I have been back in SC for 4 days now and it is still so surreal that I am not with the babies in Ethiopia.  I haven't really been affected by jet-lag but I have felt like I have been in a fog.  When I was in Ethiopia I really immersed myself, not to sound rude but I rarely thought about home-I was just so consumed with what was going on around me, that it has been difficult to get back into the swing of things here in America.  I literally feel like I left my heart behind and it is hard to function without it.

I plan to update this blog occasionally and highlight individual families and people to give you a little more information about the people that I met and what I was doing while over there.  I pray that some of the blog readers are lead to help some of the people that they "met" through my blog.  There is so much need and many ways to be of help.

In an earlier blog I wrote about a family that I met and mentioned that I wanted to repair their roof on their house.  Here are some pics:

This is right above Betselote and Efrata's bed.  I could see the sky through this hole!

Ceiling in the living room.

Living room ceiling.

The precious Aunt.

Betselote and Efrata

The family needs approx. $800 to fix their roof but my goal is to raise $1000 for this family.  We all know how construction goes so it may cost more.  If not, the family will have extra money for clothes and food.  I have already been given $300 for this project!!  I am so excited and grateful that my friends and family care about people that I love half-way across the world. 

I know that everyone cannot go on missions trips and see the need first-hand but it is my hope that through me and my blog, you can help people that you have never met.  If you have any questions as to how you can be used-don't hesitate to ask me.  I know that not everyone can help monetarily and I also know that you may have other projects and people that you are supporting but I ask that everyone please pray for the people of Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia.  They are in desperate need of healing from HIV/AIDS, food, shelter, clothes, and medical care.

It is 7:54pm on October 24th and I am in the Addis Ababa airport awaiting my flight.  I can't believe that it is already time to go home.  There is still so much work that needs to be done in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia and still so much that I wanted to personally do. 

 

The people of Ethiopia are truly amazing.  They are so generous, humble, resilent, and strong.  The other American missionaries and I kept joking around and saying "Ethiopians-strong, Americans-weak".  We were joking but it is true in so many ways.  I don't say that to put down Americans-but to lift up Ethiopians.  I have been amazed at the work ethic here.  The vast majority of people in Debre Zeyit don't have machines and gadgets to do the work for them.  For example, it takes them about 20-25 minutes just to make coffee and they do it at least three times a day!!  They walk everywhere and then carry back any supplies that they have purchased.  They can make a meal out of next to nothing.  So many evenings I would look in the kitchen trying to figure out what to make for dinner and would decide that I didn't have what I needed.  Then 5 min later Mekdes (a 14year old foster child) would walk in there and prepare a wonderful meal.  In America I consider myself to be a good cook. . .in Ethiopia I just felt helpless!

 

I shared so many wonderful experiences with the people of Debre Zeyit over the past two weeks and I can't wait to share many more with them.  Lord willing, I will be back next October as my heart now belongs to the wonderful people I have met in Debre Zeyit.  My initial plan was to come here every two years but after coming and meeting them-I want to come twice a year but will settle for once a year!

 

Some interesting things I learned about Ethiopia and its people:

 

*Schedules are a suggestion.

*There is only one traffic rule-yield to anything bigger than you.

*Animals are not considered part of the family.

*Water pressure is horrendous. . you will never rinse out all of your conditioner-stop trying!

*You are welcome in anyone's home at any time.

*Your neighbors will pop in if they hear you making boona (coffee).

*Napkins are a commodity.

*They like to follow white people around-just to see what they are going to do.

*Running water and electricity are a luxury.

*Shintabays (basically a hole in the ground used as a toilet) don't have doors.

*You may have a toilet, sink, and shower but you have no running water.

*The government turns off electricity every few days to conserve energy. . .but they do it at 6:30pm because that is the middle of the night for them-their new day starts at 6pm.

*People don't put their feet on furniture because you get so dusty walking around.

*It is unwise to pull out a camera with more than 5 kids around.

*They think you know every American that has been to Debre Zeyit.  They are shocked that I don't know who Tony is-I mean, we both live in America after all.

*Cows and bulls will not just charge you, they are actually nice.

