It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Our access to wifi has been very limited but I wanted to give you a glimpse into what my days look like. Here it goes!
7:30 am :
Eat Breakfast. We eat mostly bread: fried, toasted or warmed in the microwave. On occasion we get pancakes which are SO GOOD!
8am-9:30am :
Time spent with the Lord, I’m currently reading through the Bible chronologically and just finished the Torah.
9:30 am to 12pm :
Ministry – Our first week here my team primed and painted the training center that is being built. When it is finished they are going to hold classes and teach different trades to people in the community who want to learn. Typically, if you have no education you cannot start to learn something. Here after grade 6 (I think it’s 6), everything is taught in English so if you haven’t mastered English by that point you have no chance of gaining an education. But with the training center they are allowing those with no prior skills to come and learn trades, helping with long term sustainability. We primed all of the walls, which are made out of bricks that they made here on site. The primer is a mixture of boiled water and this chalk looking stuff that they poured into it. It’s super runny and watery. After we finished priming, the whole squad spent one morning praying over the building and writing scripture all over the walls. Then in the afternoon we put scripture on popsicle sticks and planted them all in the ground. That’s something that they’ve done with every building that they’ve built on the compound and it’s so evident. The foundation of every building and every inch of the property is covered in scripture and prayer. The minute you step into this place there is just an overwhelming peace and love. It’s so evident that the Lord is at work here.
For the next two weeks, my teammate Gabby and I taught a class of four 8 to 10-year-old boys. Each morning we read a bible story from a children’s bible and then sang songs, played a game, did math and English. At first it was a little weird having all boys but it didn’t take long for them to grow on me. I loved having such a small group of kids and most of the time we worked with the kids 2 on 1.
The past two weeks my team has been breaking down and leveling out the road that leads into town, outside of our compound. Currently, trucks that come through have to drive on the grass of Hope Ethiopia’s property because the craters and ditches in the road make it un-drivable. However, the road is now smooth enough to drive on! This project has been rewarding because we were able to see progress even after a few hours outside each day. Plus, it’s a project that I know will help the community for years to come.
12pm : LUNCH
Our meals are cooked by 3 locals who work full time for Hope. The cooks are some of the nicest women I’ve ever met and love us, oh so well. Lots of pasta and vegetables for lunchtime.
1pm to 6pm :
This time is super chill. Our afternoon ministry is playing with the children who live on the compound. There are 30 orphans who live in the children’s village which is about 2 football field lengths away from the guesthouse where we live. There are 7 homes on site, apart from the guest house. Each home has 3 rooms and a main area. One girls room, one boys room and a room for the house mom. Each house mom is a widow or a woman who Hope has brought in to live here full time. The one house that I spend a lot of my time in is Aberush’s home. There are 4 boys and 2 girls that live with her. One of the little girls is named Sintuu and we have gotten super close. She is 11 years old. The first day that we got here she started chasing me around the house and we ran around for nearly 2 hours. Ever since, we’ve been the best of friends. Every time she comes into the guesthouse she yells, “where’s Car.” We also spend a lot of time as a team hanging out and talking.
6:00pm :
DINNER time! We have soup or pasta a lot and after dinner everyone hangs out for a while in our living room area.
7:30pm :
Team time – Depending on the night of the week we have different team time meetings and discussions.
8:30pm to 10pm :
The rest of the night is super chill. Some nights we have things planned. Other nights we are free to do whatever we’d like. On Sundays we have all squad worship. Other nights you can find us having spontaneous dance parties or just talking. I normally crash by at least 10pm.
Overall, there’s a lot of down time which is a huge shift from my hectic schedule in Cambodia. But it’s so nice to have more freedom in making my schedule and I absolutely love the locals here. They make the afternoons so fun. Plus, the landscape is absolutely breathtaking. There are mountains on every side of us. And before the mountains there are pastures and green landscapes. A lot of the land here has been overharvested so that is another project that Hope is working with. They have a reforestation site where they plant thousands of trees each year. Once a year they invite everyone from the community to come and plant trees! They are also growing lots of experimental vegetables in the gardens on the compound. And we have a water well that distributes thousands of gallons to the community each morning. The landscape itself is beautiful and the sky is even more beautiful at night time. We are in the absolute middle of nowhere so there is no light pollution. The stars span from horizon to horizon and are breathtaking every night. That about wraps up our days here at hope Ethiopia. I’m so excited to see all of the other ministry opportunities that we will have in our last month and a half here.
I can’t wait to share more with you when I get the chance.
