Girlie stuff

I got a package in the mail yesterday.. from my Joelle!

Everyone in the team got candy.. and although Sam and I contemplated keeping it all for ourselves (come on.. they don't have Reeses or Hersheys in Ethiopia OR Sweden!).. we passed it out faithfully :)

I got cheese!! Ethiopia, well pretty much all of Africa and Asia, is without cheese.

Gah!! I'm hearing so many cheesy recipes calling me name...

(I'm so typical American right now..)

Thanks Joelle!!!

You know the feeling you get when you spread a new shade of polish across your toes and it somehow sends a smile to your heart and a swing to your hips?? Or when you smack your lips together after shining them up with a fruity gloss.. mmm so good. I guess I've kinda had some of those moments lately.. thanks to my mama and sis' packages :) When you live in Africa, it's easy to start feeling like a sweaty dust puddle at times. Come on.. my heart beats just thinking about this incredible land.. but I'm still a girl! Someone once told me.. "you're actually stylish for being a missionary.." uuhh yea..

My sweet husband took me shopping too. I got the cutest denim skirt full of pockets and buttons.. perfect for our dress code on the Horn!

On Sunday we rummaged through the second-hand market. You know all those clothes people in USA and Europe send to the poor in Africa... well most of them end up in a dark, tarp-walled market and then we buy them! Ironic I know. It's a great place though to find old things that can be destroyed out here in the desserts of dust and so much cheaper than trying to drag a bunch of stuff over from the west ourselves. We also find incredible top-name, hardly even touched, expensive brands from Sweden... Sam is the king of finding hot skinny Nudie jeans...

Here's a cute t-shirt dress with gold beading from a boutique in Italy... for 2 dollars!

.. and Sam sportin my new olive green jacket... for 2 dollars!

It IS possible to be a cute missionary!

Tack Älskling!

Happy Mother's Day!

Called my mom yesterday..

I have the best mama in the whole world! Even though we're living on different continents, she still has this almost magical way of taking care of me and making me feel like I can conquer ocean storms, dessert sun, cooking and spiders. My best times with her have been over breakfast at Bobevans just down the street from our old house, window shopping at Something New, well.. just shopping in general, suntanning in the backyard or beaches or parks, talking about my "future prince" and all the love we would share.. and then planning my wedding with him.. yay, hearing her car come up the drive and trying to think up some quick excuse as to why her kitchen smells like smoke and her crock pot is completely melted away.. O I could just go on and on.. I love you mama!!

Girl Talk..

Final touches on my wedding day...

Happy Mother's Day! Love you!

Birthday and House Church!

Love running errands around Harar.. somehow you always seem to find some of the most interesting people along the way. Sam, Naftali and I went out to buy some fabric for my sister in Kentucky.. she's collecting pieces of fabric from friends and family all over the world to make a sweet quilt for the baby(4th baby). Then we were off to the post office.. sending cards to my family :) Next a fabulous fika with the men in my life (yea one is only 5 years old but akoona matata) and then a trip to the supermarket. Mohammed's birthday was Thursday!! We're having a celebration fika of coffee-chocolate cake at 4:30 today! Come if you're around! Love Birthdays!

Sam caught me looking quite excited about baking..

Naftali helped with everything! He's just sad that it's not his turn for a party..

Longing for women's house church tonight. We have the most incredible girls in the universe! Last night Selam(the remarkable 24 year old Bibleschool graduate and leader of our group on Saturday nights) and I had a powerful time of prayer and worship together.. she is such an anointed woman of God.. My African sister and best friend. Can't wait to chase the heart of our Jesus together with you and the other stunning girls of Harar Church of JOY tonight!

Passion

My first trip into Africa was stunning, breathtaking. It was as if I had just stepped into a dream. As the plane came near landing, I could see wild camels in the distance and almost choked myself with excitement, grasping my chest and gasping so loudly that the other passengers began laughing! That moment convinced me that this would be an adventure to change my life as well as the lives of many others.

The landscapes of Ethiopia are breathtaking and radically diverse. If you were to squeeze into a sweaty 15 passenger mini bus with 20 other Somalis, Oromo’s and Harare’s for a road trip cross-country, you would see flat, red, sandy desserts speckled with deep green bushes and tall trees with flat tops swaying ever so slightly in the breeze, mind-boggling rock formations housing baboons, volcanoes nestled in black lava from centuries of random spit fires, blue crystal lakes with hippos, crocodiles and other unmentionable ferocious beasts and mountains so vast that they take your breath away.

