Today we have launched our new family missionary blog. If you'd like to follow the Yates family in Soddo please join us at:
Saturday, June 17, 2017
New Beginnings
At the end of last year the Simpsons ended their first term in Soddo with a trip back to the US. They decided at that time that God was calling them for a season back in the United States, continuing to pursue the passions that God has put on their hearts. We are so glad that our first term in Soddo could be spent with them as partners, friends and neighbors. It is sad for us to be back in Soddo without them.
Today we have launched our new family missionary blog. If you'd like to follow the Yates family in Soddo please join us at:
Today we have launched our new family missionary blog. If you'd like to follow the Yates family in Soddo please join us at:
Monday, February 20, 2017
Christmas 2016
Merry Christmas from Ethiopia!
መልካም ገና (Melkam Gena)!
Christmas cards are usually about all of the amazing things from this past year, but let’s be real: It’s not always like that, and it has not been like that for us this year. I was reading my favorite missionary community blog and I was reminded that even the first Christmas, the day God gave his best gift to mankind, was a day of “violated expectations”.
“The very first Christmas was also greatly anticipated. Prophesies about Jesus had been spoken for centuries. The world was awaiting the “long-expected Jesus,” but how he made his arrival violated many expectations.”
You can read about Mary’s, Joseph’s, and Israel’s violated expectations at the Velvet Ashes blog.
We are excited to celebrate this Christmas season in Soddo. But that excitement isn’t without our own “violated expectations.” The weather is dry and sunny, not wintery. Some of our teammates have left Soddo either for a short visit home for the holidays or forever and so work that is usually shared among many are left to the few. We had hoped to start the family medicine residency this January, but it is delayed. We have come to expect a peaceful stable country, but the security situation has been changing often. We had hoped to bring life to these dry bones, but sometimes we just feel we are picking up the broken, and hurting pieces.
Yet, it has been such a sweet opportunity to focus our attention on the sweet gift of newborn Jesus, and we will rejoice in the Lord.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
It easy to think about these “violated expectations” as evidence that we are not walking in God’s path for us, but that is not always the case. If we look at the story of Mary and Joseph, it was hard. They had many “violated expectations” with each other and for the future. Yet, it was God’s will for Jesus to be born of the teenage, unmarried, virgin Mary and for an infanticide to follow immediately, and subsequent urgent evacuation to Egypt.
And despite the challenges of this past year, God has been faithful. He has been near and he has been guiding our every step. We feel closer to our Ethiopian friends and coworkers than ever,
Cole and Leah are learning Amharic, our ministry is slowly growing and we have loved the patients and people in Ethiopia with all our hearts. We could list all the ministry accomplishments from the year, but ultimately we feel we are being obedient to the call and are acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.
So Merry Christmas to you and your family. We are continually grateful for your financial partnership, for your prayers, and for your kind words of encouragement. We really could not be here without you.
With Love,
Adam Michelle Cole and Leah
መልካም ገና (Melkam Gena)!
Christmas cards are usually about all of the amazing things from this past year, but let’s be real: It’s not always like that, and it has not been like that for us this year. I was reading my favorite missionary community blog and I was reminded that even the first Christmas, the day God gave his best gift to mankind, was a day of “violated expectations”.
“The very first Christmas was also greatly anticipated. Prophesies about Jesus had been spoken for centuries. The world was awaiting the “long-expected Jesus,” but how he made his arrival violated many expectations.”
You can read about Mary’s, Joseph’s, and Israel’s violated expectations at the Velvet Ashes blog.
We are excited to celebrate this Christmas season in Soddo. But that excitement isn’t without our own “violated expectations.” The weather is dry and sunny, not wintery. Some of our teammates have left Soddo either for a short visit home for the holidays or forever and so work that is usually shared among many are left to the few. We had hoped to start the family medicine residency this January, but it is delayed. We have come to expect a peaceful stable country, but the security situation has been changing often. We had hoped to bring life to these dry bones, but sometimes we just feel we are picking up the broken, and hurting pieces.
