Friday, March 21, 2014
Children's Heaven
Every move I make performed by the girls at Children's Heaven in Ethiopia. It is a ministry for girls ages 5-18 to ensure that they get an education and training to live a responsible life. It also provides them and their mothers with daily nourishment.
Back in the USA
It is now Friday, March 21 and we are trying to settle back into life as we know it in the states. For Doc and I, that means landing in Philadelphia and driving with Brieanna and Jon to spend the afternoon with Galen's family as well as Derek's. We left early the next morning for Mansfield, where we landed for only 2 days and then headed off to Tye in Pittsburgh overnight and finally ended up in Columbus with Jillane and Chip and boys for 2 days. Jillane has been helping me with our power point presentation to share our trip in Ethiopia. We return to Mansfield on Sat and hope to stay grounded there for at least 10 days. Our f'irst presentation will be on Sunday, March 30 at Church of the New Covenant in Mansfield at their 10 am service. All are welcome to come and hear of God's miraculous workings in Ethiopia.
We both have such mixed feelings about being back here, when our thoughts are so predominantly in Ethiopia with all of the wonderful people we met and came to love. Doc is feeling better physically, so that tends to flavor his feelings. As a mother/nanny, I feel the pull between my own children/grandchildren and those precious children we interacted with the 3 weeks we were there.
We do believe that God has more work for us to do in Ethiopia and that we will be back there again. We are praying for His guidance and direction so that we can make every moment count for Him.
Thank you for your support and prayer.
REMINDER: 5K Dash for Doc's Well of Hope on April 26, 2014 at 8 am at the Boat Launch in Mansfield. Registration deadline is April 1 to get a race shirt. Registration form on Doc's Well of hope as well as in Penny Saver.
We both have such mixed feelings about being back here, when our thoughts are so predominantly in Ethiopia with all of the wonderful people we met and came to love. Doc is feeling better physically, so that tends to flavor his feelings. As a mother/nanny, I feel the pull between my own children/grandchildren and those precious children we interacted with the 3 weeks we were there.
We do believe that God has more work for us to do in Ethiopia and that we will be back there again. We are praying for His guidance and direction so that we can make every moment count for Him.
Thank you for your support and prayer.
REMINDER: 5K Dash for Doc's Well of Hope on April 26, 2014 at 8 am at the Boat Launch in Mansfield. Registration deadline is April 1 to get a race shirt. Registration form on Doc's Well of hope as well as in Penny Saver.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Bittersweet Time in Ethiopia
It is Friday night and we leave tomorrow for the United States after 3 awesome weeks here in Ethiopia. How do you go back "home to US" when your heart is still here in Ethiopia. We feel so torn tonight, as we want to see our family and friends, but we also want to stay and work helping our dear friends here in Ethiopia.
God has introduced us to wonderful new friends and ministries and has shown us the progress that is being made to improve their lives and future. There is still so much to be done, but God is at work.
We have visited Embracing Hope and Children's Heaven where we spent time before, as well as became part of A Heart for Korah and visited the wonderful work at the Former Women's Woodcarriers Scarf Factory, as well as visited our water project in Arsi Negelle.
As much as we want to stay here, we do believe that God is having us return to the US to share His heart for these precious souls with family and friends and hopefully gain sponsors for the families at Korah and Embracing Hope, the girls at Children's Heaven and also Doc's Well of Hope. We do not apologize for asking everyone to consider how God might want you to help to support these ministries as we know that we all can do something.
It is such an honor to know that God has chosen us to spend our latter years working for Him in such an exciting manner and blessing us so that we can bless others.
Our first time of sharing will be at Church of the New Covenant in Mansfield, PA on March 30 at their 10am service. Please come and join us as we share the goodness of God.
Thank you again to all who have supported us with their, finances, love and words of encouragement.
God has introduced us to wonderful new friends and ministries and has shown us the progress that is being made to improve their lives and future. There is still so much to be done, but God is at work.
