July 2, 2013
Romans
10:14 says “How, then, can they call on the one they have not
believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have
not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
These are all excellent questions and the only way I can think to act
upon this verse is to go. This has looked different in different
seasons of my life. When I was younger I limited this verse to
meaning that God wanted us all to take mission trips. As I started to
grow in my walk with God I started to realize this was not limited to
mission trips, but instead was meant to be instruction for how we
live life everyday. We are to serve people daily wherever they are.
That is how Christ lived His life while He was on Earth and that is
how we are called to be.
The people
that God has called me to go and serve are the people of Ethiopia. I
was blessed with opportunity to go to spend about two and a half
months in Ethiopia last summer. There me and my three other teammates
had experiences that will be forever in my mind and heart. While I
was there I was able to teach some English classes that incorporated
using the Bible as a tool to teach them. We also had the opportunity
to work in a local school, help with the Hospice program, teach a few
VBS's in a few neighboring cities, and do many other things that
helped us to learn more about this beautiful country I feel called to
serve in and the beautiful people that live in it. While we were
doing all of these things my heart was longing to stay longer and
longer and to never have to say goodbye to all of the sweet faces.
They looked at me hungry to hear what I had to say and to let them
play with my blonde hair and hold my hands just so they can compare
the pigments of our skin.
These
memories are the ones that come to mind when I think about going back
for SIX MONTHS! Wow! I still cannot believe that I will be here for
that long! I intended to write this before I left for Ethiopia, but
it didn't happen. I am kind of glad now that it didn't because I may
not have been lead to write so soon.
We
arrived today and our flight was an hour and forty five minutes
early. Don't worry we passed the time by trying to find Kayla's
luggage that was left back in the states. Thankfully she should have
it tomorrow! Kayla and I have already had a lot of adventures and we
just got here. The plan has changed a few times, but as of right now
we will be headed to Nikempt on Friday morning to stay for about a
month with a wonderful family that lives there. I will have to keep
everyone posted on what the plan is and what kind of things we will
be doing. We talked a little about what we would be doing during the
six months and if it's even half of how awesome it sounds than I am
going to have the best 6 months!
Well,
It is about 1:39 p.m. In the states right now as I am writing this.
That means that it is about 8:40 p.m. Here and we have to get up
early tomorrow so that we can go get Kayla's luggage from the
airport; not to mention that I am still pretty tired from traveling.
So I better hit the sack. I love all of you and thank you again for
supporting me in the many ways that you have. Thank you also for
taking the time to read my blog. I am going to try my hardest to stay
up with it!
Much
love from Ethiopia,
Kait
7/4/13
Happy fourth of July! We celebrated
here with a wonderful meal and wonderful company! The fehls had some
friends come over for dinner and it was a blast getting to know them
and their wonderful children! There was so much laughter and even a
dance show!
Tomorrow we leave for Nekempt for 1
month! I am very excited to see what God will do with us while we are
there. I pray that I can be a tool for Him. The most humbling thought
to me is how God does not need us to fulfill His plan, but instead
let's us be involved and live life with people, share laughter, and
see the impact that you are having in their lives, and more often the
impact they are having on you.
I have really enjoyed these last few
days with the Fehls and I know I am going to love Nekempt for the
time that we are there and we went over the schedule today and I
think I am going to love my entire 6 months! It is going to be filled
with things I have done before and things that I have never done
before, but am excited to see how it goes.
Thank you for the continued prayers! I
will continue to see what Ethiopia is going to reveal to me and
report back as soon as I can!
Much love from Ethiopia!
Kait
July 9th
So we have been in Nekempt for a whole
week today! It has been a full week filled with English classes,
girls time, college group on Saturday's, and so much family time.
Kayla and I have been blessed to come into such a wonderful family.
They have been so supportive and welcoming. I have really enjoyed my
time here.
Today was my second day teaching
English and it went wonderfully. I have been doing tests to see what
levels the students are on and if there was a need to increase the
number of classes I offer. What I have found is that they know
English in their minds, they are taught English in their classes at
the University, but they are not confident enough to really speak it
and they have a very hard time with comprehension.
Today we were reading a book together
and they had little problems reading the book, besides small issues
with pronunciation and unfamiliar words in their culture, but when I
asked them what had happened in the story directly after we had just
read it aloud they could not tell me more than the main character. So
I have my work cut out for me, but I am willing and so excited to see
what the future will hold.
