Furlough Update...

It has been just over two months since we have been back in the Sates together as a family and is seems like so long ago. We are having a nice time in the States, staying very busy visiting several church and spending time with family and friends. We are now in Florida with Amanda's family to spend a few week together and to celebrate Easter. Next week we will head toward the Carolina's before going to Missouri for the beginning of May. While it has been nice not having to worry about such things as water and power issues, we do miss the people in Ethiopia very much. We miss our family at Bethel a great deal and look forward to seeing them in June...

Speaking of those in Ethiopia, if you have the time check out the website www.bringlove.in which is a ministry in Ethiopia of a Levi and Jessie Benkert, along with their 4 children. The Benkerts attend Bethel, and I think you will be really blessed by reading about their ministry here and how you can possible be involved...

The Week that Was...

Last weekend , March 11th, we had the opportunity to update the work in Ethiopia at Grace Baptist Church in St Charles MO. The trip was extra special because we were able to spend time with Phil and Jessica Coolbaugh who are on staff there at the church. We have known Phil and Jessica since our college days. We went to school together as well as church, and Phil and Jessica were our next door neighbors, and, more importantly, our "refridgerator friends" which simply means that we were close enough friends that they could walk in and take food out of our fridge. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and their four precious young children...

Last week we went with my parents as well as Eric's parents to the Creation Museum in Kentucky. If you have never been, you really need to go! It was a great experience and one we would highly recommend. It was also special to see my friend Jon Seest who works for the Creation Museum's parent company Answers in Genesis. I have known Jon since the 5th grade and he has alway been a great freind to me. It was great catching up with him and his wife Beth and meeting for the first time their beautiful 18 month old girl, Willow...

We are back in Illinois right now before heading to North Carolina next week and then to Florida. It has been great being here and getting the chance to spend some time working in the field with my dad and letting Jackson ride with Poppa on the tractor. He could spend all day out there if we let him!

We are gradually buying things to take back to Ethiopia, items for us personally as well as a great deal of things for the church. (crafts, Bible studys, office supplies, etc). After our free baggage each suitcase will be $200. If you want to help us out by sponsoring a suitcase, please let us know, it certainly would be a great help to us and a great help to our ministry there...

March Update

2012 started out on a historic note at Bethel, as we saw our first baptism take place as well as

welcoming our first formal members to the local church body. Hanna, who has been faithfully

attending since our first church service, was saved a few months ago and baptized on New

Year’s Day. It was so exciting and humbling to see such a special event take place to start

2012.

Our first furlough is officially underway and we have been very busy thus far. It has been great

sharing everything that God has been doing in Ethiopia, and letting the churches in America

catch a glimpse of life in Addis Ababa. So far we have visited churches in Illinois, Missouri, and

Texas and toward the end of March we will be heading to North Carolina and Florida. We will be

heading back to Ethiopia June 26th, so please pray for us as we stay very busy traveling the

roads.

We are really excited about some future opportunities that are starting to present themselves.

Last year our close friends Kevin and Alicia were able to visit us and with Alicia being a nurse,

we wanted to discuss the possibility of a medical mission trip. Right now Team Ethiopia is

organizing a medical mission trip for 2013. More details will be available in the coming months.

If you are interested, please contact us and we will keep you posted as the details arise.

In 2008 the Ava Memorial Fund was set up in memory of our precious daughter, Ava, with the

goal of helping missionaries who face the difficulty of losing a child. Because of your

faithfulness in giving, the fund was recently able to help fellow missionary Matt Cretzman whose

family had a tragic accident and saw their three-year-old daughter taken home to be with

Jesus. It is because of generous gifts that this memorial fund exists and it is our prayer that it

will continue for years to come.

Keep up to date on the work of Bethel Baptist Church in Ayat as well as our furlough

travels on our blog: www.beyondthefruitstands.blogspot.com. Sign up on the blog to

receive email updates automatically. Look for us also on facebook as “Bethel Bible

Baptist Church of Ayat”.

