-797371.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="339" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674866834958288178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZmcm1FQgwP4Crn4lIJuULtaPTLOL_c833FbsX2Wp32_XQF3BROpk7C7OKr84G8HeNT_FgCwcp3jf6r-KXqeT8LN4GhMoqPchNJPLJ2w5b5Mwy2dSoD_KxxGIH03HvNcXKIlhoP3t0FIck/s640/love_in_nature_lambs-797371.jpg" width="640" /></a></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-84537694539758410532011-10-29T02:41:00.000+03:002011-10-29T02:41:34.905+03:00Special Needs. Special Kids. Special Times!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><strong>Wonderful things have been happening at Grace in the last month!!</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I received emails from Cheryl and Kate last week that set my heart bouncing. For those that don’t know, Kate and Cheryl are part of a wonderful team of long term volunteers at Grace, but also very special friends that I am looking forward to seeing again soon. I was so excited about their update that I just had to share it with you all. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"> </div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjwWN-NswFXbNysOfAtixjLSAGI2cr_4tsYxBeX8GJDtHoojM0Y0oRZTKzjDfgD8oPpCfZyKHWvNSJ3NzJoj8nk6xBzUDoIAs5GWv5G1kMgIWZi9kZBjAir30HQyBTRE-ivJDh7KAZF_S/s1600/IMG_3486.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; height: 223px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 301px;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjwWN-NswFXbNysOfAtixjLSAGI2cr_4tsYxBeX8GJDtHoojM0Y0oRZTKzjDfgD8oPpCfZyKHWvNSJ3NzJoj8nk6xBzUDoIAs5GWv5G1kMgIWZi9kZBjAir30HQyBTRE-ivJDh7KAZF_S/s320/IMG_3486.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In front: Tefare, Gedafew and Abraham in class</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cheryl writes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“I can hardly wait for you guys to come back and see the special needs school and our students that we have sent there. It will make your heart smile. They are all so precious - it makes your day to see them each day so anxiously anticipating their day at school and seeing their excitement when they return. Little Abraham (the little boy with Down's Syndrome that we saw in the streets regularly) is bursting at the seams every morning along with Tefare </i>(young teenage boy with cognitive delays)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and Gedafew </i>(who is mute)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> . The three of them seem to be good buddies. Tefare has assumed the "big brother" role and looks after them. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fantaye's <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(who is 16 and has severe scoliosis as well as cognitive development issues)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> carer said that Fantaye has been so excited after returning from her day at school that she has been calling out the names of other Grace workers at afterschool care. She said that she has never seen her do that before. Nati </i>(6 year old who is Autistic)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is still settling in. It takes him a little time to settle in each day, but when asked he went to the black board on the second day and wrote on the board with the teacher as she reviewed some amharic letters...</i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuP_axBSut5ImDttS8DQKnzwW8DltHBktOdLfLGB02HFiiGYMJh6hC4tYVco2_ZD0r7btCqyEA4DwgXO2cSmxUoLIYXfrvc_fMr4dUyNtfU9pQzxKWZiQeYDRZfJUawaLDHhrAZDXejt9/s1600/IMG_3531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 196px;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAuP_axBSut5ImDttS8DQKnzwW8DltHBktOdLfLGB02HFiiGYMJh6hC4tYVco2_ZD0r7btCqyEA4DwgXO2cSmxUoLIYXfrvc_fMr4dUyNtfU9pQzxKWZiQeYDRZfJUawaLDHhrAZDXejt9/s200/IMG_3531.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fantaye and her carer at school</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">...The school is a government run school, so there is no funding for the special needs program. A man from Holland came and built a block building for the offices and the special needs part of the school along with a playground. The principal has expressed some needs to us. I think that it is good for us to help to an extent as they are taking several of our kids into their program. We got some paper, crayons, exercise books, and a curtain w/ rod (the sun shines right into the window making it quite hot in the room) for their classroom. They have a break time in which they serve tea to the kids. They would like to serve bread as well, but they do not have the funds. With our five students there are now 37 in the classroom. The principal said that many of the students come from poor families and would benefit greatly from some bread at break time as many of them come not having had breakfast. We are meeting with the principal next week to discuss the few things that we can do to help and to invite her to come and tour Grace so that she understands where we are coming from and what we are already doing...”</span></i></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9z6pFF3bdfuWlCrAJynoBaKpZXQhQf5qWneN8IZtJUAKqbdsxRAEb-lTc9a9Y0euScp2GuYTI0ZNsycia5FKMnwBCOcC9EVM0MQKiVlMLQ5QlaA6YdkJ6M7QF9gE2_kBS6d6n-x32gk9/s1600/IMG_3494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; height: 145px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; width: 198px;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9z6pFF3bdfuWlCrAJynoBaKpZXQhQf5qWneN8IZtJUAKqbdsxRAEb-lTc9a9Y0euScp2GuYTI0ZNsycia5FKMnwBCOcC9EVM0MQKiVlMLQ5QlaA6YdkJ6M7QF9gE2_kBS6d6n-x32gk9/s200/IMG_3494.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nati at school with his Grace Carer</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Kate adds <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“It is so beautiful to watch and Cheryl’s heart is beautiful to behold. </i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cheryl has been busy settling the kids into their new school and finding ways we can bless the school – simple things like providing some bread for a snack a couple of days a week, a ream of paper, crayons, some pencils and exercise books and a few reading books. Things that most of our schools take for granted but that bring such smiles to the faces of these kids and their teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is so incredible to see these kids, usually outcast by all, find acceptance and a place to learn...”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Now how fantastic as that!! I am beside myself with joy and cannot wait to see it for myself. To be involved in such a life changing project, to be a part of what God is doing through Grace is so humbling, so rewarding, so amazing. I could not imagine any better place to be, than where God would have us.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To continue the fantasticly busy but blessed month... </span></b></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjjNHuBBLRnh8jkDMIhmQuus9mpQPvwjQJzuvfJsPwmGpudbTTQ55qfUBncjsflzdopJXQDGgS8hNG5Fb8mUCjBhiRZ90iTPxTjdkeBP56qJ_Vkn3hbft7zDW_daDoJnBsLKRjvqrHR2c/s1600/303055_1569480373787_1738808485_819474_915881691_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjjNHuBBLRnh8jkDMIhmQuus9mpQPvwjQJzuvfJsPwmGpudbTTQ55qfUBncjsflzdopJXQDGgS8hNG5Fb8mUCjBhiRZ90iTPxTjdkeBP56qJ_Vkn3hbft7zDW_daDoJnBsLKRjvqrHR2c/s200/303055_1569480373787_1738808485_819474_915881691_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Immanuel team handing out school bags</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jBAx1-qsOboK4Dt6rjA85lmGpFF2gGTKFqz8DRb7xKtwxSja0MeUF3o8xRICs1vgM1f65x5maHWddZ5FKGm25Gyt1gu4L_E8LlPdeiTG9j6A_gN_DWJ9EpXjQ28Y-KE07WTGgO4nCWPO/s1600/319197_1563322819852_1738808485_815596_87923104_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jBAx1-qsOboK4Dt6rjA85lmGpFF2gGTKFqz8DRb7xKtwxSja0MeUF3o8xRICs1vgM1f65x5maHWddZ5FKGm25Gyt1gu4L_E8LlPdeiTG9j6A_gN_DWJ9EpXjQ28Y-KE07WTGgO4nCWPO/s200/319197_1563322819852_1738808485_815596_87923104_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catalyst team standing by the swings they made</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“We were blessed by two special teams of people, one from Catalyst Church in Ipswich, Queensland (16 fantastic people who blessed us, the beneficiaries and staff of Grace and the local people in Bahir Dar in incredible ways) and one from Immanuel Baptist Church in Duncan, Oklahoma (8 amazing people who made us laugh and also blessed all the people they came in contact with)... They accomplished so much in their short time with us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have hot water systems that work in all our centre, a new gate and fence, a great new play area, reinforced play equipment, so many people were blessed with items for their homes and new clothes, our car works, great new shelves, improvements to our small business shop and small business products, kids who have been blessed and had their lives touched by the time invested in them, new backpacks for all our school kids (about 135), an organised aid room and list for our new storeroom manager, surveyed land, held in our clinic, new friends, lots of fun and lots of special blessings for those of us here long term.