Saints and Lions

A painting of St. Tekla

Please pardon my blogging: This is cross-posted from my other blog: www.thepennywisefamily.com. 

And now for something completely different. Far from my typical frugal fare, I have a story to tell, and can’t think of where to tell it, so here it goes.

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of visiting the Debre Lebanos Monestary in Ethiopia.  It’s a beautiful two-hour car ride from Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa, and houses a few small tourist attractions and the Debre Lebanos Monestary, which has operated continuously for 750 years.

We hiked to the cliff-churches with many penitents and pilgrims making their Lenten journeys up the jagged, rocky cliff—many barefoot.  At the top of the mountain, we found a beautiful tiny church tucked into a natural cave.

This jagged stone trail, often littered with thorns and sharp stones was climbed daily by many lenten pilgrims, evidenced by blood over many stones from the bare feet of visitors.

This, we were told by a kind abbot, is where St. Tekla Haimanot stood for 28 years, 22 of them on one leg.  We got conflicting stories on why/how he lost his leg, but the stories were clear in that he spent those years, praying without ceasing, with spears pointed at him in all directions in case he fell asleep.

This evening, I was re-reading an Ethiopian legend to my daughter. “A Saint and His Lion”  by Elaine Murray Stone, is a children’s story we purchased several years ago, and have read many times, but for some reason, I’ve never connected my saints…

You see, St. Tekla is a bit of a legend, even for a saint.  There are many stories about him, many true, more not.  It’s clear from stories that he had an injured leg, and was revered in life and death.  Trying to determine if it’s actually the same St. Haimanot (pardon my very-Western perspective, but how many could there possibly be?) I did some more research, and found this very old newspaper article about the author of the book, the legends of St. Tekla and the books.

The story in the book is simplified, it explains that he had a “special birth” (a star rose over his parents hut, and their family was invited to meet the King, because he wanted to know more about them). The story tells us that he injured his leg as a child, falling from a tree, and that after being nursed back to health by his family and the village priest, he wanted to become a priest. He was told he was too crippled to do that, but snuck away to the monastery anyhow.

On the way to the monastery, he found a lion—the book refers to it as Anbassa, the Amharic word for “lion.” The lion had a badly wounded leg, and being wounded himself, Tekla took pity on the lion, and treated its wound before continuing on.

At age 20, he became a priest, and was sent as a missionary to Western Ethiopia (my ultimate destination was also Western Ethiopia and South Sudan, which at the time of Tekla was also part of Ethiopia).  Just after leaving the monastery, however, Tekla’s crutch broke, and he was unable to move. He was afraid he would die, and a lion approached him. The lion was the same lion that had been injured, and it allowed Tekla to ride on his back to West Africa, where people saw the man riding the lion, and knew that God must be protecting him. The story tells “the fierce people of Gallas begged him to baptize them.”  (The Gallas people are now called the Oromo people that range through what is now Western Ethiopia, and some in Northern Kenya).

He became a monk at Debre LIbanos later, and spent the last 28 years of his life in the cave there praying. The story is told that he lost one leg there—some say from lack of circulation because he stood praying, others say because of an earlier injury. The lion story is likely fantasy, but legend repeated none the less—the lion (the lion of Judah especially) is a revered and important symbol in Ethiopia.

Paintings of St Tekla always show him standing and on one leg, sometimes even showing the severed leg separately with angel wings. The Egyptian Orthodox Church in Alexandria also reveres St. Tekla and says that he’s the only saint ever given wings while on earth.

Mysticisim surrounds St. Tekla, even on our visit to his Cliffside church, we found on a dry day, in a dry place, the inside of the cave rained steadily.  We first blamed condensation for collecting water which then dropped, but on further examination, the ceiling of the room—where the drips came from—was completely dry.  Also, despite a multitude of photographs, not a single one turned out—they all had horizontal blurring.   (An example of one or our better photographs is attached, showing the plastic basins that are collecting the water, which will later serve as holy water for the church’s Lenten rites. 

