Day 5

We started with decorating T-shirts this day.  Every child got an extra t-shirt and was able to decorate the shirt with "Jesus Loves Me" in Amharic.  Some of the big kids knew how to write it in English so they chose to do it that way.  All of the kids were very proud of their shirts and loved working with the puff paint.  The morning group went great but the afternoon group got a little chaotic because the group was so much bigger.

Greg, Derek, Rob and Becka got the kids together with a game of volleyball with a make shift volleyball net made with the parachute.  The kids loved it even if they couldn't see when the ball was coming.  Some of the kids are really good playing volleyball.

This was a long and hot day but the kids had a wonderful time and weren't ready to leave.  We were all exhausted and all we could think about was that the kids were going back to a hut with no light, no food, some without proper shelter and most of all without LOVE.  

Love is all these kids need and want.  Their faces lit up when you look in their eyes and they smile.  They are so happy knowing that we love them enough to travel to see them.  

Also visit http://laughners.blogspot.com/ to see

 Tom's pics of our trip!!

They are awesome, Thanks Tom for all the good pics.

Day 4

We were so excited to get back to the kids.  This day in crafts the kids were able to put together and decorate a prayer journal for them to write their thoughts, prayers and daily activities. The kids really enjoyed this craft plus it didn't take too long since we had a short day.  This was Wednesday and we were invited to Grace Baptist church service at 5 pm which is in the "chicken house" aka the church. So, we had to be done with the kids, cleaned up and everything our of the church by 4:30pm.

The kids loved to show off their journals and were eager to write in them.

Derek and Becka did great with recreation today, but it was a little chaotic.  The kids played games with frisbees and jump ropes. The afternoon group is double the size of the morning group so it was rather hard to have structure with the frisbees but the Becka and Derek did awesome.  

Sara T, Sara D, Laura, Josh continued to pass out care packages today along with some dresses that were made by some ladies at one of the team member's church.  The dresses are so cute and the girls love them.  In the care packages the kids get granola bars, pencils, pens, underwear, shirts, toys, flash lights for the boys and sewing kits for the girls.  The kids loved going through their care package and have the translator read the note from whomever got the package together.

Dresses of all sizes for all the girls

This is one of my favorite pictures with all the care packages lines up

Josh and Zalalem finding each child's care package

This is Derek and I giving Seada (our sponsor child) her care package

She couldn't get everything out of the bag fast enough

Mulegeta (the owner of the chicken house and

 land that Grace Baptist is using temporarily) translated our letter to Seada

She loved the dress so much that she had to put it on right away over the other clothes she was wearing.  Many of the girls did this and showed us how appreciative they were.

The lambs for Friday's feast arrived today. In true Ethiopian fashion, they are very much alive and kicking. They are grazing in the grassy area where we are playing with the kids. 

The lambs arrival created some excitement amongst our group.

We went to the pastor's house for lunch. He and his wife were very gracious and served an excellent traditional Ethiopian meal. We were also served coffee and popcorn. Ethiopian popcorn is sweetened with sugar rather than salted.  We all love it.  Homemade Ethiopian food was much better than the restraunt food to Derek and I.  We love Ethiopian food and could probably eat it more than American food.  

This is the pastor and his wife. 

Josh, from One Child Campaign, is in the background in the green shirt. 

This is the opening/gate to the pastor's house

This is a taxi...the pastor's son drives a taxi in Kombolcha and this is his taxi

This is inside the pastor's house.  They are rather wealthy because they have concrete walls, TV, and furniture.  They still cook outside like most other Ethiopians.

This is Injera...Ethiopian bread that is used to pick up you food with because there are no utensils.  

You use your fingers and injera to pick up your food and eat.  Injera is so good!!

Derek and Deanna in the pastor's house

Derek was just served his food and as picky

 as he is with his food I was surprised how well he loves Ethiopian food.

Our plate consisted of Injera, Greens and cabbage, Potatoes (yellow), lentils (red) 

and ground chick peas with spice (orange).  The spice they use is Bur Buri and is very 

spicey but Derek loved it.  I wish I could learn to make it because I really like it as well.   

The pastor's wife held a coffee ceremony for us.  Ethiopian coffee is so good and is always served with popcorn sprinkle with sugar instead of salt.  It is so yummy.  