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t say thank you enough for all they contributed...”</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Wow, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">thank you</b> Catalyst Church, and Immanuel Baptist Church! We so love you guys!</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I want to congratulate Marcie and Sefinew who had a baby girl named Naiomi. We are all thrilled for them and pray for their stay in the US, that they get a well earned rest and have every success in raising awareness and funds that Grace needs, in their 7 months they are in the US.</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At this point I feel like offering a free set of steak knives, because there is more, there is always more as God continues to do great things among his people in Bahir Dar (as well as our own). And I encourage you to get involved, whether it be through prayer, sponsorship, donations big or small, everyone can be a part of making a difference. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Thank you again for being a part of this journey.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri", "sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Love Dee xx</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzU-KF-EYpxWtw0DqaQiXabp34xezSYtr6FOMyOslj_HjdfgDLxjyUL8q9W3muEFQEpNDF1oFExYHFGwyJIwSVLz3h-k_wRRDVKXdKqLq5QF33iY561RWf24jB9eWF9CwWPJBiVcJ5xCDf/s1600/IMG_3541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzU-KF-EYpxWtw0DqaQiXabp34xezSYtr6FOMyOslj_HjdfgDLxjyUL8q9W3muEFQEpNDF1oFExYHFGwyJIwSVLz3h-k_wRRDVKXdKqLq5QF33iY561RWf24jB9eWF9CwWPJBiVcJ5xCDf/s320/IMG_3541.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fantaye and her carer Hamelmal at school</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-54426176805564576332011-10-23T10:12:00.000+03:002011-10-23T10:13:05.081+03:00Australian Adventures<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">With our stay in Australia already more than half way finished, I wanted to make sure I shared some of our journey here with you. I can’t believe it has been 2 months since we have been back, yet at the same time feel that it has been so long since we were at Grace.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So a few highlights...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was a huge highlight to have the kids in school this time. I want to give a huge thank you to Hillcrest Christian College (www.hillcrest.qld.edu.au) for allowing all five of our children to attend a whole term of school. They opened up their hearts and classrooms to us and made our children feel so welcome. As Josh said so well on his last week of term “I feel like this has been the best time in my life”. Thank you so much Mr Keith Francis and Mrs Ruth Burgess for your generous gift and support to our family during our stay. It has been immeasurable. Your generosity humbled us and we feel blessed to find a school with such high excellence in education, Christian ethics and also such an amazing outward focus in the community. Thank you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To have the opportunity to bring Melishew to Australia for 3 months has been tremendous so far. Melishew has been a valuable employee at Grace for more than 4 years, is a founder of Grace Children’s Home, oversees the children’s care in the orphanage, runs the literacy program for our mothers, and helps oversee the day care centres at Grace. She was so brave travelling half way across the world on her own and proved that she could really do anything from there. Hillcrest has also allowed Melishew to observe and learn in Prep and Kindergarten and the teachers and staff have been so willing to help, answering any questions or queries she has had. It has been a great opportunity for her to see for herself the excellence with which education can be delivered and see in practice the children learning so well. She is also studying for a Certificate in Training<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>through LearnMe, a local training orgaisation. We hope to get her as equipped as possible before we head back at the end of November. She cannot wait to get back to Grace in Ethiopia and use the tools she has gained so far. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We have had both some really great speaking engagements, and some really great rest time as a family, special times catching up with some of our ‘Grace families’ who are very dear to us as the children in them had once been at Grace but have now found their forever families.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We were blessed with a week on Stradbroke Island recently. It was an amazing time, so much fun and laughter, sun and sand. It was a very special time baptising Joshua and Melishew, and Sara learnt how to ride a bike. It was a real opportunity of creating memories that last a lifetime for the kids. I want our lives to be that constantly, and the time away really reminded us of this. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our friends who we are staying with have been amazing in opening up their home to us. We are in their 3 bedroom granny flat with a huge yard for the kids to ride bikes and play in. What I am really enjoying is that there are NO cockroaches,</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> I do not miss <em>those</em> little friends in Ethiopia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my highest highlights is being back at Dream Centre, our home church. We have also had the opportunity to spend time with some wonderful church families who support Grace and our family, who have really come alongside and encouraged us, but nothing is like being at home. The kids are all being recharged, God is doing fantastic stuff in their lives too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">To share a few funnies... Sara asked one day, shortly after arriving in Australia, if grapes were alcoholic. Haha, love it, and really, I get it. Mekonnen calls burgers ‘boogers’ and says he doesn’t like the green things in them (pickles). He is also at 5, quite fond of the ‘woobies’. And living on the Gold Coast during summer, there are plenty around. Sara’s first day on the beach was entertaining for all of us, for as soon as she got back into the car, she exclaimed “oh mummy, did you see the man with earrings in his boobies!?” We all just burst out laughing. Life is certainly ‘different’ here to say the least.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have some wonderful news to share about the goings on at Grace while we have been gone, but I will wait to share that in my next blog soon. I can hardly wait to tell you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks everyoe for your love, prayers and support.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Below a just a few photos of our time here....</span></div>
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Lydia with her friend Georgia at school on Sports Day. Both Lydia and Sara were able to experience what real highschool was like for the first time.<br />
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Picking up Melishew at the airport just after midnight.<br />
