My squad and I flew from Cambodia, had a layover in Thailand and arrived here in Ethiopia on Monday, December 10th! We are staying with an organization called HOPEthiopia that is about 3 hours outside the capital Addis Ababa. After piling into buses with our giant backpacks we began the beautiful drive to where we live now in Harbu Chulule. I want everyone to know what life ‘really’ is like on the race so here’s the reality of traveling. It could’ve been the street food in Thailand with the squid in it, or some bad airplane food, or possible the high altitude, but we arrived and I was very sick. For that 3 hour bus ride I mentioned I threw up about every 15 minutes of that and the rest of the day we arrived. Not upset because the Lord is SO good and the drive was incredible. We weaved up and down mountains, through villages made of mud huts, and constantly had some kids chasing the bus. Man, I can’t tell you how special this place is.
There’s a few things that make this place so amazing. For one, we are at such a high altitude that there are no mosquitoes or really many bugs at all. No mosquitos = no malaria. God bless. Also, there is the faith well (it has an amazing story to it and if I find it I will share it with you all) that is on our compound and is some of the most pure water there can be. Literally, you cannot treat water to be as fresh and pure as this water. That means we can drink out of the tap, and we do. It’s the best. That’s not normal, especially in Africa. There are so many things that set this place apart and you feel it when you’re here.
One more kind of logistical part of the next 3 months! So we are out in a village with really nothing around and the next closest village is about an hour away and almost definitely does not have WiFi. So I’m kind of living off the grid for a while. Not sure when this blog will be posted and pretty sure it won’t even be me who is posting it so I’m gonna be pretty disconnected for a bit. This also means that I currently have no clue how fundraising is going and not sure if I’ll be able to check it before the deadline so all I can do here is pray. The Lord is faithful and I’m actually really excited feeling ‘blind’ for a bit because I know He will provide!
I would love to put some pictures in to show how beautiful this place is but that might not happen for a while! Also I should explain, HOPEthiopia is an orphanage, a home for kids who have nowhere else to fo. We live on a compound made up of 6 kids houses, a trade/training center that is under construction, and the main guest house where most of us stay, eat, and hang out. The second we arrived and the bus door opened all the kids came running into the bus hugging and loving on us. The warmest welcome I’ve ever experienced by far. We get to live with all these kids who come from some devastating backgrounds. Our host Ralph is amazing and has constantly told us that even though we have projects to get done, the only thing we actually have to do here is love. Love on these kids and and the house moms and the cooks. Just be love. How amazing is that?! The main goal is to connect with Jesus and love people!
Please continue praying for my squad as we start ministry here and for HOPEthiopia as a whole. Thanks for reading! Hopefully there will be some more updates soon!
