It has been a little over a month since I moved to Ethiopia from Guatemala. Going into Ethiopia there were a lot of questions and unknowns: where were we staying, what was the weather like, would we have access to a city??
It showed me how much I would have to trust the father going into this next season
After a 17-hour plane ride, we arrived in Addis Abba, the capital, at midnight. We stayed in a hotel that night because it was too late to drive to the base, but the next morning we woke up bright and early and headed on our way. We would be staying at the HOPEthiopia base in Harbor Chulule which is an NGO run by the kindest Canadians I’ve ever met, Ralph & his wife Glenda. To get to the base, we drove about 3 hours from Addis and then after about 2 hours we drove off onto a dirt road and kept driving just when I thought we were about to drive off the continent we stopped at the base. It is the most remote and unfamiliar place I have ever been, yet it feels so familiar. It is just like our family farm back home, but in the middle of Africa and less trees. It is so peaceful and homey. You can look out on the horizon and see field after field after field. There isn’t a telephone pole or street light for MILES AND MILES. Only fresh air and clear skies. The stars are unbelievable at night. It is insane. I have never loved a place more. We have a common space with 3 couches all facing each other (just to give you some vision) our squad hangs out here almost every night. It feels just like the church in acts 2:42, we eat together, share everything together. Since there is no internet or city nearby, we have so much time to hangout as a squad. The other day we went into ‘town’ but we did not know it was market day!! There were cows and donkeys, and people selling goods everywhere – exactly what you would imagine. We definitely caught some eyes, because the area we are in is as far from tourism as you can get. Serenity consumes this place. We live right next to the orphanage so we get to hang with the kids every day. On Fridays we even have a movie night in our common area with all of them.
As far as ministry goes my team in the morning gets to do ministry with the preschoolers. We work with 4 kids all about the age of three. Louis, Fernando, Robert, and Derek are the kids we get to work with day in and day out. Each day we have a different skill. On Monday’s it is physical therapy day. Louis is physically disabled and Robert is mentally and physically disabled so we get to work with them on basic motor functions such as sitting up, walking, carrying things etc. While we work with Louis and Robert the other girls on the team will be doing P.E. like activities with Derek and Fernando. On Tuesdays we have arts & crafts so we take them into the main house and have a craft or art planned out such as making Christmas ornaments, painting, coloring, or playing with play-doh. Pretty much anything to do with getting their minds creatively active. Wednesday’s are our learning days. We usually have a bible story to read them and then an activity that goes along with it. One time we did the creation story and helped them make origami animals, another time we read them a story about how Jesus will always chase after them ‘leaving the 99’ then we played sardines to represent Jesus chasing after ‘the one.’ On Thursday’s we have game day so we get to play around and have fun either outside, inside, or wherever they please. On Fridays we have all squad ministry so we don’t work with the preschoolers. So that pretty much sums up morning ministry for most days.
At 12 we have lunch and then after lunch we go into afternoon ministry. While morning ministry is with our teams, afternoon ministry is split into three tracks: reforestation, women’s ministry, and children’s ministry. I chose women’s ministry, so every afternoon for the first 30 minutes of ministry we go to the training center to teach the women English, life skills, or other various tools. The training center is a program run by HOPEthiopia that brings women in from the surrounding villages and gives them a space to learn how to make leather goods, how to run a business, and financial skills. It is an incredible opportunity for these women to have and an even more incredible opportunity that we get to speak into their lives. After our time in the training center, the remaining ministry time we have, we spend with the house moms. Here at the orphanage, they have it split up into several houses where the kids live. Each house has a ‘house mom’ that takes care of the kids like any mother would. They are the kindest women I have ever met and they have hearts of gold!! We get to spend our time washing clothes with them, helping them cook, playing volleyball, or simply sitting in the grass laughing like old friends. The other day Kaya and I got to go to the market with 2 of the house moms and it was SO FUN! We aren’t allowed to go to the market by our self, because we don’t know the language and it could be a safety hazard so this was my first time going and it was incredible! We got to help them buy all of their food and see rich culture! I love the house moms to death!! So that is what my afternoon ministry looks like most days. It is really cool, because in Guatemala, all of our ministry was with our team, but here in the afternoon since we have 3 different tracks, I get to do my afternoon ministry with people from my whole squad which brings us together in unity.
On Fridays we have ‘all squad’ ministry which changes weekly but it could be anything from gardening, cutting grass (by hand… – that’s a whole ‘nother story haha), intercession, cleaning the base, hanging out with the kids etc. It is simply a time for us to spend as a squad pouring back into this land.
AIM (adventures in missions) has a saying ‘ministry is life, life is ministry.’ This has come to life here in Ethiopia where we live on the orphanage and therefore don’t have a specific ‘end time’ for our ministry. It is really pushing me into to choose into ministry even when it is not scheduled ministry time and to continue setting healthy boundaries. Ethiopia has been such good training ground for when we go home. We won’t have ministry hosts, we wont have scheduled ministry time, it will truly become ‘ministry is life, life is ministry’ how cool that the Lord is preparing me for the rest of my life here in Ethiopia!!
That is what a week of ministry looks like here in Ethiopia, however there are many more sweet moments that aren’t during scheduled ministry time that are oh so sweet. Keep seeking ministry in your life day in and day out and you will find that the father can work any time, anywhere.
More than anything I would love your prayer support!!
For Me:
Steadfastness
Discernment for my future
For my team:
Continued Health & Healing
Unity
A refusal to settle
For Ethiopia:
Revival for the land & the people
That the people of the Islamic faith would be radically set free
Radical healing for both Robert and Louis’ physical and mental disabilities
Joy for the women & realization that there is more
In Ethiopia we rarely have internet, we have to go to Addis for wifi which happens only about once a month, so thank you for being so patient with me and my updates, it is truly a joy to go on this journey with each and every one of you backing me up in prayer.
Arms-high-in-praise,
El