Furlough Update #1

We are sitting in a hotel in the Fort Worth area of Texas on this Saturday evening as we are participating in a missions conference at Hallmark Baptist Church. This has been our first trip to Hallmark and it has been a really great conference. It is such a joy to see Jackson overwhelmed and excited about all the new things he has been able to see since being back in the States. Each day, Jackson has been able to spend time with new friends at Hallmark's MOMs day out group and he has had a blast. The expression on his face has been priceless when he sees all the neat toys and the other kids he can play with. There are also a couple of little boys he has been watching quite a bit since we have been here. He like to watch them play and he affectionately calls them "the guys". Every day when we go Hallmark he asks us where the guys are. The picture above is from our recent stop in Springfield MO. We had the great opportunity to have lunch with two families we have known for many years. Here is a picture of Jackson with some of his new friends...notice the super hero theme. Monday we will be heading back toward Illinois for a couple of weeks. We have churches in MO and IL we will be visiting before heading toward our home church in North Carolina and on to Florida to visit Amanda's family.

The Red Viper...

This is our late 90's (not sure on the exact year), way over priced Suzuki Vitara. Isn't she a beauty? We call her the red viper, not because she in any way resembles a viper or acts like a viper, but because it just seems ironic. If you look closely at the left back side of the viper you will notice that she is a little lower to the ground then the other side. The reason this is the case, is because the springs need to be replaced and they have been replaced several times with other used springs. You might ask me why we don't just put new springs on. Well, the problem is there are no new ones in the country, believe me I have checked. In fact, when I went about four months ago they told me they would come in in about three months. I felt like Elaine from Seinfeld when she was dealing with the Soup Natzi, when he told her "come back one year!". So...untill new parts come in we are stuck replacing old parts with newer old parts...
So, what is the point of this frustrating story? Well here is the thing...the springs are used, and they are used for a reason. No one wants used springs, in fact the day I went to a llittle shop I saw used springs pilled ten feet high everywhere I look. I am replacing used parts with other used parts. It tends to be frustrating.
Here is the thing. Many times in our spiritual walk we tend to fill our lives up with a bunch of used springs. We tend to find happiness in anything other than Christ and we ultimately find out that the "parts" we use are just old and useless. Wether it is finding satisfaction in our job or money or even our family, we tend to feel that these things can bring us the joy and satisfaction that we need but in reality, Christ is the only one that can bring true joy into our lives. I know many times I fill my life with old parts that tend to break down and wear out. Colossians 3:2 says: "Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." It's not that ones family or ones job is bad, but if I try to fill my life with joy from my family that can only be satisfied in Christ, than ultimately it will miss the mark. If my family trying to find happiness in me than I will ultimate fail them. Christ, on the other had will never fail, will never disapoint and will bring true joy into ones life. That's something a bunch of used springs can never do.

Lie to me?

I have to admit I really like the whole blogging world and I think it is going to stick around :) I read a few and what I have come to realize is that people love blogs that are authentic. People dig people who are honest and forthright. This caused me to ponder and ask the question. "When did it start being cool to actually be honest"? Is honesty such a lost art that it is now refreshing to be honest? I think the answers in regards to the blogging sensation has to do more with being honestly candid. Being willing to share how bad things are - at times when often times we tend to put a smile on our face - is just refreshing. It is real. It is honest. It is life.

So...that made me think of life in Africa and answering the one question everyone will ask when we see people in the States. "How is Africa"? Ok, here is my answer:

Life in Ethiopia can be frustrating at times. It drives me crazy when I drive and people run out in front of me and seem not to care that I almost took their life. It makes me batty when people yell "forenge" (foreigner), as though I had forgotten. I don't like the fact that the vehicle we bought here would have cost 1/4 of the price in the States. Nor do I like the fact that the vehicle tends to break down a lot and the parts are never guaranteed to be in stock. "Three months" they tell me, knowing full well they no one has any idea when the actual parts will arrive. I get aggravated when people ignore me in line at the grocery store and cut in front of me and I get livid at times when people drive down the wrong way on the road because they don't feel like taking the time to drive the actual route. I can't stand the smog nor do I understand how taxi's can drive with smoke pouring out of their tailpipe and no break lights, but if I turn my lights on at dusk everyone freaks out. These things drive me insane!!!

