We spent the majority of our time unloading and sorting the thirty-one, 50 pound bags of donations we brought with us. We are looking forward to being able to start delivering the needed items to the different orphanages starting Monday.
We also met with our Ethiopian liaison. Her name is Israel and she is lovely! She will accompany us on most of our journeys while here. Her husband has been in the states going to school in Tulsa, OK for over a year. Wish we could trade places with him for a bit so he could see his 10 month old baby in person!
The highlight of our trip so far has been attending church at International Evangelical Church. It actually felt a lot like church at home. The preacher was from Eritrea and his main topic was getting outside of your own box and telling others the gospel. How appropriate! I love how the message here was about missions and emphasised for everyone to be out spreading the gospel. I was also really amazed because they had a Korean service as well and they were just starting a Chinese and French small group. We took time to greet our neighbors and the couple behind us was from Zimbabwe and the music minister was from North Carolina! Crazy! Such a small world especially when you realize we are all brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God.
After church we made a trip to lunch and coffee at Kaldi's coffee, the local Starbucks knockoff. Then off to Safeway to buy diapers and formula! The local grocery store was very interesting. We got patted down and our bags searched before we could even enter! I know we must very comical to the locals. It takes almost all 12 of us to determine how far our dollars are going in birr, the local currency. Barry has now become the team expert for all our purchases! We also came across some washing machines at the grocery store and we are hoping we can buy a few of these for several of the locations we will be visiting. Originally in the states we thought this was going to be out of the question but we realize now they were quoting us the price in birr, not dollars. Please pray that we can meet this very great need and be able to buy these machines and get them installed.
We anticipate receiving the mattresses later this week. Please continue to pray that we will be able to see this project through to fruition. We brought 362 sheets and blankets with us and do hope we will be able to bless these girls with new beds and bedding while we are here.
Our message in church today was on Barnabas and how he was the great encourager. He noted that by being an encouragement, we can change someone's life. This made me think of all of you. I know every one of us have received encouragement from all of you and believe our lives are being changed. We hope to spread this encouragement to everyone we encounter. Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement as we move through this week.
Written by : Shelly Wilson
Hooray for your first official day!
ReplyDelete1. Glad you got to go to church
2. Glad you got to meet Israel
3. Glad you got to go to Safeway
4. SO glad we were wrong about the cost of washing machines!!!
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to read the above words written by your team member! Please give Israel a big squeeze for me. That young woman will be one of your biggest blessings this week and your team, I know, will be such an encouragement to her!
It is astonishing how 8 days in a place can begin a deep love for it, and its people but that is what happened to me in June. Addis and her people will allow you opportunity after opportunity of experiencing our loving Father, as He repeatedly invites your team to join Him in the work He has already been doing.
And OH, how I am LONGING to see pictures of those precious girls at Kechene!! To know that in 2 months time, they have been visited by two different teams of Jesus-loving people......mmmmmm, that is good stuff ("I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me..." Matt.25:36a). Then to get new mattresses and bedding.....I was just looking in the Bible at "bed" and several times during the healing process, Jesus gave specific instructions to ones receiving the healing to "Get up, take up your bed and walk" (John 5:8). Now, I might be stretching things here but I firmly believe that these mattresses, these beds that the Kechene girls will receive this week is a step closer to their healing and being set free from the bonds and strongholds that currently shackle them. They are in a place where very little belongs to any one person....including the beds. It is my prayer that thru the gift of these beds that each child will lay her head down that first night and KNOW that she is treasured by God Himself and that He has great things for each of them. I pray that they will choose to GET UP, even when nobody is there to cheer them on, take up their bed, or whatever has been under them giving them comfort and support, and WALK! Those girls, in particular, will never know on this side of heaven, how they are prayed for by some Americans who met them in June and now, your team in August.
So, y'all go join our Maker, the lover of our souls, as He leads you. Embrace Him as you meet Him in every bend, every curve....knowing He is going ahead of you. Bless you, August Ethiopia Team. Know you are prayed for and we long to hear what the Lord does in your lives this week. Jennifer Danford
Sounds like you had a productive first day! Stay strong! Prayed for you this morning before work.
ReplyDelete