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Berhani on Stradbroke Island. Gee she makes me smile :)</div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-49391190033544500432011-08-05T23:35:00.002+03:002011-08-05T23:37:17.172+03:00Random things Ethiopia has taught me (good and bad) in the last 5 years<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div><div><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span closure_uid_80ej0i="141" style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">With only one week to go until we return to Australia for 3 months (yay! Our adoption visas were approved!) I thought I would take the opportunity to reflect over the last 5 years we have been in Ethiopia and share my thoughts with you. It has been a journey of great joy and sadness, laughter and tears, sacrifice and reward, hardship and blessing. We have been faced with many struggles and obstacles, yet the whole time never once regretted the decision we made to move here. It has changed us, grown us and blessed us beyond measure. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="147" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia", "serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">As you read about the things Ethiopia has taught us I want to thank you for sharing this journey with me xxx...</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="147" style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="139" style="background: white;"></div></div><div><div><div id="yiv1351901920"><div><div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="138" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Friendship surpasses language barriers.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Sometimes all you need is someone to believe in you.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When someone invites you for a coffee, you cannot simply squeeze it in. It is normally a 2-3 hour ceremony.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There is no such thing as washing your hands too much! (but this is not practised in general)</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Anywhere is a good place for a man to urinate.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Never say 'maybe' as it is sure to be taken as a yes.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A corn field is not just to produce corn, it can also hide beds and other possessions during home visits.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Get petrol when they have it in town, you never know if it'll be there next week.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When hearing a life story, do not expect the truth the first time.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">People are generous and will give, beyond what is thinkable, just because.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is easier for a mother to put slits in her dress to feed her child than to work out another way.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Never eat with your left hand.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is quite normal to pick your nose, no matter what age.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">People will lie for any reason and not understand what is so upsetting.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can be very happy in a mud hut and no shoes.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">People have the right to tell you what they think, even if you have never met them before.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Don't riverwalk on weekends unless you want to see a bunch of naked men bathing.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are many differences in the cultures and religions in Ethiopia, and until you try to understand and respect them, you won't get very far.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Cockroaches are not as bad as I always thought they were (though are still pretty gross).</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A greeting can go on for a few minutes, or longer.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The use of the car horn is not considered road rage, rather a considerate act to let someone know you want to pass.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">There are zebra crossings, but people still do not know how to use them.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">You can fit up to 18 people uncomfortably in our Grace mobile.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Recharge your computer when you have the chance. Electricity is unreliable, especially during the rainy season.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Living without hot water is hard, but not impossible.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Living without a fridge is hard, but not impossible.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">'When construction is given a time frame, pay no attention.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is rude to refuse food or beverage when visiting someone's home.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="150" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A person with a heart condition has little chance of survival in Ethiopia.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span closure_uid_80ej0i="149" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Not too many people want to stay in their country Ethiopia to make it a better place. But the ones that do... wow, they are more loyal and dedicated to their cause than anyone.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Loud sorrowful moans that sound like serious childbirth labour commonly means that someone has died.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A funeral will last up to 40 days. But it is not expected that you mourn a child's death more that 3 days.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Ethiopians do not like to have sugar with their tea, rather, tea with their sugar.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">If someone spits on you, it may be a blessing rather than someone displeased.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wear a long skirt when travelling long distances. This is necessary for the side of the road toilet stops.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">When you stop on a deserted roadside, people will appear from nowhere. </span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is a sign of respect to be on time for a meeting, but do not expect that the person you are waiting for will arrive on time.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A kiss on the neck is given in a very fond greeting.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Men hold men's hands and caress, without it meaning anything more than brotherly friendship.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Rejecting a 'gorsha' (someone handfeeding you injera and wat from their hand to your mouth) can be highly offensive, it can also lead to giardia or typhoid, but accepting can lead to honour and good friendship.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In rural areas it is much more appropriate to show a breast, than to show a shoulder or thigh.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It is also appropriate (but not!) for small children to drink alcohol and hot coffee.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Animals, bikes and pedestrians have right of way.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">A used cardboard box is a suitable new bed for someone sleeping on a dirt floor.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="151" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Don't drive a bajaj (tuk-tuk) in a dress.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="137" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Fat is good. It is a sign of health and prosperity.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">It takes practice to sit on a squat toilet and go without it splashing back up on you.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Always keep toilet paper and antibacterial close by.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Everything is about relationship; people won't truly listen to you before they know you really care.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Never underestimate a woman who believes she can!</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Never put off a birthday or family photos when a sick mother is involved.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" closure_uid_80ej0i="153" style="background: white;"><span closure_uid_80ej0i="152" style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Death and sorrow are unavoidable... so is the beauty in life here...</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Appreciate everyday you have.</span></div></div><div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white;"><br />