*All prices are negotiable but they go up if you are furunngie (foreign).

*I am considered wufrum (fat) in Ethiopia.

*I may be wufrum but I am also conjoe (pretty).

*Kids laugh hysterically if you call yourself wufrum.

*Kids will not eat or drink anything a furunngie has prepared. . .even water!

*Kids come running if they see you unzip your bookbag.

 

But what I learned most of all from these beautiful people is that their faith is stronger than their circumstances.  So many people's faith is relative to the adversity in their lives.  Not Ethiopians, their faith is extremely high. . .no matter their circumstances.

Today is October 23rd @ 2.12pm.  I leave tomorrow evening and I am so sad!!  So much has happened while I have been here and I can't wait to share with everyone when I get home.  I have some amazing pictures to upload!!  Once a month BCI hosts an activity day at one of the partner churches, and it was today.  All of the BCI kids and siblings come out for a time of worship, games, arts and crafts, and a feeding program.  Yesterday, Cecilia and I pooled our money and bought 26 pairs of shoes for kids that desperately needed them.  26 pairs of shoes cost us around $185!!!  We handed out the shoes today at activity day.  It hurt me to not have shoes for everyone but I know that I can only do so much.

 

Yesterday, I went to visit Betselote and Efrata's home.  They live with their aunt because both of their parents died.  I was so touch by the sacrifices that the aunt has made for her family.  This woman has never married or had children of her own, but she is taking care of her four nieces.  Two of her sister's died and she has selflessly taken in all four children to care for them.  Her other sister, who is much younger, also moved in to attend the university.  So this lady is taking care of 5 girls.  I was amazed by this precious lady but then I found out that she runs a ministry at her church where she meets the needs for her church members.  This lady goes around the church and finds out the needs of her congregation and then prays, buys stuff, and raises funds to meet all of these needs.

 

While I was at the house I was noticing that the ceiling is in horrible condition.  There are watermarks everywhere and some holes where the water just leaks through.  The living room and dining room are really bad but when I went into the girls' bedroom I couldn't believe what I saw.  First of all, the ceiling in there is worse then in the living room and dining room.  But what concerns me most of all, is that right above the girls' pillows is a hole.  I'm not talking about a hole in the ceiling, I'm talking I saw daylight when I looked up there.  Also, two of the girls share a bed and there is no mattress. 

 

I was so touch by this woman's generous spirit and how she cares for everyone else that God has lead me to meet her needs.  I asked her what she needs for her family and she was so humble that she didn't want to request anything.  But she finally said that if I could fix her roof she would be forever grateful.

 

I am going to fix that woman's roof.  As we were walking out of the house, I asked Getu the social worker to get a contractor out to the house to give me an estimate. The contractor came out the same day and I received the estimate today. 

 

My goal is to raise $1000 for this precious lady and her family.  The estimate for the roof is approx $800.  This includes the roof, ceiling, replacing warped cross beams, materials, and labor.  The house is probably 1200sq ft.  I am asking for everyone to pray about this family and if God so leads you, to donate money for the roof.  I know that everyone can not give money, but I know that everyone can pray.  Please pray that God would meet this precious woman's need.

It is October 21st at 11:32am when I am typing this.  I have been here for about a week and a half and I am so overwhelmed by the need here.  Last night was really rough for me because I realized that I can not help everyone that I have met. We went to the BCI Academy yesterday and while I was playing with the children I just kept looking at their sweet, precious faces and thinking. . .there is no way for me to fulfill all of this child's needs.  I have also realized while I have been here that in Ethiopia it is very hard to break the cycle of poverty.  Ethiopians have to apply for a diversity visa to go to countries like America and in all of Ethiopia, only 50,000 visas are granted per year.  This means that there is a strong desire for people to move out of Ethiopia but they can not.  Also, Ethiopians are very much about family and community so it is very hard for someone to move away from their "compound".

 

I went to sleep last night crying about all of the people that I have met and all of the needs that I have calculated and realized that I couldn't meet.  Although, as God promises, joy came in the morning.  God showed me this morning that while I can not meet all of everyone's needs.  I can meet all of one or two people's needs and He will send other missionaries to meet other needs.  I truly understand what Matthew  9 talks about when it says that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few.  I wonder what the world would look like if every person that claims to be a Christian would take the Great Commission seriously?  Oh what a wonderful world that would be!!