We have visited Embracing Hope and Children's Heaven where we spent time before, as well as became part of A Heart for Korah and visited the wonderful work at the Former Women's Woodcarriers Scarf Factory, as well as visited our water project in Arsi Negelle.
As much as we want to stay here, we do believe that God is having us return to the US to share His heart for these precious souls with family and friends and hopefully gain sponsors for the families at Korah and Embracing Hope, the girls at Children's Heaven and also Doc's Well of Hope. We do not apologize for asking everyone to consider how God might want you to help to support these ministries as we know that we all can do something.
It is such an honor to know that God has chosen us to spend our latter years working for Him in such an exciting manner and blessing us so that we can bless others.
Our first time of sharing will be at Church of the New Covenant in Mansfield, PA on March 30 at their 10am service. Please come and join us as we share the goodness of God.
Thank you again to all who have supported us with their, finances, love and words of encouragement.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Birthday Celebration in Ethiopia
Today was our friend, Heidi's birthday. She and her husband, Josh are here from Nashville adopting their sweet 1-yr-old daughter, Claire. We are getting our Nanny and PopPop fixes by playing with her and taking her everywhere we go.
Our awesome driver/friend, Fekadu, took us to his house today where his precious mother made our lunch. It was beef tibs, rice, cabbage and lentils in berbere sauce. All 4 items were delicious and such an honor to be in their humble home. Fekadu also got a beautiful and delicious cake for Heidi from Bilo's Pastry in Bole. What a wonderful way to celebrate Heidi's birthday here in Ethiopia.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go visit Hamlin Fistula Hospital and learn more of the fantastic work Dr. Hamlin does here for the wonderful, needy women. Besides the hospital, she has a school here to train women to become midwives. Her dream is to see a midwife in every village in Ethiopia. Amazing; quite a challenge for a woman who is 90 years old and still practicing medicine at the hospital.
Friday we are going back to Korah to visit our sponsor lady and some other dear people we met last week. Taking Heidi and Josh there for their first visit. On our way back, we are stopping to get 50 pounds more of coffee beans from Embracing Hope ministry and then stop at the scarf factory to get 100 more scarves for our new friends at A Heart for Korah in Indianapolis.
Saturday morning will find us back at Children's Heaven for a final visit with Hanna and our sweet sponsor girls as well as the 100+ other girls in the program. We love the work that is being done there and feel privileged to be a part of it.
THEN, we need to pack - my least favorite part of the trip. How do we get ALL this stuff home when we thought we sent everything home with Brieanna and Brittany. Oh well, we will make it work as we want to bring these items home to sell to raise money for all our dear friends here.
God has done amazing things here and in our hearts again. We are coming home more in love with Ethiopia than ever and pray that God will help us share His vision with all of you. Out first presentation will be at Church of the New Covenant on March 30 at the 10 am service. Please accept our invitation to come and hear all about our life changing experience.
Thank you to everyone for your love and support and words of encouragement to follow the call of God on our lives.
Our awesome driver/friend, Fekadu, took us to his house today where his precious mother made our lunch. It was beef tibs, rice, cabbage and lentils in berbere sauce. All 4 items were delicious and such an honor to be in their humble home. Fekadu also got a beautiful and delicious cake for Heidi from Bilo's Pastry in Bole. What a wonderful way to celebrate Heidi's birthday here in Ethiopia.
Tomorrow we are hoping to go visit Hamlin Fistula Hospital and learn more of the fantastic work Dr. Hamlin does here for the wonderful, needy women. Besides the hospital, she has a school here to train women to become midwives. Her dream is to see a midwife in every village in Ethiopia. Amazing; quite a challenge for a woman who is 90 years old and still practicing medicine at the hospital.