Yet, it has been such a sweet opportunity to focus our attention on the sweet gift of newborn Jesus, and we will rejoice in the Lord.
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakkuk 3:17-18
It easy to think about these “violated expectations” as evidence that we are not walking in God’s path for us, but that is not always the case. If we look at the story of Mary and Joseph, it was hard. They had many “violated expectations” with each other and for the future. Yet, it was God’s will for Jesus to be born of the teenage, unmarried, virgin Mary and for an infanticide to follow immediately, and subsequent urgent evacuation to Egypt.
And despite the challenges of this past year, God has been faithful. He has been near and he has been guiding our every step. We feel closer to our Ethiopian friends and coworkers than ever,
Cole and Leah are learning Amharic, our ministry is slowly growing and we have loved the patients and people in Ethiopia with all our hearts. We could list all the ministry accomplishments from the year, but ultimately we feel we are being obedient to the call and are acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.
So Merry Christmas to you and your family. We are continually grateful for your financial partnership, for your prayers, and for your kind words of encouragement. We really could not be here without you.
With Love,
Adam Michelle Cole and Leah
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Kebebush
Nothing in Ethiopia is simple. Everything feels hard and complicated most of the time. Today I was so discouraged, when God heard my cry and answered my prayer.
One of our hospital employees has an ASD and has had worsening shortness of breath, although in general she shows early signs of heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. She was told by a cardiologist in Addis that she has to go to the US for heart surgery. Our missionary staff was approached by her asking for help. I tried and tried and could not find anything at a reasonable price in the US or any place that offered significant discount. One of my partners, Sok, contacted Tenwek hospital in Kenya and found they could safely perform the surgery for about $2,800 USD, with few additional expenses for travel, room and board and outpatient evaluation. We started our fundraising and encouraged Kebebush to do the same. This is not a missionary only donation, even if just $5, we want her and her community to help as they are able.
The first problem was that she wanted all the money to come from the international doctors. Then we found out she really only wanted to go to America and a friend found a program at Cleaveland Clinic that said it would only cost $2,500. Well, that was just for the outpatient eval. The surgery would be $100,000 USD. But Kebebush did not believe us. She went to the embassy to get her Visa, and was denied because she did not have $100,000 USD. Then we moved forward on her trip to Kenya. We reschedule her surgery for the third time, got her passport, and had her and family pay for her plane tickets to Kenya. But she didn’t have her yellow fever vaccine, so we had to reschedule once more. I had everything lined up… when I couldn’t wire money from Ethiopia to Kenya. It turns out that there is only one bank in addis that is even capable of sending money outside Ethiopia. I decided to write a personal check to the Tenwek’s nonprofit headquarters in the US and reimburse myself with Ethiopian birr that we had raised. Finally, I thought I was done, and when I went to reimburse myself, the system is not working and the bank manger wasn’t there… for the third time. I nearly broke down and cried today. When Kebebush and her husband came to me. They informed me they are leaving this week and wanted to pray for me and all those that had helped them.
They prayed with tears in their eyes and the scripture Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
They said, we could not have done this without you and your friend and family. Thank you. Kebebush’s life will be made new and her hope for her health restored.
I cried tears of joy.
I have been thinking a lot about the parable of the lost sheep. Matthew 15:4
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
At first I felt I should be spending my time and money on helping the multitude and not just one person. But God reminds us that he left the multitude to help the one. He would have died on the cross if it was just for me and my sin. This is holy ground that we walk upon as we care for even just one of the saints. It is enough and it is good.
Thank you all for your partnership.
One of our hospital employees has an ASD and has had worsening shortness of breath, although in general she shows early signs of heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. She was told by a cardiologist in Addis that she has to go to the US for heart surgery. Our missionary staff was approached by her asking for help. I tried and tried and could not find anything at a reasonable price in the US or any place that offered significant discount. One of my partners, Sok, contacted Tenwek hospital in Kenya and found they could safely perform the surgery for about $2,800 USD, with few additional expenses for travel, room and board and outpatient evaluation. We started our fundraising and encouraged Kebebush to do the same. This is not a missionary only donation, even if just $5, we want her and her community to help as they are able.
