Where to help?

The needs here are overwhelming.  Sometimes it is too much and I just cry and cry when I think of all of these precious people and what they lack.  I understand that the most important thing is that they know Jesus.  But there is a part of me that hurts because they live in conditions that I consider unfit.  I also understand that a lot of my views on living conditions were formed because I grew up in the USA.  Not to say that there aren't poor people in America, because there are, but there are poor-extremely poor-people everywhere you turn here. 

I love to go on home visits to meet the children and their families but sometimes it is too difficult because I can't imagine living in such homes.  I have a lot of guilt about my advantages in life.  While I wasn't born in America, I was born to American citizens.  Why was I and not some of these children here?  I don't know why I was afforded certain opportunities and others are not.  I obviously enjoy the advantages that being an American affords me, but on the other hand it annoys me that not everyone is afforded the same advantages.  I am the same as anyone else. . .except for my birth certificate that says I am an American.

"Because I have been given much, I too must give".  That is the place I am in right now.  I have been given so much and I have greedily taken so much during my life that now is the chance for me to give back.  The only hard part is deciding where and who to give to.  The needs are so great and I am not Bono (does anyone else think it's sad that the greatest philanthropists of our time are not Christians?) but I have been given much. 

Thank you to everyone that is allowing me to be here by supporting me.  So far your money has been able to provide a month's worth of food for five separate families, new clothes for a little boy, and rent for a single mom with two children that was facing eviction.  Also, your money will soon be providing a woman that is supporting 6 children (not all are hers) by making injera and selling it, with a new electric oven and the electricity to make the oven work!!  She will be able to make the injera much faster and the electric oven will be healthier for her.  Right now she is chopping firewood and when she sits in front of the fire all day she breathes in all that smoke (she is now having lung problems) and the fire burns her knees. 

These may sound like small things but they are huge to the people that receive them.  Thank you so much for your faithful support.  I can't tell you enough how much it not only means to the families that are blessed by it here, but to me as well.

I am missing Birthdays! :(

Yesterday was my brother's birthday and I almost missed it!!  He had told me before I left that he wanted his own special blog on his birthday.  Last year when I was here I said happy birthday to him and my bff Angela in the same blog and he didn't appreciate sharing the spotlight with her!

The internet at home still isn't working, my phone hadn't been calling the States, so a group of us set out for the internet cafe yesterday so I could make Kevin's special blog.  And of course. . .it was closed!!  We went to three separate internet cafes and they all were closed because the network was down.  I was so upset that I was trying not to throw a tantrum in the street.

On a whim I decided to ride to Addis to pick J up from the airport.  Mussie and I were sitting there waiting and he asked me how I was doing on my patience (I previously told Mussie that if God accomplished anything in me in Ethiopia it would be my patience skills).  I told him that I was doing okay until today because I was missing Kevin's birthday.  We were sitting there and I just decided to try to call him and see if it would work.  I called Dad's home phone first and it actually went through but they didn't pick up!  So then I called Dad's cell phone and he answered!!!  It was so great to hear his voice and he told me that they were actually just about to sing Happy Birthday to Kevin so I got to sing along!!

Dad let me talk to Kevin next and in the middle of our convo my phone ran out of money so it hung up.  But I was so happy that I got to call and talk to them!  Isn't that just like God?  For two weeks my phone wouldn't call the States and when I was really sad because I was going to miss Kevin's birthday it actually called!!  Praise the Lord!

Kevin, I hope you had a wonderful birthday and I am so glad that you got to hear my beautiful singing voice!  You are an amazing person and I can't wait until you get here.  Hurry up!  "You too!"  :)

And of course, this blog wouldn't be complete without wishing my beautiful best friend Angela a Happy Birthday!  I miss you so much!  I hope that your new job is going great for you.  I can't wait until we can Skype!  Love you bunches!!

:)

Ethiopia is still great!  So I mentioned in the previous post that a family from New Zealand just recently moved to Ethiopia to serve with BCI, Michelle, the mother, and I have been spending some time together getting to know each other and sharing our visions for service here.  She is teaching art at the school and trust me, God definitely hasn't given me the vision to serve in that area!  However, we do have some overlapping visions.  God gave both of us the visions, before we arrived, to start a Bible study amongst the local women.  We had a "getting to know you" meeting last night for the moms to attend and 31 women showed up!!  We introduced ourselves to them and shared our visions for the study with them.  We then asked them what they wanted to gain from it and when they would like to meet.  Please pray that God blesses this new endeavor and that we may learn from these women.  I am so blessed to be a part of their lives and I can not wait to fellowship with them in Bible study!

Michelle and I both had the vision of starting a Bible club at the Academy.  I am meeting with Mulugeta, BCI principal, tomorrow to get some more information about this and to see if this is something that the Academy would like to take on.  Also, I am meeting with him tomorrow to discuss me teaching Music Theory to the older children.  This is a little bit out of my comfort zone but I know if it is of God, then He will bless it.

Also, today, Goldy (BCI social worker) asked me to give English lessons to Besa.  Besa is in the process of being adopted and Goldy wants her English skills to improve before she moves to America.  It sounds like I am going to be busy!!

I am able to communicate now!

