Monday, June 14, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Home Again
Thursday June 10
I home, up early, sitting in bed and marveling. Thank you Lord, for keeping us in Your mighty and gentle hand. I keep looking back and being amazed at how You moved in protecting, sheltering and guiding us on this trip! It is wonderful to be back. My heart and mind are so full right now. But I am missing those 21 amazing team members and waking to the orthodox church call to prayer on loudspeakers at 4 am and the loud and happy sounds of 23 people scrambling around the Ethiopian Guest House at all hours laughing and roughhousing and singing and playing the guitar. 23 shared three bathrooms and we still all got along!? Evidence of God’s hand and His people’s prayers. And I miss all those smiling Ethiopian faces. They are so beautiful and joyous!
Last night Blake, AK, Daniel and I stayed up until around 10:00 pm talking until I hit a brick wall. I think I fell asleep at 10:30 mid-sentence. But I woke up at 6:00 am for the bathroom thinking it had been only a few hours. Now I am sitting in bed on the Mac and Blake has left for work. Balcony door is open and I am listening to the fountain, the birds and looking out the window at the lush and very green outside. I can’t believe the mimosas started blooming while I was away! And the hydrangea! Images and faces from Ethiopia are bouncing through my mind and I am hoping I can record and remember them. What a trip. So many smiling faces! One day in our van one of us asked one of the interpreters how many white people were in Ethiopia. The answer was 23!
Right now I am thinking about broad impressions. Before we left, I read that Ethiopia was never taken over or oppressed by white people (except a brief period when Italy invaded but they were quickly ousted) so there was little to no resentment or anger toward white westerners. But I didn’t expect to be treated like a rock star! We were welcomed with big smiles everywhere we went. Children ran after us and people pointed and stared and called “Ferenj!” which means foreigner.
One of the biggest impacts to me was Kora, the leper colony, and the massive dump where so many spent their day searching for items of value. On Saturday when the whole team was back together, all 23 went in the morning to the church in Kora. It was a tent structure with tarp floors and walls and acted out two Bible stories on the stage with John York narrating. David and Goliath and the good Samaritan. Anna Kate got to use her dramatic skills as first an Israelite with David (played by a convincing Joel) and then as the injured man lying in the road.
There were so many kids there. None of them had leprosy but they were the children or grandchildren of lepers. Nobody there had active leprosy since it can be easily cured now, but the stigma attached keeps them virtually imprisoned in the walled off area that is their home. In the prior government (out of power for a decade maybe) they weren’t allowed out of the colony. We were told that soldiers would come in occasionally to shoot whomever they saw. The current government allows them to come out to beg. The man who runs the ministry and one and only Christian church there was named Sammy. He is in his twenties and was born there and lived and worked in the accompanying dump for years before being sponsored and getting an education. He worked for the Guest Home as an interpreter/guide before returning to minister to the people there full time.
Sorry, I am getting off track. So, we’re there acting out Bible stories and introducing ourselves to the kids in the church. I’d say there were a couple of hundred kids crammed in there. After that, we moved out of the church and some of our group began painting a tin paneled wall and some began singing and playing the guitar and some were just visiting. By then a few more hundred kids had swarmed the small enclosure of the church. There were so many! All of us were overrun but Anna Kate was swept away in a tide of children touching her and asking her name. It was scary there for a moment and everyone else in our group was similarly occupied. I have a few pictures where she is literally in the middle of about 50 kids, all trying to be closest to her and feel her hair and touch her skin. I was so proud of her. Even though she was sending me panicked glances, she kept smiling and talking and hugging and being swept along. It took me a while to reach her and even then I wasn’t much help. One child with her was holding a baby I thought was her sister until she pulled down her shirt and began to nurse...she had been living in the dump and was raped. Now she lives in the leper colony.
Eventually I was able to pull Anna Kate off to where they were painting and stuck a brush in her hand. That gave her a moment to breathe. She began to feel sick (overwhelmed too) and we eventually got back in the van and she lay down on the back seat to rest and hide. She said “I never want to be famous, Mom!” Our driver, Sraphael (a guess on spelling) was protective and kept checking on us and shooing kids away from the van.
