Out takes.. A little laughing never hurt anybody

So when the team arrived on Monday their luggage DID not, and after being stranded in Sudan for 2 days with NO luggage there either, they were MORE THAN READY to change their clothes. We got a call around 11pm that night that it had arrived so Jen ( my friend from Kazakhstan and world traveler extraordinaire) and I called a driver to pick us up. Our first hilarious event from that night was that we got the ONLY driver that speaks ZERO English. After some sign language and a pen and paper we let him know that we have 28 bags to pick up. He laughed and I am sure wished secretly that he stayed in bed instead of answering his phone. We arrived at the airport and with ZERO security check and not one person that checked for bag tags at all, we walked in picked up 28 bags, bribed the customs guy with a pair of shoes, persuaded the customs boss with 9 passports, paid 7 guys to help us out, loaded up the van with 28 bags, met some strange Italian and Habesha man in the parking lot ( that were DRUNK), got in the van drove home, unloaded the bags and guess what ALL IN LESS then an hour. Yeah we rocked it. We laughed the whole way home, thinking about why we didn't throw an extra few bags onto out cart.

This morning was a " day off" in Korah. Well whatever that means right. Hahha. There was no team there today but to tell the whole truth, IT IS NEVER A DAY OFF IN Korah :). We headed over to the kitchen ( mind you it is the same place they use the bathroom so I would not picture it as a "kitchen" but whatever. TIA right- I will explain that later or did I already? LOL) Anyway we wanted some coffee so we maneuvered our way around these huge piles of what looked like mud ( later to find out was not mud but..... Well you figure it out). While we were drinking our coffee we had this hilarious conversation in our TERRIBLE Amharic and their terrible English. All I got from it was Shint and Shita. ( shint means urine and Shita means smell at the time we had no idea what those words meant but our thought were exactly the same). I have not laughed that hard since I have been here. It was nice. I needed it. Gotta go sleep now.

Another day in Korah tomorrow. There are so many things I am going to miss here. Even dodging big piles of things that should not be near the food area.

Kisses from Ethiopia.  

Sometimes there is just not words...

A little late and a lot of emotions. Sigh.. This sums up the last week.

We had 2 teams here. One did VBS with the kids, one was a medical team that rocked the church. First off the VBS team had an emergency decent, assume the safety position kinda flight. It was super scary for all involved including us that were waiting at the airport. I really can not comprehend the craziness of those words coming out of the pilots mouth but I know that they were very shaken. After that incident the whole team was stuck in Sudan at a hotel where there were armed guards watching them and there passports were confiscated at the airport. Sigh..... 2 days late they made it here.

In the meantime the medical team made it safe and sound and we hit the ground running. Exchanging money, buying sheep, checking out the facilities for Mondays task. ( and they arrived on the 6:45 am flight!) troopers for sure. Sunday we headed to an orphanage in town called Kidane mehret. The doctors saw over 50 kids in 2 hours and then left for another orphanage about an hour outside of the city where they saw over 100 children. Anything from stitches to broken bones.

Monday morning we all set out for Korah. Monday medical was dedicated  for Out of the Ashes sponsor kids and their families. The team saw over 200 people. To say that I was impressed would be an understatement. There were several times that I had tears in my eyes and walked away to shed them quietly. I don't think there was one family that didn't have some kind of severe medical issue. 2 families have parents ( or guardians) that will probably die within the next few months. I can't say this for sure but one set has  severe Leprosy and all complications that come from it and one mom ( the dad is gone) has full blown AIDS. It makes me sad but on the other hand it makes me SO happy that out of the 3000 children that applied for this new program ( YES 3000!) that they were out of the ones chosen. They were chosen based on need first and then their desire to go to school. The day was long  BUT Every child was accessed, every family member was checked out, every child received a back pack full of hygiene kits and vitamins ( thanks to 4M and Lori Printy) a new pair of shoes ( thank you to Erin Herman)  a new shirt ( thank you to Alan Myers for the design)  and a BEAUTIFUL profile picture ( thanks to Kiefer Printy).

