When we arrived in Ethiopia’s international airport, there was so much excitement among our squad. We took several vans to our ministry site, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. After passing house hut after house hut and herds of cow or donkey and driving on unpaved road…I kept thinking “Oh no, we’re going to live in tents with no electricity and running water.” Two to three hours later, we arrive at this oasis guesthouse that had a full kitchen, a living room, flushing toilets (no squatty potties…what?!), hot showers, and our own beds! It wasn’t your normal “World Race lifestyle” so this was a huge deal! It’s funny how it’s the little things that we all miss and realize we take for granted (you don’t wanna know how much toilet paper we’ve hoarded in these last months…) But it’s a good realization I think:)
Every time we strolled through the small community we were in, I felt like I was walking through bible times. I’d imagine actual bible stories taking place and somehow they became more real to me. For example, I’d imagine how long people traveled by foot or by donkey just to send a message to the king… or the thought of how strong of a woman Mary was because she traveled while pregnant. Seriously, chocolate didn’t even exist then! (I think). Did I mention how many donkeys there were?
The organization we worked with is called HOPEthiopia and it was founded by three men from Canada. Towards the end of the month, we had the privilege of meeting one of them, Dr. Ralph. He shared the vision and goal of HOPEthiopia and how it started. It was an inspiring testimony because I believe God has given me a desire to do something very similar (but that’s another story). The five teams of L-squad worked together in this amazing compound doing a lot of labor work. We did everything from painting and varnishing future orphan homes, carrying bricks, and planting acacia trees at the reforest station.
There was also the task of gardening. We had this expectation of “gardening” as being this pleasant picture of watering baby plants and watching them blossom and all these nice things… No, “gardening” meant tilling tough dirt that might as well have been rock and using a pickax to refine it as best we could. The task was definitely harder than we visualized, but the outcome was beautiful. In the end we were able to finally plant crops of all sorts – carrots, potatoes, lettuce, green onion, etc… We will never be able to actually reap what we sowed, but knowing that the orphans & workers will now have a bounty of food was an immense blessing! I was also able to use my gifting as a massage therapist this month and help relieve some muscle pain from the squad. Don’t worry, I warned them that I’m only licensed in the state of Hawaii so if something went wrong (like someone accidentally popped their shoulder), they couldn’t sue me…
As we were called to Ethiopia to serve the locals, there were also locals that were called to serve us. Three women served us by making breakfast and cleaning our living area. The picture below was a special night. They made us all cultural coffee cooked over charcoal, bread, and popcorn as a treat! I was so blessed by every conversation I had with these faithful women of God. They are a light in their community. We can only hope that we were a blessing to them as much as they were a tremendous blessing to our squad.
This is Gadisa, one of the workers of HOPEthiopia. Gadisa has an amazing testimony of brokenness and transformation. The Lord removed him from the streets and did a mighty miracle in his life. Now he works with a number of street and orphaned kids and helps them discover a better life with Jesus! Gadisa was also called to serve our squad. He was our translator, co-worker, buddy at the lunch table… then he became a friend. And just when we thought we were learning from him, he said he was learning more from us. So he surprised us one night and washed all of our feet. It was a humbling moment and a good reminder of God’s unconditional love for us – no matter how grimy or smelly.
Our squad did not have a lot of access to wifi, which we all agreed in the end was for the best. I personally enjoyed it because sometimes the distraction of Facebook or Instagram can take away from an awesome experience with the people and their culture. This also allowed us to get to know each other better at a more intimate level. I’d show you a before and after picture, but we pretty much looked like this ALL month. However, I couldn’t be happier to be part of such an amazing talented crazy group of people! REFRESHMENT, that’s the word we used to summarize our month in Ethiopia. Often, the fifth or sixth month is the most difficult for racers. It’s ironic that we would feel refreshed and rejuvenated after a full month of labor work, but the Lord has truly blessed us. We were united physically and spiritually and we’re ready to finish the race 39 strong!
Also, Nappy a.k.a. Natalie broke her pinky toe. Don’t worry, she’s significantly better now! She’s already gotten rid of the crutches. Thank you for all your prayers! By the way, this is my current team, DREAMN’! I hope you’ve enjoyed this small summary of our awesome time in Ethiopia.
Aloha & God bless!