About thirty minutes later it was time to leave. I think we were all overwhelmed with the sheer number of kids in such poverty and their delight in our visit. We later found out that months pass and nobody comes to visit and love them. We couldn’t give them the toys and things we had brought - we left stuff with Sammy to hand our after we were gone. So the two vans pulled out and we were all very quiet. Jake and Sammy were in our van and Jake told us we were going to go by the dump. I thought that meant we were going to drive by and see it from the windows. But we stopped. Then we got out. I thought we’d get right back in because I was feeling none too safe and the smell was something else. But we all stood around Sammy who was talking about the people who live there. A few of us were on the outside and had trouble hearing his soft spoken words. Some men began to come toward us and I’m thinking “get back in the van, we’re all gonna die!” I am looking around doing the math and thinking “this is how it ends. What kind of a mother am I?”
But they just stood near us and watched. It was hard to read their faces because of the dirt. Their clothes and skin were all the same color. More come and we were so outnumbered. I was looking around for Jared, the former special forces ninja dude in our group. And then, we began to walk deeper into the dump. There were mountains of garbage. We were walking on garbage and breathing garbage and I was thinking about the tiny bottle of hand sanitizer in my backpack and how it I wanted to swim in it. More and more of the dump people walked our way as we went deeper and deeper into the dump. The people nearest me, Anna Kate, Dana, Mike and Janet - we still couldn’t hear what Sammy was saying and were on the outer edge of the group. The vans had left and we couldn’t see the road anymore anyway. I was studying the ground and the trash and Anna Kate and the noise of the massive trucks dumping even more garbage and was too stunned to fully form a single thought. I can’t describe how thick the flies were. I kept thinking it wasn’t real and I wasn’t really there.
A man crept close to us and sat nearby. He was covering his face and head and peeking out. When I smiled at him and said “salaam” he scurried away. Then several girls Anna Kate’s size slowly inched near. There eyes were on AK and one got close enough to touch Anna Kate’s hair and then giggled and backed up. Anna Kate turned around and smiled and the girls giggled some more. They were so shy, but would occasionally meet our eyes and smile and whisper “salaam” back to us. I shook some hands that didn’t feel like real hands but dirt clods. I was overcome.
Soon we began to walk back toward the road, and when we were almost out of the dump, Sammy came within earshot and said something that sent me over the edge. “Thank you guys so much for coming. You have made them feel important by visiting them. This means so much.” I hadn’t done anything. Our presence alone, the fact that we would touch them when they considered themselves untouchable, mattered to them. I couldn’t grasp that concept but it made me feel so humble and small.
Earlier when Anna Kate and I were waiting in the van at Kora, I said to her that it was hard for me to grasp the difference in our situations. I knew God didn’t love me any more than the children living in Kora and yet I had so much and they had so little. I told her I was having trouble reconciling how that could be, how they could live in such abject poverty and in such a place. She looked at me and said “because He can use even this for His good.”
I am so amazed. I will write more later.
I home, up early, sitting in bed and marveling. Thank you Lord, for keeping us in Your mighty and gentle hand. I keep looking back and being amazed at how You moved in protecting, sheltering and guiding us on this trip! It is wonderful to be back. My heart and mind are so full right now. But I am missing those 21 amazing team members and waking to the orthodox church call to prayer on loudspeakers at 4 am and the loud and happy sounds of 23 people scrambling around the Ethiopian Guest House at all hours laughing and roughhousing and singing and playing the guitar. 23 shared three bathrooms and we still all got along!? Evidence of God’s hand and His people’s prayers. And I miss all those smiling Ethiopian faces. They are so beautiful and joyous!
Last night Blake, AK, Daniel and I stayed up until around 10:00 pm talking until I hit a brick wall. I think I fell asleep at 10:30 mid-sentence. But I woke up at 6:00 am for the bathroom thinking it had been only a few hours. Now I am sitting in bed on the Mac and Blake has left for work. Balcony door is open and I am listening to the fountain, the birds and looking out the window at the lush and very green outside. I can’t believe the mimosas started blooming while I was away! And the hydrangea! Images and faces from Ethiopia are bouncing through my mind and I am hoping I can record and remember them. What a trip. So many smiling faces! One day in our van one of us asked one of the interpreters how many white people were in Ethiopia. The answer was 23!
Right now I am thinking about broad impressions. Before we left, I read that Ethiopia was never taken over or oppressed by white people (except a brief period when Italy invaded but they were quickly ousted) so there was little to no resentment or anger toward white westerners. But I didn’t expect to be treated like a rock star! We were welcomed with big smiles everywhere we went. Children ran after us and people pointed and stared and called “Ferenj!” which means foreigner.
