Yates Family In Soddo

Oh the joys of living overseas and feeling neither like an American and neither like an Ethiopian. Sometimes it is difficult and other times it is just funny to see the culture clash.  A few weeks ago we had a team that came to visit us at the hospital and brought cloth diapers for the newborn babies and the pediatric department. One of their team members had come before and was moved in love and compassion that all the babies soiled rags with urine and stool, for the mother or helper to hand wash and change again. The beds get wet, the mothers get wet and the child is covered sometimes down to their cute little baby feet in poop. So this team decided it would be so much better, and more sanitary if we had reusable cloth diapers for the wards. They got everything all set up and gave their specific instructions to the cleaning staff. I happened to be their to watch their interaction... all translated by our local Ethiopian IT worker, who knows nothing about cloth diapers, but he spe...

Why is fear such a great weapon. It feels like it is everywhere, and so easy to get sucked in, especially with young children. Since our return to Ethiopia, as the mother of sweet 2 year old Cole and little 3 month old baby Leah I have had moments of overwhelming fear, crippling fear, and even I want to run as far away from here as I can fear. I was doing ok. I could handle the every changing expectations, the non-functional car, being left alone to care for the hospital compound and the hospital for a few weeks with the others traveling, but when it comes to my kids, it is so easy to get overwhelmed and spiral out of control. Just as I started working in the hospital more than I intended, and the majority of our western neighbors left, there was a new article about aflatoxin in all diary products in greater Ethiopia.  https://aghealth.wordpress. com/2015/07/20/new-ilri-study- finds-high-levels-of- aflatoxin -in-milk-and-dairy- feeds-in-greater-addis-ababa- milk-shed/ I felt like a...

One night Adam and I watched the beautiful Ventura sunset on a warm night from the top of Grant park overlooking the ocean. In one of those moments we thought to ourselves, "what were we thinking? Ventura is awesome! Why did we ever leave? It's beautiful. You can walk places without being followed or asked for money. The weather is amazing. The grocery stores and restaurants fast and delicious. There seems to be a sense of stability here. We could have a home and have stable friends and be near our family.  People can live out the american dream. It is so much easier to rest here. What were we thinking???" And then we are reminded that the Lord has called us to be obedient to his call. For this season we are called elsewhere. Although the view in front of us seems so much better, there is more. God has promised us that. Matthew 19:29  And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sister or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred...

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6. Years ago, I had prayed and prayed over the decision to apply to medical school. I either felt like the Lord was calling me to be a doctor or a teacher. At that time, the Lord asked me, “Michelle, why can’t you be both?” Since the beginning of my medical education, I knew that my heart and passion for medicine goes much deeper than just seeing patients and caring for them through their medical problems. I always knew that I would be a teacher in some context. As a family we prayed over the where the Lord would send us. In 2012, There were rumblings of a family medicine residency in Soddo, but those at Soddo Christian Hospital made it very clear that SCH was in no way ready or planning to start a family medicine residency any time in the near future. God confirmed that we were to serve at SCH and we moved to Ethiopia in 2014, still with no plans to be formally involved in a family medicine reside...

During the preparation for our trip back to the US we have had a lot of reflections and thoughts about how to spend our time in the states. One thing that we have found to be helpful is to pray over what God desires for us to accomplish or do this summer. In the "missionary community" there are a lot of words that float around. To be honest with you, it can be confusing at times. Some people will describe this season as furlough, others as home assignment, others may call it vacation and for us, maternity leave.  On our departure, we prayed over all the possibilities of things that we would "need" to accomplish while we are in the states this summer: Do we need rest and renewal? What about the delivery of baby #2 and bonding with our new baby? Do we need to learn new skills to take back with us? Do I have to do any medical licensing work requirements(CME)? How should we reconnect with friends and family? How do we need to report to our sending church and supporters?...

So this is the beginning of many thoughts and blogs that I have wanted to write, but never had the time for. The Lord encouraged me to write them, even though many months later, to remind myself, and anyone else who reads them, of his faithfulness during our journey. One of the biggest challenges I have had to face is the constant illness and death. It is all around in Ethiopia and at times can be overwhelming. As I entered our time here I didn't realize how much of my sense of being a "good" doctor or successful at my profession was very western. I found that I judged my success based on my patient outcomes. In a hospital where death is no stranger, it was very easy for me to feel "bad" at my job and found it difficult to remain hopeful and optimistic as things felt futile and felt inadequate. But the reality is that my success and worth is not measured by patient outcomes, and if patient's live or die. My success is measured by how I can make a difference ...

We are preparing to come home for the delivery of baby #2! What a joy and WHAT A STRESS! It is so interesting to watch my heart change and see all these unexpected changes occur. All the other times in my life, returning from an international location to the US what exciting and full of a sense of familiarity, after a time and season of distance and unfamiliarity… NOT SO THIS TIME. And it is even more complicated because we are still in transition. We are still in temporary housing. Our belongings are not in drawers, because we have none (we are living in someone else’s house). The house we will live in is still not complete (now 5 months late) but should hopefully have a dry room for us to store our belongings in during the rainy season while we are away. Ultimately, I cannot tell if we are leaving home or going home. Where is our home? What is most familiar? This is even more complicated because Adam and I have started many new projects at the hospital and developed many new relation...