After spending four months in Asia we flew to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! The first couple of days we went out to a rural area of the country to a World Race partner organization, HOPEthiopia. We joined a World Race Gap Year (ages 18-20) squad, who also just happens to be W Squad. Our two W squads enjoyed a few days of intentional time together in what was called an awakening. We worshiped, exchanged stories, evangelized in villages and spent quality time together.
The day we left HOPEthiopia, December 11th, was my 22nd birthday!! It was a crazy day of traveling and figuring out the logistics of a last minute all-squad month. My squad and teammates celebrated me well with Nutella, gummy worms and so much love. Through contacts in the city we found two guesthouses in a compound just outside of the city. We went from having absolutely no housing to having a cute little compound that would house our whole squad for the month!
Before we left for HOPEthiopia my team had contacted some potential ministry opportunities. Because we wanted to see these opportunities through, we went for it. Following a lead on an AirBnb listing, we found an NGO (non-governmental organization) that was a children’s orphanage. My team packed up to leave the squad for a week. As we began driving out of the city, further and further, my heart sank because my team got more and more nervous as time went on. We finally arrived at a guesthouse in a nice looking neighborhood. We were greeted by a man named Gadisa. He helped us bring in our packs and was full of questions.
The first sentence out of Gadisa’s mouth was, “Hey, have you guys ever heard of the world race?” Probably by looking at our packs he came to this conclusion that we were not just regular volunteers. We were shocked that he even knew what the WR was!! He went on to tell us that he has hosted other squads at this guesthouse and his ministry, Testimony 25:40. WOAH. God is SO cool.
We spent a week at Testimony 25:40 teaching bible stories, singing songs and playing soccer with the kiddos. This ministry provides kids with meals before and after school, help with homework, bible teachings and love for orphans. Grant was able to put together a promotional video for the ministry just in time for Christmas with Christmas songs we were able to teach them. These kids stole my heart and when I say I was heartbroken leaving them, I mean absolutely HEARTBROKEN. The Lord has really softened my heart for kids over the race that’s for sure.
During our time at Testimony me and a couple other of my teammates visited a doctor. I finally got some strong enough medicine to knock out my double ear infection that I had been fighting for a few weeks. Our team member Jordan, unfortunately was sick enough to head back to America. We were sad to see her go but were happy to know she was going to receive adequate care back home.
Our team left the all-squad compound as 6 members and returned as 5, just in time for Christmas. What a special time it was to celebrate the reason for the season with my W squad family. All-squad month consisted of backyard volleyball, worship nights, capture the flag, movie nights and so many chocolate donuts.
At the end of the month we had to say some hard goodbyes to our alumni squad leaders, Kierstin, Nicole & Tom. I am so thankful for these humans. They have taught me so much over the past five months. They have called me into boldness and to fight for the hard things. One of them even taught me that it’s cool to cry. They will be missed more than they know but they have equipped our squad well to carry on as the OG W squad. We’re all praying to see them at final debrief in Greece!!
Stay tuned for Ethiopia in photos + more stories of our month.