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</div></div></div></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-11349554974112932212011-07-17T09:50:00.001+03:002011-07-17T09:52:41.645+03:00Update on Grace<div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="mobile-photo" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hi friends, I thought you would be interested in reading the update we sent out to our Australian Grace supporters this month. Toward the end of the update, we share an inspiring story of a special young girl and her family. If you are not on the mailing list and would like to be, let us know!</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Dear Friends and Family,</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We hope this letter finds you all well. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Grace Centre and all the staff, children and Volunteers send you their warmest greetings and thanks for your support of all that is being done here in Bahir Dar through the Grace Centre.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We would like to take a moment to give you a brief report of the services and work that is being achieved through your support.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Between feeding the sponsored children, day care kids, and malnourished people, Grace provides more than 700 meals a day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In the three month period January 2011 to March 2011 Grace was privileged to serve people in the following ways: </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Clinic treated 668 people in addition to the daily checks undertaken by the nursing staff of each child in day care,</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">the day care (excluding school aged children) served 69 children; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The feeding program had 50 people; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">transitional care (for abandoned children) had 7; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Educational sponsorship assisted 126 children and young people of these 66 were also involved in after school tutoring; </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">temporary care served 11 children in the past quarter;</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">pre-school had 11 children. These children should commence school in September, </span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">daytime tutoring for children who have never been in school has 9. It is hoped that these children will also commence school in September;, </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">the basket-weaving co-op assisted 13 women, </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">jewellery making program assisted 7 women, </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">our adult literacy program taught more than 30 women how to read and write; and </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">the water, house building and other services we have given to the Negede Village has served about 300 people living in the village. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 0cm; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-right: 0cm; mso-margin-top-alt: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The total number of people being served by Grace Center on a quarterly basis is 1301. We have also indirectly served more than 3378 people in the local community including our fantastic staff and local businesses. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let us share just one of the many amazing stories of our mothers, children and families that we are privileged to serve here at Grace.</span><span style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif";"> <span lang="EN-US"></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Her name is Tagegne. Tagegne is about 14 (birthdays are generally not recorded so exact ages are usually a mystery). Tagegne first came to Grace 2 years ago with her elderly grandmother, as an orphan. Shortly after she joined our Afterschool Care program, Tagegne’s grandmother left town without notice. She came to live in temporary care with Grace. Her grandmother returned but because of certain circumstances, Tagegne continued to stay at Grace.</span><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Tagegne stayed with Grace for about a year and a half during which time she was able to become a student at one of the private schools nearby. One day, in the hopes of a future reunification with her grandmother, Tagegne and one of our staff members visited the house of Tagegne’s grandmother. Upon their arrival at the house they were greeted by a lady who, at the sight of Tagegne, burst into tears. This lady was Tagegne’s mother who had come from the country to visit her mother. Just as Tagegne had been told of her mother’s death, Tagegne’s mother had been told of Tagegne’s long term absence from home – what a bitter sweet reunion. So much time lost but family members thought to be deceased found to be living. Not only did Tagegne have a mother but also brothers and sisters – they are beautiful sight to see in and around Grace each day.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwd6ljBd6lecIU7-KdNu57-9Lh_UjmQEk3YkkF7ftQ1lhHm0KF8wRrQi3eCoLNLQvpMo7pNcLQDBn3fKeEmEWmA8Gdccm-heHpCKAxhj1MWpt5GECmzqb4PwxGF7qWcpHq8ES9KTvUbFE/s1600/May+grace+girls%252C+Etegang2011+048-738008.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622820167676050866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwd6ljBd6lecIU7-KdNu57-9Lh_UjmQEk3YkkF7ftQ1lhHm0KF8wRrQi3eCoLNLQvpMo7pNcLQDBn3fKeEmEWmA8Gdccm-heHpCKAxhj1MWpt5GECmzqb4PwxGF7qWcpHq8ES9KTvUbFE/s320/May+grace+girls%252C+Etegang2011+048-738008.JPG" width="240" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks to some generous donations Grace has been able to build a house for Tagegne’s family and they are able to live together and rebuild their family (see photo below). Tagegne continues to attend After School Care and Grace’s continued support allows her to continue her education but now she has two families – her Grace family who still love her dearly and her very own mother, brothers and sisters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thanks for sharing the journey and making a difference in the lives of people like Tagegne. Many of the families served by Grace exist because Grace exists, without the support they find here mothers would have relinquished children not through want but necessity.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">We want to encourage you, that when giving to Grace, whether through sponsorship, regular or one off donations, aid, or other, you are making a lasting difference in the life of an individual or many.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">With deep sincere appreciation, we want to thank you for your commitment and generosity.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><formulas><f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></f><f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></f><f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></f><f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></f><f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></f><f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></f><f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></f><f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></f></formulas><path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f"></path><lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></lock></shapetype><shape alt="DSCF0835" id="Picture_x0020_7" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" style="height: 223.5pt; margin-left: 332.35pt; margin-top: 12.05pt; mso-position-horizontal-relative: text; mso-position-horizontal: absolute; mso-position-vertical-relative: text; mso-position-vertical: absolute; mso-wrap-distance-bottom: 0; mso-wrap-distance-left: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-right: 9pt; mso-wrap-distance-top: 0; mso-wrap-style: square; position: absolute; visibility: visible; width: 167.2pt; z-index: -1;" type="#_x0000_t75"><imagedata o:title="DSCF0835" src="cid:image001.jpg@01CC34C0.B8ED0CD0"></imagedata></shape><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Love Andrew and Dee Knife, Marcie Erickson and the Grace team!</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Grace Centre for Children and Families</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Cambria", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Bahir Dar, Ethiopia</span></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2lEWNEEyqpvWUEspCyGCN08Mde8t4S_eDqa9vM5TYgbhw4hY8FuM2TeCKhVKTkN7FMG2O2thoGNe2bgpBZCN8xTVh6ObEadN5ms3n016fEUaLR-F3QC5ksRg201IIn4VIqYJIA6sPUNB/s1600/May+grace+girls%252C+Etegang2011+036-740300.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="240" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5622820181366901874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil2lEWNEEyqpvWUEspCyGCN08Mde8t4S_eDqa9vM5TYgbhw4hY8FuM2TeCKhVKTkN7FMG2O2thoGNe2bgpBZCN8xTVh6ObEadN5ms3n016fEUaLR-F3QC5ksRg201IIn4VIqYJIA6sPUNB/s320/May+grace+girls%252C+Etegang2011+036-740300.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-90214364096582295172011-05-29T16:20:00.000+03:002011-05-29T16:20:35.843+03:00The Value of Tears<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal">I have been thinking a lot about the value of our tears....