One of the biggest impacts to me was Kora, the leper colony, and the massive dump where so many spent their day searching for items of value. On Saturday when the whole team was back together, all 23 went in the morning to the church in Kora. It was a tent structure with tarp floors and walls and acted out two Bible stories on the stage with John York narrating. David and Goliath and the good Samaritan. Anna Kate got to use her dramatic skills as first an Israelite with David (played by a convincing Joel) and then as the injured man lying in the road.
There were so many kids there. None of them had leprosy but they were the children or grandchildren of lepers. Nobody there had active leprosy since it can be easily cured now, but the stigma attached keeps them virtually imprisoned in the walled off area that is their home. In the prior government (out of power for a decade maybe) they weren’t allowed out of the colony. We were told that soldiers would come in occasionally to shoot whomever they saw. The current government allows them to come out to beg. The man who runs the ministry and one and only Christian church there was named Sammy. He is in his twenties and was born there and lived and worked in the accompanying dump for years before being sponsored and getting an education. He worked for the Guest Home as an interpreter/guide before returning to minister to the people there full time.
Sorry, I am getting off track. So, we’re there acting out Bible stories and introducing ourselves to the kids in the church. I’d say there were a couple of hundred kids crammed in there. After that, we moved out of the church and some of our group began painting a tin paneled wall and some began singing and playing the guitar and some were just visiting. By then a few more hundred kids had swarmed the small enclosure of the church. There were so many! All of us were overrun but Anna Kate was swept away in a tide of children touching her and asking her name. It was scary there for a moment and everyone else in our group was similarly occupied. I have a few pictures where she is literally in the middle of about 50 kids, all trying to be closest to her and feel her hair and touch her skin. I was so proud of her. Even though she was sending me panicked glances, she kept smiling and talking and hugging and being swept along. It took me a while to reach her and even then I wasn’t much help. One child with her was holding a baby I thought was her sister until she pulled down her shirt and began to nurse...she had been living in the dump and was raped. Now she lives in the leper colony.
Eventually I was able to pull Anna Kate off to where they were painting and stuck a brush in her hand. That gave her a moment to breathe. She began to feel sick (overwhelmed too) and we eventually got back in the van and she lay down on the back seat to rest and hide. She said “I never want to be famous, Mom!” Our driver, Sraphael (a guess on spelling) was protective and kept checking on us and shooing kids away from the van.
About thirty minutes later it was time to leave. I think we were all overwhelmed with the sheer number of kids in such poverty and their delight in our visit. We later found out that months pass and nobody comes to visit and love them. We couldn’t give them the toys and things we had brought - we left stuff with Sammy to hand our after we were gone. So the two vans pulled out and we were all very quiet. Jake and Sammy were in our van and Jake told us we were going to go by the dump. I thought that meant we were going to drive by and see it from the windows. But we stopped. Then we got out. I thought we’d get right back in because I was feeling none too safe and the smell was something else. But we all stood around Sammy who was talking about the people who live there. A few of us were on the outside and had trouble hearing his soft spoken words. Some men began to come toward us and I’m thinking “get back in the van, we’re all gonna die!” I am looking around doing the math and thinking “this is how it ends. What kind of a mother am I?”
But they just stood near us and watched. It was hard to read their faces because of the dirt. Their clothes and skin were all the same color. More come and we were so outnumbered. I was looking around for Jared, the former special forces ninja dude in our group. And then, we began to walk deeper into the dump. There were mountains of garbage. We were walking on garbage and breathing garbage and I was thinking about the tiny bottle of hand sanitizer in my backpack and how it I wanted to swim in it. More and more of the dump people walked our way as we went deeper and deeper into the dump. The people nearest me, Anna Kate, Dana, Mike and Janet - we still couldn’t hear what Sammy was saying and were on the outer edge of the group. The vans had left and we couldn’t see the road anymore anyway. I was studying the ground and the trash and Anna Kate and the noise of the massive trucks dumping even more garbage and was too stunned to fully form a single thought. I can’t describe how thick the flies were. I kept thinking it wasn’t real and I wasn’t really there.
A man crept close to us and sat nearby. He was covering his face and head and peeking out. When I smiled at him and said “salaam” he scurried away. Then several girls Anna Kate’s size slowly inched near. There eyes were on AK and one got close enough to touch Anna Kate’s hair and then giggled and backed up. Anna Kate turned around and smiled and the girls giggled some more. They were so shy, but would occasionally meet our eyes and smile and whisper “salaam” back to us. I shook some hands that didn’t feel like real hands but dirt clods. I was overcome.