 In the next month or so we will start to profile kids that are in need of sponsorship. All of the details are not worked out yet since this program is brand new and just off of the ground. Final details will be announced before our Annual fundraising dinner in August, so stay tuned. What I do know is that sponsorship changes lives, ask anyone that has been here before or anyone that was here this summer and met the children first hand. Sponsorship fee will cover room and board and one of the best boarding schools in Addis, meals, uniforms, summer supplemental food, new shoes, new clothes, medical care, hygiene care and in the next 2 years an income generation project to help them support themselves when graduating school.

On Monday afternoon the team all finally arrived, exhausted and worn out but they were safe and sound!  Brad had to leave Monday night after a short trip here ( 5 days). I thank the lord he was here there is no way I could have finished all of the home visits, airport pick up and all of the odds and ends for those 5 days. God knows I needed the emotional meltdown time with my hubby. Tuesday was another full day in Korah. The medical team Did open clinic In Korah. WOW I really have no words to explain what all they saw. If you read here it will tell you more about all they did. http://allmyeyescansee.com/2013/07/15/what-we-did-in-ethiopia/ . The VBS team also rocked the house~! Literally in some sense. We rocked out to Kingdom rock music, learned about Standing strong with Jesus! the kids listen with all of the hearts and did all of the actions and crafts with such pride! We fed Sheep ( 21 in all) to over 2100 people this week. All of the sponsor kids plus everyone that was standing in the alleys way on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. What a blessing it was to watch STARVING children and adults get fed.

The highlight of the week had to be the delivery of  the beds to each and every persons house that they were purchased for. 17 beds, 17matresses, 17 blankets and sheet sets. Whoa, talk about humbling experience. Every person that we delivered to had no bed. All of them had a wooden something or other ( some of them rented for 5 birr a month which is a huge price when you only make 100 birr- $5) with cardboard on it. Yeah I can not comprehend it.  Its hard to even put it into words. So I won't try. Most houses the beds took up over half of the space available. I t didn't matter though, not to them, most were crying and lots of tears fell. Thank you ALL who donated to this precious project.

Saturday we fed the homeless... Yeah. I will leave it at that.

Super emotional thinking about the remaining time here. Gotta figure out the right words to say about that. Love to all.

This week in Words. ( June 30-July 5)

