TB work the last few weeks has been... tough! We have worked so hard to keep people from stopping their TB medicines, but it seems no matter how frequently we visit them, they stop when they feel like it! One woman said to us last week, "I have noone to watch my house while I'm away getting my medicine, and I'm afraid of a break-in, so I stopped going to the health center." But the last few times we have dropped by she has been out doing other things! Also, many of our patients have material interest- they are hoping to get food aid or money from our TB project, but our goal is to get them healthy. They are much less concerned with their physical health than they are with "getting something," and even less interested in their spiritual health.
We took a list of our patients into the district health office where the government's community health workers are working. We are working together with this local government health office and our relations have been good, so we took this list in to ask for their help with tracking down those patients who aren't staying on their medications. They were grateful to us and eager to help, so we hope to continue working together with the structures that are already on the ground.
Brian's work at Bingham continues without slowing down. He is coaching high school volleyball for boys, and when I dropped in last week it was fun seeing him playing with the boys during practice and enjoying the game. Seems like each week has its own "adventure" for him: last week a challenging student that he had to respond to, and before that helping with a big multi-school international track meet that included schools from Kenya, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and of course Ethiopia.
The power of prayer has been incredible for him to witness over the last few years as certain students have been placed on his heart. Currently there is a girl in his 8th grade Bible class that he has been challenged to pray for. She constantly takes the side that not being a believer is far more beneficial than being one. She states that she believes there is a god but has no desire to have a relationship with him and if she were to die today she would go to hell with a 0% chance of getting into heaven. It breaks our heart to see how hardened she is to understanding the love that our Savior has for her. This week she had to serve an in school suspension for a chain of behavioral events and on Monday he had a meeting with the director, this student and her mom that lasted for an hour and a half. Lately, other teachers have had it placed on their heart to fervently pray for her and another staff member has decided to start mentoring her. He feels so blessed to be able to entertain her questions each day in Bible class and attempt to steer her towards the truth in such a wonderful Christian environment as Bingham. Please take time to pray for this girl, her relationship with her parents, friends, teachers and most of all that she would have a life changing event that would break her down so she can realize what Christ has done for her.
Some of you in Paradise and Chico may remember the fundraising and garage sale Brian had a couple of years ago for his guards. He is pleased to announce that one of the guards has used the money to start a barber shop! We love seeing Meaza at work just outside our house where he is serving his clients. He is all smiles when we visit and it is great to know that this is because of your help with fundraising a few years ago.
Our weekends are also fuller these months with frequent trips to Langano. We have been loading down our Land Cruiser with furniture and household items to parallel that of the grinch's sled as we make the 4-5 hour trek through the Rift Valley to our soon to be home where we will be working starting in October. This weekend we took down the crib Brian made, our kitchen table and some chairs, and lots of boxes and little things. We are emptying out our house here in Addis slowly between now and the middle of June when we fly home to California. We recommend moving every couple of years in order to de-clutter and shake out the cob webs! Our weekends in Langano are a nice mix of working on home improvements like hanging lights and building shelves, a swim at the end of the day in the lake, and time with our future teammates who are living in Langano now.
The baby is growing and I'm into maternity jeans now which are so comfy. Overall my energy is good, and I don't have much to complain about- God has blessed us with an easy baby and pregnancy- so far!!
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