Soon we began to walk back toward the road, and when we were almost out of the dump, Sammy came within earshot and said something that sent me over the edge. “Thank you guys so much for coming. You have made them feel important by visiting them. This means so much.” I hadn’t done anything. Our presence alone, the fact that we would touch them when they considered themselves untouchable, mattered to them. I couldn’t grasp that concept but it made me feel so humble and small.
Earlier when Anna Kate and I were waiting in the van at Kora, I said to her that it was hard for me to grasp the difference in our situations. I knew God didn’t love me any more than the children living in Kora and yet I had so much and they had so little. I told her I was having trouble reconciling how that could be, how they could live in such abject poverty and in such a place. She looked at me and said “because He can use even this for His good.”
I am so amazed. I will write more later.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Tough Day
Well, we leave in 8 hours, at 3:30 am. Yikes.
I feel that we have been under spiritual attack today - Daniel woke up at 2:00 am crying and I got him back in bed and back to sleep and was back in my bed by 3:30. Didn't fall back asleep myself until 5:30 (probably a combination of nerves and malarial medication). Daniel woke up at 7am crying with another earache. He had a tough day until a 3 hour nap restored him to his normal self. I remembered a last minute thing I had to do and felt quite panicky until I got it done and the final packing. Then we had a really bad storm. The dog, who got shocked last week during a really bad storm, panicked when he heard the thunder, broke a large metal chain (his dog fence was fried in the last storm and isn't working yet) and ran away to Don and Suzy's next door, got in a fight with their dog, was rescued and dragged back by Sally Anne, who helped us locked him in the garage where he subsequently tried to tear a hole in the wall to hide in. And, Blake, who thankfully got home early, discovered the dog had, in his frenzy, killed the cat, Fluffy, whom we've had for close to seven years.
However, I see God's blessing in that Blake found the dead cat and not our kids, Sally Anne (now called dog whisperer) saved Tramp and her dog and returned Tramp to the garage just before the really bad lightning, wind and hail struck, and managed not to get electrocuted herself, and that I am in fact, packed and car is loaded and we didn't lose power or water (yet) which is great since the house was once again struck by lightning. And, I am surrounded by friends and family who love me. SO, there you go. Please keep me in your prayers, that I will calm down and remember to breathe.
OH! Please do not mention the cat to either Anna Kate or Daniel! We are not going to tell them yet with everything else that is going on.
Goodnight friends!
I feel that we have been under spiritual attack today - Daniel woke up at 2:00 am crying and I got him back in bed and back to sleep and was back in my bed by 3:30. Didn't fall back asleep myself until 5:30 (probably a combination of nerves and malarial medication). Daniel woke up at 7am crying with another earache. He had a tough day until a 3 hour nap restored him to his normal self. I remembered a last minute thing I had to do and felt quite panicky until I got it done and the final packing. Then we had a really bad storm. The dog, who got shocked last week during a really bad storm, panicked when he heard the thunder, broke a large metal chain (his dog fence was fried in the last storm and isn't working yet) and ran away to Don and Suzy's next door, got in a fight with their dog, was rescued and dragged back by Sally Anne, who helped us locked him in the garage where he subsequently tried to tear a hole in the wall to hide in. And, Blake, who thankfully got home early, discovered the dog had, in his frenzy, killed the cat, Fluffy, whom we've had for close to seven years.
However, I see God's blessing in that Blake found the dead cat and not our kids, Sally Anne (now called dog whisperer) saved Tramp and her dog and returned Tramp to the garage just before the really bad lightning, wind and hail struck, and managed not to get electrocuted herself, and that I am in fact, packed and car is loaded and we didn't lose power or water (yet) which is great since the house was once again struck by lightning. And, I am surrounded by friends and family who love me. SO, there you go. Please keep me in your prayers, that I will calm down and remember to breathe.
OH! Please do not mention the cat to either Anna Kate or Daniel! We are not going to tell them yet with everything else that is going on.
Goodnight friends!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Newer Schedule
New and Updated Schedule!
