7am wake up
7:25am finally stop fighting it and get out of bed
7:30am spend time with Jesus wrapped up in my blanket sprawled in the sunshine
8:30am eat spicy scrambled eggs and fresh baked bread for breakfast
9am prepare for my day. Aka put on the same smelly clothes and brush my teeth.
9:30am go downstairs and commence transportation to various ministries
10:17am have people on the streets yell forengy at me and spew out all the english words they know to try to get my attention
10:30am arrive at said ministry
(Monday: week preperation
Tuesday: orphanage
Wednesday: soccer
Thursday: bible study
Saturday: community children showers)
Basically wherever and whatever the morning may be includes making people laugh, becoming their friend and sharing Jesus love through stories and smiles.
12pm leave for home
12:25pm more yelling and strange combobulations of english
1pm arrive home and flop onto ground
1:30pm peal self off of ground and eat lunch of injara and beany pot(spongy vinegar bread and sauce)
2pm take a trip to the market to buy fresh mangos for 15cents each
2:05pm trip over something and make a scene
2:07pm step in some form of deceased creature smeared on the side of the road
2:20pm embaressed, arrive back home with my mangoes
2:23pm question the strange smells coming from the bathroom shared with 8 young adult women
2:30pm sit down with my team for some quality convulsive laugh time
2:48pm chase down a mosquito unsuccessfully
4pm race down the stairs to welcome my friends
4:10pm try to help all 30 of my intelligent studious friends study for their big upcoming exam
4:30pm go join the coffee ceremony instead
4:45pm drink some amazing ethiopian coffee
5pm go back to distract them instead of help them because that’s more fun
5:20pm make them all laugh and hear all about their lives
5:48pm get chased down by overly energized hyina squirrel hybrid dog named Pipo
6pm play some soccer in an embaressingly bad manner
6:10pm stop because I suck and watch instead as I talk to my friends and love on them
7pm say goodbye to the majority
7:10pm watch the sun go down over the city
7:30pm sprawl out on the concrete with the remainder of my good pals to star gaze
7:40pm marvel at how good God is
7:48pm remember I’m living in Africa and smile huge because how cool is that
8:30pm say goodbye to the rest of my friends and go inside for dinner
8:45pm eat some bomb veggie rice stuffs
9pm drag myself up the stairs and floss them pearlies
9:10pm pass out ready to do it all over again
Here at Youth Impact each day looks pretty different. This is a large generalization as I couldn’t condense it all entirely. Often my weeks include home visits, market trips, laundry, cleaning and some wild adventure. But they always include lots of laughter, great coffee, even better hospitality and some of the best people I’ve ever met. My ministry is that I get to pour into the youth of an impoverished community. I get to be their friends and best of all be Jesus for them. They have become some of my closest friends and make every day so enjoyable. They have inspired me to reevaluate what I want my future to look like because I always want it to look like this ministry. Loving on God’s beautiful family. I think it’s safe to say daily life here is pretty darn great.
