The Prodigal Returns

I realize that I have not updated this Blog in far too long. And for
that I am dearly sorry. For many of my readers, you have no clue what
I've been up to these last few months. Well, let me tell you!

Me at the Pyramids

I've traveled on ten plains, two trains, three different subways, five
buses, at least twenty different cars, plus two rental cars, three
taxis, a pair of snowshoes, four ski lifts, a pair of skis, and a
camel in ten states two continents and three different countries in
the last month or so. "Why?" you may ask. The short answer is because
my bother got married in the states and I was a groomsman and had to
be there. But the long answer is that teachers here in Ethiopia have a
three week "winter break" from school (although it is summer here)
between semesters. My friend's and brother's wedding conveniently
happened during that break. I also took advantage of the opportunity
to travel around and see friends and family all over the east cost.
On my way back I had an eleven hour layover in Egypt and was able to
get a Visa and get out of the airport to see the Pyramids and some
other stuff during my short stay there.

Wow, do I love traveling. If I could ever find a job where I was traveling around the world meeting with people and in some way
enhancing there life professionally or spiritually, I would have found
my dream job. Anyone got any ideas?

This big trek happed right around the midway point in my time here in
Ethiopia. It was a great time to take a break see friends and family
and get some perspective. But honestly the whole time I was gone I was
looking forward to returning home to Ethiopia. Now that I am back I'm
in the process of getting settled back into the swing of things. I've
been able to spend a lot of time with the house kids this week. Church
was exactly what I needed especially because the message was in
English (thanks God). There are now six different groups here at
Project Mercy, including some of the board members, Marta and Deme
(the founders), a group from northern California, Seattle, Washington,
and Sweden, a team of dentists as well as the normal group of
volunteers. (Thanks to God's perfect timing I can now get my wisdom
teeth out for free! Please pray that the operation goes well this
Saturday). It's been great connecting with all of them during the
evenings. School is back in full swing and I am now the only Computer
teacher. I'm now in the process of planing out the semester for both
these Computer classes as well as my one 12th grade English class. And
I plan on getting out to enjoy some of the countryside and do some
hiking this weekend.

So, I would say that over all my time back here in Ethiopia is going
quite well. I'm excited to see what God has in store for me these next
four short months I'm here. I did some research on the internet while
I was in the States and found out the the child that I support through
Compassion International only lives about a two to three hour drive
south of here in the same region that I have been wanting to travel
to.  So it looks like I'll be able to visit him while I'm here in
Ethiopia. Praise God!!!!

Prayer Requests:
That readapting to life back in Ethiopia would be smooth
Pieces would fall together in planing for my classes, especially my
computer classes
My dental surgery would go well this Saturday and that I would recover quickly
That I would get the opportunity to see my sponsor Child at some point
during my time here
For God's direction for what's next for me after Ethiopia (I have a
few ideas, but am waiting for God's guidance)
Thanks everyone for your prayers and support. I do apologies again for
not updating this sooner. But I promise I will not let it go this long
ever again during my time here.

Grace and Peace,
Steve~




P.S. This was posted about three weeks late because of some trouble with my internet connection. So sorry!