Well, our time in the big city of Addis is coming to a close and as we wrap up language school we are also preparing to head back to Langano. Since we don't plan on going to a grocery store/supermarket in the next 6-weeks, I thought you all might be interested in the staples of my shopping list:
- 20 kg of Flour
- 5 kg of sugar
- 7 kg of pasta
- 3.5 kg of cheese
- 10 liters of oil

Yes I know, the title of this blog post is a bit cheesy, but it‘s true. There are many reasons for why I love my job, one of them is the new and ever changing challenges that we face each day. Let me walk you through one of my recent days at work. The day began with four labors riding in a trailer behind the car on our way down to the beach. The soil at the beach is high quality sand that we use to make concrete for various projects around the compound. We hauled four loads of sand over to the duplex project. Next was a more unusual challenge. We needed to move a small, about 10’x15’ house/shed a couple kilometers across the compound. Oh, did I forget to mention that the shed weighs about 3000 pounds? To move it, wooden logs were placed under the house and a cable ran through the house and was connected to the back of the car. The general idea was that the house would roll across the logs as the car pulled it. Unfortunately the front porch was not quite strong enough to survive the initial attempt to move as evidenced by the columns and railings being ripped off. So we re-rigged the cables and successfully began to slowly move the house. It took 11 of us nearly 3 hours to move it a couple kilometers. But along the way, we were able to problem solve our way around corners, down hills, over ditches and through a gate. After lunch, some of the guys began repairing the porch and one side of the house that had some damage while I went to cut up a tree that had fallen down in a windstorm and put the finishing touches on a new ping-pong net for the game pavilion. And we finished the day with a soccer match between many of our workers and missionary staff.

I love my job, not only because of the great diversity of things I get to do, but also for the problem solving that is required to get almost everything done and for the purpose that drives all we do. We must be creative, or we would be cutting a new road because a house is stuck in the middle of the old road. I have to repurpose materials to serve in ways never intended to create things useful in the Ethiopian countryside. But more than that, I love my job because I am working in the background to support the work of a great ministry. The sand is for a duplex that will house more staff for a clinic that serves the local community and shares Christ daily. The house that we moved was previously used by a camp staff member, who lived in the single room for two years because of her heart for Arsi-Oromo people. Now that her new house is complete, this shed will be used for storage near our field for balls, cones, life jackets and other essentials during the camping season. The soccer match is an opportunity to have fun and build relationships with the guys that I work with everyday. I hope that I can minister to them as we prepare this compound for its role in ministering to youth from all over Ethiopia along with the many ferengiis (foreigners) that pass through our container bridge each year.

Thank you for your support and prayers. I could not serve in this way and do the job that I love without you. May God bless you as we work to further His kingdom together through Camp Langano.

Sports Friends is training churches all around the world how to use sports as a tool to reach out into their communities. Numbers don't tell the whole story, but they give a great snap shot of where the ministry is right now. Not listed below is the fact that Sports Friends is currently working in more than 8 countries with discussions in progress in a few more. Praise God that he sees fit to use sports as a means to reach his people. The file attached is the Sports Friends year end review. Check it out for more information about what happened in the ministry over the last year.

In order to live at Langano, and in Ethiopia in general, one must learn to roll with the punches, make the best of things and, most importantly, improvise with what you have. Last week I was busy with 4 workers cleaning out our workshop (which itself was improvised and made from a shipping container). Over the last several years the shop has accumulated all sorts of interesting items that do not belong in a maintenance/construction shop. Some of the more notable items include a box of burlap curtains, a large bag of lightly used baseball jerseys and 3 vials of chicken vaccines. So I was very grateful for a day to thoroughly clean, organize, sort and throw out things in the shop.