</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sara, my eldest daughter came home on Monday from running one of the girls groups. On Mondays, she spends time with about 10 teenage girls aged 13-19years old, from a poor village we have been working with. Sometimes they sit and talk, make paper beads, watch a video or learn to cook. After this last group Sara came in and started sharing about her time. As she did, tears started to stream down her face. She said “Mummy, these girls are just like me, but they are too poor to go to school. Some haven’t even done grade 3. They want to, but can’t even afford the 60birr a year to enrol ($4). Mummy can we please help them go to school?!” </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">You know those stories, those situations that make the inner most inner part of your soul cry. I used to think that crying will make no change, that it would just add to the cries of those who are the victims. Or that it was much easier to live life, without the emotional attachment of caring too much.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">But as I write this blog today, I am challenged by my own words. I believe God sees our tears as silent heartfelt prayers. I believe that our tears move Him, that He is not silent in these concerns. He does not decide to ‘sit this one out’ when it’s too hard. These are His precious children hurting and He grieves it more than we realise, certainly more than we do. I was sitting with Kate the other night and she read a verse out to me. Luke wrote in<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>Acts 20 v 19<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span>that Paul served in tears and humility. I don’t ever remember reading this before. Even in his tears, he was serving. It brought back to mind the times when it felt like I had no words left, when only tears would flow, I knew in those times that God heard my silent prayers, and always will.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, we know that he sees the tears, the pain, the hurt, but will only do as much as we allow him to do through us. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This thought inspires me, if even our tears can accomplish something and be of service, how much more can our hands accomplish!! I don’t think we realise the potential that has been placed inside us, to make a difference to the world around us.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
</div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-87168720171576181362011-05-17T11:01:00.001+03:002011-05-17T11:04:21.057+03:00When all you can do is still not enough, but it's all you can do<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="WordSection1" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I have wanted to scream, every day since after Mothers Day I have felt like screaming on and off. Something has got to give, yet at the same time I find the strength to keep going, because steps forward are being taken, progress is being made. This blog is a really sad one. As much as I want to share my tears with you and encourage you to read on, please if you have a weak stomach, this blog entry is not for you. All week I thought I would not share this, but a close friend encouraged me to rethink it. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">You may have heard about Fantanesh from Marcie’s website or Leith’s Grace Calendar.</div> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Fantanesh had a baby last week, the day after Mothers Day. This would normally be wonderful news, except he was not alive. She and her new husband could think of nothing better than to parent a baby together, except that Fantanesh has a rare A- blood and a condition that meant that her babies have a little chance to live through to birth. We did not know about this condition until it was too late. Fantanesh has one healthy 6 yr old son in Grace ASC. She was married recently and her and her husband were expecting a baby. She had already lost one child in a miscarriage. Had we known about Fantanesh’s blood condition we could have monitored her more closely. This pregnancy, her baby lived for almost 8 months in her womb, then died. We do not know for sure if it was due to the fall she had the month before, the medicine she has been taking for depression, or the rare blood condition. While I and Sister Ababu waited with her in the OR for her c-section, she lay next to a mother who had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. I worried about the emotional and mental effect that this could have on a mother waiting for her dead baby to be removed, the medical profession here do not think of things like that. But she had no choice anyway. All 3 of the doctors that were at the hospital who could perform c-sections had left to open private practices, this meant the hospital was turning away mother after mother who needed a c-section, sending them to private clinics. If the mother can not afford to have a c-section at a private clinic then there is no choice for her and her baby, and at least one or both will die. This is happening right now. So SAD, so WRONG. While we were waiting at the clinic, having also been turned away from the hospital, we saw 4 more mothers being told there was no room at the clinic, not because they couldn’t pay, but because there were no beds for them to lay and no time for them to have the operations. My prayer was that they would find a clinic willing to operate in time, and that they had the finances needed.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">As Fantanesh picked her catheter up and walked herself into the operating room, she was crying, ‘please Dee if I die... Solomon (her son)’. Her cry was also to the doctor to do the c-section well as her future hope was to have another baby. She longed to have another baby. This may have been her mother instinct and desire, but it was also my feeling, living in this country and seeing these ladies, that when they are married, giving her husband a baby gave more of a guarantee to her that he would stay around and not go looking elsewhere for a lady to bear him children. She wanted to be able to give her husband a child. He, by the way, stayed by her side the entire time, and did not leave her.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The operation took just over half an hour and half an hour after the operation had finished, she was awake. Sister Ababu was very pleased with her progress and recovery. While she was in recovery, I asked where the baby was and what would happen to him/her, so Sister went to find out. She came back and asked if I wanted to see the baby. I knew I did... but wasn’t sure if I did. I had seen babies die, I had seen some really horrifying things, but this was new. Part of me really needed to see this baby, I couldn’t say no. I took a deep breath and breathed out a confidant but quiet sounding ‘yes’, then followed the lady down the stairs and around the back of the clinic to the wash area. She led Sister Ababu and I to a orange wash bucket with a pile of dirty bloody laundry, which I presumed were sheets from Fantanesh’s operation. She lifted off the pile of dirty laundry to reveal at the bottom, a bloody piece of material...and a baby boy. It took me aback. I could not believe how very beautiful he was. I did not know what I was expecting, but not someone so complete, so perfect. He was 7months and 3 weeks formed, his body was still soft. I had felt deeply disturbed that it seemed that he was discarded out with the laundry, then found myself standing there in awe of this beautiful baby, I felt so privileged to be meeting him. He was not trash, he was not a patient’s unwanted waste, he was a beautiful baby who was wanted and had been loved so deeply. I felt privileged to be the one who met him. The young wash lady told me they had a man coming to put him in the ground where they put the other things. I said that he needed to be buried properly; otherwise we would take him and bury him ourselves. Sister Ababu is getting really good at understanding our hearts towards her people, even the when it is not always the normal thing, she will often push to see that the right thing is done.</div> <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHlUBiGcL-sbrFTtTRh6Q-nyMDSgspl7YM52SFVi5b3rVttUPKD3iD95dN9Df8SJNrLoXXC7S18oHcovraIXNYGjPM5XUsvOVs_r14a5mP4FnHDw3xV_f2HAbyN6YQe3WuNXZn4lgxvPZ/s1600/DSC00160+-+Copy-746168.JPG" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607587668336261842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHlUBiGcL-sbrFTtTRh6Q-nyMDSgspl7YM52SFVi5b3rVttUPKD3iD95dN9Df8SJNrLoXXC7S18oHcovraIXNYGjPM5XUsvOVs_r14a5mP4FnHDw3xV_f2HAbyN6YQe3WuNXZn4lgxvPZ/s320/DSC00160+-+Copy-746168.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The washing area where in the orange bucket the baby lays. <br />