The first problem was that she wanted all the money to come from the international doctors. Then we found out she really only wanted to go to America and a friend found a program at Cleaveland Clinic that said it would only cost $2,500. Well, that was just for the outpatient eval. The surgery would be $100,000 USD. But Kebebush did not believe us. She went to the embassy to get her Visa, and was denied because she did not have $100,000 USD. Then we moved forward on her trip to Kenya. We reschedule her surgery for the third time, got her passport, and had her and family pay for her plane tickets to Kenya. But she didn’t have her yellow fever vaccine, so we had to reschedule once more. I had everything lined up… when I couldn’t wire money from Ethiopia to Kenya. It turns out that there is only one bank in addis that is even capable of sending money outside Ethiopia. I decided to write a personal check to the Tenwek’s nonprofit headquarters in the US and reimburse myself with Ethiopian birr that we had raised. Finally, I thought I was done, and when I went to reimburse myself, the system is not working and the bank manger wasn’t there… for the third time. I nearly broke down and cried today. When Kebebush and her husband came to me. They informed me they are leaving this week and wanted to pray for me and all those that had helped them.
They prayed with tears in their eyes and the scripture Hebrews 6:10
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
They said, we could not have done this without you and your friend and family. Thank you. Kebebush’s life will be made new and her hope for her health restored.
I cried tears of joy.
I have been thinking a lot about the parable of the lost sheep. Matthew 15:4
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
At first I felt I should be spending my time and money on helping the multitude and not just one person. But God reminds us that he left the multitude to help the one. He would have died on the cross if it was just for me and my sin. This is holy ground that we walk upon as we care for even just one of the saints. It is enough and it is good.
Thank you all for your partnership.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Cultural Intelligence
I am listening to a lecture series on cultural intelligence by Professor David Livermore.
He is teaching on the importance of cultural intelligence when working in a cross cultural setting. One example he gives is when he questioned three Christian ministers from different cultures why the prodigal son was eating with the swines.
The eastern European minister said it was because there was famine.
The African minister said it was because no one would give him food.
The American minster said it was because the prodigal son squandered his inheritance.
Who was correct???
Immediately, I thought like an American, because he sqandered his inheritance. But really all three are correct, it is just the lens from which they read the bible.
Luke 15
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
He is teaching on the importance of cultural intelligence when working in a cross cultural setting. One example he gives is when he questioned three Christian ministers from different cultures why the prodigal son was eating with the swines.
The eastern European minister said it was because there was famine.
The African minister said it was because no one would give him food.
The American minster said it was because the prodigal son squandered his inheritance.
Who was correct???
Immediately, I thought like an American, because he sqandered his inheritance. But really all three are correct, it is just the lens from which they read the bible.
Luke 15
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
Life is difficult as an outsider
Ethiopia is full of wonderful people. We have many Ethiopian friends and through our many challenges we have been cared for well by our community here.
That being said, sometimes it is difficult as an outsider. This isn't a pitty party, but its just the reality of life whenever you are the minority. You stand out. And therefore become a target. Last Sunday we were walking home for church and a young boy about 8 years old thought it would be funny to throw a rock at a white girl's face. My friend was hit on the side of her neck.
Today, we were out for a walk with our family, and a young motorcycle driver thought it would be funny to pretend to hit us. The road was wide open. Adam, Cole, Leah and I were walking on the side of the road and the driver swerved toward us and came a few feet from our path. That is really funny huh??? Luckily, no one was hurt.
God is teaching us to have compassion and mercy on those that are the minority in America, others here in Ethiopia and throughout the world. I have always felt like I tried to advocate for my fellow brothers and sisters, but not until moving here did I realize that it's not always the big things, but sometimes the small things that can chip away at one's morale, at one's sense of hope and at one's sense of belonging. For those small things, we need to be more alert, more sensitive and more intentional.