– Alany-Grace
When we arrived in Ethiopia’s international airport, there was so much excitement among our squad. We took several vans to our ministry site, which was literally in the middle of nowhere. After passing house hut after house hut and herds of cow or donkey and driving on unpaved road…I kept thinking “Oh no, we’re going to live in tents with no electricity and running water.” Two to three hours later, we arrive at this oasis guesthouse that had a full kitchen, a living room, flushing toilets (no squatty potties…what?!), hot showers, and our own beds! It wasn’t your normal “World Race lifestyle” so this was a huge deal! It’s funny how it’s the little things that we all miss and realize we take for granted (you don’t wanna know how much toilet paper we’ve hoarded in these last months…) But it’s a good realization I think:)
Every time we strolled through the small community we were in, I felt like I was walking through bible times. I’d imagine actual bible stories taking place and somehow they became more real to me. For example, I’d imagine how long people traveled by foot or by donkey just to send a message to the king… or the thought of how strong of a woman Mary was because she traveled while pregnant. Seriously, chocolate didn’t even exist then! (I think). Did I mention how many donkeys there were?
The organization we worked with is called HOPEthiopia and it was founded by three men from Canada. Towards the end of the month, we had the privilege of meeting one of them, Dr. Ralph. He shared the vision and goal of HOPEthiopia and how it started. It was an inspiring testimony because I believe God has given me a desire to do something very similar (but that’s another story). The five teams of L-squad worked together in this amazing compound doing a lot of labor work. We did everything from painting and varnishing future orphan homes, carrying bricks, and planting acacia trees at the reforest station.
There was also the task of gardening. We had this expectation of “gardening” as being this pleasant picture of watering baby plants and watching them blossom and all these nice things… No, “gardening” meant tilling tough dirt that might as well have been rock and using a pickax to refine it as best we could. The task was definitely harder than we visualized, but the outcome was beautiful. In the end we were able to finally plant crops of all sorts – carrots, potatoes, lettuce, green onion, etc… We will never be able to actually reap what we sowed, but knowing that the orphans & workers will now have a bounty of food was an immense blessing! I was also able to use my gifting as a massage therapist this month and help relieve some muscle pain from the squad. Don’t worry, I warned them that I’m only licensed in the state of Hawaii so if something went wrong (like someone accidentally popped their shoulder), they couldn’t sue me…
As we were called to Ethiopia to serve the locals, there were also locals that were called to serve us. Three women served us by making breakfast and cleaning our living area. The picture below was a special night. They made us all cultural coffee cooked over charcoal, bread, and popcorn as a treat! I was so blessed by every conversation I had with these faithful women of God. They are a light in their community. We can only hope that we were a blessing to them as much as they were a tremendous blessing to our squad.
This is Gadisa, one of the workers of HOPEthiopia. Gadisa has an amazing testimony of brokenness and transformation. The Lord removed him from the streets and did a mighty miracle in his life. Now he works with a number of street and orphaned kids and helps them discover a better life with Jesus! Gadisa was also called to serve our squad. He was our translator, co-worker, buddy at the lunch table… then he became a friend. And just when we thought we were learning from him, he said he was learning more from us. So he surprised us one night and washed all of our feet. It was a humbling moment and a good reminder of God’s unconditional love for us – no matter how grimy or smelly.
Our squad did not have a lot of access to wifi, which we all agreed in the end was for the best. I personally enjoyed it because sometimes the distraction of Facebook or Instagram can take away from an awesome experience with the people and their culture. This also allowed us to get to know each other better at a more intimate level. I’d show you a before and after picture, but we pretty much looked like this ALL month. However, I couldn’t be happier to be part of such an amazing talented crazy group of people! REFRESHMENT, that’s the word we used to summarize our month in Ethiopia. Often, the fifth or sixth month is the most difficult for racers. It’s ironic that we would feel refreshed and rejuvenated after a full month of labor work, but the Lord has truly blessed us. We were united physically and spiritually and we’re ready to finish the race 39 strong!
Also, Nappy a.k.a. Natalie broke her pinky toe. Don’t worry, she’s significantly better now! She’s already gotten rid of the crutches. Thank you for all your prayers! By the way, this is my current team, DREAMN’! I hope you’ve enjoyed this small summary of our awesome time in Ethiopia.
Aloha & God bless!
– Alany-Grace