May 31, 2010
Morning: Drop in center - Hope for the Hopeless
http://www.hope4hopeless.org/home
Afternoon: CFI orphanage (Compassion Family International)
http://www.cyministry.org/
June 1, 2010
Kind Hearts (HC) school/drop in center
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SJCS-Water-Well-Project-Kind-Hearts-School-Ethiopia/315986988324
June 2 – 4, 2010
VBS at local Drop in center/orphanage
June 5, 2010
Soccer Ministry or HIV Camp with the other team
June 6, 2010
Church in the morning, shopping and/or hang out at Hilton the rest of the day
June 7, 2010
Morning: free morning; shopping, coffee store, etc
Afternoon: packing, etc at the hotel; Ethiopian Guest Home
http://www.ethiopiaguesthome.com/
June 8, 2010
Morning: CFI orphanage
Afternoon: Debriefing and final packing
Leave Guest House around 6 or 7pm for group check in at airport
May 31, 2010
Morning: Drop in center - Hope for the Hopeless
http://www.hope4hopeless.org/home
Afternoon: CFI orphanage (Compassion Family International)
http://www.cyministry.org/
June 1, 2010
Kind Hearts (HC) school/drop in center
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SJCS-Water-Well-Project-Kind-Hearts-School-Ethiopia/315986988324
June 2 – 4, 2010
VBS at local Drop in center/orphanage
June 5, 2010
Soccer Ministry or HIV Camp with the other team
June 6, 2010
Church in the morning, shopping and/or hang out at Hilton the rest of the day
June 7, 2010
Morning: free morning; shopping, coffee store, etc
Afternoon: packing, etc at the hotel; Ethiopian Guest Home
http://www.ethiopiaguesthome.com/
June 8, 2010
Morning: CFI orphanage
Afternoon: Debriefing and final packing
Leave Guest House around 6 or 7pm for group check in at airport
Tentative Itinerary
May 29th - 4 am leave for Atlanta
May 30th - 9 pm arrive in Addis Ababa and get settled in
May 31st - Morning - work at a drop in center called Hope for the Hopeless
Afternoon - Work at CFI orphanage
June 1st - 3rd - Part of the group will be going 9 hours north of Addis Ababa to a village and work in the orphanage there. We will be staying in Addis with a few others to continue at the CFI orphanage and go to a village to work. We've been told that it is the poorest place we will go on the trip. This village is apparently known for collecting and selling animal feces and combing through a garbage dump.
June 4th - Ministry at the leper colony
June 5th - Ministry at the HIV camp
June 6th - church and sight-seeing/relax
June 7th - Going to the market for 1/2 the day and not sure what we will do the other half
June 8th - Morning - work in the CFI orphanage
Afternoon - debrief and pack up for our flight back
June 9th - Arrive back in Cleveland around 6 pm
May 30th - 9 pm arrive in Addis Ababa and get settled in
May 31st - Morning - work at a drop in center called Hope for the Hopeless
Afternoon - Work at CFI orphanage
June 1st - 3rd - Part of the group will be going 9 hours north of Addis Ababa to a village and work in the orphanage there. We will be staying in Addis with a few others to continue at the CFI orphanage and go to a village to work. We've been told that it is the poorest place we will go on the trip. This village is apparently known for collecting and selling animal feces and combing through a garbage dump.
June 4th - Ministry at the leper colony
June 5th - Ministry at the HIV camp
June 6th - church and sight-seeing/relax
June 7th - Going to the market for 1/2 the day and not sure what we will do the other half
June 8th - Morning - work in the CFI orphanage
Afternoon - debrief and pack up for our flight back
June 9th - Arrive back in Cleveland around 6 pm
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Nine Days
Nine days until we leave. Last night Anna Kate and I took the first dose of our anti-malarial medication and so far we've not had hallucinations, so that's good. We found out recently that we will be visiting a village where the chief method of income is collecting animal feces to sell. Jake says this will be the poorest of the poor that we will see. I just can't imagine what that will be like.
Please be in prayer for us. In our missions study we learned about how much more effective (and safe) we can be if people are praying for us back home. Please be in prayer for the people we will meet and how we can best minister to them and love on them. Please also pray that we will be protected against any spiritual warfare the enemy is throwing our way. And that we as a team will be adaptable, flexible, patient, calm, healthy, willing, loving, discerning, practical, selfless, and seeking God with every step. And for United and Ethiopian Air not to lose any of our luggage. OH, and please pray for the safety of my son as he hangs out with Blake and then goes hiking and camping with my Mom and Dad. And for Blake. OK, I'll stop now.
Depending on internet access I will be updating this blog during the trip and adding pictures. Thanks to you all for you partnering with me on this!!
