Love Does

God is good.  It’s Saturday and the week has flown by.  I’m amazed at how well things went this past week, and I know it’s only because God showed up and his Spirit filled in the holes that we weren’t expecting.

 

First of all, I have to start off by thanking God for our team.  This team is full of amazing people who astound me everyday with their hearts for God and their surrender to Him.  They are humble and loving people.  Everyday I’m thankful for their flexibility and spontaneity.  This is the first team to do this type of trip, and I’m grateful for their willingness to go with the flow and my sometimes lack-of-plan way of doing things.  They are people that truly love to laugh, and I’ve never laughed so hard in one week ever.  We are silly and joyful people, and I’m glad for the group I’m spending this time with and sharing these experiences.

 

Secondly, the camp this week has been far better than I ever expected.  This week the group of kids we had were 10 and under, which means our oldest child was 9 and our youngest was 5 or 6.  I really expected that the camp would wildly flop, that all the kids would be bored out of their mind, not learn anything and hate us.  However that is hardly the case and I’m happy that we’ve had a different result.  I’ve seen teachers make a genuine connection with their kids, and the kids love the heck out of their teachers.  We’ve seen an amazing increase in the kids’ confidence in speaking English, and even the youngest can have a short conversation in English.  It’s very exciting to see the kids grow and interact with us.

 

Next week we have kids 10 and older, and I have to admit that I fear we might be under-prepared.  I came expecting the older kids to be at a basic English level, but based on the group this week, we will have to prepare new material this weekend to be able to offer a camp that will grow and challenge the group next week.

 

Keep praying that God’s Spirit speaks to us and fills us with His wisdom as we head forward into next week not knowing what to expect.  I thank God each and every day for the people who have supported this trip both financially and through prayer.  Your support means the world to me and the others on my team.  Thank you for partnering with us.

 

Much love, Jackie

Hi hi hi! I don’t even know where to start. My life is completely being changed by this trip. After only having them for two hours yesterday, today was our first full day with the kids 10 and under. I’m now convinced that there’s nothing better than walking into a classroom and hearing 19 Ethiopian children chanting “Miss Lexi! Miss Lexi!” I’ve been super surprised at how well some of the children can already speak English and how compliant the rest of them are to try to learn. We spent the first half of the morning split into three classes working on different greetings, colors, numbers, and body parts. They’ve caught on to a lot so far, but during the Head and Shoulders song I could tell it was time for a break when we started pointing to our toes and shouting “HEAD!”

 

After classroom time and a break for snacks and lunch, we got a chance to play out on the playground with the whole group. SO. MUCH. FUN. The ten of us leaders spent more than two hours being pulled in twenty different directions to push kids on the swings, climb on the jungle gym, start games of soccer, or just sit in a pile of rocks. Hands down, my favorite part of the day was teaching the kids Red Rover. Not only did they catch on super quickly, but they absolutely loved it. Videos to come J

 

Really, it’s been unexplainable spending time with these children and seeing their love for life, Jesus, and other people. Their happiness is contagious and they are teaching me SO much. Beyond that, I’m beyond grateful for three major things. First, our safety and travel since we have been here has been absolutely seamless. Second, our translator, Aki, is not only one of the nicest, funniest men I’ve ever met, but he has been a huge blessing to us when working with the kids. Things would utter chaos at school without him. And third, the chemistry of our team is pert near perfect. The different personalities and strengths that all of the other team members bring to the table cannot be anything but completely orchestrated by God. I can’t imagine a better group of people to be over here with. I’ve fallen asleep three nights in a row with laughing cramps; the girls on this trip are out of control.

 

Thank you all for your prayers and support of this trip. We cannot do what we’re doing without it.

