August 1st : Bad hair days everyday thus far but luckily this is not about me; its about God. Everyone gathered downstairs for breakfast, ate together, then loaded into our three vans to head to Bring Love In. The same people that started Drawn From Water which saved children from being drowned for being born different, Levi and Jessie. These children were born with issues and the village would feel they wee a curse and would drown them in the river. This project had to be shut down so now they created Bring Love In for the orphans that were considered by the government "unadoptable". The children are matched with a widow, two people in this big world....alone, are brought together to form a new family. Such a beautiful concept and organization! We took a short tour of the facility, learned what they do and then able to meet the kids. Painting fingernails of the little girls, making necklaces with the little boys....these kids are adorable. When it was time to go, it was rough for us all because we fell in love so quickly with them. We got in the vans and went back to the guest house for lunch then headed back to the Alem-Bank church where we were the day before. We broke into our same small groups and trekked out to the same areas as we were the day before. Our group again walking up the mountain to Jemo. This time we had less time, so were only able to reach one family which I shared the Gospel with and then a couple of young men which Michaela shared the Gospel with. The first home we went into, I got out my evangi-cube and as soon as I said "God", the man said no, shaking his head and hands and speaking Aramaic to the others in the room. After they exchanged words, Ephraim, our interpreter looked at me and told me to continue. I got through the entire evangecube and got to the decision to make Jesus their Lord and savior, I looked at Pastor David for "back-up" (lol) and he jumped in and began asking them questions. In the end, the disciple from Alem-Bank church showed the husband his Muslim card from where he was once a Muslim and now trusts Christ. That seemed to make a huge difference! The man couldn't believe it and studied the card to make sure it was real. He asked for the disciple's phone number; he wanted to read the Bible himself and study it and then he would call him. We left their house praying that God would give them both direction and that their lives would be forever changed. Further down the street Michaela was able to share the Gospel with two young men. She worked the evangecube really well, just needing help with a few words. She got towards the end and paused, she began crying. It was so touching that she was overwhelmed in the spirit! Many had gathered at that point; the original guy that she started speaking to had stepped back and a new one stepped forward. He was a bit cocky and I think was looking for a little debate. He was challenged by David on several point of Jesus' story. Towards the end of this encounter, the young man was stunned by what he learned and became a believer in Christ. Yeah God! Soon after this, another storm was rolling in so we headed back to the Center of Jemo Church, had a coffee ceremony, then headed back to the Alem-Bank church and had another coffee ceremony. Can I just say....Ethiopian coffee is the BEST IN THE WORLD! It is so delicious and you have these coffee ceremonies so many times a day that your a bit wired. LOL!
We left directly for dinner eating at Island Breeze. It was delicious American food, I was actually shocked at all of the restaurants that offer American food. After which we headed back to the guest house went to bed.
August 2nd : Slept in an extra hour this morning, 7am wake up to another bad hair day (yeah Jesus!). Yummy but extremely sweet cinnamon rolls for breakfast but I have really come to love our group breakfasts every morning. Such great conversations and love for one another around the table. About 9am or so, we all piled into the vans and headed to Entoto. This was a place where women who are diseased can come work and they sell the jewelry that they sit and make. Some made with metal and some is made with coffee beans. It was great jewelry! The women were lovely; they are all piled into a small 3 bedroom house and gathered around picnic tables making the jewelry. Such sweet spirits and they were so excited to have people visiting them and loving on them. The young girl that was there showing us around telling us about the program was a only 22 years old. She had left her home in the US and moved to Ethiopia right after college to work at the home. Unbelievable faith and trust in God!! We left Entoto and headed up a mountain to an Orthodox Church that was hundreds of years old. It was incredible all the paintings on the wall over a hundred years old. We also got to see where they worship and hear the instruments they used. One was a huge drum and the other was a bell that sounded like and portrayed Jesus being whipped. Roger and Aubrey both were called up to demonstrate the two instruments...that was quite comical. Ha! We ate lunch up on the hillside...such beautiful country! We had rice and bread and met a couple of families that were there for an extended period of time to wait for their adoptions processes. Then we went down the mountain and went shopping for souvenirs at the post office. We then went straight to dinner, a place called Makush which was dinner inside an art gallery. Gorgeous paintings of Ethiopian culture and familiar backgrounds. This was the end of the day, headed back to the guest house for sleep.
to be continued......
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