We got a e-mail today from our trip leader, Rob Tennant, pastor of HillSong Church with the following information about getting prepared for our trip.  Many of you have been asking how things are coming...hopefully this will give an over all update.  



We must begin our preparation for the trip.  That includes preparing spiritually through prayer (individual and group prayer), and practical preparations (ie what are we going to actually do for a week in Ethiopia?).




I'd like each of us to read the book When Helping Hurts (by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert).  This book by Corbett and Fikkert provides an excellent perspective on well intentioned Christians making trips to places in the third world.  My approach to short-term trips like the one we'll be taking is very much in line with what the authors present and it will be very helpful if we all understand that approach.  We as American Christians are coming alongside the handful of Ethiopian men and women in the town of Kombolcha who daily care for, feed, and teach Christianity to 300 children who are ineligible for adoption but have next to nothing in the way of provision and education.  We are encouragers, there to be of assistance to the evangelists and caregivers who love these kids.  And we are there to let these children know that God loves them and that in Jesus Christ, they have hope and their lives have meaning and purpose.




Here's a snap-shot of our itinerary:
April 21, 2011 - Fly out of Dulles airport, Washington DC
April 22, 2011 - Arrive in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia  
April 23, 2011 - take 7-hour van ride to Kombolcha
April 24-27 - run a fun, Bible camp - in the morning, we'll work with about 80-85 kids.  In the afternoon, we'll run the same program for a second set of 80-85 kids.
April 28 - in the morning we will have a feast for all the kids (about 300, those in the Hope Chest Program and the others at that facility as well)
April 28 - after the feast, we head back to Addis
April 29 - during the day souvenir shopping in Addis
April 29 - in the evening, we fly out
April 30 - Return to USA

300 Kids

We just found out that we will be working with 300 kids in Kombolcha.  We will be doing bible school type lessons with them everyday.  We will be having our first group meeting soon with everyone going.  At that meeting we will discuss what supplies we need to take with us.  Originally, we were going to have a little health clinic but now the doctors and other nurses that had planned to go can not go any longer. We still have lots of other plans that we will share soon.  We are so grateful to have these plans come together and can't wait to see what God has in store!!
                                            

THANK YOU!!!

We would like to give a big THANK YOU for all the donations thus far!! We are so very Grateful that God has blessed us with the funds that have started to come in.

HOPE

HOPE is what we needed the last 2 years and we continue to hang on to the hope that God gives us.  This video shows the HOPE that we can give orphans all over that world. Thank you for all the prayers as we set out on this journey to Kombolcha.

You can watch it here:
http://vimeo.com/19223562

John 10:10 http://vimeo.com/19223562