 

I was kinda worried about the language barrier before I came here but I have realized that Love is an international language.   It doesn't matter if they don't speak English and that I don't speak Amharic. . .we speak to each other through love.  When I give a child clothes, vitamins, coloring books, or just kisses they know that I love them; and when a child wraps their arms around me or when 7 or 8 of them literally fight each other to hold my hand, I know that they love me.  And when a mother gives me the last of her food because I have shown her baby love-I know that she loves me.  I have learned how to say I love you in Amharic and when I say it to them their little faces light up and they get really, really shy.  It is so sweet. 

 

I have also realized that we really are all the same inside.  Parents here want the same things and opportunities that parents in America want for their children-they just don't have the resources to make it happen.  The children here just want love and affection just like the children in America do.  But I have seen one difference in the children here than in the vast majority of American children-children here share what little they do have with anyone-no matter their "status" and children here are not greedy-they are gracious and thankful.

 

Adana (and his sister Mekides) is currently staying at the Lum-Lum Guest House where I am staying.  Adana is an orphan and he is 9 years old.  One day I bought a slice of cake (I was soooo craving sugar-they aren't really sugar eaters here) from the cafe and I didn't like it because it wasn't sweet.  I asked Adana if he wanted it and his face lit up and he grabbed it and ran.  Well, like 5 minutes later I looked outside and he was sitting on the steps with two of his friends and they all were diving into the cake.  What was so touching about this to me is that Adana's friends (Nahum and Nadi) are what you would consider wealthy here.  They live with both of their parents, who both have good jobs, in a big house (an actual house, not a hut) that has running water, electricity, a roof, and a floor.  Adana has, literally, next to nothing and he was sharing what little he did have with his wealthy neighbors.  That is love.

Today I experienced my first Ethiopian worship service.  I enjoyed it!  J, the other American missionary, preached today and Mussi translated for him.  The people at this church are so passionate about God and their faith amazes me.  These people have, what we consider to be almost nothing, but they know that they have everything they need. . .as long as they have their faith in Jesus.

 

I am having so much fun here!  My family won't believe this but I have had SOOO much coffee.  It is Ethiopian culture to have 3 coffee ceremonies everyday, and have a coffee ceremony whenever guests come over to your house.  There have been some days when I have had coffee 4-5 times a day!  In America I hate coffee but here it is delicious!  Mulageta (the BCI Academy principal) told me today that it is my turn to do the coffee cermony next so I get to pound some coffee.  Should be exciting!  :)

 

Yesterday, I went to the Sunshine Foster Home run by BCI and played with the kids there.  Haben, who is 6, had a make believe coffee ceremony for us.  It was so sweet.  She served her coffee in bottlecaps.  It reminded me about how I used to play tea party when I was little. . .of course, I was blessed and had a toy tea party set.  Even though she didn't have a tea party set, she served us a beautiful ceremony. 

 

So, apparently I am quite hilarious to these people for some reason.  :)  When I came to the Internet (as they call it here) on Friday I went into the cafe.com next door and ordered 2 sodas.  So the server has them on the tray and she is just standing there staring at me and I'm like, "where do I pay?"  And of course, she doesn't understand so I show her my wallet and just say "Birr?" (Ethiopian money).  She laughs and points to the cashier.  So I go and pay and then I turn around and she is still just standing there with the sodas on the tray so I pick them up and start walking out the door and all 5 or 6 people that were working and like, 4 patrons just start hysterically laughing at me!  I'm like "What?" and someone said "Soda no take away."  Goldy (BCI Social Worker) had to come in and help me.  Apparently, you can not take the glass bottles out of the restaurant.  And apparently, this was really funny to everyone because they just kept laughing at me.  So I'm like, "well, in America we can take away soda" and they kept laughing! 