Last Saturday, we went along with
Steve to college time. This is a time where the college aged students
in the community, can come to the church for fun and fellowship. We
played volleyball, ping pong, racquet ball, and finished up the time
by hearing a Bible lesson prepared by Steve. It was a great time had
by all. This was a great start to our time here!
On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we
have girl time. This is a small group that has been started to try to
better get to know and understand what the women of this culture are
going through and to show them that even though we live on different
continents we are not that different. Yesterday, was the first girls
time and it went fantastic!
We have decided to go through at look
at the woman of the Bible. Yesterday, Kayla taught the first part of
Tamar's story and tomorrow I will finish up where she left off. In
addition to Bible time we will be teaching English, pampering them,
playing games, and just getting to know them. I am very excited about
this, since women in this culture really don't have things just for
them. Hopefully, when we leave the program will be able to be
continued at least once a week! Please pray that we will continue to
have a good turn out and that the women will see the value in
themselves that our heavenly father sees in them.
One of my favorite parts of the week,
have been meal times. We all eat together as a family. We talk about
how our day has been. Our highs and lows and what we are in need of
prayer for. The whole family are prayer warriors. It is so nice to
hear that they have stopped to pray for me multiple times throughout
the day. This has been extremely helpful in calming my nerves about
teaching in this new culture.
Another part of my month has been
language learning. Last summer I learned the language of Amharic, but
during this stay I will be learning the language of oromo. It is a
great language and I am having a blast learning. We have lessons
every M-F from 8:30 to 9:30. After our language learning time we go
on our language route; which lasts about an hour to an hour and a
half. This consists of 3 or 4 stops. One is a stationary store called
“OMG stationary”! This made us laugh the first time see saw it.
The others are another stationary stop next door, a vegetable stand,
and a chai/ bread shop. We have made other stops practicing our
language, but these are the ones that we visit every day. I use the
term shop very loosely, picture a 12 by 12 area with a tarp covering
it. All of these places are tun by women and they are all so sweet.
The other day we went to the chai shop
and made friends with the woman next door and so she wanted us to
stop by her shop. So, after we were finished we went next door and
the lady from the first chai shop followed us to make sure that the
lady from the second shop dried out our cups before she served us.
This is important because if they don't dry out the cups we can get
sick from the water left in the bottom of the cup. This made Kayla
and I feel good that our new friend wanted to help us and cared
enough to look out for us.
7/11
Today is a more restful day. I woke up
feeling nauseas and with an upset stomach. During breakfast Dorothea
prayed that I would feel better and be able to continue with my daily
tasks. I decided to still do language learning and the language
route. It was nice to get out and get some fresh Ethiopian air. When
we got back to the house I got ready for today's English class; which
included picking out books to read with them and reading over the
weekly Bible verse that I have them recite to me in English.
This week it was 1 Samuel 16:7, which
is one of my favorite verses. If they are able to recite the verse,
or at least come close, they receive a prize ( some local crackers
that they all enjoy). Today only two recited the verse, but when the
others saw that they received a prize if they did it. They were very
quick to re-write down the verse so they could practice at home. I am
very excited to see who is able to recite the verse tomorrow.
Today, in addition to reading the
books, we worked on the pronunciation of the words “the, their,
with, and quickly”. These words are very hard for them because
sounds like “ck” and “th” do not really exist in their
language. This creates a big problem for them, since these sounds are
everywhere in the English language. I have been really encouraged by
their willingness to try different techniques. A few of the students,
in just the short amount of time we have been working together,
already seem to be getting close to mastering this. That makes me
feel really great as a teacher.
It is now after lunch and my stomach
is feeling much better. The tow of the kids are playing with
play-doh. We are going to do a fun craft after one of the kids wake
up from nap. Today is going to be purely a day of preparation and
recuperation. I have truly enjoyed every day here and I can not
believe that it has not even been a full week of teaching. The family
we are staying with have been a true blessing to both Kayla and I. I
am sure that there is a lot more I could tell you and there will be a
lot more stories to come in the future.
OH and just to show you that I am the
same Kait in Ethiopia that I am in America; I thought I would share a
story with you that happened yesterday. We were doing our language
lesson for the day and we realized that we had forgotten the props we
use to talk about family. So I decided it would be a great idea for
me to run next door on the wet cement to our room where they were.
Well, I had gotten about two steps into my dash for the props and
BOOM! I fell right on my tailbone and it has been hurting ever since.
I am fine, just a little sore and really more embarrassed than
anything since I had a huge mud stain on the back of my skirt.
Talk to you soon!
Ciao from Ethiopia!