Friday we are going back to Korah to visit our sponsor lady and some other dear people we met last week. Taking Heidi and Josh there for their first visit. On our way back, we are stopping to get 50 pounds more of coffee beans from Embracing Hope ministry and then stop at the scarf factory to get 100 more scarves for our new friends at A Heart for Korah in Indianapolis.
Saturday morning will find us back at Children's Heaven for a final visit with Hanna and our sweet sponsor girls as well as the 100+ other girls in the program. We love the work that is being done there and feel privileged to be a part of it.
THEN, we need to pack - my least favorite part of the trip. How do we get ALL this stuff home when we thought we sent everything home with Brieanna and Brittany. Oh well, we will make it work as we want to bring these items home to sell to raise money for all our dear friends here.
God has done amazing things here and in our hearts again. We are coming home more in love with Ethiopia than ever and pray that God will help us share His vision with all of you. Out first presentation will be at Church of the New Covenant on March 30 at the 10 am service. Please accept our invitation to come and hear all about our life changing experience.
Thank you to everyone for your love and support and words of encouragement to follow the call of God on our lives.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
"When they suffered, he suffered also," Isaiah 63:9
Every day that we are here in Ethiopia we can better sense how God feels about all of us. He has brought us here to let us sense the disparity of the people, and to see how God can use all of us to meet their needs and love them as He does.
We are learning that the best help is to make it possible for them to find work or start their own business to support their family and be self-sustaining, even in an area as poor as Korah. As we sat with Monte, Fekadu and Tesfay, we here the people tell us what they would like to do as work so they can support their families. One single mom wants to make injerra and sell it in a "sook" in front of her house( a 9x9 mud shack). Another mom wants to sell small bags of charcoal in a "sook" near her house. Each family we interviewed, wants to work, so A Heart for Korah (AHFK) is planning to start offering small grants to families to get them set up with a business. They will deposit a certain amount monthly in their account set up by AHFK and then repay half of the grant over a year's time and accept the other as a gift from God to them. This is micro-finance at work in Korah to help these dear folks become self-sustaining. We agree with Monte and Fekadu that this is essential to the people improving their lives. They are not a lazy people by any means; but having the simplest of businesses is very difficult without the aid of people like a AHFK. They want to take care of their families, and AHKF is God's hands extended to them.
Another wonderful ministry is Children's Heaven, which is a program that ministers to 105 girls by seeing that they attend school during the week and come their after school to do homework, get a snack and additional help in life skills as well as some play time with their friends. They come there all day Saturday for additional training, breakfast and lunch and play time. Hannah starting this ministry with the hope that she could make the difference in just one girl's life, little realizing that within 9 years, she would be saving 105 girls from a destitute life on the streets. All the girls will go on to higher education/technical training and find a respectable job. A wonderful place for the girls of the area. Many on the waiting list, but she can only accept more girls if God provides the money to purchase the property where they are now meeting. We believe God is calling us to help her by raising funds in the US to purchase this area of land.
We have done our share to bless another ministry, the former woodcarriers scarf factory, where women who used to carry HUGE piles of Eucalyptus wood on their shoulders down Entoto Mountain to Addis Ababa on a daily basis can come and weave beautiful scarves and no longer have to carry this wood. It is such a change in lifestyle for them and the work they do is magnificent. We have been there 3 times now and bought over 50 scarves to sell back in the US so that they can continue their work. Each woman receives the money for her work as each scarf is tagged with her name and when we buy it, her name is recorded and she is given the money. It is such a rewarding feeling to know that the person who does the hard work actually gets her deserved pay.
We are also encouraged by the ministry at Embracing Hope, which allows moms to work while their children attend the daycare and school there, as well as receive money for the work they do there making beautiful bead necklaces and packaging delicious coffee in burlap sacks that they have embroidered with the word "Hope" in Amharic. We have also blessed that ministry by buying over 50# of coffee to bring home to our supporters back home.
