Free day on the Horn

Hmm.. free days. Honestly, unless I’m on a beach or shopping mall, I’m pretty bad at them. I usually start off making the coffee, reading the Word(mmmm), maybe cleaning… and then it feels like I walk around aimlessly for a few hours and it’s time to start Tuesday again. Nonetheless, here are a few particularly insignificant experiences from my Monday...

Okay, yea.. best coffee on the planet. My daddy sends it in the mail (we're actually runnin low now.. *hint*)

Probably sportsbladet...

See.. they're growing!!

Believe it or not, I actually straightened this hair today! And NO I didn't dye it blonde.. African sunshine.

Love our blue shutters and window-seat.. the walls of the house are dark green and pink :)

Sam ate dorowat for lunch

These Oromo men had the cutest rain boots! Can I say that??

Then I started my roaming around the compound.. here are a few remodeling projects I've had..

New black dining room wall, black-covered chairs and photos of places and faces of Ethiopia .. it looks sweet with the red carpet

Our bedroom.. chocolate brown, black, white and cappuccino colors! Niceno..

Tomorrow is the first day of our third Bible school class... O how I'm longing for them! Isn't it beautiful when God transforms lives? The greatest gift I know is when I witness a person being molded in His hands. Warriors are being raised up in Ethiopia.. young men and women who are filled with Holy Spirit and pursuing nothing but a life of miracles among the unreached! That is the only reason I long to do what I do. They make me breathe and speak and walk and live..

Now the hyenas are yelping outside and wild dogs are answering back to them furiously.. my signal to drift away for the night..

Rainy Sunday

Picture of the day:
Me and my little brother.. so cute!

Random thoughts:

We've entered the mini rainy season here in Ethiopia.. feels cozy. We have a tin roof and I love thunderstorms, so it makes for a good match.

My grandma Diana called me yesterday! It was so unexpected.. but made my weekend!! O how I miss fikas with my grandmas...

Me and Sam are waiting for about 4 packages in the mail but I think the volcanoes in Iceland have stalled the shipping process.. and I have no patience! Feels like Christmas time!

I had the most incredible time with Selam and Tigist yesterday.. best friends! The hours pass so quickly and my stomach aches from laughing after I'm with them :)

Samuel is an incredible husband.. he's beyond everything I ever imagined..

The third Bibleschool class starts Tuesday! Can't wait to hear their warrior spirits rumbling through our compound!

My little brother Jeffrey will graduate from high school in June and then go to Marine boot camp to be shipped who knows where.. I still can't believe he's all grown up.

I'm in the mood to create somthing in the kitchen..

I wish I could get a Chai Latte with Soy right now...

Me and Sam built and painted a flower box a few weeks ago and are slowly, slowly watching our little plant babies come up. We're addicted to counting them atleast twice a day! Strange what small things bring you excitement sometimes..

I wonder when I'll actually be fluent in Swedish.. and not speaking this English-Swedish-Amerinja-Spanish mix..

Was meditating on Galations 5 this morning. Walkin by the Spirit...

I have a gorgeous Grand Piano keyboard with full length weighted keys sitting in America.. how and when will I ever be able to take it away with me??

The thunder is so soothing now.. Mohammed and Samuel are laying on the floor by me, snooring... it's making me tired too...

Be blessed wherever you are this Sunday afternoon....... :)

Life on the Horn!

Harar Church of Joy blew my mind on Sunday morning! What a powerful service we had!!!

It started with incredible worship led by our very own Meles, Selam and Henock. The church was clapping, dancing and shouting to the mesmor! There’s nothing like radical praise! Then Maja’s house church… the kids of HCOJ… did a worship dance/drama. Basically anything a kid does is precious. Everyone in the audience had their mobiles out recording..haha! Then Daniel, one of our Bible students got up to testify. The word of our testimony is one of the most powerful tools on the planet.. he was incredible. (This service was jam packed... just bear with me...) Then the students got up to preform a drama called "This Blood". Wow wow... then one of my favorite parts... we handed out diplomas for Bible school graduation!!!!!! GAH!! HALLELUJAH! Now the second class of fire preachers and warriors has been completed! (Sorry for all the !!!!!'s) After prayer and prophecy over the class, my hero and hubby got up to preach a powerful word about our VISION...

Harar Church of Joy

Among the people. For all people.

To liberate, transform and equip a generation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ...

in Ethiopia, on the Horn of Africa and to the ends of the earth.

-for the sake of the unreached

Need I elaborate??? Thanks Jesus!