That being said, sometimes it is difficult as an outsider. This isn't a pitty party, but its just the reality of life whenever you are the minority. You stand out. And therefore become a target. Last Sunday we were walking home for church and a young boy about 8 years old thought it would be funny to throw a rock at a white girl's face. My friend was hit on the side of her neck.
Today, we were out for a walk with our family, and a young motorcycle driver thought it would be funny to pretend to hit us. The road was wide open. Adam, Cole, Leah and I were walking on the side of the road and the driver swerved toward us and came a few feet from our path. That is really funny huh??? Luckily, no one was hurt.
God is teaching us to have compassion and mercy on those that are the minority in America, others here in Ethiopia and throughout the world. I have always felt like I tried to advocate for my fellow brothers and sisters, but not until moving here did I realize that it's not always the big things, but sometimes the small things that can chip away at one's morale, at one's sense of hope and at one's sense of belonging. For those small things, we need to be more alert, more sensitive and more intentional.
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Watango and Kadija
Our last blog post was in December. We told you about an accident we were in where we struck a pedestrian and we asked for prayers over the situation. What followed was not easy. We spent 3 weeks helping him with his care until he ultimately died on December 27th. Michelle wrote this soon after that but with the stress of life we never shared it with you:
Our friend, Mr (Ato) Watango was in the hospital for two and a half weeks. He only had minor injuries from the accident. A skin laceration on his left calf and a cartilaginous rib injury, but his is old and his health was not great to start. So, as expected in any county, we had some exacerbation of some underlying health issues. He was given ibuprofen and it exacerbated an ulcer. He has been confused at time and has been withdrawing for a local opiate/amphetamine leaf he chews call khat. He then got pneumonia from not breathing deeply and developed some fluid around his lung. He got a tube in his chest to drain 1 L of clear yellow fluid, and still needed oxygen. Our hope for his was that he would get better and we could repair his cataracts.
We west to visit him every day and pray over him. About 1 week ago, I went to go see him and had a translator. He does not speak the national language, but a local language, Hadia. We speak Wolaitta and Amharic here. In Hadia, he first told my translator the white woman didn't need to worry if he died. That she has treated him well, so she does not need to worry.
I then asked him, "are you worried about dying?"
He told me that at night he has been having dreams or images that he is dying and is seeing a bright light. He says at night he feels uncomfortable and frightened, like he needs to "run" away from this place and this hospital.
My translator thought it was because he is used to mud houses and this was a nice concrete hospital. I thought it could have been some delirium, but it was in that moment that I realized the spiritual strongholds that were tugging in this man's heart. I asked my translator to pray for Ato Watango in Hadia in the name of Jesus. He and his family thanked us.
Then this past Thursday, as we sang Christmas carols around the hospital, Ato Watango's family followed us around the entire hospital. As we sung, in between songs, his daughter and son we able to hear the good news of the gospel in between our songs.
On Sunday morning I was already in the hospital for a very sad case, a woman who's baby died in labor, and went to go see our friendly Ato Watango. He looked chipper. The chest tube had helped him tremendously, his pain was relieved. He smiled at me and his family as we did our cultural greetings. The day prior he went on a little bajaj ride around the hospital campus, he walked twice and then went back to his room. He looked the best he had looked since we met him on the road. 30 minutes later he was found dead in our ICU. I believe it was most likely a blood clot to his lung.
We were both shocked on so many levels. I really felt like God was in the middle of this and taking care of so many things. I had really hoped that we would be able help to restore his sight, and I had really hoped that we could have seen his heart change. Yet, he died.
The police came and changed the report from car accident causing minor injuries, to car accident causing death.
Adam is upset, I am upset. It is a sad day.
