Last Day in Ethiopia

Sorry I have been delayed in posting.  But, I will continue to post the days in order.  This is the post for August 17, 2012...

Our last day of service in Ethiopia was another great day of serving Men, Women and these precious children.  We started the day back in Korah.  As usual this time of year, we fought through the rain and mud to find our home base for the day. 

The day began by painting the inside of the new “Man Up Cave.”  This is the new dorm and meeting area for the young boys of Korah.  Roger has been doing such an amazing job of serving and discipling these young men and Great Hope Ministries has blessed them with a new place to call their home.  The boys painted along side of us and you can see how excited and proud they are of their new cave.

Then, as the team helped Roger with the daily bible study, my dad and I snuck away for some home visits to some of my favorite people in Korah.  They were short and sweet, and unfortunately too short to enjoy any homemade boona (coffee) from the ladies.  We stopped quickly to see “Brady’s Girls” (2 beautiful little girls that love Brady Stark) and their family.  All of the family was there, so it was nice to see everyone.  Momma is so sweet to us, and I hate that we couldn’t stay longer.

Then we moved on to Sintayehu’s house.  This is the home that my Man Up group from last year blessed with a home makeover.  Sintayehu has become very special to me, as has his mom.  We shared some pictures from last year and talked about how everyone is doing.  I was able to bless them with 600 birr (a little over $33 – likely close to 3 month’s rent) in hopes of keeping his mom off of the dump for the afternoon.  She is one of the many people here who supply for their family by digging through the city trash dump.

We did some shopping at the Post Office (I enjoyed sharpening my negotiating skills) and Tamoca for some coffee.  Then it was off to Hope for the Hopeless about an hour outside of Addis. 

When Shannon and I were here in December, we visited Hope for the Hopeless in Addis and had a great time with their kids.  I was told that they were not connected at all.  The facility is home to 52 young men and women ages 7-18.  We spent some time fellowshipping with them, playing games, and throwing the American football around. 

Roger and I connected with a young man named Donny.  He was very articulate and had a smile that would light up a room.  As we talked more, it became apparent that the facility in Addis was connected to this facility and he lived there for 6 months before coming to the permanent orphanage.  I showed him some pictures from our earlier trip and he was happy to see some old friends.  I do remember that the Addis facility is a transitional and rehabilitation facility, so now I have seen where those children end up.  It is a pretty nice facility, but needs the attention of more teams.  There just isn’t enough love for them.

We finished the night at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant.  I had my first ever Honey Wine experience (notice I didn’t say I enjoyed my first every honey wine experience), and the team was able to see another side of Ethiopia.

Another long day is now in the books, and I have to say that the physical toll of this trip is beginning to wear on me.  I need a good night’s sleep.