This is certainly a hard memoir to write since so much happened and there were so many emotions involved. We started out as a reconnaissance mission where we were planning to observe more and do little. But we wanted to act and leave behind something meaningful and we did. What we brought home with us was ever more meaningful. The special bond we developed with our team members, the respect we felt for the workers of SIM, the efforts of the people that were the leaders in each community, the simple needs of the people, needs that are not being met without help, and what the efforts of church missions can offer these people…..all thoughts that run around in my mind remembering our trip to Ethiopia. The stories and testimonials of each of us involved will come out over time. Those messages come from the heart and cannot be written in a trip review as I am writing here. We are part of a generous people. We can share our faith and our means and this time, God took us to Ethiopia. I felt honored to be part of this team and to share some of this experience with all of you. As wonderful as it is to be home, the waste and lack of appreciation for what we have is so obvious. We were exposed to Ethiopians who are very sharing people and who truly love the Lord. We were amazed at their joy. God has shown us to focus on relationships and not items and ourselves. What a lesson.
The team has returned home and are still jetlagged. Watch this site as we download
all our photos and share the best with you. Thank you for all your prayers and support.
What a wonderful day again today. Nancy, Mike and Patti visited the Medical Center to observe and to pray for and with the sick who walked or were carried to the center. SIM has done an amazing job of providing care for the many people in the area. They do so much with so little. They see from 100 to 150 patients a day and stay until all are seen.
The men moved the scaffolding to the school for the next art project. Then they went back to lay more concrete foundation at the teacher's house. The ladies finished the mural at Langano Farm this morning and after lunch, started on the project at the school. A large map of Africa was drawn by our artists and we helpers painted it in. Tomorrow this project will be finished!
As school let out, the children flooded the area and played and sang with us. They were very excited about the painting and all the attention. They are so beautiful and loving!
Another good dinner and devotion time before we crash in our beds! We miss our families but are well and blessed to be doing this.
What an exciting day we had today! After another healthy breakfast, we heard the testimony of Ephraim, one of the locals who works with Sports Friends. Ephram was a boy soldier, forced to fight, jailed as a political prisoner, tortured, freed, and accused falsely and jailed again. He survived thru finding Christ and says he was "Heart Saved."
After setting up scaffolding for the art projects, the men planted 110 banana trees on the Langano Farm and asked God's blessing on each one as they sweated over shovels. Later they helped with concrete foundation for a house for 4 teachers at the school.
The ladies toiled all day over the art mural on the side of farm's workshop. They wanted a huge logo to welcome visitors and to praise God. Our resident artists, Julia and Mary, had lots of helpers to hand up, clean up, set up, and sometimes shut up. We even did a little painting! The workers on the farm were very excited about us all being there! What a beautiful setting!
We spent the morning packing the top of 2 vans and relaxing in the gardens behind the guest house after loading our boxes of donations for the sports camp and school. It was so wonderful to attend the service at St. Matthews Anglican Church, just what the Lord had in mind for us.
After service, we headed south to Camp Langano. Our first stop was at Genesis Farms! This warmed our hearts and showed us that God is indeed at work to provide substance and spiritual inspiration for the people in need here. The ride to the camp was 4 hours so a special Ethiopian lunch overlooking a lake with a backdrop of mountains was wonderful too. too much to share!!
We ended a long day with settling in to our cabins after orientation, dinner and devotion.
The Muslim call to prayer woke us up this morning our of the deep sleep of a tired traveler. A trip to the airport to meet the rest of the group and a busy day was at hand. We visited a small church community run by the Sports Friends centered around a building that used to be a disco! The Lord works in mysterious ways! They teach kids how to play soccer (futbal) and about a life with Christ. A pretty cool approach to Evangelism. Lunch was great at the SIM Guest House. A wonderful trip to the Orthodox Church of St. George with Ralph Lee (aka Abraham) who is extremely English and extremely knowledgeable about the religion of Ethiopia. We have much to
share about this first day. Dinner with our whole team was at Island Breeze. We all ate too much and went straight to bed. Tomorrow is another grand and busy day!