After 5 months in Southeast Asia, it was time for Africa. Team Chayah went from the big city of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to a small village of Harbu Chulule, Ethiopia. We descended from the plane to see a beautiful sunrise. After two hours in a van down all dirt roads, the 6 teams arrived to work with HOPEthiopia.
We quickly fell in love as we were greeted by a group of smiling children! The blue sky stretched as far as you can see, the air was crisp, and the sunsets and sunrises took our breath away every time. There was no WiFi, no restaurants, no distractions. For 4 weeks, I did not leave this compound. The only exception was our walk to church, which was quite the walk.
I was very inspired when we first heard of everything this ministry does. They have a wholistic vision and work toward community development. It’s the epitome of the cliche, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime.” They work a lot with agriculture. They have a fish pond, beehives, apple orchards, and farmland. They teach people in the community how to have better agricultural practices. They also help in practical ways, such as creating a water line so that farmers do not have to walk their animals so far each day. There is a well on the compound that most neighbors come to for clean water. I spent several mornings working in the gardens and cutting hay with a sickle. They cut all the hay once a year and save it to feed the animals during the wet season. Other teams spent time making bricks that will be used to build a job training center for disadvantaged community members.
The large majority of my time this month was spent with the kiddos. (I’m sure that doesn’t surprise anyone.) There are 24 children that live in houses on the compound and are taken care of by house mothers. Every afternoon I helped with English lessons for the kids. They really have their vowel sounds hammered in! God used this month to reinforce (once again) my love for teaching and my desire to pursue a teaching career when I return home. We had some fun too! We acted out Bible stories, made forts with a parachute, and sang many songs. We also held big events for the children such as movie nights every Friday, a field day, a giant scavenger hunt, and parties.
I have loved the simplicity of this month. God spoke to us through His nature. There were countless times that we sat out under the stars or woke up early for the sunrise. The sunset before dinner was my favorite time to prayer walk and marvel at God’s goodness as colors filled the sky. A big anthem this month was “So Will I” by Hillsong United. You should give it a listen and really let the words sink in. God left us in awe of how BIG He is and how obedience is His love language.
We learned how to make every moment purposeful, whether it was for rest, to pour into community, or to grow closer to Jesus. Hours were spent playing cards, reading books, interceding, and running around with kids. We learned what it looked like to completely love these children even though we knew we would have to leave, and that would be hard. We learned that movie nights are universal, compassion is monumental, and life is more fun when we do it together.
All 40 of us will agree that a big part of our hearts were left with the wonderful staff and beautiful kids at HOPEthiopia. It’s clear that their hearts were touched too because they tried to block the exit as we pulled away. We will forever be praying for them- praying for strength and patience for the house moms, for boldness to share the Gospel, that the kids feel loved and known, that they all learn to fully love the Lord, and that they trust God enough to put their hope in Him alone.
Other photos from this month:
