Paul and Becca

Nathan, we cannot believe you are one year old! It has been such a fun year and you have learned so much already. You are changing from that adorable baby to a handsome little boy. I will never forget how excited your dad was when I told him we were expecting you. It was so perfect; it was daddy’s 31st birthday, so I had a reason to wrap up “the results” with a bow. He got home from work early and I was so excited I didn’t have to wait any longer. I immediately asked him to sit down, so he could open his presents. I don’t even remember what else I got him and I am sure he doesn’t either. But I remember how he grabbed me and hugged me when he realized we were going to have our first child.

We have learned a lot this past year. We learned that you know what you want! You know when you are hungry or thirsty or when you want to be free to crawl around and most of all you know when you want to be held. Some of our favorite memories are: you smiling for the first time, giggling for the first time when Zso Zso and I did something weird to you…but then we tried to repeat it for your daddy a million times and you wouldn’t laugh for him until days later. I loved taking you for walks at Addison Circle or the Galleria (…ahhh the Galleria…) and showing you off to friends. Although you could be loud you were always so cute no one ever minded your cries.

And now some of your favorite things to do are: CLAP, CLAP and CLAP. Clapping is definitely your favorite thing to do. Any time we say, “clap” or “good job” or sing “Patty cake” you immediately drop everything and begin to Clap! You also love to put your hand to your mouth and sound like an Indian..Ah Ah Ah Ah…. Nathan, you love to play peek-a-boo or Koo-Ka-Loo (as they call it here). You will even do the hiding and booing. You love to cruise around and walk while holding our hands. You love to run as fast as you can in your walker on our concrete floors and you love your Bible with many flaps and doors to open and close. You love to sit in the yard while I am in the garden and you love the animals and children’s attention as we walk to town. You love your neighbors, Benjamin and Karmyn and you love, love, love their dog Selah!

I love watching how you and your daddy’s eyes light up at the same time when you see each other. And how when you hear the door open you crawl around the corner to see if it is him. I love how you give me slobbery kisses and how you say mama and dada.

Nathan, a year ago today we were wondering who you were and now we know you so well. We know your deep blue eyes and the cute noises you make when you discover something new. And there is so much more you to learn and discover. We pray for you and praise God for His protection over your little life. We pray that God would reveal Himself to you in His timing and that you may come to know His saving grace.

We love you little one! Happy Birthday.

Love, Mama and Daddy

 Merry Christmas everyone!  We hope this time is filled with love.  May we each reflect on the goodness of God, who gave the world his only Son.  Jesus humbled himself to come to earth and become fully man, yet remain fully God, to give us something we could never wrap with a bow – grace through his blood.

We are definitely missing our families during this time, especially as we know they are spending the next few days together.  My parents (Becca) are in Maine celebrating with Jessica and Mike, my sister and her husband and Mike’s parents.  I hear they do have a white Christmas.  Our Christmas is still sunny and 75 degrees every day, no rain this time of year and definitely no snow. 

We are looking forward to celebrating Nathan’s first Christmas morning with just the three of us.  At least, since Ethiopian’s celebrate Christmas two weeks later than us, Paul will always be able to get Christmas off.  In the afternoon and evening we are planning to sing Christmas songs and enjoy a traditional Christmas meal.  We even have a turkey that Sharon brought from Kenya.  She carried it on the plane with her and it went through the x-ray.  She said the security guard gave it a very funny look.  She told them it was a turkey, but having no idea what that was, it didn’t help.  Finally she said it was food and they let her through.  So we have a turkey!  Very exciting!!!  I will be making my mother’s favorite stuffing and our traditional Christmas cookies.  We are all getting together tonight to decorate the cookies. 

We hope everyone is having a great time with family and friends and know that we are thinking of you and wish we could be there.

Love, Becca, Paul and Nathan

Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Sometimes it’s easy to read words but not really grasp the implications or the details of what they say. For example, “6 million Jews died in the Holocaust” or “Jesus was led into the wilderness and for forty days he was tempted and ate no food”. As an American, having lived my entire life without truly being in need, it is hard to wrap my mind around real, desperate poverty. Since coming to Soddo, I’ve seen a lot of poverty and I’ve observed some amazing things and behaviors that can only exist in the context of real poverty, that outside of which seem completely unfathomable. To attempt to bring this reality closer to life for you, I need to describe some examples. This is only to describe the situation. It is not intended to point any fingers of blame or wag any heads. It is also not intended to convey any sense of hopelessness.  There is hope here, but help is needed.  Another saying I’ve read and still need to fully grasp is from the Bible; James, chapter 2, verses 15 and 16: “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” While we are certainly here to be a part of a ministry that tells people about the good news of Jesus and what He has accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection, there are also some very real physical needs that we ought not to ignore.

As a father, I can tell you without hesitation that if Nathan were ever injured and in need of care that I would do anything in my power to help him. Because of this context, I was baffled when a little girl was brought to the hospital a few weeks ago. At the time, we had two visitors at the hospital who are from Switzerland. They had been hiking in the countryside near Soddo when they found a family with a five month-old girl who had severely burned her arm when boiling water was spilled on it. She was burned several days earlier but the family had not sought medical care because they could not afford it. The Swiss couple offered to pay for their care if they brought the little girl to the hospital. After the family showed up, I evaluated her and found deep, third degree burns to her forearm and hand with more shallow burns to her upper arm and torso. She would require skin grafting. The head Ethiopian nurse felt it was important that the father assist at least some in the cost of his daughter’s care but when this issue was raised the man refused. If the care was not to be free, he would take the little girl back home. I don’t understand the depth of the financial struggles of that man nor do I know how many other children he had at home to feed. When I think of the pain in my heart when I see Nathan cry after something as simple as falling backwards and bumping his head, I realize I can’t fathom the poverty that would prompt me to do nothing if he sustained a terrible and painful burn.

Several weeks ago I took care of a woman who bled after a gynecologic surgery. She was accompanied by her nephew. She worsened to the point that I needed to take her back to the operating room and she would require blood transfusions. The nurses explained to me that the family refused to either give blood or find a donor (often this requires paying the donor). I went to the bedside to talk with the family and, through the nurse as a translator, explained to the nephew that she needed this to save her life. He stated it would be better to wait and let her die so that they could take the body home. As the patient was awake and listening to the conversation, I was surprised both that he could say such a thing in front of here and at how little emotion she showed. The family simply didn’t have the means to both give blood and take her home if she died.

Finally, I want to describe the story that prompted this message. Six days ago, two children, a brother and sister of ages twelve and fourteen, were brought to the hospital with severe burns of their legs, feet and hands. The family had no money and we have been taking care of them with the Benevolent Fund (I’ll explain more below). The girl has deep burns to both of her hands and both of her lower legs and feet. The boy has deep burns to about 25% of his body, including most of both legs and feet and both hands. To be perfectly honest, these injuries are beyond my expertise and well beyond the capabilities of this hospital. Through a LOT of prayer, we are doing the best we can to help them. The part of this story that hurts the most, however, is what happened to them. It seems their uncle was convinced that they stole 10 Ethiopian Birr from him. With the help of three other men to hold them and gag them, the two children were held in a pit of burning grass which gave them their terrible wounds. For those of you who are wondering, 10 Ethiopian Birr is about $1 US Dollar. Clearly, these men have wickedness and depravity in their lives beyond mere poverty but I can’t help but marvel at conditions that lead to stories like these.

Every day we see patients that need medical care here at Soddo Christian Hospital that simply cannot afford it. For a major surgery, including all costs, the average bill is about $150 to $200 USD. I’ve been to other missionary hospitals where the fees are pretty similar and the majority of patients are able to raise the funds. I have never seen such difficulty as here where so many patients just can’t afford it. To help these people, there is a Benevolent Fund that is used to help offset the costs. This money is almost completely donated from outside Ethiopia. The truth is our Benevolent Fund is sorely under matched for the need here. The medical and financial needs here would probably even make short work of an exponential increase in our Benevolent Fund.

As you read this, I hope this helps to illustrate how difficult life is for the people of Ethiopia. I also hope you will consider the possibility of helping with some of these necessities out of any surplus the Lord may have blessed you. I understand that the world economy is not looking so good but, as you read this, I would challenge you to consider how bad you have truly been hit. I also understand that there is no shortage of need and no shortage of worthy causes for which you can give. If, however, you would like to give money to help with the Benevolent Fund, this can be done at Soddo Christian Hospital’s website: www.soddo.org. Thank you and we love you.