Please pray for the family and for our negotiations with them and the elders of his village. Please pray in the process no one would in hurt as our hospital administrators go to negotiate with them (sometimes this people group is known to be quite violent). Please pray that the son and daughter, with whom we had many interactions, would feel the fullness of God's love and that the gospel message they heard would sink deep into their hearts.This is a lot to process I know. But that was written 2 months ago. And so much has happened since then. The matter was settled with Watango's family. The process was difficult and exhausting requiring me to drive to his area multiple times and our hospital administrator a few more times. Because we were handling the business in the village justice system, not the national courts, all the matters were out of our hands. The negotiations fell onto my representative (a "big man" who is extended family of our hospital administrator) and at times I felt that I was being taken advantage of. We are rich of course, and maybe the village is trying to get something from us that it wouldn't get we were locals. But God gave me peace that the process was being handled well, and God provided good friends to help us with the expenses from this accident.
The final matter was settled when I went to Watango's home in my mourning clothes and my mourners/wailers and paid my respects, and paid cash for the expenses associated with his death. I was out of my element. At the end of the day we left the village in peace and with the hope of putting this experience behind us.
 |
| My and my mourners. The fashionable accessory is called a Gabi. |
We were ready to help Watango regain his sight as he recovered in our hospital. Our hope was that if this man could have seen, the accident would have never happened. We could show him love by helping him from our resources to regain his sight. He was a candidate for cataract surgery if only he could get better. This never happened.
We contacted Kadija's family and told her that we wanted to help her have her eyes evaluated. Kadija's loss of eyesight came when she was a teenager. She had an untreated condition of in-turned eyelashes that caused scaring on the cornea. Here vision can be restored by a cornea transplant. Fortunately we have contacts through our hospital to eye surgeons that work in Addis Ababa and they can do this type of surgery. Praise God. But Kadija was unsure, and we weren't sure that she would go through with it. Michelle writes:
This past week, I received a call from the eye clinic at the hospital. Kadija arrived to tell us some good news. She had feared before that the surgery would replace her whole eyes, and when she learned that they would be only fixing the front of the eye, she realized that she wanted it so much that she started crying at home. She came with her traveling companion and family member to tell us that she has decided that she wanted to go through with the corneal transplant. She had tears in her eyes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneal_transplantation)
Through a translator and our optometrist, we arranged for her to most likely get her corneal transplant on Tuesday. She has to travel to Addis from her village on Sunday, pay for the corneas on Monday and get the transplant on Tuesday. She will need frequent follow up and has to stay in Addis for one month after the procedure. We will be giving her the money for her food and rent in Addis as well as cover her medical care.
We are still confirming details (there are a lot), but please join us in prayer over the procedure and her heart. We pray that her whole village will feel the love of God through our part in this whole story and that it would be a witness for God's grace and love for them.
As she left Thursday we prayed together. As she walked out the door I thought to myself, the next time I see Kadija, she will also see me. WOW!Thank you for your prayers. We know that we are not alone here in Ethiopia and that so many people around the world are partnering with us. We will keep you updated (hopefully very soon) of the results of the surgery.
 |
| Michelle and Kadija |
Monday, December 14, 2015
Watengo
We woke up like any other day. We have traveled so much in Ethiopia, that road trips almost feel normal and typical. The 100's of donkeys, carts and people on the two lane highway from Soddo to Addis Ababa almost felt ordinary. But perhaps it is when we take down our guard, and forget to stay vigilant in prayer that the enemy attacks.
We were taking our friends to the airport this quiet Thursday morning. We ate breakfast before we got on the road. We stopped to get a hand of those cute apple bananas for our friends in Addis from a young boy on the side of the road. We made it about 45 minutes out of town, when it happened. We were out of any official town between Shone and Halaba. We were headed downhill on a beautiful stretch of road with some small ravines on either side of the road. There was no person or animal on the road, except Watango. Watango is a 75 year old muslim man with significant vision impairment. He was walking along the side of the road for his 10 kilometer trek home. As we traveled down the road, we gave a polite, "I'm here" honk. Watango went from walking, to running and darted across the road. We braked HARD, honked LOUD and swerved to miss him, but unfortunately our side view mirror, and maybe our tire hit him. He fell to the ground. We skidded to a stop just at the edge of the steep bank next to the roadside. Literally our tires stopped a few centimeters away from the side of the road.
