Spacious. Peaceful. Loving. Heartbreaking. Beautiful. Joyful. All of these words and more can explain my last few weeks in Africa. This continent has been a dream on my heart since I first watched the Lion King, as a little girl! That movie always reminded me of my Grandpa Harry, who loved Rafiki the most. The wise and trusted monkey shared a lot of attributes as my grandfather. When he met Jesus, I was only 12 years old, and didn’t totally understand death and grief. But I remember finding comfort listening to the Circle of Life. In very simple words, it explained the complex journey that we all have on earth. “In the circle of life. And it moves all, through despair and hope, through faith and love. Till we find our place, on the path unwinding, in the circle, the circle of life.”
Listening to the song again on this rainy afternoon, amongst a few tears, I feel so filled with God’s love. I’m so grateful that He brought me here to learn and share His love!
My squad has been living at Hopethiopia, in Harbu Chulule. This village sits about 2.5 hours outside of the capital Addis. Hopethiopia is a serene orphanage compound. The children are brought here if there is absolutely no hope left in their family situation. Otherwise, Hopeithiopia sponsors families and children’s, doing their best to keep them all together. The founder, Ralph and his wife have done an amazing job to give these kids the world, and glorify God in the process!
Our squad is broken into three teams this month, each with a different task focus. My team is teaching! All of the children attend school in the local village, along with 2000 others. The kindergartens go all day, and the rest of the children go half days. So in the mornings we teach the children who are here different English lessons in their homes, while two of us actually go to the Kindergarten classroom to teach nearly 50 students at once. Today was my day to go to classroom, and it was a dream! We gathered in a one-room school house with 50 little chairs.
It’s crazy to say that we will be leaving exactly a week from tomorrow to head to Rwanda! With only 9.5 weeks left on the field (of the 46), I am preparing to come home, shortly! Please pray for my heart to live presently, as we approach the end. Please please please also keep Hopethiopia and the people of Harbu Chulule in your prayers.
I’m sorry I haven’t responded to anyone this month, I only had WiFi for an hour last week, and I made one call home. Hopefully next weekend I’ll have a little more time. 🙂
Love and hugs, Hannah.