I’ve written an update about our time and activities here in Ethiopia. Hope it helps fill in some details. Sorry for the infrequent blog posts! -Paul

An Update on Our Time in Soddo, Ethiopia

Acclimating to life in Ethiopia

We’ve been here for a little over four months. In some ways it seems much shorter than that and in some ways it seems much longer! Our duplex is now feeling like home. It has been repainted on the interior to suit our (Becca’s) tastes. I like it a lot! We have become accustomed to the details of daily life, like cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. It has been fun to see our garden flourish under the capable hand of our gardener, Alan. There are about ten quarts of frozen strawberries in the freezer! Nathan now has a real crib and his room has become much more cozy and “his”. Though the sights, sounds and smells are still foreign, they are becoming more familiar. Take for instance the speakers. Whether it be the Pentecostal Christian churches or the Ethiopian Orthodox churches, whether in Amharic, Wolaitinya or Geez languages, the messages are blasted out for all to hear (whether you want to or not!) at all hours of either day or night. In addition, Ethiopians enjoy their music and there is no social taboo about sharing it with others at any time, including at 5:30 am on Saturday’s! Thank the Lord, though, we’re getting used to it all.

Getting to know the Ethiopians at home

We’ve developed relationships with several Ethiopians. As mentioned above, Alan is our gardener. He is a kind and hard working man who has done wonders with the garden. It is always a pleasure to see his smiling face when I come home for lunch. Becca has grown close to two women who work with us at home. Hanna has been helping with the cleaning and cooking. Becca really likes her, as do I, and she enjoys Nathan very much. She has a son similar in age and the two boys have fun together.  Yetaginew also helps at the house, primarily baby-sitting Nathan in the afternoon while Becca spends time at the hospital kitchen or taking care of business as the Soddo Christian Hospital guest coordinator. We have quite a few visitors so it keeps her busy! Yetaginew also has a son, though a bit older, and Nathan enjoys playing with him as well. Our Amharic tutor is Paulos. He has helped a lot as we have started the difficult journey of learning the language. Paulos also helps Jackie Anderson at the English school she has started on the hospital grounds. He is fluent in English, Amharic and Wolaitinya.

Ministry opportunities

In addition to PAACS, we have been blessed to be able to minister in other ways as well. We are helping some of the Ethiopians with their schooling and are continuing to help finance the young man who is preaching Jesus in his predominately Muslim region. We have also been assisting as God leads with patients in need at the hospital. It is a real challenge trying to discern who to help because the needs are so great and ubiquitous. It seems like every night I’m told about a patient in need of an urgent surgery. After seeing the patient and deciding to proceed with surgery, I’m invariably told they have no money. Or I may be told of a dangerously low blood count and, when I order for a blood transfusion, I’m told they can’t afford it. It’s very frustrating to try to practice medicine in an environment where the capabilities are not only severely limited but where the patients often cannot avail themselves of even these meager means. Therefore we try to help where it seems best and I’ve given some blood myself (being O+ helps).

PAACS

My work with PAACS has been a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts. This is very rewarding and fulfilling but also very challenging and taxing. I’ll try to hit the high points. As I’ve mentioned before, I truly enjoy and admire the residents. Here’s a quick introduction. Frehun and Solomon are the senior guys, in their fourth years. Frehun is quite sharp and desires to pursue pediatric surgery. One of the other PAACS programs is at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. There is a pediatric surgeon there and PAACS is trying to decide about possibly sending him there for fellowship training. Solomon, who has been in Addis for the last several months on away rotations and whom I’ve missed after our short time together, wants to pursue additional training in urology. Finding such training is going to prove a little more challenging but there would be a huge need for such training at any hospital in Africa. Etuh (from Nigeria, the only non-Ethiopian of the bunch) and Haileyesus are in their third years. I’ve grown quite fond of Etuh and am impressed with his capabilities and potential. He and his wife are in the process of adopting and Ethiopian boy and they desire to go back to Nigeria to start a mission hospital after his training is completed. Oddly enough, I’ve never met Haileyesus as he has been in Kenya on away rotations for the duration of our time here. I will meet him in January. Tewodros and Arega are in their second years. Both of these guys are great and a pleasure with which to work. It has been fun watching Tewodros improve over the months I’ve been here. He will make a fine surgeon one day. His wife, Addis, is a midwife at the hospital and a huge asset. Arega is “on loan” for about a year before he moves on to Kenya to complete his training there. He completed his first year at Banso Hospital in Cameroon but that PAACS program has shut down due to internal issues at the hospital. Arega will complete his training at Tenwek in Kenya. He is a fantastic resident and an all-round great guy. His positive attitude and superb work ethic help keep me going. He’s going to do great. Our newest addition is Daniel, our first year resident. Daniel has been practicing as a general medicine doctor for about ten years and is making the challenging move back into training to pursue surgery. He has a heart a mile wide and is making the transition well. As a brand new surgeon, I’ve seen his skills improve noticeably over the last three months.