St Tekla died of the plague between the ages of 97-98 years old.

He is one of the few Orthodox saints that has a birthday feast—the feast of St. Tekla is celebrated every August 17.

Lions in Ethiopia
As an aside, you’ll frequently see lions in Ethiopian church stories: The lion typically seen is the lion of Judah, not the lion of Tekla. In fact, I never once heard of Tekla’s lion while in Ethiopia (perhaps the story has been disregarded as mythology). The lion of Judah represents the family line of Solomon, including Ethiopian royalty such as the Queen of Sheba (married to Solomon), and most recently to Emperor Haile Selassie (1892-1975), also known as Ras Teferi Makonnen, who remained in that line.  Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie was the Lion of Judah, referred to in the Book of Revelations in The Bible. (See Revelations 5:5). In Christianity, the “Lion of Judah” is the symbol for Jesus Christ.

Ethiopia is also the only home to the black-maned Abyssinian lions (Panthera leo roosevelti ), an endangered species.

The gate to St. Tekla's Church, which was a little deceiving in that there was another fifteen minutes of uphill climb beyond this. Many who hadn't taken shoes off, took them off here and left them outside the gate. Did I mention that the "bottom" of the climb begins at an altitude of approximately one mile, so tying one's shoes is feat, let alone climbing this hill, and many of the pilgrims and monks who passed us would climb several times a day bringing holy water to their family or the monastery below.

The beautiful Debre Libanos Monestary. This modern version was built by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1961

She Asks Good Questions

Little M, is now nearly seven years old. She's been taking in every bit scrap of information this country has to offer for more than half her life now.  She's got the added benefit of a spiffy new pair of spectacles (it turns out she was nearly blind due to an eye muscle problem which can be corrected with glasses over the next few years).

Since the beginning, we've loved her questions. 

I've tried to keep her grammar intact so you can get a sense for how her English is progressing.

Age 3:

In reference to a brand-new set of pre-school lacing cards I bought her at age three "why would anyone do this?"

On women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics "why does that girl wear a swimsuit on the ice? That doesn't sound like a good idea."

On pairs skating at the Winter Olympics "Why they are on TV if they can't even skate by themselfs yet"

Age 4:

Watching football she points to the referee and asks "is he the boss who gets to sass the people?"

After coming home from the bookshop with new books "Mom? Will you please read dad my new books? I can't read yet."

Age 5:

"If Andrew is a tuxedo cat, what does that make Arthur?" (Arthur is our ginger cat).  Big sister answered this question for me..."Arthur is a casual cat."

Age 6:

Today we went for a walk at a pioneer cemetery because we had down time in a neighborhood that had literally  nothing else, and the weather was good.   I talked with M about math facts--how to determine how old someone was at their time of death based on the headstone engraving, and we talked about how old that person would be now, and how long ago they died, and at what age they passed, etc.

An interesting discussion followed.

"Mom...what are those big rock things?"

Me: "Headstones are respectful ways of remembering people."

M: "Whose idea was it to put a big rock on someone's head to show respect? That doesn't even sound like a good idea."

Me: "I don't know, but I think if it's a fancy rock, it might play by different rules."

M: "What about all of the little fences?"

Me: "Do you mean the plot fences?"

M: "Is it to keep them in? They're not goin' anywhere.... are they?"

We also love her "spin"

We've been teaching M at home this year, and she recently did a unit on the Trojan War.  It was really a sleeper, but she powered through.  This particular lesson was on the Battle of Thermopale, and the war that followed it.

M isn't one to waste any energy on a subject she isn't interested in.  This particular assignment had me laughing out loud (it was to be a first-grade report on the Trojan War, but the subject of her drawing was Thermopale, hence the "narrative" not matching the photo.

I laughed out loud that this was her assessment of a "complete report."  Her big sister (also not one to waste any unnecessary effort on a writing project) laughed and said "Yeah, she should have capitalized 'greeks'!" Oy vey... 

Needless to say, the assignment was repeated, but I like this one better. 

