I’ve officially been in Africa for one whole month and it has been one of the coolest months of my life. Even though I totally had expectations that all of Africa would look like how it did in The Lion King, I have still been amazed by Ethiopia’s sunsets, mountains, fields and the very few flat-top African trees. What I’ve seen of Africa has been absolutely breath-taking, especially the people. My goodbyes in 2 months will be very hard because it literally feels like heaven here on the Hope Ethiopia compound. Also, the daily schedule helps this place feel more like heaven. We went from a very fast-paced culture in Cambodia to one of the most chill places and it feels very nice. I have been able to spend afternoons hanging out with the orphans on the compound and really dig into my intimacy with the Lord.
Let me explain to you my daily schedule here in Harbu Chulule, Ethiopia:
7:30 am – Wake up and eat breakfast (always bread and sometimes pancakes or oatmeal)
8:00 am – Morning quiet time and coffee
9:00 am – Start morning ministry
The first three weeks of ministry for my team looked like priming and painting a building on the property. The building is going to be a training center for tailoring classes, offices, and other things to invite the community into the Hope Ethiopia compound. After week one, though, 4 people from my team (NSYNC) started teaching some kids on the compound in the morning. Cara and I taught 4 boys for 2 weeks and it was so fun. I miss teaching them already. Their names are Abiti, Dawit, Balcha, and Sissay.
Every 2-3 weeks we rotate ministry in order for every team to experience every ministry opportunity. After teaching and working on the training center, my team switched to working on the road right outside our compound. The gravel road had tons of big potholes in it and trucks would have to drive on the compound property in order to avoid that part of the road. So, for the two weeks up until midpoint debrief, my team and a few people from other teams helped us to break apart the road to make it flat and fill in the potholes.
11:30 – Clean-up for lunch
12:00 – Eat lunch
1:00 – Afternoon ministry
Our afternoon ministry is playing with the kids and making relationships with the kids. However, the kids go to school in the afternoon and do not come back until around 4:00pm. So, in the meantime, we are either productive or not so productive. On a productive day, I would wash my laundry, workout, read my Bible, clean my room, prepare for team time, hang out with people, play sports, etc. On a non-productive day, I might watch a movie or take a nap. Then, once the kids get home, we go and play games with them and just hang out. Afternoons are very chill here and allow for growth in intimacy with the Father.
6:00 pm – Dinner
7:30 pm – Team time (Each day is different)
8:30/9:00 pm – Bedtime
The chill schedule is very nice and it challenges me to grow in intimacy, community, and mission. I love being here in Harbu Chulule, Ethiopia and cannot wait for two more months of growing in relationship with the people around me and with God.
