Monday morning Kate, Keara, Gretchen and I piled in a van along with Kaela and 4 other volunteers and headed 5 hours down country to a city in Ethiopia called Awassa. We made a few stops along the way and saw some really gorgeous scenery such as mountains, houses made of mud and stick, big lakes, tropical flowers and plants everywhere. It almost seemed surreal.
In between ministry we have had the opportunity to visit lake Awassa and take pictures, go on a hippo spotting boat ride, visit the hot springs and late one night we went on a hyena hunt. Pretty sure at some point I would like to live here…just saying (especially after working with the kids this week).
I am currently sitting in the hotel we are staying at where the electricity is known to go out at any given time, the walls seem so thin that I can hear every conversation outside and every car drive by like it’s in the room with me, we only get a certain amount of toilet paper at a time (pretty sure I had approximately 15 squares to start out with), the shower is a pipe coming out of the side of the wall that is freezing cold and the toilet rarely flushes (and smells really bad). Oh, and we each have our own room because there is a policy about allowing girls sleep in the same room together. I am not complaining…I am simply stating the many differences in a foreign country. This has made me aware of the kind of lifestyle that I am used to…how these small insignificant things can cause someone to become uncomfortable.
I was humbled when we had the opportunity to meet one of the men who is heavily involved with the ministry here (Joseph) and he took us to meet a bunch of the street kids to share with after dark. We only stopped for 10-15 minutes, but during that time 35 or so kids (mostly boys) came up and shook our hands (some looked as young as 6 to age 15 or so). It was heartbreaking to see these kids sweet faces knowing that they don’t have homes to go to, no parents to look after them, no education and they have to beg or find small jobs to do to earn money just to survive. Most of the girls on the streets are either in the red light district or doing small maid jobs for other people. It’s so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that these little kids are out on the streets while I am in this safe hotel with access to buy food to eat, as well as being surrounded by people that I know will look after me. I pray that the ministry here will continue to flourish and that these kids will continually call to the Lord as His word remains true with the promise, “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” – Isaiah 58:9, then going on it says, “The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” – Isaiah 58:11.
Today we finished our last day of VBS with some of the other Awassa street kids. I can’t even begin to express the joy these boys have brought to my life and what a privilege it has been to serve them. I figured some of my plans would go out the window due to having no idea what to expect. No, not some…ALL! I played maybe 1 of my games with them and between trying to translate and confusion I gave up. Tuesday we got a beach ball to simply pass around, the boys lit up. It is amazing how much joy can come from something so small.
Yesterday I decided that we needed to play some futball (once I found out that this was every one of their favorite things to do) and we had a BLAST! Even though I am not the best at soccer, the boys were still trying to pass the ball to me, always coming up and hugging or high 5’ing after a good play and one even gave me one of the shirts off of his back to wear during the game (it was a jersey for a team that is well known there).
Today I had a toilet paper wrapping game where the kids had to wrap a team mate up who acted as Lazarus so they could understand one of Jesus’ many miracles through this, they were all laughing so hard (pictures to come soon), we also played some fun balloon racing games which they loved.
The kids have been learning John 3:16 with motions so that they can remember the greatest sacrifice showing Gods love (many of the boys had never even heard this verse!!). They all seemed very eager to learn and listen. To God be ALL the glory! During the last few days the boys have had the opportunity to learn about Gods love through different Bible stories such as Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath and of course today we taught them about the power of the cross.
I pray so hard for these boys as they have all taken away a chunk of my heart…not knowing what will happen to them, but knowing that God is reaching to them. Seeing their lit up faces and smiles as we worshiped together, learned together and played games together gave me hope for their lives…knowing that the Lord is at work in each one of their hearts. Although there was a language barrier, it was amazing how the Holy Spirit was at work and allowed us to communicate His love through actions, and the translators were amazing. Please team in praying for the street kids in Awassa. Every time one of them would pray they would pray to find a way off of the streets. I was so thankful to work with them, and especially to see the willingness and the hunger they had to learn more about the Lord.
Our packed week of working with Women at Risk, Hospice, Strong Hearts and teaching English all begins starting Monday. Please pray that our hearts will stay strong but break where they need to be broken.
Awesome! Thanks for the update.
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