Water for the World

I mentioned a while back about our planned trip to South Sudan to work on water projects, education and microbusiness.

This past weekend we joined our South Sudanese friends in celebrating what they've waited a lifetime to see--the independence of their country. South Sudan became an independent and soverign nation on July 9, 2011.

This past week, we took some important steps to get ready for the trip. Melat needs her certificate of citizenship, so we ordered that. Destiny and I spent (along with five more members of our South Sudan mission team) at a training camp to learn how to make BioSand water filtes. The training was created as a ministry of the Quaker church, but we had representatives from many faiths and nations including India, Pakistan, Iraq, Burundi, Kenya, Hondurus, Nicaragua, Uganda and South Africa, and of course our South Sudan team from Kent Lutheran Church.

We learned the skills and equipment required to build the biosand water filters, but also, we learned how to train others (in a culturally appropriate and sensetive way) about heygine, sanitation and water safety. (Photos below).

The sand filters that we learned to build are designed for the Center for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology in Alberta, Canada. They are basically a molded concrete shell with a biological filter (much like what a serious aquirist might build within their aquarium to keep water clean for their fish). The filters cost about $10USD to build and take one day for construction, after that, they can provide drinking water for up to 70 people for 30 years. Talk about a return on investment! The water is 98.7% safe, or about the same as the bottled water available in East Africa, and the sand filter can remove all toxins, bacteria, viruses and pollutants except for salt and pesticide (they don't have much of either in South Sudan).

We're also pursuing CAWST's training in latrine construction--especially imporant in South Sudan as the water level is quite high--groundwater is reached around 11 feet, so if latrines aren't constructed properly, we risk infecting the community with microbes or salt.

We've also been taught how to "franchise" the water filter program, providing jobs for about 60 people. Other microbusinesses will include solar power, agriculural farming of the moringa tree (a powerhouse!) and fishing businesses and sewing mosquito nets locally, rather than hiring out work to China.

There was a huge party in Seattle this week for Seattle's South Sudanese community (http://www.youtube.com/user/KLCSouthSudan), and over the weekend, I sold paper beads and told people in Kent's community about the project.

My favorite thing about this project is that is it is a joint venture between Americans and Sudanese refugees. They have the intimate knowledge of culture and tradition, and several are considered elders in their community, which lends a lot of authority to the projects. We expect that this will really enhance our team's effectiveness.

If you're interested in following along on these adventures, or contributing towards travel, we would love support of all kinds (prayer, spreading the word or financial support). Our family's fundraising goal is $12,000, which is quite daunting. We have the Paper Beads fundraiser on our web site at www.klcsouthsudan.blogspot.com. Perhaps the biggest help right now is something simple like "liking" the Facebook page and asking others to do so too. We're going to need a lot of prayer warriors for this.

We're also on Blogger. (There are more photos in our Flikr account, Blogger, Facebook and our Youtube channel). (Social media? We got it!)

Day 1 of "Water School"

Today was the first of five days of classes with Friendly Water for the World where we are learning to build biosand water filters. We have an energetic and diverse team of seven "builders" from Kent Lutheran alone, including speakers of English, Arabic, Swahili, Nuer, Dinka, and Amharic.

Today we met other missionaries from around the world including India, South Africa, Kenya, Burundi, Nicaragua, Mexico and probably at least a couple more that I (Jessica) forgot. The fellowship is fantastic. As our new friend Prosper Nbabishuriye of Burundi says, "It is your work, it is my work, it is our work, so it is God's work."

Half of our day was spent in classroom time learning about water contaminates, and the hazards of a life spent without pure water.

The second half of the day was spent in fellowship, and in the first stages of building a water filter. We learned how to identify and grade the sand suitable for concrete mixing and the biosand media. (Photos coming soon).

The sand sorting required quite a lot of manual work--shovels of gravel onto metal filter screens that two people shake repeatedly back and fourth. The sand filtered through four sets of screens to determine the four grades of sand; the finest for the filter media, the second finest for the concrete, the third finest for a gravel layer and finally a coarser gravel layer.

