My squad mates and I have the beautiful opportunity of serving with HOPEthiopia. Each racer serves in different facets of Hope so here is what my day is currently looking like!
We have breakfast that is prepared for us by our awesome kitchen staff and 2 squad mates at 7:30! After breakfast I read a few chapters in the Bible and journal a prayer and some things I’m thankful for. I’ve been reading through the Bible chronologically and it’s given me a whole other perspective of Bible characters. I’m currently going through Leviticus!
Around 9:15 I head to water distribution. There’s usually 3-4 of us helping out, but it pretty much looks like this. Women and children come to the well with their donkeys and water jugs. They fill them with water, we carry them out and load them onto the donkeys and then they are on their way! It’s incredible seeing the women and children with such strength and beauty. I really love it because we get the opportunity to see/love the same people every day, we are able to play with kids that live outside the compound, and we get to serve the community directly. HOPEthiopia is awesome and the impact they are making with the water well is incredible.
Lunch is at 12:00 sharp, then I have a chunk of time from 12:30-15:00 to do whatever I need to get done for myself. I sometimes wash my laundry, read a book, take a nap, or hang out with my team mates!
Then from 15:00-18:00 we spend time with the kids that live on the compound! We sometimes help them with homework, play soccer or other games, and we do lots of different art! Our goal is to mainly spend time with them and love on them while we’re here!
A few days each week, my ministry host, and a few of my squad mates and I go to two of the nearby villages and visit with people. We were so kindly welcomed into the homes of two beautiful women, and have since been back multiple times to see them! The children that live there have also warmed up to us a bit and now come to walk all around with us when we visit again! I love it so much! We aren’t there to convert them, get something from them, or tell them how they should live their lives. We are there to sit with them, listen to them, and love them through our actions. It’s amazing to see the opportunities we’ve had to show the character of Christ through simply sitting and listening to their stories. They are more than just families trying to get by in small villages in Ethiopia. They are families full of people with individual testimonies of hardships, so much joy and thankfulness and beautiful stories! Each person is so uniquely created by God and I can only pray that they find their love in Him!
Dinner is at 18:00 and then after dinner is team time! Every night during the week is focused around something different, and my glorious team leader Victoria leads us well. Victoria is amazing and she’s so full of the Holy Spirit; she is the epitome of living out of the overflow. It’s beautiful and convicting all in one!
So that is what an average day looks like for me at the moment! It changes often, and isn’t always easy. If there’s one thing that the world race has taught me, it’s that missional living overseas is not an easy nor comfortable thing. There are things that hurt you, make you cry and bring you great joy just like real life.. because it is real life! It may not be a normal life, but it’s 100% real. And that’s the beautiful thing about it… I don’t have to pretend about anything. I can be myself, feel what I need to feel, and love the way God created me to! I’m walking in the will of the Lord and there’s no place I’d rather be. He’s my full portion and His love for me will never run dry! And the same goes for you!
I’m so thankful for the way God moves in every area of our lives! Thank you for reading, I hope to write more about what the Lord has been walking me through soon!
Much love,
Shelbs
