Wow. That one word sums up what I feel like represents most of the team’s feelings since we first arrived. Once again, wow. But not a bad wow like, “Wow, I’m so overwhelmed I think I just wanna cry.” It’s a good wow like, “Wow, this trip has pushed me out of my comfort zone, but thankfully God has prepared us all spiritually, emotionally, physically and comically. I think I’m gonna be more than alright by the end of this.”
I can’t even begin to express how much God has revealed Himself just within this last week. Really, it all started when most of us were having a cryfest at the Bozeman airport saying goodbye to our loved ones. It seemed to hit all of us just what God was asking us to do and how much He was asking us to trust in Him. We all dabbled in and out of this state of mind until we got to DC. However, after we prayed as a group and walked into the final plane that was going to take us to a completely different continent, we all had our game faces on. It was time to fight the good fight.
After the 12ish hour plane ride and settling into the super awesome Selah guest house, we began to really see how big our God really is. We studied and discussed before coming to Addis Ababa that God is already here and has been way before we thought about going on this trip, but the true meaning of it didn’t comprehend until we took a look around and saw the simple, beautiful brokenness surrounding us. All I kept thinking was, Look how much our God loves us and look how BIG he is. Now that I look back at the beginning of this week, I’m imagining God laughing at me because He had even more in store for us.
The kids. These cute little Ethiopian babes have rocked my world. I can’t understand 90% of the things they say, 6% of the time when I do understand them I just smile and laugh because I don’t know what to say back, and the remaining 4% is reserved for when I understand them and can maybe come up with a decent response. When we first showed up to the Raey academy, I think most of us were pretty nervous because we didn’t know what to expect. Once Meese Shelliee (that’s how the kids pronounce it) started us off with Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand and some songs, it was all smooth sailing from there. It seemed to all flow naturally, the teaching, the relationships, and most of all the laughter. Here’s our nifty schedule:
9 am- Get started with reading a bible story and a memory verse.
9:30-11:15- Teach colors, conversation dialogue, animals, body parts, and actions (these were all on different days and we would also use this time to review the day prior’s lesson)
11:15- snack
11:30-1- Go over memory verses and teach more stuff
1-2: Lunch, playing, bonding
2-3: Do the bible story again except with a kids’ version and then do a craft pertaining to the day’s lesson and bible story.
Every day was a different day and every morning we were greeted with hugs and handshakes galore. The kids really loved when we played soccer with them and then they also loved it when we played Red Rover. We all have a couple kids we would love to pack home in our suitcases. I think we are all learning more than we’re teaching. BUT don’t get me wrong, this isn’t exactly easy. It’s not all roses and cupcakes and hugs. There are times when the children really test us and we have to constantly remind ourselves not to act out in anger because it would do more damage than good. We don’t know nor could we ever imagine what some of these kids have been through and one small move could be potentially setting off a bomb. Not only that, but it’s as though each of us have something God is calling us to work on through this. For myself, it’s my humility and pride (that really sucked to admit that on the internet to strangers so just go with it). He’s always challenging us and pushing out of our safe zone. I don’t feel like there are enough adjectives in the English and the Amharic languages put together to describe this trip. It’s a God thing.
One of the ultimate milestones of the trip was when we got to visit the organization we’re aiding, Bring Love In. For those of you who don’t know, Bring Love In is an organization started in 2009 that makes families out of widows and orphans. There’s a mom, who is a widow, and then there’s usually about 6-7 orphans who live with her. They also have an “aunt” who is a younger lady that helps with watching the kids. I don’t believe she lives with them. Don’t quote me on that. Anyways, when we drove to the Bring Love In organization we got to peer into all of the offices and meet more of the people who work there. They have Ethiopian psychologists, social workers, and nurses who all form a part of this amazing organization. We even got to visit one of the houses the kiddos live in and meet the mom and the aunt. There, they did a coffee ceremony for us and made us popcorn while we chatted with the kids and toured the house. It was so neat and humbling to hear how all of this got started and to see the oceans of love these kids are now swimming in.
Oddly enough, the hardest part of this trip is going to be saying goodbye. When you look into the kids’ eyes you see Christ looking straight back at you. It’s so clear and certainly mind boggling. We’ve come to love these kids with all of our hearts. Please pray for us as we enter into this next week and begin new relationships with the older kids, ages 11-17.
We all look forward to seeing you soon and love you all, Laci 