Beneath that, the babies casket- 2 cardboard boxes.</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I know that when someone dies, it is only their body that lay there, that it is no longer the real person anymore, but this was not about that. It was about doing what I could do, about continuing to care about the things that others no longer see as significant or important. It was about not conforming to this society’s way of seeing life, it was about it not being ok that this child died, that he was thrown out. It was about a lot of things that I can’t put into words, I just had to do what I could. We found the only boxes available for his funeral casket; two cardboard boxes- a small one and then a larger, and looked for a spare sheet. They could not afford to give any of the sheets away. I rang Marcie who was close by and she was able to buy new material from the market to wrap his body in. As Marcie and I stood there watching Sister Ababu place his little arms and legs together and his head straight resting on his shoulders, he looked more adorable, innocent and sweet than the first time I looked upon him. The new wash lady who had just started her shift seemed shocked to find out that there was a baby left there, which was a relief to me because maybe this meant this was not a daily routine. She stood there with tears streaming down her face, she did not think she could bring herself to look, but as soon as she saw him, she also could not take her eyes off his little body. Sister wrapped his body so carefully and perfectly in the Ethiopian scarf and laid him in the box.</div> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Due to a generous donation from Australia, Fantanesh was able to have the expensive anti id (medicine) she needed to greater the chances of her next baby being born healthy, as well as have all her medical costs covered. She has been advised against having another baby as there are other medical issues of great concern, that she is dealing with, but being Africa and the society she lives in and options available to her, we have done all we can to protect her and any future children.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Fantanesh is at home and resting well. She told Amdu and Kidist that she is so thankful to Grace. She said that it is her desire to die in our presence, apparently that is something said in great honour. I am certainly aiming, God willing, that she will have a long and happy life. I think about the other mothers that are just faces to me, but real as Fantanesh. What happens to them? </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">At the end of the day we walk away knowing we did all we could... but also knowing it is never enough.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-19172221051752151052011-05-07T22:20:00.000+03:002011-05-07T22:20:28.494+03:00Finding your Purpose- Happy Mothers Day x<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I remember hearing a wonderful message about people not understanding the value of the thing they hold, so misuse it. It reminded me of a story, a quite hilarious story that happened in Grace (retold by Kidist so a little creative licence has been used on her behalf), that I hold close to me on the hard days, that never ceases to bring a smile to my lips. </div><div class="MsoNormal">We had a wonderful man who worked for us. One day he was clearing out some space and came across what he thought were firecrackers. He was very excited because not only were they firecrackers, but they were ‘ferenje’ ones (and being foreign ones that meant quality)! Because he had permission to clear it all out, he gathered all he could find, and went to our guards and started handing them out as gifts. The first guard who was his good friend, was just as excited as he was. But as they tested the first firecracker by pulling the cord and lighting it, they were disappointed that the flame quickly dissolved before it even reached the cracker. They tried another and another. They were quite disappointed but resolved that it must have been a dud pack. The next time he saw Kidist who was in charge of our stock control, he showed her the left over firecrackers and told her they were broken, wanting her to inform us not to purchase them again. </div><div class="MsoNormal">At that moment, from Kidist, came an uncontrollable roar of laughter, and onto the floor she fell with giggles of glee. It was hard for her to even tell the embarrassed male that he had been lighting TAMPONS!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So the point that I want to reiterate, is that if we do not know our purpose, how can we live in it’s fullest??! </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Have you found your purpose?</div><div class="MsoNormal">I encourage you to be the tampon God created you to be. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Hope I made you smile today too</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">D xx</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">P.s- as this is Mothers Day I just want to brag about my mum and say how much I love her. Even though she may not realise it, she is my hero, she is the most hard working, determined woman I know. She grew me into a woman who wanted to make a difference in the world, and by the grace of God I am trying. Happy Mothers Day mum xx.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
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</div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-37893326201461054182011-05-06T16:24:00.002+03:002011-05-06T17:18:57.944+03:00Faith Regardless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
<div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal">I know the last blog was a little heavy, and I am sorry if the read is too hard, I promise they will not always be sad ones, but I don’t feel like I am quite finished sharing my journey through Deanna’s death. </div><div class="MsoNormal">In her last few hours of life, I held her little hand, her tiny fingers wrapped around my finger, as she lay in hospital, trying to catch her last breaths. She lay there, her body starting to shut down, blood running out of her nasal-gastric tube and into a plastic glove in case they decided to do a blood transfer and could recycle her own blood back into her, as there was no other blood available to use, especially on a HIV victim. Even as she lay there in this state, I put my hand gently on her, praying, believing that God would do something special in her life and heal her. His word said and I believed. When she passed, as well as all the grief to overcome, I had many questions for God. I was confused. He was a faithful God. Why did He not make her well? I carried these questions heavily. As Andrew and I sat on our front stairs as the sun went down on the afternoon of the funeral, we knew that no matter how much this hurt, no matter how much we did not understand about God’s judgement in this, we needed to keep on trusting Him, and continue to know that He IS faithful. He did not intend for Deanna to be born with HIV, he did not intend for her to suffer and die. That was not His desire, that all came from the simple fact that sin is in the world. Our Father did not promise that we would not suffer, He promised to always be with us when we did. He promised to never leave us through it. </div> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I think the greatest form of faith is believing Him regardless of what it looks like, regardless of the outcome. He is the only one that can see the big picture. I never would have thought that the day we mourned Deanna that I would have seen such a display of love and faithfulness. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">D xx</div></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0bnns7KvcNMDj0pcEGthm0zUfVPl41AMo9ESCsgvy9BDLGqyzdBhRGJlLodmB-iXiGWETXxxee6O5erl0ynpVYFfpHwBizdqnvfIznYmvXJxhMTyKaXH4-qbBikpB2tlxRhOYgXBwc51/s1600/blog5-798730.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="160" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5603591858864980626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0bnns7KvcNMDj0pcEGthm0zUfVPl41AMo9ESCsgvy9BDLGqyzdBhRGJlLodmB-iXiGWETXxxee6O5erl0ynpVYFfpHwBizdqnvfIznYmvXJxhMTyKaXH4-qbBikpB2tlxRhOYgXBwc51/s400/blog5-798730.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Marcie Erickson</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-29253017999600380162011-05-04T00:18:00.000+03:002011-05-04T00:18:41.109+03:00Loss and Love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIF7_cRG2bF-S3qzoxfiKuxWbsjFfjh0xNDT0Vs3CgkeTCJd4D_7AE-3bUI9Mhc7_gS9ZiVbIF9GlpxwuKOTCAQNbXizAumq-sg8BF43TeLK47WCiWBRTiPQYYilwkwA7JlRFm0Y4Ntfe/s1600/Deanna+blog-799798.