So this month I’ve been in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. There has never been a world race group in Ethiopia before, so this has been an interesting month to say the least. Here’s an update of whats been going on.
So we got to the Addis Ababa airport and were immediately the center of attention. Every single eye in the airport was fixed on us from the moment we got there to the moment we left. We had to take this taxi van out of the airport. There were guards with AK-47’s around them kicking some guys and “maintaining order” if you will. That was a bit of a shock to most of us, but it was like a big warm
“WELCOME TO ETHIOPIA”
SO yeah we get in these taxi vans and try to find our housing location, but found out we were too late to stay where we were originally supposed to. Bit of a bummer to find out when theres 10 of us and 20 packs packed into a sketchy little van. We ended up in an office building used by the local team of the Love Ethiopia Festival, which was actually really cool. After that we moved around about 5 times to and from 3 different housing locations, finally settling at this one guest house in a part of the city called Shiromeda.
Week 1 we were introduced to the ministry we’d be working with. Its a ministry called Win Souls for God, an organization that works with street children, trying to get them off the streets, give them an education, and a chance to have a real life. I’ll be writing a whole blog about this ministry, so GIRD THINE LOINS. In summary, the first week was cool, but we only really did ministry at night and it was every couple of days, so we were a bit confused that week.
Week 2 we were working with the Love Ethiopia Festival with Andrew Palau. I was placed in a group to work at an eye glass clinic. We saw about 2000 people and fit them for reading glasses. At first i wasn’t too psyched on the idea of fitting people for glasses, but it turned out to be a really cool experience. I prayed for like hundreds of people, and learned the phrase Egziabhere Yebarkachu which means God bless you. I must have said that at least 1000 times.
Saturday and sunday of week 2 were the days of the Love Ethiopia Festival. We mostly did gate security and stuff like that. pretty much we were there to do whatever work they wanted us to do. Thousands of people each day, and it was an awesome experience.
There were a bunch of artists, some BMX riders who were really cool guys, and this guy called Justin Homan. He’s a FMX rider who’s been to the X-Games 14 times, and is still a super chill dude. It was really cool hanging out with him and talking about the X-Games and action sports. Awesome dude.
We made a lot of friends with the people from the Luis Palau association that came to work on the festival, so by the end of the week we were kinda sad to see our new friends go, but excited to start the second half of our month.
Week 3 was spent mostly working with the kids from the Win Souls for God Ministry rest home. The rest home is where they take the street kids they rescue to live and go to school and stuff. But more on that later! I almost got pick pocketed once but I caught the guy in the act so, thankfully, nothing was stolen. I got a sweet new tattoo, which I will also be posting a blog about cause that experience was super awesome!
Week 4 is almost over, and we spent most of our time at the rest home with the boys. We just celebrated Thanksgiving with them and that was awesome. we made mashed potatoes and chili, and they all loved it. We got to invite some of the street kids we’ve been getting close to and fed them ridiculous amounts of food. I’m designing a logo right now for a ministry related to Win Souls for God, and I will also post a blog about that. Give me a break! This is just an update, man, JEEZ. Today I’m going to build some skate ramps with the guys from a ministry called Ethio Skate, which should be a lot of fun.
So yeah Ethiopia has been crazy awesome. I’ve been having a great time, and learning a lot about their culture, God, and myself. One thing God has taught me while I’ve been here is how amazing the Gospel is. It’s always just been this story I’ve heard over and over my whole life, but it never hit me how awesome it actually is that Christ died to save me and forgive me of my sins. like…WHAT?! why would He do that for ME? or ANY of us?! We don’t deserve his grace and forgiveness, but He gives it to us anyway, and he gives it to us for free. And maybe you don’t believe that, and that’s your choice. But to me, there is nothing more amazing than that fact. I was in a very dark place in my life, and He took me out of it, even though I never did anything to deserve it. God is good, and He loves us, even if we hate Him. No matter what, He will always love you. WOAH.
I’m currently 446 bucks away from meeting my Dec. 1st deadline which is coming up REAL quick. I could really use all the help I can get to reach this deadline as soon as possible! Please consider helping me out. ANYTHING HELPS! You’re the ones who will keep me on this race, and give me the chance to keep helping people in need. Thank you SO much for everything! You’re all awesome!