 

What Derek shared at church

What I took away from the mission trip…

When people ask me how my trip to Ethiopia was, I give them a very general “It was really good. It was eye opening and life changing.” While this statement is true, it just scratches the surface of how I really feel inside about my trip. I hope you don’t have lunch plans cause this could take a while. Just kidding…

            The weeks leading up to this trip I was really getting excited and ready to go but deep down inside the devil was working on me I think. I had this feeling that I was going to get there and not want to be. Was I wrong? Finally getting to Kombolcha after 15 hours of plane travel one day and 8 hours riding in a sardine can the next, I was starting to feel that this was going to be AWESOME. When we pulled up to the care point and there were kids there to greet us as we got out of the vans like we were famous was a really good feeling. I shook so many hands and still hadn’t got in the gate!!! Once in the gate I heard clapping as I walked down this path in the trees. It started out a faint sound but as I got closer the volume got louder. As I walked into the “church”, which was a cleaned out chicken house, the noise was incredible!!! So many hands clapping and kids smiling at me was a little overwhelming. I stood in front of these kids and just took it all in. WOW!!!! As I stood there, I was scanning them looking for the girl Deanna and I sponsor. I couldn’t find her though. After we got introduced to them, we went out to hug and meet them. I shook their hands, fist bumped, and hugged so many of them as I could. Greg and I started a huge rock, paper, scissors game. I’m not sure who was winning because there were so many playing. The ladies in our group were taking pictures and hugging as well. Thank goodness for digital cameras because the kids love to see themselves in the pictures after you take them. During this time, I’m pretty sure Sandy hugged and kissed every single one of these kids. IMAGINE THAT!!! Here was another warm fuzzy moment for me. Getting to interact with them was a blast. I was still looking for my sponsored girl and couldn’t find her. I felt down a little bit cause I couldn’t. Where was this face on my refrigerator???

            The next morning when we arrived, the kids met us again at the gate like the paparazzi. Before we got started, the kids sang a few songs in Amharic. That was a joyful noise to hear. This is how each day would start. Then a Bible story would be told, we used the Easter story. After the Bible story, the kids would break down into three groups to go through a rotation of stations. There was arts and crafts, recreation and a care package station. The care package station was where the kids would receive gallon Ziploc bags packed full of stuff. Toothbrushes, underwear, t-shirts, beef jerky, granola bars, toys, stuffed animals, small sewing kits for the girls and flashlights for boys just to name a few things. Also in each one was a picture and a note from who packed the care package. Arts and crafts had different projects for them each day…salvation bracelets, foam cross necklaces, decorating t-shirts with puff paint, and prayer journals. Recreation had different games to play each day too…various parachute games, playing with Frisbees, jump rope, volleyball and the kids taught us some of their games. Each day was split into two sessions, morning and afternoon. Throughout the day, there were so many hugs and so much love shown.

            With the outline of the week done, I want to tell you really how my trip to Ethiopia was. On our first full day at the care point and in the first rotation of stations, I was flapping my arms with the parachute when one of our other team members came up to me and said that our sponsor girl was at the care point station waiting to open her care package from us. I FINALLY got to meet Seada!!! As I walked over to where she was, I realized that she looked totally different from the picture I had. As I got to her I bent down and hugged her. Now I had a body for the picture on my refrigerator. We sat down with her and watched as she unpacked her care package. She was like a kid at Christmas and couldn’t get the items out quick enough. She took the picture out and looked at the picture and then at us. The smile on her face was huge. Another member of our mission team had someone make and donate dresses for the girls. We helped her put it on and her smile grew bigger. With her new dress on over her dirty and torn clothes, she was happy!! We moved on to our letter which someone translated for her. As I was sitting listening and watching her, the tears grew in my eyes. After she had the letter read to her, she went to Deanna for a hug. Then she came to me for one. We had pictures made and then more hugs. Then I had to go back and help with recreation and Deanna back to arts and crafts. But instead I had to go and sit on the porch and gather myself. I had known her for maybe five minutes and she felt like a daughter to me. As I went back to the rec. group, I now had this feeling this was going to be a good week. I played and grew close to all of them but there was a different connection with Seada. Every time she was in looking distance we would make eye contact and just smile at each other. Since she was our sponsor child, we got to go and see her house and her family. I had said before we went on this trip that I wasn’t sure I was ready to see that but our day had come to take our visit. As we were riding to her house, she was entertaining herself with balloons. She blew one up for me and her. Well, the van stopped outside this gate and we were there. The gate was a rusty piece of metal roofing and she opened it and it was like another village behind it. We walked down the path with little Seada leading the way. We reached this mud house and this woman came out with a smile on her face. We walked into this small room and sat on mats they used for beds. It was an 8’x8’ room. That is the size of my bathroom at home. We talked with her, Seada, and her older sister, with the help of a translator, for just several minutes. This was her house. Just this very small room with two mats on the floor, a raised bed and a small hutch with their belongings in it. She shares this room with her mother, a 15 year old sister and a 9 year old sister. Her father passed away sometime from sickness.  They would use the front porch for their kitchen. Her mother didn’t have a job but would buy things at the market and resell them for her income. She was doing this to put food on the table. We told her mother that we love and pray for Seada and her family. Her mother told us that she was very grateful and gave them hope.  When we were done talking, we went out on the porch and took some pictures with them. After the pictures were taken, I hugged all three of them. The hug with Seada was very emotional because I had this pain for her. I picked her up and just held onto her tight as I was telling her that I loved her so much. The emotions got the best of me and I had to get out of there. I pretty much ran back to the van and got in and just balled. Deanna took some more pictures of her house and then walked hand in hand with Seada out of the gate. I saw her face and just couldn’t imagine living like that. What I just saw is what I call Ethiopian reality. It makes me very grateful for what I have and what I take for granted.