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602601017296114786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIF7_cRG2bF-S3qzoxfiKuxWbsjFfjh0xNDT0Vs3CgkeTCJd4D_7AE-3bUI9Mhc7_gS9ZiVbIF9GlpxwuKOTCAQNbXizAumq-sg8BF43TeLK47WCiWBRTiPQYYilwkwA7JlRFm0Y4Ntfe/s320/Deanna+blog-799798.JPG" /></a>Almost 2 years ago, a beautiful little girl named Deanna died. She was especially precious to me because she was named after me. I love her mother dearly. Deanna was born HIV+ and at about 5 months went downhill very quickly. Within a week of full time care to try to get her healthy again (as we had done with many other babies in her state) she died. It was a very hard time for me. I of course blamed myself for what I could have done differently or better. The most painful thing was watching her mother mourn her loss. To lose a child in death, I could not think of anything more painful. Funerals in Ethiopia are very different to the ones we have in our western cultures, along with the way mourning someone’s death is displayed. There is great wailing from the depths of your soul. You are encouraged to scream, cry, wail, and/or chant to mourn the loss of your loved one. Your friends, family and community come around you and for the first night for many, many hours you display your grief in this way together. And even if you did not know the person well, it is expected that you participate. The first funeral I went to I saw so many ‘crocodile tears’ and felt that a lot of the display was just that, a display. The more time I have spent here, the more I have come to appreciate the way the people mourn their lost ones. Yes, there are some who like to put on a good show, but when a mother or someone is free to express her hurt and pain, and get it all out, and not act ‘socially acceptable’, I think it can be a very healthy thing. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After the first morning of Deanna’s funeral we all went back to her mother’s house where coffee was prepared and chickpeas were roasted. We sat, at first still weeping in silence. My eyes scanned the place looking at all the women from Grace who were supporting this mother so beautifully. All of these mothers, at one stage or another, had come into Grace with no family, no support, nothing. Now they had each other. They considered themselves friends and sisters. They were family. As the hours passed the women started to talk, then little giggles broke out amidst the conversations. Now my eyes filled with tears, watching this amazing group of ladies loving on each other through their grief. To have started the day off so grief stricken in the loss of an innocent babies life, having to help our nurse wrap her tiny still body preparing her for the ground, but then to see the embrace these ladies had for one another, was a gift I found that I was not expecting. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I found out that day, that unlike an adults funeral that is mourned for 40 days and people will come to your house each day for this period, that for a baby you are only allowed or expected to mourn for 3 days. I think this is because the guarantee for this child is access into heaven, but maybe it is because it was ‘only’ a child. The last thought makes me sad, but I am still yet to really understand. I think time will bring the answers.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-58026155039448790252011-04-23T17:51:00.000+03:002011-04-23T17:51:44.533+03:00Easter Weekend. 23.04.2011<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebYhGXyknNGnJOfTaGUqwHusBBN_FuF_MHdxMFIz0vUhdWf1qHsghnA2h-tE4_qbVC4s23cHJi2C3fr9HVHocVbiyd3Zj52I-iLd-pSLo_Rx1Fiw8TIQP2WANFu7WzavnbyObU4H7giaW/s1600/blog-755441.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598774866125440930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebYhGXyknNGnJOfTaGUqwHusBBN_FuF_MHdxMFIz0vUhdWf1qHsghnA2h-tE4_qbVC4s23cHJi2C3fr9HVHocVbiyd3Zj52I-iLd-pSLo_Rx1Fiw8TIQP2WANFu7WzavnbyObU4H7giaW/s320/blog-755441.JPG" width="298" /></a> I was very moved at the Easter production at After School Care this morning. I couldn’t be at the showing of the Jesus movie on Friday, but was told how moved the mothers and children were, so moved that many were crying. Our friend delivered a beautiful Easter message on God’s love. This morning our older kids sung of Jesus’ death and resurrection, a drama performed with the focus of Jesus giving to us so we should give to others. I love this time of year the most in Ethiopia, it is not elaborate with festivals like other times of the year, but the special thing for me, is seeing so many hearts turned to God and the true essence of what being a Christian is, through Jesus’ sacrifice we can have relationship with Him. God’s love in its purist, not tainted with Easter bunnies or commercial overload of chocolates. Don’t get me wrong, we do the chocolate, Easter egg decorating and Easter egg hunt with our kids, it’s part of our culture and it’s fun, our kids have a ball. But life is so raw here, I like that it is hard to not get carried away and forget what Easter is all about. </div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Ethiopian ‘Fasika’ falls after the break of a 55 day fast. For the 3 days previous many strong orthodox will fast completely from all food and water, preparing their hearts with prayer and meditation on God, and all he has done through Jesus. I can’t help but deeply admire their dedication. For some, it is what has just been taught to them, for many it is a deep conviction to be sold out for God to the fullest. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1bGCfKxBJO2fJBfCqrRoqMkLmNYBvgIPF8xC4ZeStMGlABRlow2PkvQkin-9gsZlgJ6cd2mL4g3rS9B3q8FwI1oQZk1N_zfQFj_Zl1oe8HTMS4EtmKlt3QW4_7Ixqq_FLPE5AWgnzU4k/s1600/blog+3-756076.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598774870978755474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1bGCfKxBJO2fJBfCqrRoqMkLmNYBvgIPF8xC4ZeStMGlABRlow2PkvQkin-9gsZlgJ6cd2mL4g3rS9B3q8FwI1oQZk1N_zfQFj_Zl1oe8HTMS4EtmKlt3QW4_7Ixqq_FLPE5AWgnzU4k/s320/blog+3-756076.JPG" width="298" /></a>After this morning’s Easter production, I headed to another showing of the Jesus movie, to our Mums, at Kidist’s house. Again, I sat and just found it to be such a beautiful time, watching these mums be mums and enjoy each other and be touched and moved by Easter. As I sat there I was reminded it was the triplets 2<sup>nd</sup> birthday. We left the mothers program a bit early and moved onto the next coffee infusion. Many of you may know the triplets, they came to us almost 1.5years, so malnourished, we were so concerned for their lives, they spent many months in the clinic and living at Grace. Today, their mother Aster, looked at me with such pride in her eyes and said “Last year I had nothing and you gave my children a first birthday, this year, because of Grace, I can give my children their second birthday, and you get to come!” It was a beautiful time had.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The next part of my day shocked me and sent me into a spin. I was walking home, when I got a call that one of our mothers was at the police station. She had had a baby, and put the baby in the toilet...</div><div class="MsoNormal">What do you say to that? Tears can only express... to cry for the baby that did not have a chance at life. To wonder why our mother did not feel that she could not come to Grace with this. I feel so deeply sad beyond sad. On this weekend where God offers such hope, she could not find it and felt alone in her time of need. I do know that we can only extend our hand, we cannot force a person to take it.</div><div class="MsoNormal">No matter what, God is still God and his plan is perfect. For this mother, Gods plan is perfect and He can still make her life beautiful, even if she has already missed it many times, he never gives up hope, no matter what we have done. So the perfect verse in all things, for this weekend, is “...For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8</div><div class="MsoNormal">For confidential reasons related to this mother’s situation, I cannot tell you her name, but please pray for her and her children, and wisdom for us in this as we extend grace and love to this mother, while she receives the consequences of her actions.</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">On that note, I encourage us all to remember Jesus in our Easter. And extend the same grace that He shows to us, to all we meet. It is not ever as easy to apply as the words on paper are to write, but if it was easy, then we wouldn’t need Him.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Melkam Fasika everyone. Happy Easter</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Love Dee</div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br />