Sunday night was a beautiful celebration. We gathered our 8 students together on mats and pillows in our compound for a barbeque of goat meat and injera. Although we've entered our mini rainy season in Ethiopia, the lighting and pelting drops of water didn't stiffen the joy in our hearts. Fraizer played drums on a plastic barrel while we shouted worship to Jesus and danced in the rain around the bonfire. Hallelujah!

Second class graduates!

It's always fulfilling to see a battle won in the Kingdom. It's satisfying to glean spiritual fruit, sons and daughters. But the work never ends. God's kingdom is a kingdom of multiplication... it's constantly moving. It's alive, never on break or vacation. Now our vision just gleams brighter. Our pursuit of miracles and the supernatural just gets bolder. Only one week until the third class of Bible students gathers together again.. there's much to do! We also have 10 of our graduated students entering into an intense street evangelism training course... They will be strategically sent out to transform the entire region of Harar, house to house. MMM.. love this life!

Almost time to dive into another week. We're preparing for Tanzania(in just one month!), our beloved Katish will be leaving to Sweden on Wednesday, meeting with new saved disciples, dreaming with Holy Spirit, maybe a skype call from USA(??), walks and fikas with my MAN and the team, house churches, and I have a tremendous amount of writing to do... God's so good!

On another note.. Sam and I were looking up Bungalows in Zanzibar today! After our incredible time in the demon clinic at the festival in Tanzania next month, we will be going on a safari and then off to lay on the white beaches of the stunning island of Zanzibar. Hallelujah... mmm. The only African country I've been to is Ethiopia, so I'm loooonging to see these beautiful people groups on the coast of this stunning continent. I'm totally in love with the unreached.

Wish blogspot was working more often out here.. didn't get to write about Samuel's birthday! It was so fun!!! Love celebrating him! I've come to learn pretty early on in this marriage that in times like Christmas and birthdays... he's a little kid. Seriously. On "special days" I have to set my alarm near 3ish-am just to ensure I get up before him. Wrapping paper is usually torn open before the sun rises... there's no patience for those kind of things in our family! We had a wonderful lunch together.. made a delicious coffee/chocolate cake... HE'S THE BEST!! And now he's 26 years! Happy Birthday again, my love...

Daddy God

This afternoon my Sam and I ventured out for a road trip! African road trips are the best! We got caught in a passing storm cloud while up in the mountains... the pictures were spectacular...

Oromo woman.. most beautiful people group!

It's been quite an eventful week. I had the honor of teaching our Bible school students on Tuesday night. What a blast we had! The subject was WORSHIP -

The History of Worship

The Lifestyle of Worship

The Excellence of Worship

Me and Joelle with some of the students!

There was such a Holy Spirit flow when I began the lessons. I love seeing people's eyes light up when they get a revelation of the Word of God and their lives are inevitably transformed in that moment. Thanks Jesus.

Wednesday was great.. and sad. It was the day Joelle was flying home to Youngstown. We had a great morning taking fikas and hugging on our countless street kids.. then ate tibs, dorowat and injera with Maja for lunch. In the afternoon we were headed off to Dire Dawa by minibus, destination: USA via Ethiopian airlines. The flight was delayed twice.. I was secretly (or not so secretly) praying the airports would just mysteriously shut down for a few weeks. They didn't.

Thanks Joelle for spending your life with me in Harar this month! I loved every moment and cherish your sweet presence.. longing for you again soon!

Mohammed, Sinabwa and Naphtali

Our pastors and worship leaders, Mohammed and his beautiful wife Sinabwa have been preparing for the birth of their baby "Hallelujah" for the last seven months. The entire pregnancy has been quite difficult for different reasons... finally this weekend they found themselves at the hospital once again, and the doctors said that the baby had died and she still had to go through the long process of delivery. Samuel and I stayed at the hospital with them through the night while the team and many others were awake praying. On Friday morning, our little Hallelujah came. It's amazing what a gift she has already become to our base here on the Horn of Africa.. we have all wrapped her up inside our hearts these many weeks as she grew. Although it's been a tremendously sad and frustrating time, each of us here have found the beauty of God's faithfulness and goodness interwoven through our minds and spirits. He is always good and always in control. You can read more on my hubby's blog page.

What a diamond the Mohammed family is to me and Samuel. We love and treasure them with our lives! What an honor to stand and fight for Harar with them, to serve God's vision hand in hand... Batam Ewoodachuallo!

What a good Daddy God we have. Serving Him with our lives is unlike any other agenda we could try to put together on our own... I'm in love with this country and these people groups! Ethiopia is being saved!