But...I would not trade it for anything. You see, all these things tend to happen the majority of the time but wrapped around these frustration are some wonderful events. I smile when I see Jackson playing with kids from different cultures knowing good and well that when Amanda and I were kids we would have never known anyone from Ethiopia. I take joy in driving into the city in the morning and seeing the sun peak over the mountains. I am thrilled to be apart of a church plant where people from a variety of cultures sit and share with each other knowing they have nothing else in common apart from Jesus Christ. I am humbled to see our neighbor Hanna baptized and watch in amazement as God just continues to grow a church full of people who just want to serve Him. I love learning about the culture over a good meal with our Ethiopian friends and I enjoy spending time with missionaries who experience the same "culture shock" that we have experienced. These things bring me great joy!

Here is the point. Life (anywhere) can have it ups and downs, good days and bad. The Christian life is that way often yet so many times we don't want to let anyone know that. We are happy to say that life in Africa is fantastic but we don't want to share our hesitation for coming when we have our head over a toilet after eating some bad food. "That is just a bit too honest", we tell ourselves. Well, I am thankful that we can be honest and share our struggles because that is really what being a Christian is about as Galatians 6 puts it. Sharing our burdens, lifting each other up. Being willing to sit with each other in the good and the bad. You see, life in Ethiopia can be fantastic at times and really stinky (literally) at other times. But through all the good and the bad I am extremely grateful that God has given us the opportunity to grow and experience life in Ethiopia. He has taught us many things since we have been here, but one of the biggest is this: Regardless of how good or bad our days are, He is always, always faithful. And for that lesson, my day just got a whole lot better.

New Church Members!

January 1st not only saw Bethel's first baptism, but we also had the opportunity to welcome the first official members to this local church. Both Hanna (who was baptized that morning) and Seble have been faithful attending since the first service and both families have been a huge blessing. We are very excited for the future and the church that God is building!

First Baptism!

We were very excited to start 2012 by witnessing the first baptism at Bethel. On January 1st Hanna, who has been faithfully coming to the church since the first service was baptized. Hanna was recently saved and we have been so excited to see her growth over the last few months. The little girl watching the baptism is Hanna's daughter, which to me makes it even more special. Because of Hanna's desire to make Jesus Lord of her life, she has given her children the incredible opportunity to hear and learn about Jesus.

A Look Back At 2011

Life in Africa sometimes can go fast or very slow (depending on the day), but for us it seems that 2011 just started. This past year was a year of many lessons learned. Our family continues to be grateful for the experiences that God brought us through here in Ethiopia, many of which could only happen in Ethiopia!

We really did not know what to expect heading into 2011 as far as our ministry in Ethiopia goes, but in February the picture started to become clearer. One afternoon we ran across an ad for a small house for rent in Ayat and quickly we and the Shadles started to think about the possibility of starting our first church plant there. After a lengthy process and much paper work we were so excited to sign a two-year lease with the homeowner. God faithfully provided the rent for the house through many individuals and churches, which we are so humbly grateful for. We decided that May 29^th would be the first service of Bethel Baptist Church, Ayat, so the rest of the spring was filled with cleaning, painting and preparation for that first service.

Since our first Sunday on May 29^th, we have been blown away with what God has being doing through the ministry of Bethel Baptist Church. We have had an amazing opportunity to share the gospel with so many people and develop some really wonderful relationships with them. Our neighbor Hanna was saved, and on January 1^st our church will be baptizing her. We have also seen several families attend our first membership class and will soon be presented before the church for membership, and there has been some real growth and great unity that can be seen. God is really building an amazing church and we are grateful and humbled to be a part of it.

