Just in Time for Christmas...

Adoption Fubndraiser

Suggested Donation, $20 for each beautiful necklace

Operation: Christmas Boxes 2013

It's that wonderful, amazing and gift-giving time of year again!  Bethel Baptist Church of Ethiopia is gearing up for our 3rd annual Operation Christmas Boxes.  This is a wonderful opportunity for you, your family, your Sunday school class or life group to represent Christ here in Ethiopia.  

Due to the extremely high costs of shipping, we are encouraging those would like to be participate to make a financial donation to this year's OCB project here at Bethel.  For a small, flat rate USPS box, the cost is now at $60 to have some under 20lbs shipped to Ethiopia!  We want your investment to go into touching lives and hearts, not shipping costs.

Financial Donations can be made through:

Craig Dyson

PO Box 191

Springfield, MO  65801

In the memo, be sure to include "Dyson: OCB Christmas 2013"

Donations can also be made online at:

http://bbfimissions.com/

Simply: 

•click on the "Give" button in the right hand corner of this page

•click on "Give Now" in the Give to Individual Missionaries box

•Find "Craig Dyson" in the drop down menu

•You will see a page load with our family picture.  In the top left corner of that screen will be a "donate" button.  If you have never donated online through the missions office before, this will prompt you to set up an account.  Don't worry, your information will not be sold to any third parties :)  This allows the BBFI missions office to keep an accurate record and mail out any forms you may need for tax purposes for your donation.

Operation Christmas Boxes can still be mailed to us here in Ethiopia at:

Craig Dyson

PO Box 30194

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We pray that the Lord will use this ministry to help further His abounding grace and mercy to the people that we have been called to minister to.

School Praise!

Here is Jackson being silly with his class. He loves school very much and tells us all about his friends when he gets home. And in case you were wondering about the colored shirts, when you start at Bingham Academy you are assigned to a team for the remainder of your time there. In January they have Field Days, basically the Olympics for Bingham, and you will represent your team. All three are named after missionaries: Peter Cameron Scott, William Carey and Hudson Taylor....Go Team Scott!

We are also excited to let you know that all of Jackson's school tuition has been raised! That is a huge praise and we want to specifically thank the following:

Gilead Baptist Church of Allen Park, MI

Grace Baptist Church of St. Charles, MO

Mid-Way Baptist Church of Raleigh, NC
Noble Hill Baptist Church of Willard, MO
Seminole Baptist Temple of Springfield, MO
Nathan and Liz Boon
Don and Joyce Dyson
Patricia Jackson
Ron and Anita Linton
David and Sheri Rhodes

These are the churches and individuals that we specifically know gave towards Jackson's tuition and we thank you so much for your help! Our next big prayer request will focus on schooling next year. It's our desire for Ermias to attend Bingham Academy next year and with his tuition added we will need to raise $10,000. We are praying that we can add some new supporting church next year on furlough, however the cost will still be very high. One of the options is for Amanda to teach at Bingham which would help lower the cost, but would also be very time consuming. Please pray for wisdom as we look toward next year!

Thank you again! Jackson and Ermias are both doing great is school and both love it!

July•August 2013 Update

We are so thankful for all the faithful prayers and support that allow us to serve in Ethiopia.

Our family is incredibly humbled to be used in HIS amazing plan!

First Day of School...

JZ started KG 1 on Tuesday. He was very excited but has been crying when we drop him off :( The way he is when we drop him off with his friends, that was the last thing we expected him to do when going to school. He loves it though and is very excited to tell us all about it when we pick him up. The drive each morning is about 45 minutes and we have to get ahead of the traffic early so we leave around 6:45. That means 5:30 wake up and early to bed for the whole family. The adjustment has went well however.

Three Years...