Filtering is time consuming and rhythmic work, so we learned some Swahili working songs to pass the time.

If you want to learn more about Prosper's work in Burundi (his work in Burundi is very similar to our agenda for South Sudan) please join us for a small working session at Kent Lutheran on Thursday at 7pm.

Raising Funds for Sudan Mission

Many of you know, that we're planning a mission to South Sudan in 2012. Our church has a large membership of South Sudanese refugees. They've told us the story of the civil war, which raged since 1985, and we celebrated together when a resolution passed in January of this year making South Sudan a separate nation, finally ending a war.

Approximately four million of South Sudan's citizens fled the war, most by literally walking across the country, and have lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda since the fighting began (some now in their second generation of camp life!) A small number of refugees have been able to immigrate to North America, Australia and Europe, but most remain in Africa in refugee camps made for 1500 residents hosting as many as 80,000, on one meal a day.

Our church has made a commitment to aid in repatriation of one city, literally rebuilding most of the basic services. Our family is planning to be part of that trip. We're building water filtration systems, a school, and micro-enterprises, and preparing a place for refugees to return to.

If you are interested in helping our trip, we are actively raising donations with fundraiser sales and donations. Donations can be made to Kent Lutheran Church 336 2nd Ave Kent WA 98032 and checks to KLC marked "Sudan Mission Fund." There are no church overhead costs on this mission.

We're trying to raise $15,000 for the school building, $10,000 for teacher and school supplies, $5,000 for water filtration projects, and an additional $5,000 for other microbusinesses. Our travel expenses will be about $3,000 per person, which we are also responsible for raising.

If you would like to support our project, we have the first fundraiser items available: Ugandan paper beads.

These beads are fair trade and made of recycled magazines, calendars and advertisements.

beads from uganda, a set on Flickr.

These beads are for sale to support our mission trip to South Sudan. Beads are priced as marked (in photo description) + $5 shippping. The beads were hand-made in Uganda and range in size. If you have questions, email Jessica about the strand you want (identify it with the number) jessc098@gmail.com. We will do our best to keep inventory updated, and sold items marked as such.

We're Headed to Sudan!

Here's our big news: Our family has committed to a mission trip to South Sudan in early 2012.

We're really excited (and scared) about this trip. We'll be traveling to the planet's newest country (The Republic of South Sudan becomes independent on July 9th, 2011).

We are traveling with a group from our church including refugees from the area that will be South Sudan, who hope to return to help people repatriate into their home village from refugee camps in surrounding areas.

We're headed to the Upper Nile State in South Sudan for about a month and we have several major projects on our agenda for the duration of our trip.

1. Build clean water sources by way of biosand water filter systems. The area is plagued with dirty water from livestock and surrounding water sources which include a lot of water runoff, parasites, and waste. We will be building systems to filter the plentiful water into water that is safe for drinking. Destiny and I are attending a training camp this summer for one week to learn how to build the filters. We have applied for a $5,000 grant for funds to procure the construction equipment that we need to build the water filtration systems.
2. Create microindustry for people to begin earning a livelihood. We hope to create a mosquito-net sewing business (any area so plentiful in water, is bound to be plentiful in malaria as well). Bringing the mosquito net business to Upper Nile will create jobs and save lives. We have applied for a $1,000 grant for sewing machines and supplies to start sewing nets. We also hope to train several entrepreneurial souls how to build the water filters. We hope to create some additional businesses while we are there as well.
3. Build a multipurpose building such as a church/school, as currently children are taught under trees, and in poor weather, school ceases. There is no place for Christians to worship in the area.

Taking the family on a mission is not a subject we have considered lightly. In fact, it frightens us a great deal, and we are watching the local political situation very closely. If unrest occurs, we will not travel, but instead forward our funds raised onto others more fit to travel, but currently, this state--having no real natural resources worth coveting, has not been a target of any of the violence that we've heard about as independence approaches.