 

xxxx

Lexi J

Well good morning from Ethiopia everyone!! Well I think its actually about 10pm there but here its about 8am and we are just about to eat some breakfast. Sorry I haven’t checked in earlier but it took us a couple days to get the internet set up. Needless to say, all the flights went about as smoothly as they could have gone and we all made it here safely. Tuesday night, we checked into our amazing guest house. Waking up bright and early on Wednesday we all took some time to go check out the neighborhood and were surrounded by curious children almost as soon as we left our gate. Playing soccer in the streets with the children was so much better then I could have ever imagined! Couple hours later, we went to the Bring Love In offices and were able to meet all the amazing people that keep it running. It was awesome to be able to see how much love they have for the children and the passion they have for Bring Love In. Then we went to the school, where we were able to meet most of the kids we are going to be teaching the rest of this week and some of next week. Basically my heart has been melted. Even in a couple short hours, the team and I were all able to see the incredible capacity for joy radiating from these children. It was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. We did names and introductions, and then proceeded to play some games and just get to know and love the kids. After coming home and then taking some scary taxi rides involving 16 people and 3 americans riding in a “Blue Donkey”, or a short van, we called it a night. Today is our first full day with the kids an I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us today. Amesaygnallo (Thank you) to everyone for your continued prayer and support!

I will never complain about the deer crossings I experience in Montana again.  Here in Ethiopia you can be racing down the road at a comfortable 60 to 70 miles per hour, when your driver will SLAM on the brakes because, a goat, donkey, horse, Brahma Bull type cow ( which they call an Ox), or even a camel will decide to cross the road.  If the animal is hit, injured, or
killed the drive will have to pay twice the value of the animal to the owner.  People, on the other hand just have to get out of the way if they know what is good for them, because no one slows down for pedestrians of any size or shape.

Saturday the 7th of Jan. was Christmas Day here.  So Kate and I traveled with a team from a church in Tennessee to Shashamene boarding school, which is bout 4 hours away from Addis Abba.  However, because it was the Sabbath, Christmas would be celebrated the next day.  So we just hung out with the kids, which proved to be delightful. Two little guys, Yirgemachew 10, and Sami, 11 attached themselves to Kate and me. We spent the afternoon hugging, holding hands, and trying to learn their language, which posed a much bigger challenge for me than for Kate, she actually does a pretty
good job with Amharic.

The next day the entire school put on a program for us with singing, multiple readings, and a coffee ceremony. Being a non coffee drinker I was surprised that I liked the coffee taste, however when it reached my stomach, there was the sensation of FIRE, I quickly drank some water to put out the fire. After the program we did crafts with the kids, their favorite part of the crafts was the GLITTER !!!!! They had glitter everywhere, in their hair, on their faces, on their clothes, and skin.  They couldn’t have been more delighted, and we could have used about 10 more pounds of GLITTER. The children were served a lunch, with meat which they only get once a year, and then given gifts from their sponsors.

The afternoon brought a carnival of games and prizes.  I don’t know who had more fun the kids or those of us putting it on.
It was a joy to see the all of the kids laughing, playing and eating candy.   Praise God for this school those who support it and those who work there being the hands and feet of Jesus by taking these kids out of the dump, and giving them LOVE, Shelter, Food, an Education, and introducing them to Jesus Christ, who gives them a hope and a future.

Melkam Genna!

We’ve just wrapped up Christmas in Ethiopia. We will update with a more detailed post soon [we think], but briefly, our shoes are still stuck in customs. We will keep working with Sami Liben (of Great Hope Church) tomorrow or the next day to get them out.  In the meantime we have spent lots of time with the kids at the boarding school in Shashamene and the Project 61 team from Tennessee.  We’re all caught up on sleep [mostly] and getting ready to meet more more ministry partners later this week.

Would you please pray that our shoes would be allowed to leave customs for no/a small fee? We are learning a lot, but can’t wait to get our nine bags back. More details to come, just pray, please!

Much love to our friends and family. Thanks, Jesus, for letting us be here!

Kate

 

These would be our last hours in Africa.

Kim and Doug woke up with the early morning chanting to take Averee to the airport. You see our dear “jesus juker” had to leave early to make the journey to Zimbabwe to see her future husband for the first time in 18 months. (Averee, i hope you and Donald are having a blast!) A few of us went to the gym to try and release as much energy as we could before the dreaded 30+ hour trip home, while others spent most of the day finishing up last minute packing details and milling around the home with the hopes of delaying the inevitable.  After a coffee ceremony and a few hundred pictures with all of our great new friends at Amazing Grace Guest House, we were off to catch our chariot home!

