I know…I’m in Nicaragua now. But I realize that I really was not able to give you guys many updates on what I was doing in Ethiopia, so here’s a basic overview of what ministry looked like! I will forever cherish my memories in that beautiful African country, and I will be forever grateful for what God did in that time. For safety reasons, the guys bounced around a lot in order to be with the women in town, that’s why I got to be a part of so much.
Kiddos – Our main ministry while we were at Hopethiopia was simple, love the kiddos. As I may have mentioned, over 28 kids ranging from age 3 to 17 lived on campus with us, each with their own rough past. We spent time playing soccer with them, throwing them around, coloring with them, teaching them on computers, playing cards games, and teaching them English. We built some deep relationships over the course of 3 months, and it was really hard to say goodbye. The highlight of my time with the kids was fixing up one of the crappy bikes on campus and watching them ride around with giddy smiles on their faces. I was also quite fond of throwing the little ones as high as I could in the air, they had 100% faith in me.
Water Distribution – Another ministry at Hope was water distribution, and for me, this was the hardest. The task was simple: help the locals fill and load jugs of free water out of the well on our compound. But because of the state of poverty that Harbu Chulule is in, this was really taxing. When power would go out in the town, hundreds of women and children (very few men) would flock to our well. The sun would be beating down, and we would load dozens of 50+ pound jugs of water onto skittish donkeys. We couldn’t help but do our best, because those counting on us often weighed less then the jugs themselves. And because of the poverty mindset that most Ethiopians are forced to adopt, fights and riots would often break out, and we would have to turn the water off. Days at the well were marked by mud and dust and sunburn, but never have I been so humbled in my life. I’m so thankful for my time there.
Reforestation – One of my favorite ministries in Ethiopia was reforestation. We would hike about a mile and a half across town and into the valley to a beautiful area designated by Hope for restoring the natural habitat that had been decimated by deforestation some 30 years prior. They are all about sustainability there, and plant hundreds of thousands of different trees each year. They would also give saplings freely to anyone in the town who wanted them. Our job, as most jobs, was simple grunt work. For the first 30 minutes we would water all the saplings in a line, and then for the last 90 minutes we would sit in a circle and pack plastic tubes of soil for the seeds to grow in. It was very restful, and it was nice to get off the compound.
Cooking – In Ethiopia, we joined 3 of the sweetest ladies I’ve met in preparing all the meals for my hungry squad. Fun fact about me: I love food, and I’ll devour anything you put in front of me, so naturally making food for people felt like a great way to serve. When I started, I had no cooking experience at all, but I had a great time learning the tricks of the trade. And our time with the kitchen ladies was awesome. We would joke with them, dance with them, and have water fights with them. I will miss them dearly.
Construction – Well, this one happens a lot on the Race, and it was a grand old time in Ethiopia. The main project we worked on in this realm during our time was the Training Center that was being built on campus that was dedicated to the training and equipping of women in town who had nowhere to turn for work. Our job for the majority of this was simply shoveling dirt and rocks in order to make cement. It was hard, but I enjoyed it. The latter half of our construction work involved making bricks for an outhouse in the children’s’ village. For the first week and a half, that meant sifting dirt… so more shoveling. After that, we got to use the machine to actually form the bricks. That part was more fun. We have lots of fun memories with the local construction crew, and they were thankful for the help we were able to give.
Walking the Kids to School – The last ministry that I was really a part of was really fun: walking 6 wild kiddos to kindergarten! 9 O Clock would roll around, and it would be time to go. Here’s some tips I had to learn to help me on the daily 45 minute journey: 1. Don’t let the kids kick the goats. Ever. 2. Don’t step on the kids accidentally, or you will have to carry them the rest of the way. 3. Your hands will get sweaty…get over it. 4. If Tariku tries to force Keeso to carry his lunchbox…shut it down.
So, that’s all I can think of for now! I’m sure there’s more things I had done over the course of my time in Africa, but hopefully that gives you a good idea. If you want to see other perspectives, check out blogs from my squadmates…they are much more consistent than I am.