It is hard to believe but tomorrow will be three year since we first arrived in Ethiopia. A lot of laughter and a lot of tears mixed in with frustration and joy. Some setbacks and a whole lot of growth has taken place and through this whole roller coaster journey God has been faithful. Today I want to share with you what I wrote in my journal on August 14, 2010. Thank you for all your support, God is doing great things and we are just along for the ride. I couldn't have done any of this without my precious Amanda and are soon to be kindergardener Jackson! :)

Nearly two weeks has past since I last spent time writing. I suppose this would be the time to write since we have been busy preparing for our big move to Addis Ababa Ethiopia. I often want to take time to write but our long list of things to do stood in the way. As we speak we are on a plane from Raleigh to Washington DC. It is 5:42 pm and Jackson is asleep in the seat next to his wonderful mommy. Amanda and I are tired but overall we really did not feel overly stressed. We paced ourselves well and worked hard. Today was a day of bittersweet goodbyes  with family and friends. Last night we said goodbye to Amanda’s mom and David and today my parents, sister, Staubs family and May family all went to the airport to see us off. It was hard saying goodbye but we are excited about what is in store before us. I remember many times writing about being unsure what God was doing. Today as we sit here on this plane I am confident that this is what He wants for us right now. I don’t know what lies ahead, I don’t know how the finances will come but I do know that we will and must trust God. As one of the Psalms says: “Some trust in chariots…some trust in horses…but we will trust in the Lord our God” Well….here we go, crazy as it may seem. There is a big world out there and we are about to see some of it. Praying for grace and strength and hoping and trusting that God will take care of us. Hoping that years later as Jackson reads this he looks at his time in Ethiopia with joy. We pray everyday that he will love Jesus…we pray everyday that we can be the example to show him that. 

August 14, 2010

Jackson's School Update...

Rainy season typically is a slower time here, but this rainy season has been anything but that. Bethel just finished her first VBS and it went fantastic! We have been very busy with the medical trip and VBS plus a slower internet brings challenges in keeping everyone updated. :)

We wanted to let you that we are over half way to Jackson's school tuition! As of today you have helped us collect $4,221 dollars out of the $6,915 needed! Praise the Lord! Also, $3,000 of that is a one time fee so next year we will not have to pay that. We are praying that during next years furlough we can visit and add at least five new churches to help with the rising cost here as well as the school bill.

We are also grateful that our home church, Mid-Way Baptist Church in Raleigh NC raise $921 for JZ's school during their recent VBS. So grateful for all of those children that gave!

Continue to pray for the work here, Eric and Amanda will also be arriving back in a little over two weeks and in about six weeks the rainy season will be finished! No more mud! :)

Thank you for all the prayers and support! God is good!

May•June 2013 Update Letter

Medical Team...

Here is the medical team with the staff from Wudassie Diagnostic Center. Maybe next time you can be in the picture :)

With Jesus!!!

It is with great sadness as we let you know that Hanna passed away Friday morning, June 21. We rejoice that Hanna is healed and in the presence of God Almighty. Please pray for her husband Boo  and two small children, Desta (4) and Teddy (2) in the days and weeks to come. We are so thankful for God's ultimate healing of Hanna! We rejoice that just two years ago Hanna was gloriously saved and on January 1, 2012 she was the first person every baptized at Bethel. Below is the picture of her baptism day along with Seble who both had went through our membership class and became the first members of Bethel. Hanna is no longer in pain and we can't even begin to imagine how joyous it must be for her now. As much as we will miss our precious sister in Christ we are thankful that she is with Jesus!

Quick Update...

The medical trip is finished and it was bittersweet seeing it come to an end. Overall it was a fantastic trip and an even better team to work with. Our upcoming newsletter will give a little more detail of the trip...

Our VBS trip is coming soon with a college student coming June 30th and a group from Antioch Bible Baptist Church near Kansas City coming July 3rd. The VBS week will be July 8-12th...

We now have almost half of Jackson's tuition raised! Thank you for giving and please pray that we can raise the remainder of it soon. As we are also preparing for our next furlough next Spring, we are praying to raise additional support that will help with this new expense....