Now I remember signing up for today thinking that i would have a lot of life changing stories full of introspect, deep meaning, and thought provoking answers to life’s big questions. But as the hours that i’ve been home now start to tick by, i find that i’m at a loss for words. Something that doesn’t happen too often. Some of it has to be the fatigue from all the travel, being away from the team, and dealing with the “shock” of being back in our culture. But mostly i think the lessons learned from a trip like this are learned gradually after we start to piece together a life that in some aspects was shaken up and torn down. A life that once defined itself by putting its value in one thing is now defined by something all together different. A shift form material worth to relational richness! This is probably the simplest way to put it. I’m afraid that if i try to put many more words to it right now i’ll just mess it up in garble anyways. And as for the “thought provoking answers”…have you ever found that the more you search for the answers, the more questions you’re left with? Yeah, well just TRY spending 16 days in Africa and coming out with more answers than questions. I think Isaac Newton made a law about it a long time ago, im not sure how it goes but i remember him saying it’s impossible.

Anyways, i’m sure that everyone on the team is facing a couple inevitable questions. So for those of you that wont have to chance to hear it from us personally let me do my best:

What did we do? We taught and we learned, we worked and we played, we broke a lot of bread and drank a little wine, we laughed and there were some tears, we served and were served, we touched some lives and hundreds touched ours!

What was it like? It was awesome…it was life altering!

God Bless Abyssinia,

Colin

 

 

It’s an unusual day when you kill a goat before breakfast and dance on stage after dinner. This was one of our most eventful days in Ethiopia. The 5 goats we obtained yesterday spent the night at Great Hope Church. Early in the morning we drove to the muddy yard, and with reverence, dispatched them to heaven with a large knife. Breakfast of french toast, oatmeal and pancakes followed for us while the goat meat was prepared. When we returned to the church, the kids not only seemed to have doubled in number but were extremely excited at the prospect of a meal with meat. The boy sitting next to me said he had last eaten meat 2 months prior. Mass chaos ensued while we tried to teach and finally the meal was ready. We served enjira with meat sauce and the kids ate quickly. Any reservation I previously had about tying the goats to the car and subsequently killing them was gone when I saw the urgency with which the children ate. Tearful goodbyes all around after lunch. We drove home in silence wondering if we would ever see our new friends again. We arrived home to a fierce rainstorm. Initially, we huddled inside wishing it would stop; however, we soon realized there was more water and water pressure falling from the sky than our shower could provide. Shoes off, soap out, we headed outside into the storm for the best shower of the entire trip. Feeling cleaner than usual, we put on our best (and least smelly) clothes and headed out to a traditional Ethiopian meal. We shared food around two small tables, ate with our hands, and enjoyed local honey wine. During the meal, traditional Ethiopian music was performed live and we were encouraged to come on stage to dance with the performers. Smiles and laughter all around as we danced with them and enjoyed our last night together in Addis.

Melissa

We can’t believe we only have another 48 hours here in this beautiful country. We all feel our time has been well used and that God has done some amazing things in both the people of Ethiopia as well as in our hearts during the 2 weeks we have been here.  So about today…..

This morning we awoke to another fantastic breakfast of over easy eggs, toast with peanut butter and jelly and fresh mango juice. I sure wish we had mangos this good in the States. We then got ourselves ready and headed over to buy some goats for the kids for the final goodbye lunch. They children here rarely get protein so we followed in the tradition of past teams and bought 5 goats for the final lunch for the children

                When we arrived at the open field where all of the goat sales people hang out we stayed in the car while our driver, Tsegaye, and our interpreter, Yosi, went to haggle on the price of the goats. They knew that if we got out of the car the goats would automatically be way out of our budget. So they finally got the price down….we now had our goats.

                As we sat in the van we watched as the salesman tied up the feet of all of our goats. They then carried the goats over by their legs to our car. We then proceeded to hoist each goat…one by one…onto the top of the van where Tsegaye strapped them down to the top. I suppose this is fairly normal but I think it just about made all the girls throw up. It was horrific. The goats were yelling and looking over the side of the railing at us like “please help”.