The later part of the year saw Bethel host a three-part national pastors training course that takes place the first Tuesday of the last three months of the year. We plan on this being an annual event, and we were excited to see about 30 pastors and leaders attend for each session. We were honored to encourage them as well as glean from their many years of experience serving the Lord.

As far as the family goes, we are doing well. Amanda and I celebrated our 12^th anniversary this last summer and Jackson turned two. It baffles me how fast Jackson is growing and the many things he learns daily. He speaks non-stop and even says a few Amharic words in the mix for fun. I know this might sound cliquish, but we really savor each second that we are with him, and don’t want to miss one moment of this precious time of his life. Perhaps the reason lies in how God uniquely brought our family together, I don’t know, but I do know that we are so grateful each day for him being our son.

So here we are, celebrating Christmas 2011, with great anticipation for 2012. This last year has been a good year for us as we continue to learn and see what God has in store for us. Being in an environment different than your own often magnifies your flaws, but we are grateful that God is faithful and loves us despise our many struggles. As we celebrate the Christmas season just remember that Jesus Christ, the Hope of the world, came as a baby, something no one would have ever imagined. Many times God does things in our lives that are beyond our thought process yet they are exactly what we need. As you celebrate this wonderful time of year, look forward to 2012 and the opportunities that God will place in your path, even those you will least expect.

From our family to yours, we want you to know how truly grateful we are for each one of you. We love you very much and hope you have a truly blessed and wonderful Christmas season celebrating the birth of the Savior.

Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for a Blessed New Year!

Craig, Amanda & Jackson Dyson

t h a n k f u l

We are blessed! We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Day celebrating with the Shadles and are so thankful for God's underserving goodness in our lives!

On Being a Missionary's Kid...

Growing up on a mission field can be hard on our kids at times. They miss out on grandparents, amusement parks, snowball fights and macaroni and cheese. But, they do have the amazing privileges of experiencing God's grace through every day life in a 3rd world country. We are most thankful that Jackson has the influence of some amazing kids and that together they are living out loud the love of Christ.

Language School

Eric, myself and our families language teacher Yenesaw. Today we learned to make pizza while Yenesaw spoke only in Amharic.

September - October Update

“My faith is like shifting sand, changed by every wave. My faith is like shifting sand, so I stand on grace.” These words are from a favorite song of ours and I have thought about them so many times since we have moved to Ethiopia. Often times, through our failures, fears and selfishness we find our faith changed literally every day. Some days everything seems good then something happens and we forget that God’s grace has always been there. I was thinking a lot about that the other night as Jackson woke up in the middle of the night. Sleepily he stood by our bed and woke us up to look at his “boo boos” (aka mosquito bites). As I sat there putting boo boo cream on his bites I was reminded how weak we are. In a moment’s time life could change, for the good or the bad. It made me think about the question: If our faith is dependent on something that will crumble under pressure, then is it truly faith? God has taught us so much since we have been here, and He continually provides even when we find ourselves doubting. He is faithful even when often times we lack faith, something we are so grateful for and daily humbled by.

As we have mentioned in previous updates, Amanda and I have been working on obtaining our work permit and residency in order to stay long term in the country. I am very happy to announce that as of two weeks ago, we have been able to obtain both our work permits and residencies! We’re praising God!

Things here are going very well with the church plant as God continues to build His church. This is really one of the busiest times of the year and we are in full-swing mode. The last Friday of September we had our first ever “Friday Family Fun Night”, which was a wonderful success as many came to enjoy some time together. We have been blessed to see our neighbor Hanna saved recently, and we are excited about her desire to grow. This coming month we will be hosting The Shepherds Conference, which will be a time of training for national pastors. Also in October we will be starting a ladies’ Bible Study. Amanda Dyson and Amanda Shadle will be leading the study and are enthusiastic as many ladies are planning on being a part of it. We are excited about the future and are eager to see stateside churches send teams over to take part in the excitement.

Since our last update we have been able to launch our updated blog, which you can now follow. Each week we post new updates on the ministry here as well as pictures and videos. Sign up on the blog and receive updates through your email. Visit www.beyondthefruitstands.blogspot.com to stay connected!

