Hello again party people!
In this blog I am just gonna share a bit of my heart with you all! I’m gonna share a little bit about the transition from Guatemala to Ethiopia!! I am also going to give a glimpse into what my schedule is like here! Buckle up! Enjoy! Thank you so much for reading this! IT MEANS MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW!!!!
Guatemala set me up super well! I learned so many vital things that I want to remember forever. The last week in Guatemala my squad and I had a mini debrief where we were given space to reflect and process the first 3 months of our race. One of the questions that I was given to pray about before entering this new season in Ethiopia, was simply to ask the Lord what he had for me in here? What was He speaking over Ethiopia?
While I sat with Him on that he gave me this image of me taking all the things that I had been given in Guatemala and RUNNING with them while holding tightly to the Father’s hand. If you remember one of my very first blogs I shared about my struggle with running away from things. Prior to the race that was a common theme in my life. I would feel anxiety and fear and bolt out of the situation so I wouldn’t have to deal with it. So when the Lord told me to run with Him I was like “no way Lord I can’t do that. I have been so aware of not running away from anything!” I doubted I could run in the way the Lord was asking because I had failed so many times in the past and went in a downward spiral of sprinting away from so many things. It was not fun. My Heavenly Father wanted to redefine RUN for me. Once I thought about it, the Lord so kindly reminded me that He chases after me in a full sprint all the time and He never runs out of breathe. He goes all in because He loves me so much. He just brought me back to His never ending faithfulness. I can run and not fall into old patterns of shame and fear. I am not the person I used to be. I have grown!! PRAISE THE LORD!!! Through the Lord’s beautiful redemption, I am able to run with the Lord without any fear because He has instilled power and authority in me so I now have the perseverance to run as long as the Lord wants me to with wisdom that He graciously provides. THANK YOU LORD! HOW COOL!
He also spoke that this is a season of dreaming with Him. He has given me space to dream with Him and find the balance of sitting in eager expectancy of what is to come, but also being where my feet are. I just wanted to share about what the Lord spoke into this new and exciting season here in Ethiopia. I will be here for 3 months and I am stocked to see how he continues to speak into this season and fulfill promises. Be in prayer over this season. Be praying for my squad as we grow more and more each day. Pray for our hearts as we choose into ministry. Be in prayer for my team as we dive deeper individually and together. I love my team so much and since being in Ethiopia we have been able to create our culture and prayerfully enter each day. Its been an amazing adventure with them. Be praying for good health. Be praying over the community that we are living in. Be in prayer for HopEthiopia. Your prayers matter! Thank you so much!
Okay now I want to give you an in depth explanation of what I am doing here!! Here is my schedule! Enjoy!!! 🙂
Monday-Thursday:
My alarm goes off promptly at 6:30am and I climb down from my top bunk and start my day with the Lord!
8am- Breakfast! My favorite meal for breakfast is oatmeal and bread! We have bread with nutella, peanut butter, or jelly every morning. It is delicious!
9am- I get ready for the day
10am- Team ministry! My team’s morning ministry is ATL (Ask the Lord)! Whoop! Whoop! Each day we ask the Lord what to do! some days it looks like cutting grass around the base, writing Christmas cards for the kids or squad, going on house visits around the village, gardening, or cleaning up the base. When we took time to vision cast for this ministry the Lord wanted us to pour into the staff here and our squad. It has been a really cool time to make ourselves available to whatever the Lord has for us during this time. Each day He has something new! It’s exciting!
12pm- Lunch time! Our amazing cooks here are super talented and super kind! They make really great food and I have learned a lot of tips and tricks from them! My favorite meal for lunch is chicken and rice. Its delicious! They are so kind!
1:30pm-Ministry track time!!!
There are three ministry tracks: Women ministry, Kids ministry, and Reforestation. Kids ministry plans fun activities for the kids here like water day, music class, Bible skits, and so much more. The reforestation ministry track is really cool! They go to the reforestation center each day and plant trees and work on different projects that improves the environment here. Womens ministry track work with the house moms and with the women working in the training center!
I am apart of the womens ministry! Allow me to dive into what this looks like for me! I love it!
My group and I start in the training center from 1:30-2pm. In the training center there are 9 women that come every day. Our time with them can look different depending on the day. Some days we go in there and paint their nails, teach English, or play volleyball. The women come from the village near by to learn business skills and other life skills. These women are a group of lovely young adults who are so eager to learn and grow. These women come from rough backgrounds and they exemplify so much perseverance. They love us so well! They are beautiful! We spend a half hour with them after their lunch break and then they head back to work. From 2-5pm we walk down to all the houses to see the house moms. We walk to each house and check if they are home and help them with whatever they need. Again, each day it can look very different! We sometimes help with laundry, go to the market with them, help them cook, paint, or just simply hang out! It is so much fun to just spend time with them as friends! They are a blessing!
6pm-Dinner!! Once again an amazing meal is prepared for us to eat! My favorite meal for dinner is vegetable soup with garlic bread! Every now and then we get a dessert, which is such a treat! The best dessert is chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting! YUM!!!
7-9pm-The time after dinner is different depending on the day. Everyday we have team time where we have a different task to accomplish within our team. On Tuesdays we have teachings from our leadership team. One Wednesdays we have worship. Sometimes after dinner we are free to just chill! Hey let me tell you about what I do every Monday night! I started a scrap booking club in my squad! How fun!!! 🙂
Friday:
Every Friday we have all squad ministry!!!
This day looks different than the other days of the week. In the mornings we often times have a teaching and time to reflect. Then we take time to serve the base. We do that by walking around the whole base and collecting trash while we prayer walk. This is something that the director emphasized because the purpose is to empower the community to also take imitative to do the same. We do this up until lunch! It is an amazing time of intercession!
After lunch we spend time as a team to ATL what He has for us during the rest of the day!! Then every Friday night after dinner we have a movie night for the kids! All the kids come rushing to our door and we all sit at the couches and watch a movie together! It is a blast!! During Christmas, we watched Christmas movies and it is so fun to see the kids so engaged in the movie to the point where they are belly laughing and quoting the movie!
That right there is what I am doing here in the beautiful country of Ethiopia! I will say it until I am literally out of breathe…I AM HONORED TO BE HERE! HE IS ON THE MOVE HERE!!!
with love & joy,
Leanna Murphy
