on our way

I'm at the Heathrow airport in London right now! The following is actually a blog I wrote yesterday, at Geir Edvin and Nina's cabin. Now that I have internet access, I am posting it! :)

People have been asking me lately, “Are you ready?” The answer I give them is “I think so?”. But really, during these past days in Norway, I don’t think it has actually hit me that in not so long, I’ll be going to Ethiopia -- and staying there -- for nine months. That is, it didn’t hit me until my team and I packed ourselves and all of our luggage into one of the good ol’ YWAM Skien vans, and drove away from Grimerud (the place where we had a week of training).

So yes, this past week we were at Grimerud - the main YWAM Norway base. I was at Grimerud for the last Worker’s Gathering, in January. But oh wow, it’s so much more beautiful now, in the Summer. I’ve so much enjoyed being in Norway for these (almost) two weeks! It’s almost like being back in my “second home”. Anyway, this time around at Grimerud, we had an intense “crash course” week of training on different subjects, including mission, teamwork, language learning, culture, prayer on the mission field, ministry to muslims, poverty, and development work. Whew! It was a lot of fun… it kind of reminded me of being back in DTS during the “lecture phase”. But I’m glad to be done with it now, and as much as I like being in Norway, I’m excited to actually GO to Ethiopia and have the challenge of putting into practice what we’ve been listening to in all of the teaching.

Since Friday, our team has been staying at a cozy Norwegian cabin in the woods. It’s been nice and relaxing. Yesterday I picked wild blueberries! I felt like I was in Little House on the Prairie… or like I was one of the “Matchbox Children”. hehe. It was fun. Today we went for a walk in the woods, and took some team pictures. It’s beautiful here, and I’m very much enjoying seeing and being in God’s creation! :) Tomorrow, bright and early, we will drive to the airport. Our plane leaves at 7:50am, I believe. We’ll have two connecting flights: London and Alexandria, Egypt! We’ll arrive in Ethiopia at 3:00ish in the morning, and that very same morning, we will begin our language school! We’ll be going to this language school (learning Oromo) for the first 4 weeks in Ethiopia. Then we’ll travel south to our soon-to-be home in Koffele!

HERE'S SOME PICTURES!

The Ethiopia Team: Evan, Jorun, Amund, Brittney, Melissa



Grimerud