Love,
Heather
Friday, May 14, 2010
/>Tuesday, May 11, 2010
18 Days
That's it - only 18 days until we leave. I am excited and nervous and have been packed for a week already. We will be staying at a place called the Ethiopian Guest House, which is a not-profit place for couples adopting children and people on short-term mission trips like us. It sounds wonderful. I think they will take good care of us. You can google it and see all about it.
I still can't believe I am going to Ethiopia and taking my daughter. Such an out-of-character thing for me to do, right? But here goes! And by the way, did I mention we will be visiting a leper colony and AIDS camp as well as the orphanages? Me and my hand sanitizing neuroses. I think this trip will stretch me in a big way.
So, I would really like to ask you to pray for us. I have a long list, but here are the highlights in random order:
1. safety. (duh.)
2. travel mercies - for things to go smoothly the whole long trip.
3. for us to have good attitudes no matter what
4. for God to use us however He pleases and that our faith and trust to be multiplied
5. health!!! no sicknesses or issues or physical problems
6. to be guided by God so we can minister to, talk to, pray with whomever however He directs
7. to relax and understand God really is the boss and I am not
8. for satan to be given the forearm shiver. That he is not allowed anywhere near us or our families back home
9. protection for our families we leave behind
10. all our luggage to get there safely and when we do
11. a spirit of unity and love throughout the whole team. for us all to get along and be patient and helpful to/with each other.
OK, that is it for now. Thanks!!
I still can't believe I am going to Ethiopia and taking my daughter. Such an out-of-character thing for me to do, right? But here goes! And by the way, did I mention we will be visiting a leper colony and AIDS camp as well as the orphanages? Me and my hand sanitizing neuroses. I think this trip will stretch me in a big way.
So, I would really like to ask you to pray for us. I have a long list, but here are the highlights in random order:
1. safety. (duh.)
2. travel mercies - for things to go smoothly the whole long trip.
3. for us to have good attitudes no matter what
4. for God to use us however He pleases and that our faith and trust to be multiplied
5. health!!! no sicknesses or issues or physical problems
6. to be guided by God so we can minister to, talk to, pray with whomever however He directs
7. to relax and understand God really is the boss and I am not
8. for satan to be given the forearm shiver. That he is not allowed anywhere near us or our families back home
9. protection for our families we leave behind
10. all our luggage to get there safely and when we do
11. a spirit of unity and love throughout the whole team. for us all to get along and be patient and helpful to/with each other.
OK, that is it for now. Thanks!!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
At first I was afraid, I was petrified
I seem to be going on a mission trip to Ethiopia. I'm not really sure how it happened, but it started when my husband saw a blurb about the 10 day trip in the church bulletin. He said I should go and take our 10 year-old daughter. I laughed at him, and yet here I am, all signed up and about to write the deposit check.
When I first began to take the trip seriously I logged many hours researching Ethiopia and the people to try to determine if it was safe to go. I know, I know, safe is a relative term. And several people told me I'm safer where God wants me to be than I am in my own home. I know this is true because home is where I got a broken toe racing my son around the house. Most of my friends call me a germ-o-phobe, which is a little unfair, I think. I just have a healthy respect for Germ-X. Also, I'm a bit of a control freak. And, I am about 10-20 years older than most of the people going on this trip and I have skin issues being in the sun. And basically, I am a big baby.
And yet, during my research and during the trip meeting we had a few days ago, I felt excitement. And I think it was coming from God. I asked for His guidance about the trip and he took me to web sites that talked about the beauty of Ethiopia, the graciousness of the people, and the general stability of the land. Granted, it borders all kinds of crazy war-torn regions that we won't be going near. I was also afraid that there wouldn't be much a 37 year-old housewife had to offer on such a trip. Until I learned at the meeting that we would be teaching English and a vacation Bible school for street children. Well, I have an English degree and have taught VBS for many years. I was full of excitement. What's more, my daughter can't wait to go either.
And so, as we get closer to the departure date in May, I will be drawing closer to my Father. I know He alone can keep us safe and prevent a nervous break-down. I have a feeling this will be a journey for me and Anna Kate that will span much more than mere miles. Even as I acknowledge my nervosity (I did mention I have an English degree, right? That means I have a license to make up words), I also have to acknowledge my excitement and hope for this trip. For how I can serve my God by loving His children in Africa, for bonding with my daughter and sister-in-law (who is thankfully also going), and how God can teach me that even when I don't have everything under control, He always does.
This is the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life. My youngest child starts kindergarten in the Fall and before that I am going to Ethiopia. Wow. Fasten my seatbelt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
