Yates Family In Soddo

Thank you Taylor for all your hard work!  Let the construction begin.  The site preparation has just begun. As we partner with the hospital, recently built in 2006, to expand physician housing for our arrival and many others after us, the construction of the newest duplex has started! All construction at the hospital is modern concrete construction for earthquake safety and longevity and health of the residence. The total cost of the duplex is $140,000.  Through many generous donations the construction project is 50% funded!  To complete the project we are looking for a number of new donors.

I wanted to share this great video that Soddo Christian Hospital prepared.  We are so excited to be partnering with SCH this year. The Simpsons are there now and the Yates will be there soon to take part in the great work of the hospital.

This is a funny season for our team.   Kavi and Taylor have gone to Ethiopia, yet Adam and I are still in Ventura preparing to leave sometime this summer. Thus although our posts, may be slightly different in tone, I believe that God is still teaching us very similar things in these seasons of life, despite our distance.  Here are some of my ponderings this morning,  12  “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the  Lord  your God has commanded you.   13  You have six days each week for your ordinary work,   14  but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the  Lord  your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your oxen and donkeys and other livestock, and any foreigners living among you. All your male and female servants must rest as you do.   15  Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, but the...

Transitions are difficult. The Simpsons made it successfully to Ethiopia in the face of influenza, some slight baggage problems and sickness. I will let them update you as they are able.  For the Yates family, it has been a season of loss. Some of them silly things, some of them not, but all of them real.  Our sweet puppy, Domino, died last November, then Adam's stepmom Penny died of leukemia, then our very good friend Tim and Leona Okeefe moved to Nepal, and Mackenzie Slater moved to Honduras.  Finally, our partner, the Simpsons, moved to Ethiopia.  Although each loss is different, we have still been experiencing it as loss.  Instead of stuffing down all the yucky feelings of loss and grief, which I am very good at, recently we have been encouraged to grieve each loss as it is and ask God to meet us there, in our sadness, our loss and our emotions no matter how bad. This morning I was encouraged by this passage John 11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jew...

Off to Ethiopia. Yesterday, January 17, 2014, the Simpson Family took off for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They left from Los Angeles with an overnight lay over in Dubai to arrive in Addis. They will stay there for a week of orientation from the Gabrysch's (a fun couple living in Soddo already... http://jeremyandchristina.blogspot.com/ ) and then start their life in Soddo.  Everything was on target to leave this past week, when Asa Simpson, the youngest, came down with a horrible fever... up to 104°F from Influenza.  With a week until their departure, it made plans and packing much more stressful.  “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,     whose trust is the Lord. 8 He is like a tree planted by water,     that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes,     for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought,     for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jer 17:8. Praise God, his fever broke ...

This season has been filled with many goodbyes.  Being committed to this life of international work we will invariably have many more, but recently the goodbyes have been rough. Our family is in the midst of saying goodbye to the Simpson family as they leave for Ethiopia this week. They of course are in a huge season of goodbyes to all their family and community here as they prepare for to start a new life in a new place. Why are we saying goodbye to our partners? Well, the Yates and the Simpsons families are on slightly different timelines to get to Ethiopia. The Simpsons will be go ahead to prepare some very important work for our team: our house! Taylor will be starting his first construction project in Ethiopia, a Duplex that will house Missionary families at Soddo Christian Hospital. The project is really exciting and will be a valuable asset to the work of SCH for generations! We have the honor of being the first families that live in the Duplex, so we are particularly excite...

Adam and Michelle rocking the Ethiopian threads The Yates and the Simpson families had the pleasure of participating in a missions fair at our church  Reality Ventura . The day was so fun. We had the opportunity to expose the church to a little of the needs of the Ethiopian people and church as well as show pictures and explain some of the cultural background of Ethiopia. The kids from Sunday school made us some awesome posters with words of encouragement and prayers for our work. Our church is blessed to be sending out 5 families in the next 6 to 8 months. Each of these families are our dear friends and in fact all of them include a doctor that trained and worked at Ventura County. The Simpson Family (this blog) to Ethiopia The Yates Family (this blog) to Ethiopia The Fankhauser Family  to Liberia The O'Keefe Family  to Nepal Mackenzie Slater  to Honduras Join me in Praising God for the work that he is doing to send workers out to the ends of the earth!