“…I’ve made it a commitment to consistently put myself in situations that scare me and require God to come through. When I survey my life, I realize that those times have been the most meaningful and satisfying of my life. They were the times when I truly experienced life and God.” – Francis Chan

With this in mind, Amanda and I have made the prayerful decision to step into the world of international adoption. We have started the process here in Ethiopia and are anxiously waiting to see what God will do. To put it bluntly, God will have to come through, but we are confident that he has prepared a child for our family and he will provide the needed finances for this to become a reality. Please pray for our family as we start this new adventure. Check out our blog for updates and ways you can become involved with this exciting opportunity!

A time to celebrate...

This is Eric, myself and our friend Mewaei after church last week. Mewaei just finished nursing school and defended his thesis which Eric and I had the opportunity to be there for. Mewaei has been very faithful at church and has really been a big blessing to us. We are very excited for his graduation and what the Lord has in store.

መልካም አዲስ ዓመት!

Happy New Year 2004, Ethiopia!

Today is New Year's Day here in Ethiopia and the year is 2004...sounds strange, we know.

Ethiopia has its own ancient calendar - called the Ge'ez calendar. The Ethiopian Calendar has more in common with the Coptic Egyptian Calendar. The Ethiopic and Coptic calendars have 13 months, 12 of 30 days each and an intercalary month at the end of the year of 5 or 6 days depending whether the year is a leap year or not. The Ethiopian calendar is much more similar to the Egyptian Coptic calendar having a year of 13 months, 365 days and 366 days in a leap year (every fourth year) and it is heavily influenced by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which follows its ancient calendar rules and beliefs. The year starts on 11 September in the Gregorian Calendar or on the 12th in (Gregorian) Leap Years - like this year.

We had a great day celebrating the new year with friends and even dressed Jackson in Ethiopian traditional clothing for today...

This is the road going to the church building. As you can see, the first truck full of sand could not make it. the second truck was supposed to pull it out, but also got stuck. Chances are that tomorrow morning when we go to church they will still be there.

Rain, Rain on My Face...

We are hopefully heading toward the end of rainy season which will be a nice relief. Pretty much for the last month and a half it has been cold and rainy daily. We are grateful for the rain but can't wait to see consistent beautiful sunny days that will soon be here...

This week we will be starting a new language school which we are excited about. It is nice having the Shadles back as well, we have been able to get some things planned for the upcoming months at Bethel. This last Sunday was a fantastic service with 50 people. We are already to the process of staring another kids class, which is exciting...

Right now it is Monday morning and cold and rainy with no power. The whole power outage issues here are something that can be frustrating but something you just have to get used to. We are thankful though for a generator!

Back Home!!

We are ever so thankful that the Shadle family has returned! They were in the States for furlough and I, for one, am beyond excited to have them back home in Addis!! Their kids start school this Tuesday so please pray that they will recoup from jet lag and all that goes along with it.

Amanda

Beyond the fruit stands?

Addis Ababa is a city filled with many countless fruit-stands. The variety of colorful fruits and vegetables makes each stand something quite beautiful and unique, a perfect example of the country of Ethiopia. As missionaries, sometimes we feel that we only show people the "fruit-stands" of our ministry. I guess with this blog, we will try to take you beyond that to show you what life is really like in Ethiopia. Everyday is a new adventure, one we feel very unqualified to go on. Someday's you wake up with the excitement that you are actually living in this amazing country, and other days you go to bed wishing you could buy a plane ticket and go "home". Life in a new culture has its frustrations and your faults and struggles are maximized because you have nothing to hide behind anymore. Thankfully, God is faithful each day and looks beyond our failures to use us for His greater purpose. Our hope and prayer is that through this blog you see Ethiopia, and God in a whole new way...

Craig

hApPy AnNiVeRsArY!

One year ago today we landed in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ready for the journey that God had been preparing us for for over 10 years! We are humbled to be instruments in our Redeemer's hands and are excited to see what the next year holds...