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September Update and Photos

Hello Friends and Family! 

Wow, it’s October already! Thanks again to all of you who prayed, supported, emailed, and encouraged us during the summer about Shaun’s work permit and our residency.…we are constantly humbled by the body of Christ and thankful for each of you being a part of our journey! 

I, Megan, am going to try and start posting monthly. Starting September 1st I started another Project 365 photo journal, where I take a photo a day. At the beginning of each month I’ll post my photos and give a brief update about what’s been going on with us here in Ethiopia and what God’s been showing me. 

September

September was a full month! On the 5th we celebrated Sonya’s 3rd birthday! Crazy that our baby girl is 3 already. We went swimming with friends and then had a birthday party over at Rachel and Argaw’s house with the EGCH kids. Here’s a photo of our 3 year old and some of her favorites! 

We also celebrated Ethiopian new year (Addis Emet)... it's 2008 here!  We rang in the new year with a big party, EGCH style!  That typically means a lot of food and friends at Argaw and Rachel's house, followed by our weekly ultimate frisbee game.  Recently, 11 of our EGCH kiddos went back to school, ranging in grades from kindergarten to fifth grade.  In the summer I had some of the kids over to my house a few days a week, but now that they are back in school our mornings are a bit more quiet.  Jude and Sonya started doing a bit of homeschool/preschool... they love it!  We also go to EGCH to hang with the tots and babies.  It's been nice to spend time with just them, while the older kids are at school.  That was our September in a nutshell!

Photo-a-Day

There are a couple of reasons why I wanted to start another photo-a-day project (I did one from September 2013 to August 2014).  We, along with our kids, want to remember our special moments loving and living as a family here.  To add, having these photos will allow us to share with our kids later in life that we all followed God's call to Ethiopia because we love Him and love the kids at EGCH.  I'm hoping these photos will be tangible "memorial stones" (see Joshua 4) for our family... something we'll have that we can look back on and be reminded of God's faithfulness to us.  I believe that capturing our daily life helps me to find joy and beauty in each day.  Another photographer said it perfectly, when he wrote:

"This season in life is truly a gift and I believe there is joy to be found daily.  I am learning that joy is so much greater and so much more than happiness.  I want to live in joy, I want to capture the joy I see in my children on the days that are wonderful... and I want to seek joy on the days that are challenging.  I want to find peace through Christ daily in all circumstances.  I want to demonstrate grace to my family and those I'm around.  I want to give myself grace and remember to seek Him at moments I feel like I'm not enough.  I want to let go of worry and live in joy each day." - Ginger Unzueta

While I'm continually learning to find and capture joy in my everyday, in all circumstances of life... I find that I'm motivated to explore and engage with my kids, and also more and more thankful for this current season of our lives. My kids will never be this little, we may be living in another part of the world, and be in a totally different season in life... but we'll be able to look back and see how we've grown in the grace of our Lord and experienced His goodness! 

love and blessings!

Megan

Megan's Summer Update

Hello Everyone! Here's an update of what's been happening with us in Ethiopia these past two and a half months.  Before getting into the details, we want to thank all of you who have prayed for us, encouraged us, sent us Scripture, and supported us during this time. We are consistently humbled and blessed by our "extended" family. 

During this season we definitely faced some challenges: Shaun was only given a 30-day business visa and had to get his work permit in that time, we found out that some of our paperwork had to be sent back to the US to get authenticated at two different places (we weren't aware of this step), our documents got lost when we sent them to friends in DC, both the kid dealt with sickness.  Sonya had febrile seizure and Jude got stung twice by something.. the first time was his whole hand was so swollen he couldn't even hold a cup (aka HULK hand).

BUT in all of this we continued to see God's faithfulness.  Shaun was given a 30-day extension, our paperwork was found, and dear friends of ours in Washington D.C. were able to take our documents to get authenticated.. and they didn't get lost on the way back :)  Jude and Sonya got better.  And while time was ticking on Shaun's first visa extension... just three days before he was going to have to leave the country he got another two-week extension, and by God's grace he got his work permit the next day! 

Through all these circumstances we see God used them to take us deeper in our relationship with Him.  I know it's not some huge, new revelation... He was simply reminding us that we are His kids and He is a faithful and trustworthy Father.  His Word tells us many times that He is faithful and trustworthy, but through times like these He gives you the opportunity to understand His character, through the experiences He sovereignly places us in.  Whether through trials, spiritual warfare, or tough circumstances where we--alone--would be unable to handle... He proves Himself faithful and true, all because He loves us.  

Paul said this about his own hard circumstances he faced in 2Corinthians 1v9, "...But as a result, we stopped relying ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead." 

We serve a very powerful God.. One who sees the whole story. 

As for the ministry, there is a renewed sense of purpose in why He has us here.  In serving the kids at EGCH I'm reminded that they (along with many in this world) are ones whose trust has been broken. Every single one of them... their trust has been broken by the two people they should be able to trust the most.  They are learning to trust too... and to feel safe, loved, and valued.  We can tell them with our words that we love them, that they can feel safe here, and they are valued so much by God that He brought to them to EGCH... but they need to experience God's love and faithfulness for themselves. So we pray for them, love them on their best days & on their worst days, and plant seeds of His truth into their hearts.  You can pray for us, the team here, that we would reflect God in a way that is honoring and glorifying to Him.  And please pray for the Ebenezer kids... that while we see their value and worth... that would someday KNOW in their hearts that they are loved & valued by Jesus. Thanks. 

Here are a couple of photos from the past couple of months:

Sonya will turn three next month!  Time flies.  She's such a smart cookie... loves being outside, riding her scooter, and loves to talk and sing all the time.  When she's not singing she loves watching herself sing from videos on our phone :) She's even learning songs in Amharic on her own.  Above is a photo her and daddy... we celebrated his 36th birthday in July!

Jude is four and a half... and all boy!  He loves anything and everything that has to do with super heroes and ninja turtles.  He loves going to Rachel and Argaw's house and playing with their kids... and having EGCH boys over to our house to play cars and dress up like super heroes. :)  It's been so fun as a parent to watch him learn and grow.  He's such an observer and I love when he lets us in on what he's thinking. 

This is Gideon (Tegegn).  Many of you know that he went to the States in July to get a cyst removed on his head that was effecting that right side of his brain.  The surgery went well and he's doing great.  He won't return back to Ethiopia for another few months.  You can check out his whole story on the website: www.ebenezergrace.org 

A good friend from our bible college days, Tim Warholic, came out in July.  He brought a team from Paradise Calvary Chapel, a church he pastors in Las Vegas.  We've known Tim for over 10 years and it was so great having him out!  The team was such a blessing to the ministry.  They did a week long Vacation Bible School (VBS) program for the Ebenezer kids and other children from the community. They did some painting, organizing, repairing beds, and holding babies at the children's home. It was great getting to know the team and reconnecting with our good buddy, Tim!

Below, is a picture of the team and the VBS group.

Thank you for your continued love, prayers, and support.

All the best in Jesus,

Megan