This trip has been an overwhelming experience in seeing the many ways God is working through His people from around the world to improve the lives of these dear souls here. I used to think that I as one person I could not make a difference, BUT God set me straight on that. I recognized in 2010 when I came with Kristin to get Markos that 1 person can make a difference, because my one adds to your one adds to the next one and so on. As a result of responding to God's call then to help the people of Ethiopia, Doc and I have been blessed to see the lives of some very dear people change for the good. And, thanks to your unconditional support, we can help even more. Thank you for sharing our vision.
May God bless you as you continue to pray for us and consider supporting the work we do here financially. We KNOW that God will meet each need we bring to Him.
THANK YOU!!!
We are learning that the best help is to make it possible for them to find work or start their own business to support their family and be self-sustaining, even in an area as poor as Korah. As we sat with Monte, Fekadu and Tesfay, we here the people tell us what they would like to do as work so they can support their families. One single mom wants to make injerra and sell it in a "sook" in front of her house( a 9x9 mud shack). Another mom wants to sell small bags of charcoal in a "sook" near her house. Each family we interviewed, wants to work, so A Heart for Korah (AHFK) is planning to start offering small grants to families to get them set up with a business. They will deposit a certain amount monthly in their account set up by AHFK and then repay half of the grant over a year's time and accept the other as a gift from God to them. This is micro-finance at work in Korah to help these dear folks become self-sustaining. We agree with Monte and Fekadu that this is essential to the people improving their lives. They are not a lazy people by any means; but having the simplest of businesses is very difficult without the aid of people like a AHFK. They want to take care of their families, and AHKF is God's hands extended to them.
Another wonderful ministry is Children's Heaven, which is a program that ministers to 105 girls by seeing that they attend school during the week and come their after school to do homework, get a snack and additional help in life skills as well as some play time with their friends. They come there all day Saturday for additional training, breakfast and lunch and play time. Hannah starting this ministry with the hope that she could make the difference in just one girl's life, little realizing that within 9 years, she would be saving 105 girls from a destitute life on the streets. All the girls will go on to higher education/technical training and find a respectable job. A wonderful place for the girls of the area. Many on the waiting list, but she can only accept more girls if God provides the money to purchase the property where they are now meeting. We believe God is calling us to help her by raising funds in the US to purchase this area of land.
We have done our share to bless another ministry, the former woodcarriers scarf factory, where women who used to carry HUGE piles of Eucalyptus wood on their shoulders down Entoto Mountain to Addis Ababa on a daily basis can come and weave beautiful scarves and no longer have to carry this wood. It is such a change in lifestyle for them and the work they do is magnificent. We have been there 3 times now and bought over 50 scarves to sell back in the US so that they can continue their work. Each woman receives the money for her work as each scarf is tagged with her name and when we buy it, her name is recorded and she is given the money. It is such a rewarding feeling to know that the person who does the hard work actually gets her deserved pay.
We are also encouraged by the ministry at Embracing Hope, which allows moms to work while their children attend the daycare and school there, as well as receive money for the work they do there making beautiful bead necklaces and packaging delicious coffee in burlap sacks that they have embroidered with the word "Hope" in Amharic. We have also blessed that ministry by buying over 50# of coffee to bring home to our supporters back home.
This trip has been an overwhelming experience in seeing the many ways God is working through His people from around the world to improve the lives of these dear souls here. I used to think that I as one person I could not make a difference, BUT God set me straight on that. I recognized in 2010 when I came with Kristin to get Markos that 1 person can make a difference, because my one adds to your one adds to the next one and so on. As a result of responding to God's call then to help the people of Ethiopia, Doc and I have been blessed to see the lives of some very dear people change for the good. And, thanks to your unconditional support, we can help even more. Thank you for sharing our vision.
May God bless you as you continue to pray for us and consider supporting the work we do here financially. We KNOW that God will meet each need we bring to Him.
THANK YOU!!!