 

I was just in the cafe.com and I ordered a soda and of course, stayed in there to drink it and when I did it fizzed up, went up my nose, and shot across the table and hit Karen (missionary from Canada).  So of course, they all started laughing at the white furrungie (foreigner) again but this time there were like 30 people in there.  Everywhere I go someone laughs at me for something stupid that I do.  It's okay though, everyone here is so nice and welcoming.  It's funny though because I know they are talking about me because I hear "furrungie" alot.  :)

 

Happy Birthday Angie and Kevin!!!

 

I love and miss everyone!  Kisses!

Hello everyone!  It is Friday at 11:35am and I finally made it back to the internet cafe.  I don't always have a chance to get here.  I have been having a great time so far experiencing Ethiopia.  The people here are so welcoming and humble.  I have spent most of my time going on home visits to the children that are in the Blessing the Children program.  The need here is so great that I am overwhelmed at trying to figure out where God would want me to help.  I want to fulfill everyone's needs but I know that is not possible at this time.  I have been praying that God would direct me to specific people with specific needs.  I want to know that God is directing me to who to help, not just my own heart directing me. 

 

One particular family that stole my heart was a little girl named Siyam (7 years old), her mom Zehara, and her little sister who is 9-months old but I don't remember her name.  Zehara's husband died 5 years ago but at the time she didn't know why he died.  After his death, Zehara found out that her and Siyam are "positive" (they just say positive, not HIV positive over here) so she assumes that is what he died of.  Thankfully, Zehara had access to medication that made it possible to not pass HIV to the new baby so Praise the Lord, the 9 month old is "negative".  Siyam and her family live in a one room house that has a tin roof and dirt floor.  The house is approximately 10x12ft!  Can you imagine? 

 

Zehara works at a local factory and when she has to work at night, Siyam stays home and babysits the baby.  That's right, a 7 year old and a 9month old stay home alone at night while their mother is working!  When Zehara has to work during the day she leaves the baby with her neighbor who doesn't charge her any money.  I told Zehara about the daycares in America and how much they cost.  She said she should move to America and run a daycare center!

 

While we were visiting Siyam, a neighbor baby crawled from her house and crawled into Siyam's house (I assume this was to stare at the white girl because she stared at me the whole time!!).  She was probably right around a year old and she was only wearing a dress and shoes.  She didn't have on a diaper or undies and when she would sit on the dirt floor her dress would ride up so her bare bottom was on the dirty floor.  She would play with something on the floor and then put her fingers in her mouth.  It made me think about how in America some families with little ones take off their shoes at the door because they don't want their babies crawling around in the "filth" that they track in on their shoes. 

 

God has opened my eyes to the true definitions of "need" and "want".  Within the past two years God has been working on me showing me how wasteful I am and I have become quite frugal in American standards but seeing the actual need over here I realize that I am still extremely wasteful and spoiled. 

 

I have to run because I pay by the minute at the internet cafe, however, it is cheap in Birr (Ethiopian money) but myself and the two other missionaries I am with decided at the start that we are going to use very, very little of the money that we were given while we are here and just give the rest away.  We were allotted 50 birr/per person/per day while we are here.  That is almost $3.80 a day each.  However, the average wage in Debre Zeyit is $0.66 a day.  Oh, you read that right $0.66/day!!  So by Debre Zeyit standards, I am a very rich woman!  So if Eboni, J, and I give most of that away with the money we already brought-God will do an enormous amount of good through us!

 

Loves!

I have arrived!!  After a 23 hr trip I am here.  It is Tuesday, October 12th at 4:40pm in Debre Zeyit while I am posting this.  I arrive in Addis Ababa on October 11th at 7pm and traveled 45 minutes to Debre Zeyit.

Let me just tell you how God provided and made a way for me on this trip.  On United Airlines I was permitted to bring 2-50lb suitcases, one carry-on bag, and one personal item free of charge.  From the start I knew that I wanted to bring 3-50lb suitcases so for all of September I earnestly prayed for God to make a way for me to take this extra bag without having to pay the $200 fee.  I ended up taking 4 suitcases just to see what I could get away with.  :)

So I get to the airport and I told the ticket agent that I was going on a missions trip and I wondered if she would waive the fee since everything in the 4 bags was for children (all of my personal stuff was in my carry-on along with more stuff for the children) she said that they don't waive this fee.  I showed her my missions trip letter and then she told me that I actually had two carry-ons with me because my bookbag was too big to be considered a personal item.  She said that she would let it go and not charge me for that bag.  Then I asked her what about the other bags I had.  She asked me to put them on the scale after she weighed them she put 3 of them on the luggage carousel behind her and handed me my boarding pass.  So I was like "I am good with 3 bags?" and she said "yes, have a good trip"!  I didn't ask her about bag #4 because she was so gracious with waiving the fee.