The car came to a stop. Adam and I ran out of the car to his side to see if he was alright. No one was around. Adam went back to get some gloves and our first aid kit. He is wearing dirty, well worn clothing that has been repaired and repaired at least 4 times. I noticed some blood from behind his leg. He had a degloving injury about 9cm long. I quickly put some pressure on his leg, bandaged him with gauze and wrapped it with an ACE bandage. Otherwise he was stable. He was having some pleuritic chest pain, especially on his right side, but her heart rate was stable and as far as I could tell he was mentating well (he doesn't speak either English or Amharic). The first person to come to our side was a local Ethiopian Catholic priest. Then lots and lots of people came to see what was going on. We had about 60 spectators. No one tried to harm us, or harass us. (Locals have been known to throw rocks are try to harm the driver after roadside traffic accidents).
We called our hospital to arrange for transport for Watango to our hospital and our friends to continue on to Addis without us. We went back to the Shone police station to give our report and start the paper trail. With the help of one of our hospital administrators, we were able to convince the police Sargent to allow us to escort Watango to our hospital. We drove as a family with an Ethiopian police man and his loaded machine gun the 45 minutes back to Soddo, as we traveled behind our hospital's ambulance.
Watango was evaluated in our hospital with all we could do... FAST scan, CT scan, blood work, xray. Praise the Lord, he had a cartilagenous rib injury and a posterior tibial degloving injury... no broken bones or bleeding in his head! I can not describe the relief.
I stayed at home with the kids, cried a bit, but mostly tried to hold it together, while Adam gave his report to the police. Adam then had to take the car and the police officers back to Shone to complete some paperwork. He came home, without our car late that night... but he came home. It is very common for the driver to have to stay in jail at least one night after a roadside accident. The driver is always financially responsible, and additionally, everyone is considered guilty until proven innocent. But, with our administrator and favor from the police, Adam was able to come home.
That night we had one of our local general surgeons escort us back to the hospital to talk to Watango and his family. As we walked in, we both feared anger, hatred and a very hostile environment, we were met with love, and blessings. We explained who we were, and that we would help to take care of all his medical bills and that we were praying for his full recovery. In return, Watango's brother spoke repetitive words of blessings over our family. He told us he prayed that we would never have an accident like this again. He reported that he could tell that we loved his brother very much, as we were taking such good care of him at the hospital, and we stopped by the side of the road to care for his wounds. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I was expecting shame and anger and instead received love and mercy. In this advent season, it is so reminiscent of the total undeserving grace and mercy we receive from our Lord daily.
We arranged for Watango and his family to get food and to make sure he got all the medications he needed. He is very poor and there is no way we would be able to afford the medications and care from the hospital without our help.
Watango is still here 5 days later. They are trying to determine if he needs skin graft on his leg. We go to visit him and his family daily.
The words of love and encouragement that we have received from our friends and family are that this horrible event, this tragic occurrence, did not happen without a reason. One of our young friends reminded us that God was not sleeping when this happened. Adam's mom and other have encouraged us that God is going to work good out of this situation. And we have both felt the strong desire to abundantly bless this man and his family. We desire to show him the healing and abundant love of Christ though this entire process.
Tomorrow he goes to have his eyes evaluated by our optometrist to see if he is a candidate for cataract surgery. Wouldn't it be amazing to offer him the gift of sight. We pray that through this time he would be able to physically see again and see the abundant love that Christ offers us daily.