But I digress; the point of this blog post has to do with a message I received during the process of cleaning out the shop. The message informed me that I was needed down at the clinic. Now, this is not too uncommon as there are many maintenance issues that arise there. For example, earlier in the week my handyman skill set was required to open a jammed drawer that contained the delivery equipment. A stuck drawer may not seem that urgent, but with two women in labor and one with twins, access to the drawer was vital. Fortunately I was able to open the drawer with time to spare. But on this occasion, I was asked to bring a few different tools with me, like pliers and metal cutters. So I quickly gathered the tools (which could be found easily in my newly organized shop) and headed to the clinic. As I walked into the patient room, the nurse quickly tried to hide the plethora of tools I had brought with me while telling me not to let him see them. It was then that I saw a young boy on the table with a large fish hook in his thigh. With the hook firmly lodged in the middle of his thigh, the plan was to push the end of the hook further in so that the tip would be visible. Once the boy was numbed, this part of the plan was easily accomplished. At that point my skills (and tools) were called upon. I took the, now sterilized, wire cutters and snipped off the sharp end of the hook. We managed to pull the rest of the hook slid back out the way it came in without causing any further damage or pain. The boy was very relieved and the nurse provided him with an oversized bandage to help embellish the story for his friends.

When we decided to follow the Lord out here to serve Him in rural Ethiopia, we knew there would be many challenges and opportunities. But I never thought that I would get to play ER surgeon for the day!

Enqwandehnahmetachu a Nico's tsegor bait! Welcome to Nico's hair house! You are looking at the newest hair stylist at Langano! For many years I cut my little brother’s hair. Then I started cutting Bryan's hair. I've given many great hair cuts, but I have also given NUMEROUS train wrecks. I can remember the first time I cut Bryan's hair. I was sooo nervous that even a buzz cut was difficult. For the first week after I cut his hair, I didn't tell him that I had accidentally left 3 super long hairs standing straight up on the back part of his head. Oops...Recently, I started cutting hair for the boys who live on the compound. Every Saturday, the boys wander over to our house and I cut some hairs. One time Bryan turned the breaker off when I had cut only half of one of the boy's hair. He got super concerned and just as panic spread across his face, Bryan switched the breaker back on. The boys thought it was hilarious! Please continue to pray for us and the relationships that we are building with the Ethiopians. 

Since finishing 6-weeks of language school, our new language skills have been put to the test. Today we scored 2 points for the home team. We made an impromptu to visit to a friend's home. The wife, Adonech, works in the camp kitchen and the husband, Kedir, sometimes helps out with camp and the community outreach program. So while we were walking by their house today, they snagged us and invited us in for coffee. Now, neither of them speak English, Amharic is their second language, and our Amharic is still super rough, but we were able to communicate with minimal awkward silence for a solid 45 minutes! SCORE! 2 points for Team Adams! I know this may seem like a small feat, but as we continue to try to reach out to the community around us we have become increasingly aware of God's faithfulness and provision. We are excited to see our relationships with friends deepen and the church strengthened as we gain understanding of the language and culture.

Many essential life skills are learned at an early age. For example, the ability to brush your teeth, tie your shoes, or swallow pills. One would think that by the mature age of 25 these simple tasks would be mastered. As a child growing up in the US, we are given medication in many ‘child friendly’ forms, chewable tablets, droppers, liquid, etc. I (Bryan) am beginning to believe that perhaps this form of coddling is hindering our children. If a child needs a medication that only comes is tablet form, many parents ‘help’ their kids by the crushing it up into little pieces and mixing it in with applesauce or yogurt to mask the taste of the pill. This is all great and I have no doubt that I will one day rely on these same methods (to some extent) for my own children, but there has to be a point at which enough is enough, just swallow the pill! So why this random blog post you might ask, two words, MY WIFE. You see, Nicole, bless her heart, was a late bloomer when it came to pill swallowing. This skill was, well I should say, STILL IS very difficult for her. The anticipation of the event almost kills me. You can see the strain of mental preparation in her face; I can only imagine the battle raging between her ears. Regardless of her technique or the amount of time she spends trying, she always ends up choking the pill down. The aftermath is usually a coughing, gagging, sometimes crying hot mess. Being a good husband, I am always standing by ready to perform the Heimlich or CPR. The entire event often times has me gasping for air as I struggle to control my laughter. I have made an executive decision that I will be responsible for teaching our future children the important life skill of taking pills. 


PS - for those of you who frequent our blog and noticed the rapid improvement in my writing skills, I must give my wife some credit for helping with a round of editing to polish up the rough edges. Just one more reason I love her ;)