More than any spectacular view, the people especially capture your heart. It only takes an instant and suddenly you realize that the very core of your bosom is no longer beating in the safety of your ribs but out on the infested sidewalks, wrapped around the faces of the young and old.

Ethiopia is a place of many kisses. Women in long, vibrant dresses and headscarves greet you with “Selamno” and then kiss you on both cheeks three or four or even five times before repeating it again. The eyes of the children open with enormous anticipation at the simple sight of your white face as they shout out all the English words they know, all at once, in hopes of gaining some sort of attention from their own personal celebrities. The men can be quite diverse from people group to people group. Many are dressed in their specific religious attire, long white robes and knitted caps for the Muslims or western clothes and white scarves for the Orthodox. One of my favorites fashion trends comes from the Oromo men… they wear striped red and grey t-shirts with a variety of different rainbow colored skirts wrapped and rolled perfectly at the waist. Their accessory is always a sharp plowing sheer thrown over the shoulder. I’ve never actually figured out why they’re carrying them. Skirts are natural for men in Ethiopia. The missionary guys even wear them to breakfast.

Every person you pass holds a special key that spins continuously within the lockets of your mind until all you can do Is open doors of wonder deep within, doors that never close and make you forever abandoned to an eternal fascination of the people that are held within the very caverns and crevasses of the world.

The SOS mission base here is truly pioneer, beginning at the end of 2008. Before long though, a few adventurists were training up disciples in church meetings on Saturday and Sunday nights, leading dozens of newly saved people to baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit. The church in Ethiopia is called Church of Joy and lives up to its name. When we begin singing “Hallelujah” and clapping, you cannot find one person without a smile. The joy of the Lord is our strength and that’s why so many are able to be children of God here in Africa.

Samuel Strandberg is the extraordinary base leader from the West coast Sweden with a captivating vision for the people groups on the Horn of Africa, a heart full of evangelism and powerful passion for prayer. His heart is to seek the face of God continuously and build a Christian culture. He once told me his six foolproof, guarantee keys of being a pioneer and reaching the unreached. “Number one, pray. Number two, preach. Number three, pray. Number four, preach. Number five, pray, and number six, preach!”

There is also a team of Ethiopian pastors working together with Samuel. Pastor Mohammed was once training in mosques across the Horn of Africa, studying Islam and planning to be a terrorist. His plans failed though when Jesus radically saved him instead! Now he is the evangelism and outreach pastor. Pastor Ashagre joined the SOS team four years ago and has completely taken the vision for the unreached as his own. He is the follow-up and discipleship pastor.

Life on the Horn of Africa is simple and completely centered around Jesus. When people want to meet God, we pray for salvation. When they want to be baptized, we build a tarp tub and then sing praises in the sunshine. When they’re sick we lay our hands on them and expect an immediate healing. Living spontaneously is the best way to find adventures. Daniel, the principle of the Bible school in Sweden told me, “If we know everything, there’s no space for faith or trust.”

Many Muslims consider the city of Harar the fourth holiest city. A heavy spirit of religion hangs in the air. In certain areas you can even feel demons starring you down. It’s exciting to be such a pioneer in new places that have never seen this light before.

As soon as you walk out of the compound, you’re bound to see women carrying enormous bundles on their heads. There are homeless people everywhere, unlike anything I have ever seen. It’s hard to hide my tears in the streets. Orphans run around and sleep in the middle of the sidewalks. Naked cripples lie everywhere and others with deformed faces just sit all day begging. Many mothers bring their children up to me asking that I take them home and give them a better life. I just kiss them, smile and try to be strong while every fiber of my being desires to grab them and run.

An enormous stronghold in Harar is kat. It’s a drug in the form of simple green leaves and can be found everywhere. Around three in the afternoon you’ll find nine out of ten people on the street chewing these tiny twigs with green saliva oozing between their teeth and staining the edges of their mouths. Ne one is excluded in this addiction. Mothers give it to their infants and toddlers to calm them down, the homeless carry it around in bundles, construction workers and storeowners chew of for hours every day rather than working and people sitting in restaurants gnaw on these leaves while sipping coke. Even the passing goats and donkeys carry this green stain on their furry lips. The Ethiopians need freedom in Jesus. They need to overcome this spirit of addiction with Holy Spirit’s power.