            Another thing we got to do was attend a Wednesday night prayer service. I don’t have the slightest clue what they were saying as they were singing but Jesus was in the room. You could just feel him there. One of the deacons spoke and was really thankful that we were there showing God’s love to the kids. It didn’t matter that they were a different race, spoke a different language, and lived different lifestyles…they still need to be loved.

On the last day, you could tell there was a different feeling in the air. Since this care point was the farthest one out, not many teams come and see them. When they do come and visit, they just stay a few hours with them. We had grown close and very attached to these kids but especially Seada. As the day wore on and the time running out, the kids would just cling to you. I spent most of my day right next to Seada, holding her hand, letting her sit on my lap and hugging her. We had a huge feast at lunch and then played some of their games with them. Then it was time for our good byes. Each team member spread out and the kids came to us with tears in their eyes. I hugged and cried with so many of them. The pain was ruthless. My heart had been ripped out of my chest. As I hugged each one, I told them that I love them. Then my little Seada came up to me…I picked her up like I did on her porch and hugged her telling her how much I loved her and just wept. She also was crying also which didn’t help. I watched as the last of the kids walked out of the gate and cried. I already missed them…these kids have been forgotten and we went and gave them hope.

           

            

Another Video of our trip

Kombolcha 2012

Day 3: First Day of VBS

There are two sessions each day, with some kids coming in the morning and then going off to school, and the rest of them coming in the afternoon after they are done with school. Today, Rob Tennant started each session with a Bible lesson. Easter is just finishing here, so he is teaching the kids about the events leading up to the crucifix of Jesus and will be leading them through the salvation. 

Tom: "Let me just say that Rob is a master with these kids. They are engaged, hanging on his every word. He does a really nice job involving them with role play. It did strike me as funny when Rob asked for a volunteer to play one of the disciples,  and one of the moslem girls volunteered."

After the story, each of the kids received a back pack and water bottle.  We passed our markers for them to write their names on their new belongings to ensure they kept them.  Their faces lit up when they got the bags...this was a bag they could carry their belonging in and with them at all times.  

Next, the kids were divided into three groups; crafts, games, and care packages, with a roughly 20 minute rotation. This is where the folks that came on this trip shined most. Some adjustments had to be made but everyone took them in stride and made sure the kids had a great time. The look on the kids' faces were pure joy. I've never seen bigger smiles in my life. There is no doubt that laughter is a universal language, as all of us had no problem understanding that we were all having a good time.


The craft for the day was cross necklaces and beaded Salvation bracelets.

Getting prepared for craft time with cross necklaces and stickers.

Deanna, Sandy, Sara P., and Abby worked with the kids during crafts...

these kids have such creativity and had so much fun with every craft.  Thank you for all the donations!!

Seada after making her cross

Salvation Bracelets 

Scarf fun after crafts

For recreation the kids got to play all sorts of games with the parechute...all you could hear was laughter from all the kids when they got to rec. that day!!

Derek, Greg and Becka were awesome with recreation.

Laughter and fun had by all no matter what the age.

Finally, the kids received bananas and were sent on their way to school. The second session started at 3:00 and good times were had by all. 

Josh (with One Child Campaign) and Fiekre (with Hope Chest)

buying bananas for the kids snack

Between  the two sessions, two of our team members had a chance to visit the homes of their sponsored children.  Derek and I went on Wednesday to Seada's house that is an 8x8 square mud hut with 2 other families on either side of them in the same type of house.  All 3 families shared porch space for cooking.  In Seada' s house there was a small raised bed and 2 mats on the ground.  They had a little hutch to keep all their belongings (not much).  She lives about 5 minutes driving distance from the care point but 30 mins walking distance with short cuts.  It saddens me that she walks twice a day by herself to this care point and is open to all the city for anyone's disposal.  I worry about her!! (Deanna)  We also met Seada's mother who is a widow and her older sister who is 15.  Her younger sisier (9) was at school when we visited.  Derek and I expressed our loving feeling for Seada that we have been praying for her and her family.  Seada's mother was very grateful for all we have done for her and told us that we have given them hope.  Derek and I were very overwhelmed at the situation Seada is in and cried the rest of the day.  Needless to say, Seada hung to us from the day on.  

Us and Seada before we leave for her home

Seada leading us into her "yard"

Deanna, Seada, Seada's Mother, Seada's Big Sisiter (15) and Derek

I'm glad we got to visit Seada's home.  It is very humbling and eye opening.  It reinforces to all of us the  importance of drop in centers such as Grace Baptist.  Seada was happy for us to be there with her but you could also see that she knew this isn't how other people live in the USA.  She almost seemed sad at the end of the visit as she held my hand and walked us to the van.  Tears filled our eyes as we drove away from her home.