We are currently facing the difficulty of being put on probation by the PAACS executive committee. There has been an issue primarily of poor numbers of operation for the residents. It has been a disappointment to hear this but we are making changes to improve this. Even in the last three months, the numbers have increased as the instructors have been letting the residents do more in the operating room than before. There is certainly enough surgical disease in southern Ethiopia to fully train these young men!

We are still in the process of trying to get the training program officially recognized by the Ethiopian government. Unfortunately there is no precedence with which to compare here in Ethiopia in regards to accrediting medical specialty training programs. The only current surgical residency in the country predates the accreditation process! Many more meetings and applications may await our future in the process of seeking this accreditation. The good news is that we really do have a good product that should stand the test of scrutiny. We are praying that God will give us wisdom and guide our steps in this difficult process.

In January, we will all be going to Brackenhurst, Kenya, for the PAACS-wide basic science conference. It will be a two week affair full of lectures and practical skills training for all of the PAACS residents from across the continent. Though it will be a busy time, I’m looking forward to seeing faces I haven’t seen since we visited Gabon back in 2006. I’m also looking forward to comparing notes with accomplished missionary surgeons and trying to gain insight in how to improve our program and hospital.

Trying to find the balance

A few weeks ago, we left Soddo for the first time to just get away for a bit. Naturally, I messed it up by getting sick, but it was still good to get away from the stresses for a little while. One of the challenges of living here is and will continue to be endurance. While it is wonderful to have no commute to get to the hospital, that also means you are always there. Furthermore, the stresses of trying to acclimate to another culture are present twenty-four hours a day. We realize that we are going to have to schedule some time on a regular basis to just get away and decompress if we are going to be able to last for the long haul. I’m sure those stresses will become less acute as we become better accustomed to living here but they will never go away.

In summary

All in all, we are doing well. There have been very real stresses but God is using them to teach us true dependence on Him. It has brought us closer to Him and for that we are thankful. In addition, this has brought us closer than ever as husband and wife. I am so thankful that God led me to Becca! She is a delight and a tremendous gift. No matter how difficult the day may be, it is always good to come home! We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for your support of this endeavor. Please know that this is your ministry as well. It would not exist without you and we are honored to represent you. We pray that God would bless you and use you for His glory in all your days. Till we meet again!

Love,

Paul and Becca

We were in Addis Ababa this weekend just getting some things done.  It is never really restful being there, because it is a very busy city and we usually have a list a mile long of things to accomplish.    On the list this time was:

·         Shopping for a few hard to get items:  We actually found brown sugar which was impossible to find in all of Ethiopia for the first few months.  Our chocolate chip cookies will taste so much better.       

·         Get a haircut.  Nathan and I both got our hair cut.

·         Eat some meat.  We never eat chicken in Soddo, so every meal in Addis I get chicken!

·         Go to the Addis Art Fair.  We saw more farenjis (foreigners) than we have in all 4 months combined.  Apparently that is the place to be.  It was a lot of fun and we bought some Christmas presents as well. 

·         Buy a food processor for the hospital kitchen.  I have been helping the ladies in the kitchen and we wanted to donate a food processor to them.  We received a donation this month for the amount it ended up being.  It was kind of backwards than most of the stories you hear.  We were already planning on buying it out of our monthly support that is designated for ministry needs and then we were going to donate to the hospital.  Well, I didn’t realize it until after I bought the fancy food processor (with a meat grinder attachment!) that we had previously received an email from someone who said she wanted to give more this last month and she hoped that we had some specific need for it.  We got our statement while I was in Addis and I was able to get one that had both the processor and grinder.  These ladies chop about 10 pounds of onions a day and they finely chop almost 10 pounds of meat.  They are very very excited!

·         Relax.  We actually did get some R&R in.  We stayed at this nice guest apartment that was huge and spacey and it was only 20 USD a night.  We shared it with a few other missionaries, but it was nice to be able to relax in our own living space. 

·         And as you can see we also enjoyed time outside with Nathan.  This is his absolute favorite place to be.  He loved the seesaw and he liked the swing more than this picture lets on. 

Stay tuned.  Paul has a good update blog we will post soon.  Love to all, Becca

I have posted my new favorite recipe…it’s over there to the left.  This has been something I have been wanting to do for a little while now.  I have collected a bunch of great recipes and the granola bars are only the beginning.  Hope you enjoy!  Becca (of course)