It’s time to tell you what happened with the rest of my time in Ethiopia. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you should probably check out Ethiopia pt 1.
When I left you last me and my team had just arrived at a ministry called Testimony 25:40. So let’s jump back into it shall we!
After, a 45 min drive we show up to Testimony on a Sunday and find that it is a large gated guesthouse with a kitchen, nice rooms, hot showers, and actually good WiFi! It is one of the nicest places that I have gotten to stay in on my Race! We immediately meet the founder who tells us his testimony over some authentic Ethiopian Coffee. We then spend the rest of the day grocery shopping, making dinner, and resting for the week ahead.
Monday-Saturday we had largely the same schedule: We got to sleep in and wake at our convenience. I would wake anytime between 7-8 am. Do some quit time, make breakfast, and read The Prodigal God (which I found at the house and read in the week we were there). Then, at 9 we would have a team Bible study and fill the time before 2 with other activities such as checking out the local market, a local cafe, one day I found new shoes to buy, doing laundry, or just hanging out (aka Netflix).
Then around 2 we would go to our ministry. Just a short walk down the road was a house where orphans came to get an after school meal, do homework, get a Bible lesson, and play. We would show up as they finished eating and would give them the quick Bible lesson. This could be a Bible story we told or simply sharing part of our testimony. Next, We would help with homework and play with them until around 5. The game of choice was normally soccer! After this time, We would head back to the guest house we would head home to make dinner. We ate a lot of rice, pasta, eggs, and potatoes in this week.
During our time there one of our teammates, Jordan, got very sick. So sick that she visited a hospital a few times and after her final visit she decided to go home. Jordan flew home and the next day we were joined by some of our Squad Leaders, Hudson (who was on my last team) and Nico. They stayed with us for the last few days at Testimony and travelled back to the rest of the Squad with us.
We got back just a few days before Christmas and the holiday was in full swing. As much as it could be for being in Ethiopia. The squad decided to do Secret Santas so we spent the next days finding some gifts. The name I drew was Jo (who was also on my old team) so I found her a basic journal she need but her real present was a video that I got her best friend to make for her telling her Merry Christmas and how much she was missed.
Christmas morning we woke up and got together in one house. We had donuts, hot chocolate, and coffee for breakfast then exchanged gifts. We decided to open gifts one at a time to make an event out of it, Jo cried when she saw the video. Kenzie (my new Team Leader) got me and got me a lot of Pineapple Fanta, which I have found out I like a lot and had told people was all I could think that I wanted. After the gift exchange we split up for some free time, lunch, and coffee shop visits before coming back for some organized fun. We mostly played a lot of volleyball, then for dinner we had the classic Christmas meal of quesadillas, guac, chips, and bananas.
The next few days we spent walking to coffee shops and local restaurants, playing volleyball, and having long talks with friends. The most eventful thing was one of my teammates fell physically ill and after a visit to the doctor we decided it was mostly spiritual. So we prayed over him, for a long time, and began the process of healing with him. I also ran into my friend Abraham just a few days after Christmas, we got to talk and I gave him a wristband that I had gotten in Kazakhstan. Sunday rolled around and I was asked to give a message to the squad. I talked on a section of Romans 8 about suffering, hope, and patients. I had been working on what to say for a few days and it was amazing how God seemed to use me through this message because many people were suffering in ways I wasn’t fully aware of at the time.
The next major thing that happened (besides trying to watch the Playoffs) was mini debrief. We had devotion times, played volleyball and other games like capture the flag (turns out I’m a little competitive), and it all came together for a final goodbye to our alumni squad leaders. As part of this 3 people were asked to preform a roast of them and I was one of the chosen people. We had a great time making fun of and then saying goodbye to these friends!
The next morning we caught a flight to Kenya and so our time in Ethiopia came to a close.
Thank you for following my adventures and I apologize this blog took so long to get up. If you are reading this chances are you are part of the reason I am able to be on this journey and I want to thank you from the depths of my heart. I also want to ask one more favor!
I have to raise my final $3000 dollars by the end of February and I need your help! Please consider hitting the donate button and helping me reach my goal, no amount is too small.
Thank you once again!