While on the back burner, we are raising money for a second vehicle. We are looking to raise anywhere from $30,000-40,000 which is a good amount for a reasonable and reliable vehicle here. With the amount of work continuing to increase and Jackson's school starting we are praying that God will provide...

Thank you for you support and prayers!

Medical Team...

Here is the medical team before church on Sunday plus a few kids from the church :) Today they will be going to Korah, which is one the of the worst areas of the city. Please continue to pray for the team!

School Days...

Melkam Fasika!

Melkam Fasika everyone! Tomorrow is Easter here in Ethiopia so the country is digging in for a big celebration...

Continue to pray for Hanna, she continues to fight and we are trusting God with the results...

Eric, Amanda and the kids left for furlough on Wednesday. Please pray for them as they visit family and share with churches all the work God is doing here. We are grateful to be working with Eric and Amanda. We are strong supporters of team missions and are blessed to be apart of it...

In less then a month we will be hosting our first ever medical missions trip. Please be praying for this exciting opportunity...

Below is a picture at a kindergarden we visited this last week in the town of Fitche. During recess this little boy fell asleep in his class room :) 

Here in the next week or so we will be sending out a special prayer letter to update you on Jackson's school tuition. Have a great weekend! 

Throw Back Thursday...

In 2008 Eric, myself and Dwayne took our second trip to Ethiopia. A year later Eric and his family moved here, us in 2010 and Dwayne and his family this past January. Hard to believe this picture was five years ago....

Five Men...

" And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives... and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted." - Nate Saint 

Every time I read or watch something about Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming and Roger Youderian, I get tears in my eyes. To listen to people such as missionary Frank Drown breakdown in tears 50+ years later retelling the story of leading the search party to find the missing men is heartbreaking. All five of these men were young, married and many with small children. Would they say today that it was worth it? 

You bet. 

Living for everything this world has to offer? 

What a waste.

 57 years latter, they still are impacting the world for the cause of Christ...

Prayer...

This is an update from Hanna's sister we received on Facebook.

"Hello everyone, I hope all is well. My sister Hanna is still in the hospital fighting for her life. The doctors have said that there isn't anything they can do for her other than keeping her pain under control through pain killers. So with that said, Hanna needs all your prayers right now more than ever. So please please keep her in your prayers and ask the Lord to heal her. Send her your love. Thank you all for your prayers :)"

Please be in prayer for Hanna...

Update on Hanna...

Many of you know that Hanna has been dealing with some health issues. About 2 1/2 weeks ago we found out that Hanna is battling stomach cancer. Right now Hanna is in Canada seeking treatment and she has just started Chemotherapy. Please keep Hanna in your prayers that God would give her strength and peace through this battle. Hanna is a precious and wonderful friend of not just ours, but anyone who knows her. She is a huge blessing to Bethel and is cherished and loved by everyone. This picture was taken just several months ago after we all took the kids to the park for the day :)

 We are praying for a miracle, but most importantly we are praying that God would be glorified through this. He has a purpose and we are praying that Hanna will continue to trust Him completely. Thank you for praying on behalf on Hanna, I know it means a lot to her.

Throw Back Thursday...

One of the first pictures taken after we arrived in Ethiopia in August of 2010. It is crazy to think that this is pretty much all Jackson knows. I hope and pray that he will grow up with a grateful heart for being able to experience this... We are very busy working on the new church building as painting needs to be done, work needs to be finished, and a variety of workers need to be found. We don't know many of the workers names so Eric and I call them the plumbing guy, counter top guy, hat guy, tile guy, guy who does nothing and wants to get paid guy.

Enjoy Throw Back Thursday! It is 12:30 a.m. and bedtime calls! Although if I was in the States right now I would go get a shake from Steak-n-Shake. Wow, that sounds really good right now. You would be amazed at how often we all sit around and talk about what restaurants we would be eating at if we were in America :)

March & April Update