Then I get to my layover in DC and I went to check in for that flight.  The ticket agent asked me if I paid the extra baggage fee for my 3rd bag and I told him no that it was waived because I was going on a missions trip.  He said that they don't waive fees and actually, both of my "carry-ons" were considered luggage because they have a 15lb rule on Ethiopian airlines for carryons so in addition to the $150 he wanted to charge me for bag #3, he wanted to charge me $60 each per carryon that would be checked and placed with my other luggage.  I asked him if he would waive the fee and he tried to call his manager but couldn't get ahold of him.  He refused to give me my boarding pass until I paid the $270!  I told him I would wait to speak with the manager since my layover was 4.5 hrs.  About an 1.5hr later I was walking by him to buy a water and he just hanged me my boarding pass.  So I was like "Are we good?" and he smiled and said "Yes!"  

Talk about blessings.  If I had to pay all of the fees it would have totaled $670!!  Talk about praise the Lord!

Today I toured the 4 partner churches and the school.  These babies have already captured my heart!!  After the internet cafe I am going to one of the three foster houses.  I wish I could write more but others are waiting to email their families.  I just wanted to tell of how God has provided thus far and thank everyone for their prayers.  Lots of love!!

SOOOOO excited!!!

I fly out of Greenville tomorrow at 2:35pm and I can't wait!!!  The fam came over to help me pack and to celebrate Kevin's birthday.  Unfortunately, there was very little celebration for his bday but there definitely was celebrating and talking about how good God is. 

Last week I was worried that I didn't have enough stuff to fill 3-50 pound suitcases so I got onto CraigsList and started looking for cheap kids clothes and shoes to take with me.  I found some good deals and even emailed a few people to ask more questions about their posts.  I posted a status on FaceBook that same day asking for kids clothes and I also put in my blog that I was planning on taking things to the kids over there.  That following Sunday at church I was given:

a 38 gallon trash bag of clothes
2 boxes of clothes
one kitchen sized trash bag of clothes
vitamins and dry-erase markers
a check

Monday I was given:

a WalMart bag of boys and girls undies and socks
a WalMart bag over-flowing with little boy shoes
a kitchen sized bag of towels
a box of towels
a WalMart bag of little boy clothes

Tuesday:

a kitchen sized bag of clothes

Wednesday:
3 kitchen sized bags of clothes

Thursday:

a WalMart bag of clothes

Saturday:
2 boxes of clothes
5 or 6 sets of twin sheets
a kitchen sized bag of clothes
a smaller bag with toothbrushes and vitamins

And prior to this past week I had been given a check and 5 or 6 WalMart bags full of vitamins, dry-erase markers, crayons, gluesticks, bandaids, toothbruses, toothpaste, floss, and other various items. 

How awesome is our God?  I mean, really?  Today we packed 4-50lb suitcases and half of my carry-on bag all with donations!!  I put my personal clothes in one of those space saver bags that you suck the air out of and it compressed down to where it only filled my carry-on bag halfway so I had the rest of the bag to stuff in more donations.  I used those space saver bags to pack all of the clothes, towels, and sheets into the 4 other suitcases.  I was so amazed at how much stuff we were able to pack.  There were only a few items left over that we didn't have room for and those will be given to people that truly need them.

Thank you to all of the people who gave me items to take to Ethiopia.  I am more grateful and touched then I can put into words.  I also want to thank all of the people that are praying for me on this trip.  I can't wait to see what is in store for me in Ethiopia!!  I want to see how God is going to use me.  Because I know that He isn't taking me half-way across the world just to use me in a so-so way.  I know that it is going to be HUGE!