</div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-35284318679506832242011-04-15T23:56:00.000+03:002011-04-15T23:56:31.542+03:00Freedom of Choice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="mobile-photo"></div><div class="WordSection1"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the first blog I wrote briefly about the children who do not get to dream, they do not get to choose. When someone a little while ago said to us, Grace is about choice, because at Grace a mother gets to choose if she wants to keep her child. At first I didn’t like that analogy, because it almost sounded like a women’s free choice abortion campaign. But once I spent some time pondering this, I realised the freedom that choice really does bring. We really do take, a ‘simple’ thing like choice, for granted. When a lady comes to us with no home, thinking that she has no way to keep her baby, that there is no choice but to give that child up, but then is given another option where she is able to keep her child, that he/she can attend day care while she works, and not only that, get good nutrition, education, health care, that this ‘choice’ could really change their life. And not only that, the mother can choose to go to school too, that she can have training in skills and be taught how to be a good mother (many of these mothers were orphaned as children and have had no positive role models to learn from), then a whole new possible chance of a life is opened up to them. With this chance, they have choice, and choice brings freedom and power. And also importantly, it enables the mother to no longer be a victim of her own circumstances, she has the choice to step up and be all God has called her to be, she can find hope that when He promised in His word that He gives us a future and a hope, that that includes them, not just the lucky some of us. That we are all His children and loved equally by him. When God made Adam and Eve, he wanted them to freely serve Him, he gave them choice. That freedom of choice brought great consequence in the bad choices made, but God did not want a people that were not free to choose him, for there is no true gain in that.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choice + hope = strength and freedom and empowerment </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6A1kQfwirGSxL0rbO_i_XvtA57b5aW59PqLJIUOMyibH22swVqv_oe3KfvwrqUO_eez-Uf4mTcrrW-yRX0V0b1HKhmyBeeRlPxjx58Ga8uuYimuAbi614A5B-K-yxO2fgd11kLYfICN6/s1600/january+homevisits+2011+038-739905.JPG" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595915646492796722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6A1kQfwirGSxL0rbO_i_XvtA57b5aW59PqLJIUOMyibH22swVqv_oe3KfvwrqUO_eez-Uf4mTcrrW-yRX0V0b1HKhmyBeeRlPxjx58Ga8uuYimuAbi614A5B-K-yxO2fgd11kLYfICN6/s320/january+homevisits+2011+038-739905.JPG" width="298" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The lady in this photo, we will call her ‘Emmabet’, was brought to us by one of our social workers. She was found at 8months pregnant, wondering from store to store with 1 birr (less than 10c) looking to buy poison to end her life. She had been sleeping on the dirt ground outside some ones house, no shelter, no food, no work, nothing but the clothes on her back, no hope of a future for her child. When I first met ‘Emmabet’, her eyes held no joy, no hope. It was so sad. She was broken and had given up. Even when we welcomed her into Grace and offered her that hope, she took it but did not believe it until almost two weeks after her arrival (this is when the photo was taken). She has had much to come to terms with since arriving at Grace, including the fact of finding out she was HIV+, but she is loved, she is accepted and she belongs, for the first time in her life. She is a very proud mother of a 3month baby girl. Her eyes are full of hope, her heart full of joy, she has the freedom to choose to live, live in that hope that is offered to her, and be all God has intended her to be, for her and her daughter.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talk to you soon,</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dee x</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3681553039900272277.post-38472596826196122992011-04-12T23:30:00.000+03:002011-04-12T23:30:38.974+03:00Welcome to my world<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am not one who often has many words to say, but living in Ethiopia now for almost 5 years, I have been so privileged to have experienced many things, including being touched by many people’s lives, the culture, the heart of the country, that others don’t have the privilege to experience.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">People ask me what living in Ethiopia is like. Often it is hard to sum it all up, actually it is impossible. I think about the mothers in Grace that allow me into their lives, the life stories they have and the things they have experienced. They are more courageous than I could ever possibly dream of being. Yet when someone hears what we do here often we are met with admiration for the work that we do. I am always humbled by that. In many ways, yes it is hard and it takes courage, but to watch these amazing ladies around me, these mothers who have experienced much pain in their lives, to have sacrificed so much, lost so much and now to step up to give their child a chance that they never had... I am the one that stands in admiration. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recently, life seemed to get really hard for me. It has been a tough year and a half, much heartache. I found myself feeling like it was too hard, that I no longer had it in me to keep on helping the less fortunate. I was looking at my own pain and heartache. I, without realising, became the victim. I know that we were sent here to help those less fortunate, those that could not help themselves, we came with hope to offer these families, but once I took my eyes off that, I became useless to everyone around me. So, a couple of weeks ago, I had a bit of a ‘wake up call’ when I had the chance to get away for a couple of weeks to rest, refresh and really pray about where I was in life. I was reminded of the true victims in this world, the young girls who get sold into the sex industry, brutally raped until they have lost all sense of what is right, and all hope of escaping. I was reminded of the child slaves, I have met many here, the young girls who do not get a chance of going to school, but instead have to work. They do not get the same opportunity as my own children do, they will never say ‘when I grow up I want to be....’, they do not get to dream. They do not get to choose. I could clearly see our mother’s faces who are now getting help in Grace, as clear as if they were standing in front of me, even though I was many miles away. Their stories came back to me, I wept for them and all that they have lost and experienced, but also wept tears of joy, because now when you look into their once empty eyes, you see hope! </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, in my wake up call, I wanted to start a blog, so that anyone else who wants to feel more connected to what we are doing here, can journey with me. I am not the most eloquent of writers, and have had little experience, but I will do my best to write from the heart, so you have the privilege of sharing this amazing life we get to be a part of. And in reading, I ask that you pray for us please. Pray for Andrew and I and our amazing children, pray for Marcie (co director) and Sefinew and their children, for Tim and Cheryl (amazing volunteers and dear friends) and all the people who faithfully serve at Grace. Pray for the mothers and children (they are the future generation!), the fathers, extended relatives, for the teenagers and young adults studying. Please pray for our 120 faithful local employees who do their jobs so well. They are such a blessing to Grace.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I feel like I have much I want to share in future blogs, about our family’s experiences, our future hopes and dreams for what can be achieved, our employees, the Grace families and all God continues to do here. So thank you for being a part of it.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One thought I want to leave you before I go (hopefully it won’t scare you off for good), but how many of us play victim in our own lives? I think we forget sometimes the blessing our lives are, and how very blessed we are. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Talk to you soon!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-AU;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dee xx</span></span></div></div>DeeAtGracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10935891536942642025noreply@blogger.com2