by Pastor Todd Holdridge

She’s back! Many of you had the pleasure of knowing Maren Mylander while she was a student at SPU. She worshipped at Bethany while at SPU, and served as a high school leader before going overseas last year.

Upon graduation in 2006, Maren started thinking about serving abroad, and after questioning her motives, searching this prompting, and discussing it with friends and family, she started looking into possible opportunities. But first, she talked with her sister and a couple of good friends (Bethany Krumm and Joshua Tuggle, also fellow BPC-ers) who decided they also wanted to go. They weren’t sure what exactly they’d be doing, but were open to anyone/anywhere that could really use their help.

They found HOPE Enterprises, an indigenous humanitarian organization in Ethiopia, which utilizes a holistic approach, focusing on education, to meet the immediate needs of the people and to move them beyond poverty. The team taught English to grades 2-10 as well as additional upper level courses for the vocational students. They assisted with the capital city’s only feeding center distributing food to over 700 people a day. They were also able to visit with key administrators over the course of the year to provide assessment of HOPE’s programs in order to focus and improve the use of the organization’s energy and resources. Beyond their work and responsibilities, they spent a lot of time with students outside of class, building relationships with the people.

It was an intense experience, Maren admits. “In Ethiopia, your senses are constantly stimulated by different sounds, smells, and sights. Ignorant, indifferent, oblivious, disengaged, unnoticed and unnoticing are not comprehendible adjectives. As soon as you step foot out the door, your heart is stirred and your mind is racing. And as you try to take in your surroundings, your surroundings are trying to take in you!” Despite the intensity, however, the year was incredible. “To be able to serve in such tangible ways, to experience and engage with a different place and people, to be overwhelmed, to grow…the ways in which God revealed Himself, His Creation, and my role within His Creation were challenging, rich, and full.”

While out of her comfort zone and experiencing an entirely new culture, Maren has become much more aware and embracing of the mystery and awesomeness of God’s activity in the world. She’s become more comfortable with confusion and the unknown, allowing greater room for trust and wonder. “God looks different in Ethiopia. The people experience and respond to Christ differently. And because I’ve seen Him there and have had this experience, God is in a bigger box now. As a limited human being I don’t think I’ll ever comprehend Him entirely outside of a box, but that box has a lot more room to hold and consider His complexities and majesty, which makes me really excited.”

Back in Seattle, Maren doesn’t have plans to return to Ethiopia other than to visit, but she remains open to God’s movement in her life. Currently, she is seeking work with adoption or foster care while pursuing her Masters Degree in Social Work. She is trying to focus her energy on people, empowerment, awareness, and growth…

In short, it was a good year. And it’s good to have her back.