We were taking our friends to the airport this quiet Thursday morning. We ate breakfast before we got on the road. We stopped to get a hand of those cute apple bananas for our friends in Addis from a young boy on the side of the road. We made it about 45 minutes out of town, when it happened. We were out of any official town between Shone and Halaba. We were headed downhill on a beautiful stretch of road with some small ravines on either side of the road. There was no person or animal on the road, except Watango. Watango is a 75 year old muslim man with significant vision impairment. He was walking along the side of the road for his 10 kilometer trek home. As we traveled down the road, we gave a polite, "I'm here" honk. Watango went from walking, to running and darted across the road. We braked HARD, honked LOUD and swerved to miss him, but unfortunately our side view mirror, and maybe our tire hit him. He fell to the ground. We skidded to a stop just at the edge of the steep bank next to the roadside. Literally our tires stopped a few centimeters away from the side of the road.
The car came to a stop. Adam and I ran out of the car to his side to see if he was alright. No one was around. Adam went back to get some gloves and our first aid kit. He is wearing dirty, well worn clothing that has been repaired and repaired at least 4 times. I noticed some blood from behind his leg. He had a degloving injury about 9cm long. I quickly put some pressure on his leg, bandaged him with gauze and wrapped it with an ACE bandage. Otherwise he was stable. He was having some pleuritic chest pain, especially on his right side, but her heart rate was stable and as far as I could tell he was mentating well (he doesn't speak either English or Amharic). The first person to come to our side was a local Ethiopian Catholic priest. Then lots and lots of people came to see what was going on. We had about 60 spectators. No one tried to harm us, or harass us. (Locals have been known to throw rocks are try to harm the driver after roadside traffic accidents).
 |
| The crowd watches peacfully as the police start their investigation |
We called our hospital to arrange for transport for Watango to our hospital and our friends to continue on to Addis without us. We went back to the Shone police station to give our report and start the paper trail. With the help of one of our hospital administrators, we were able to convince the police Sargent to allow us to escort Watango to our hospital. We drove as a family with an Ethiopian police man and his loaded machine gun the 45 minutes back to Soddo, as we traveled behind our hospital's ambulance.
Watango was evaluated in our hospital with all we could do... FAST scan, CT scan, blood work, xray. Praise the Lord, he had a cartilagenous rib injury and a posterior tibial degloving injury... no broken bones or bleeding in his head! I can not describe the relief.
I stayed at home with the kids, cried a bit, but mostly tried to hold it together, while Adam gave his report to the police. Adam then had to take the car and the police officers back to Shone to complete some paperwork. He came home, without our car late that night... but he came home. It is very common for the driver to have to stay in jail at least one night after a roadside accident. The driver is always financially responsible, and additionally, everyone is considered guilty until proven innocent. But, with our administrator and favor from the police, Adam was able to come home.
That night we had one of our local general surgeons escort us back to the hospital to talk to Watango and his family. As we walked in, we both feared anger, hatred and a very hostile environment, we were met with love, and blessings. We explained who we were, and that we would help to take care of all his medical bills and that we were praying for his full recovery. In return, Watango's brother spoke repetitive words of blessings over our family. He told us he prayed that we would never have an accident like this again. He reported that he could tell that we loved his brother very much, as we were taking such good care of him at the hospital, and we stopped by the side of the road to care for his wounds. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I was expecting shame and anger and instead received love and mercy. In this advent season, it is so reminiscent of the total undeserving grace and mercy we receive from our Lord daily.
We arranged for Watango and his family to get food and to make sure he got all the medications he needed. He is very poor and there is no way we would be able to afford the medications and care from the hospital without our help.
Watango is still here 5 days later. They are trying to determine if he needs skin graft on his leg. We go to visit him and his family daily.
The words of love and encouragement that we have received from our friends and family are that this horrible event, this tragic occurrence, did not happen without a reason. One of our young friends reminded us that God was not sleeping when this happened. Adam's mom and other have encouraged us that God is going to work good out of this situation. And we have both felt the strong desire to abundantly bless this man and his family. We desire to show him the healing and abundant love of Christ though this entire process.
Tomorrow he goes to have his eyes evaluated by our optometrist to see if he is a candidate for cataract surgery. Wouldn't it be amazing to offer him the gift of sight. We pray that through this time he would be able to physically see again and see the abundant love that Christ offers us daily.
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