                Well we all made it to the school, the team and our goats. The goats were then passed off the roof to Colin and the rest of the boys where they were transported to the holding yard for the night. Tomorrow will be the true test of our stomachs. At 7:30 we get to all go and watch all of our American boys kill these 5 goats so they can then be seasoned and cooked for all the little angels in the summer camp.

                So alas the summer camp began. Today we started with a lovely round of Amazing Grace with me singing and Doug doing a fantastic job on the guitar. I then pulled Maddie up for the loudest found of Hallelujah I had ever heard. The kids love these songs. Then we broke into some hang man, Bible story skits, Learning manners and Simon Says. We then fed them lunch which consisted of plain white rice and a half a piece of break. Then the most fun of the day…..pictures. I have to say that today was the best day yet. With the teaching of the manners, most of us were able to demand a “please” before taking every picture. We will see if it sticks through tomorrow.

                The team then sat down to a much deserved lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tuna sandwiches and bananas. Then we went to the orphanage. I think this was some of the most fun we have had on the trip yet. Their story was amazing and the best part was the children. We got to meet all the older children then they took us to the baby rooms. I think all of our love buckets were filled to the brim. After many hugs and kisses we headed to our favorite restaurant, chocolate, for a nice round of coca-cola and macchiato. We have all become coffee addicts. It is so fantastic here. It also gives the team time to debrief. We then ended our evening with some rest and recuperation at the guest home and a wonderful dinner. I guess this is all for tonight. We will keep you updated on the goat killing and wonderful meal tomorrow. Good night Day 13.

-Jesus Juker “Averee”

I wish this trip would never come to a close. I wish I could just keep wearing my stinky, dirty, unwashed clothes over and over and just stay. To stay in this place where everyone’s eyes have light in them and where I haven’t seen one smile that didn’t melt my heart would be a dream come true. I’m trying to focus on the trip rather  than the end. I’ve learned so much, and these people have filled my heart right over the brim. Going to Korah gets harder and harder each day. It feels like, as time ticks by, that we’re going there to leave, bonding  more each day before we disappear in two short days. On Wednesday (our last day), we’re going to kill and cook five goats for the children of Korah to eat. I’m pretty stressed about it, but I know that the ends justify the means in this situation. I’ll miss the mornings spent at the summer camp, packed into the church with all those smiling faces, singing, playing games, and telling Bible stories with a few extra tons of enthusiasm thrown in to keep them entertained. The bonds and friendships formed on this trip mean the world to me, and the fact that God had this all planned out ahead of time? Mind. Blown.  I can’t believe that in less 5 days I’ll be in school. Maybe I can, but I don’t want to. This trip has changed my life, and it’s not over yet. Please pray that the next two days continue to be packed with adventures and experiences. I know I’ll be back, but until then, this is my last time blogging on the Ethiopia blog. Thanks for reading!

-Mads

So when Ethipopians have church, they have themselves some dang Church! We attended Beza international today and if you took Journey’s best sunday and shot it up with some steroids and no countdown clock ( the service went 3 hours) add a dash of southern baptist prechin’, you get the service we experienced. The preacher spoke excelent english and would finish an empowered sentance with ” Are you hearin’ what I’m sayin!” Everyone was most deffinatly hearing what he was saying, his message was excellent, and we sat near the front, so at the decibles he was preaching his sermon through the microphone, the sound system used was not really needed.

After the service we had lunch at the Golf Club, which was quite good but felt very odd to be eating in such a fancy place after having our lunches last week sitting with feet in the mud at Korah. The evening was spent at the guest house, which is becoming more fun to play games with the staff than touring around the city. Colin, Maddie, and myself took a walk  around the nieghborhood and attempted not to notice the stares as we made our way up to Chocolate, the best eating place in the area.

It’s fun to observe the bonds that each person has made with different staff members, as well as with each other here. I will truely miss it when our journey here ends.

-Douglas