One night, while setting up for a movie, Mathias came running in shouting. There was a woman in the street manifesting a demon directly in front of our gate. She was rolling around in the dirt and rocks rather helplessly, a spectacle to the crowds like some sort of entertainment under the glittering stars. We came to quickly find that it was one of our disciples, Addis. We barely brought her in from the audience before she collapsed in the doorway and while holding her quivering body we began to pray in the Spirit. She didn’t want to be freed, so after a while with hair in a static fro, eyes red and empty, we helped her home.

She came back the next day and still continued to join our meetings. Something that must be learned as you begin to train disciples is that righteousness and faith are not obtained in the pay per view aisle of heaven. It takes work and time to bear fruit. The team is truly devoted to the long-term transformation of each one of their disciples.

Demonic possession and oppression is huge in Ethiopia. There is a young man who sits in a garbage-filled ditch just one minute from our home, half-naked and covered in dust. He says nothing and hides his face when we pass. He just sits. In fact, he has been just sitting for six years. It’s heart breaking but we believe that one day He’ll be saved.

When the events of your day write pages that look like the book of Acts, you’re finally living.

One year after seeing this man for the first time, I returned to find him in the same garbage pile, just a few weeks later though, we saw that he had disappeared. A Spirit filled man from a local church had together with Holy Ghost, delivered him from his demons and helped him to begin a new life! Hallelujah! Now his hair is cut, he wears clothes and is learning the day-to-day aspects of life again. God is so good!

Luke 9:23 promises, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Deny yourself. The world’s pin needle view and God’s enormously magnanimous vision somehow seem to be in opposite realms. So in all actuality when we deny by man’s standards, we are essentially leaping up on a higher road that runs in closer proximity to the throne of God. Denying ourselves does not mean placing a flesh-imposed period in our personal novels called life but rather, it opens up fresh pages for future chapters to be written by the true author, none other than Jesus. Writing books with the pen of our lives as His co-author will bring about the greatest action/adventure novel you could ever record!

If you are beginning to feel stirred in your spirit for missions, if the pictures drawn with these words are awakening dreams and longing deep within, pray. Even when you think you know, pray. You will find God’s plan for your life in the carpet. Bury your face there. God will take care of the rest.

Land that I love...

FYI

We've had some fabulous days here lately. Seems like I'm only ever blogging on the weekends.. but between not having electricity every day and not getting blogspot in Ethiopia.. what can I say?? Sorry!

On Friday, we went to PaPa's.. best swimming place in the country! This time we brought two of our disciples, Selam and Beza.. and our little Naftali. Sam and I sent Mohammed and Sinabwa away for the night.. we were parents for 2 days. So fun!

Sam's perfect dive!

Naftali! With "big muscles"..

Saturday was Women's House church!! I'm so proud of my Selam.. she is such an incredible spiritual mom to our disciples. We've had some amazing times together lately..

Harar Church of Joy.. Sunday morning.. with Pr Ashagre was powerful! The church was packed for an anointed word about heaven, the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of Christ. I just love the Word of God!
Then we had a little birthday party for Fraizer!! She led our children's program amazingly this week too!

Fraizer's birthday celebration!

Monday came with it's little joys and surprises..

Samuel got the rest of his birthday candy in the mail.. actually he's been swimming in it!

We got THREE packages today! I think everything was backed up from the volcano ash in Europe.. but anyway.. Sam got candy and book from Sweden, I got a box of EVERYTHING from my big sis and we also got a new book and a few other things from my parents :) Christmas in May :)

In the afternoon we went around Harar and to some villages by motorbike. I love adventures with my pioneer, gorgeous man of God!

People shouted "Conjo Malata" (handsome bald guy) as we zoomed past... hahaha...


The shot is overlooking Jugal.. the old walled city with 99 mosques in just 1 sq km...

I'm anxiously anticipating all the new adventures and victories to be had this week... what a good God I get to colabor with! Less than 2 weeks for our festival in Tanzania.. getting ready to destroy some demons in the clinic!!!

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!