I know I say this every time I start writing my bog but I really have no idea where or how to start. This week has been a whirlwind. So many things to talk about.  I think I left off on Sunday.
Church was awesome again. It was about how some people are sent to parts of the earth where they never thought they would to change lives. Ummmm yeah, that’s me. Africa God? Seriously? I look back on the events in my life and I see where God started preparing my heart for this season. It amazes me that sometimes I question why or how, but he always has it worked out. As I am here this summer I am trying not to question the why’s or hows or what the hecks. Sometimes I break down silently; sometimes I harden my heart, sometimes I walk around all day with a lump in my throat. Yeah sometimes I just let the tears flow. This week was a week like this.
Sunday started the emotions as I sat next to my daughters, my friends and my “African children” and worshipped Jesus. I get it a little more then I did when I left 2 weeks ago. I understand Gods plan more then I did a year ago. I am trying to go with it and stay strong. Even though the poverty is endless and the starvation is in my face daily, not just physical starvation but mental and spiritual starvation. I watched a team this week in Korah have an eye opening, life changing, emotional, angry, praise the Lord experience. So many will go home and never be the same. Some were not the same when they arrived. The ones that had been here before learned something about how We are the ones that go home blessed even though we think we are here to bless the people here.
Our week was pretty much Groundhog Day, everyday. Korah summer camp, home visits to NEW sponsor children. Home. Yeah everyday brought something new but our schedule was the same. Monday we visited 9 children’s houses. Watching their faces as we told them they were chosen, well you figure it out, was the most amazing thing ever. All of my days are running together so I might miss some details. When we arrived here they already had the children assessed for us. Well they handed us 59 profiles and told us to choose 50. OKAY??? Seriously their fate lies in our hands. God I am gonna need you here, Give me the 50 children that need it most. Not based on their living conditions but based on their spiritual should, based on their desire to better their lives, based on who you have already chosen. I sat down read EVERY SINGLE PROFILE. The details are sad. How many times a day they eat, how many pairs of clothes they have, the status of their parental situation, their rank in school now, if their parents want to give them for adoption. Uh huh, there were tears that night but I decided to just pray that God would give me the 50 without having to question my decision. So I put the “for sure” kids in a stack (there was 34) then I went to the “next in line” stack and there was 14. Not 15 Not 13 but 14. There I was with 50, exactly 50. Don’t get me wrong I questioned my decision a few times but how could it be exactly 50? God thing? I put the extra 8 in the “waiting list” stack and was done.
This week we met 46 or the 50. In person, at their house. To say the emotions have run high would be an understatement. Some parents cry when we tell them the good news, some parents kiss my knee ( an honor or respect), some children kiss our cheeks, some parents make us coffee ( we have laughed that we are going to say yes until we make sure the coffee is good. Ahahha) terrible I know but gotta have some humor here) But in the END every child is given an opportunity and a chance at a brand new life. The difference in the “neighborhood kids” and the “sponsor kids” is undeniable. The neighborhood kids feel hopeless, hungry and sad. The sponsor kids are joyful, happy and full. I wish we could take 5000 kids but right now for this moment God says 50. We have 50 new responsibilities, to me right now that seems like enough. I am peaceful about it; please don’t think that it doesn’t make me sad that so many are waiting. Hopefully we will grow to serve more.
The rest of our days consist of watching the P61 kids flourish. Summer camp was a hit. The teen boys were ministered to and the team even purchased bibles for the boys that didn’t have one. Project 61 has been around 3 years and they are changing lives. There are about 400 kids in the program and all of them are beautiful and flourishing. It has been an honor to serve with them this summer. I am also honored to be paralleling what they have already accomplished here in Korah. We share the same NGO (Ethiopian organization) here in Korah, we will have different staff as to not take away from the work they are doing but we are all family and all working here for the good of the people in Korah. So if anyone thinks we are competition, we are not. We are here to serve together to empower together.
There were a few things that really grabbed my heart this week. Wednesday I saw my first dead person. He died of starvation and had no one to bury him. The team that was in country purchased him and casket so he could have a proper burial. Can you imagine having nobody? Nobody? It was the icing on the cake for my emotions on Wednesday. Brad arrived that night and I promise he must have thought I was crazy. The tears flowed for at least an hour! I guess I needed his shoulder. Marla( our nanny) also arrived. She is amazing to say the least and the girls and I are so happy she is here!!! Jen (my friend from Kazakhstan) arrived also! So fun to serve here with her.  On Friday we visited a child that lives with grandparents both very very sick with leprosy. The reality hit me that he may be alone very soon, so we are working on renting a place for the “at risk” children to go if they end up orphaned (or whatever the word may be). They are all at risk really but the ones that are in a desperate situation. ON Friday we had a sheep feast. Holey cow. We fed Every person that was around but before we had system it was scary. The kids ( that are ALLLLLL hungry) were pushing there way in. It was UGLY and scary. We managed to make it thru but holy cow, what a sight.
On Friday we turned in our list of 50 names to the office here. It was a relief to have chosen the children and a burden to have so many waiting. God knows, I keep telling myself, he knows better then I do.
Last night we had a 4th of July party here at the Guest house. What a fun time, fireworks, hamburgers, watermelon, the whole nine yards. It’s like family. The people are amazing.
Today (Saturday) I have 2 teams that will arrive. Both mine, both here to serve P61, Hope for Korah and (I am not sure if we have announce our name yet) Out of the Ashes.
One medical team and one summer camp team. Fun times ahead. I am sure lots of tears and lots of joy.
Out of the Ashes was named by Lindsay (the co founder of our new sponsorship program) Someday when I have more time I will tell you all of the details of how it happened this way. Until then I will tell you that Lindsay is working hard on profiling the children that need sponsors and soon we will have them for you to look at!
Off to start my day. I am sure that I bounced around here and I am sure I have lost most of you by now. Just random thoughts so I don’t forget details. Love from Ethiopia.