If you would like to help us get to Sudan, we would appreciate it. Our family will need to save and raise approximately $12,000 to cover travel costs. I'm including a "chip in" widget here. Funds donated will be sent on to Kent Lutheran church for the benefit of our family's travel.

If you prefer to direct directly to the project (not for travel expenses). You can donate via Facebook Causes. You can also see our mission's day-to-date updates and follow updates on the grant applications online at the organization's Facebook Page.

Celebrating Change, But Mourning The Loss of the Littles

It's been a busy few weeks. We've been keeping busy with school (6th grade and Kindergarten), keeping busy with church (planning a mission trip) and just in general, being a busy young family. I'm still loving it.

But I feel like something is missing. As they are growing, I am missing more and more the perpetual silliness that their younger selves presented. They really had the market cornered on silly, and it was so much fun. Every single day, these kids induce heartfelt belly laughs from me. They really do. They are a load of fun, but as they grow, it seems they are getting more serious. I think they feel it too. Sometimes both kids and I find ourselves looking to the cats for something outrageous and hilarious. Come on Andrew--pounce that toy mouse!

When we first brought Melat home, I wasn't sure I could handle a toddler around. Destiny came home at age 7, and that was just about perfect for me. But Melat's three and four-year-old self were a ton of fun, and I'm missing it, and it went so fast. Now she's reading, tying her own shoes, and staying ever so busy. Too busy to be hugged and snuggled by her mom.

I love the unrestrained, un-tainted, innocent energy that kids bring to the world. Watching the Royal Wedding, my youngest remarked on the bride's train and said "Couldn't she find a dress that fit?" And my oldest commented "They're gonna need paper plates for the reception--that's too many people for dish-washing!" (I chuckled heartily as I pictured the queen balancing a paper plate and Dixie cup on her knee--just like college).

Still, there's something that says to me "life would be more fun in a larger family." More kids isn't in the stars for our family right now--our condo is maxed out space-wise. When the real estate market improves, we'll sell and find a place that will expand with our family, and allow me to maintain the business without loosing my sanity (the larger and busier our family gets, the harder it is to earn an income from the desk in the corner of the living-room).

Regeneration through laughter.

I don't know about you, but I actually gain energy from laughter. A good laugh can keep me going for days. But there's varying degrees of "laugh quality" in my experience. Sure, I can pop in a comedy DVD (I have "The Bucket List" on my schedule for tonight while I grade and file home school class-work), but contrived laughs from scripted comedy are nothing like those that come from playing, laughing, singing and dancing with the kids, or even, the very best laughs--our kids' unscripted moments.

In our family, we truly enjoy parenting. We don't mind the troubles, the "adoption anger," the baggage or abuse history or extra medical appointments. We truly enjoy parenting. Carpools, field trips, homework help, embarrassing questions asked loudly in the grocery store and everything. Every little thing about parenting. When Rob and I first started out in our married life, we discussed many times "what do we have to offer the world." We are two totally ordinary people, with not much to offer but a strong marriage and sufficient resources. We must have had that discussion three times before we decided that adoption would be a way to use our gifts to serve. We couldn't have made a better decision. Our girls are a gift from God.

I've been reading "No Biking in the House Without a Helmet" this week (link below on the image). The author mentions a lot of the same feelings that I'm having right now. She writes about mourning the loss of youth in her house as her bio-kids grew up, and adding more kids to the family, extending those fun youthful years. She also writes with joy and energy about her children's antics. Good, bad, silly, and everything in between, because she loves parenting.

I'm only partway through the book, so I don't know if she addresses the cultural differences in her family or not, but in our family, we love the cultural differences in our family. Bring on the differences! We've already discussed that when we adopt again, we want to adopt from yet another culture, so that our kids who are home already can enjoy the differences as much as we do. We celebrate differences in our family, and we enjoy them--like spices that add depth and flavor in cooking, our childrens' native cultures, family histories, birth-families and backgrounds add even more depth, flavor and enjoyment in our family.