Wow!  What a week!  I am here in Debre Zeyit, Ethiopia and I am loving it.  I have spent the last week getting settled into my room and getting adjusted to life here in Ethiopia.  I have missed my BCI crew so much!  It was so great to see everyone again.  And of course, as soon as I could, I made my way over to the foster home to see Fiker and Rebirra.  They have gotten so big!  As soon as I saw their beautiful faces I remembered why I was back here.  Actually, I saw Fiker earlier that day.  I went to BCI Academy and toured the school with the new team members that are here on a short-term missions trip.  I walked into Fiker’s classroom and from across the room her little face lit up and she ran to me.  I wasn’t sure if she would remember me but she did and it was amazing.  Absolutely amazing.  

So much has happened in this past week I don’t even really know where to start.  I haven’t been in contact much because I have been having communication issues.  I thought the house had Wi-Fi but it doesn’t.  You have to buy some CDMA thingie and use that to access the internet.  Well, it took a day or so to get it, then you have to wait 2 days for it to be active.  I patiently (Mussie would say I waited impatiently) waited 2 days and it didn’t work.  Well, Mussie was out of town so I was really trying not to bother him but I really, really, really wanted it to work so I called him and he said he would do whatever needed to be done but it still didn’t work.  So in the meantime, I get a cell phone and I had originally planned only to use the phone to communicate with my Ethiopian peeps but since I really couldn’t email anyone I tried to call my family.  I didn’t have enough money on my phone so I went to the corner shop to buy minutes and of course they were closed.  So the next day, I bought time and loaded it on my phone but for some reason it will not call the states.  Mussie doesn’t know what is wrong with it so of course I have no idea.  Tonight Mussie and I took my computer to the dude that sold Mussie the CDMA thingamagig and he fixed it.  I wanted to jump across the table and kiss him but I think that would have been extremely inappropriate here.  :)

So, I am back online.  However, I tried Skyping and it didn’t really work so that is just something else that Mussie is going to have to fix.  I really feel bad for him.  He has to deal with crazy, helpless furungies (foreigners) such as myself.  God bless him!

There is a family from New Zealand that is serving here as interns with BCI and they are awesome!  It is a husband, wife, and 5 children.  The husband and wife are about my age and they are wonderful.  I am so happy to have them here.  On Friday, we all went to Nazaret, which is a neighboring town, to some hot springs.  I didn’t pack a bathing suit so I didn’t go swimming.  But it was an awesome day, anyways.  There were monkeys everywhere!  I took a million pictures of them.  They were pretty bold though because they kept stealing food from people and they jumped up on our table and Michelle (New Zealander) was scaring them off and one of them swiped at her!  Also, I used a shintabay for the first time.  A shintabay is pretty much a squatting toilet.  I didn’t plan on using one so early in my trip but that is what was available to the time and I really had to go.  I need to work on my shintabay skills because I peed on my shoe a little bit!

On Sunday, I went to Addis (capital city) with the New Zealanders and we attended the International Church.  They were celebrating International Day and they had special singing and sermons.  At one point they had everyone stand up and when they called your country name you were to sit down.  They called Ethiopia first and then America next so I guess my country was pretty boring.  But for the next 20 minutes or so they called country names and at the end it was determined that 56 countries were represented there that day!  It was so amazing.  It was kind of like a fore-taste of what I think heaven will be like.  People of all nations, color, ethnicities, and economic statuses praying and worshipping God together.  It was wonderful to hear songs that I know sung with many different accents.  

After the church service they had tents set up outside and they had food from many different parts of the world.  It was so crazy and chaotic that I only ended up getting 2 sushi pieces but the food that I saw others had looked amazing.  The North American tent was completely bombarded I couldn’t even tell what they were offering.

There is so much to tell but this blog entry is already so long.  Please pray for me as I find the best areas to be of use here.  I have some ideas and I am working out the specifics with Mussie and Mulugeta (BCI principal).  I start taking Amharic lessons this week so please pray for me as I start this process.  I am excited but I also know that it is going to be a lot of work.

I love and miss everyone!

Sitting in my little corner of the airport. . .

I have arrived at Washington/Dulles airport.  It is 4:30pm not and my flight doesn't leave until 10pm.  So. . .needless to say, I have a little time to waste.  I have holed myself up in a corner.  I am eating Chipotle (which I have missed) and using the computer.  I thought about letting some friends now about my long layover since I am from the DC area, but Dulles is kinda far out and I didn't want to bother anyone so I am just hanging out.  Which is actually okay.  Last year I met up with Jay and Eboni, who are from Alabama that were going on the missions trip, and I spent time talking with them on the long layover.  I won't meet up with the other missions trip people until I get to Frankfurt so I may go find some strangers to talk to.  Hope you all enjoy your Sunday.  

I'm leaving on a jet plane. . .

Today, is the day.  There were times that I thought this day would never come but it's here and I find myself thinking about all of the small things that I have not gotten around to doing yet.  I feel like I left some things undone and I feel like I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone that I love.  But, I also feel like I am SO excited for today.  Okay, maybe not actually for today because I am not looking forward to the plane ride.  I don't mind flying but it is so far and I am slightly. . .okay, very claustrophobic, and a control-freak so I don't like not being able to get off of the plane for that long.  But I am excited that the plane will take me home.  :)