Thursday, March 6, 2014
God's Plan for our Second Week in Ethiopia
Thursday, March 6
Where do we begin? Just when we think we have experienced God's greatest plans here in Ethiopia, He shares more with us. We have met Monte Alexander and his 9-year-old son, Josiah from Indianapolis. They are here for the week to check in on the 70 families that they have sponsors for through their NGO, A Heart For Korah (AHFK).
We have spent 2 days with them and Fekadu, the Ethiopian director, visiting several families in the village of Korah. Korah is home to the "Poorest of the Poor." It is amazing, because you don't see the poverty, you see these beautiful people who have been created by God, just as we have been. They flock to us to say "Suhlam" and shake our hand. Then, they invite us into their lowly abode which is about 9x9 and made of manure/straw mud walls, floors and ceilings and houses where as many as 2-3 families may live. They want to share in Amharic how thankful they are for us and the provisions that their sponsors send each month. They love to have their pictures taken and then to view them on the digital screen.
Last week when Brieanna and Brittany were here, we were able to take digital polaroid photos and give them to the children. The looks on their faces said it all; they giggle and touch/kiss the camera. It is priceless.
Also, while we've been in Korah, we have had the privilege of praying with a dear sweet woman who is very ill and needy. We went to one of the "sooks" (tiny kiosk shops) in their village and bought her juice and took it back. The second day in Korah, we went back to her house taking with us barley, oats, juice and a new blanket, to find her improved and sitting up in bed to greet us and thank us with their word for thank you, "Amuhsuhginaluh." We prayed with her and reassured her that she would receive juice until better and also her monthly provisions from AHFK.
The first day in Korah, we visited the home of a darling, 14-year-old girl, Alina, who really touched Doc's heart. She spoke quite good English and told us she would like to go the United States. However, when we were with her in her home, the connection between her and her mom was so evident and it was very clear how much mom loved her. They were so proud to have us come to their house.
It is impossible to express here how we could fall so in love with a place as poor as Korah, but we are. They smile with their whole face when they greet you and they bow as they shake your hand and only want to treat you like royalty. They love for us to come in and sit down (if anything to sit on) and talk with them and pray for them. We have seen the Amharic children's Bibles that AHFK has given them, as well as youth and adult Amharic Bibles.
We were treated to dinner last night for the second time by the board of Bole Baptist Church, who is the group through which we do our water projects. They have expressed how grateful they are for all we have done to date to provide clean water in Arsi Negelle and to provide clean water in a nearby village to that. We feel so blessed to be apart of getting clean water to so many children and their families. God has been miraculous in supplying the money we need for our next project; before we left the US, we had almost 85% of the money we need for our next project. We are believing God for the rest by the time we return home so that we can wire the money and they can begin the project, hopefully to complete it by the end of the year.
We also received messages today from our 5K organizers and we need you all to register so we can get the final arrangements made. ALL of the money raised by the race will be used to bring hope through water and food to our dear, precious people of Ethiopia.
Well, I am running out of energy, so will end this post. Tomorrow night, several of us are going to Yod Abysinnia, a traditional, cultural Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. It is such a neat experience and I am anxious to see our friends reaction.
May God bless you all as you share this awesome experience with us.
Where do we begin? Just when we think we have experienced God's greatest plans here in Ethiopia, He shares more with us. We have met Monte Alexander and his 9-year-old son, Josiah from Indianapolis. They are here for the week to check in on the 70 families that they have sponsors for through their NGO, A Heart For Korah (AHFK).
We have spent 2 days with them and Fekadu, the Ethiopian director, visiting several families in the village of Korah. Korah is home to the "Poorest of the Poor." It is amazing, because you don't see the poverty, you see these beautiful people who have been created by God, just as we have been. They flock to us to say "Suhlam" and shake our hand. Then, they invite us into their lowly abode which is about 9x9 and made of manure/straw mud walls, floors and ceilings and houses where as many as 2-3 families may live. They want to share in Amharic how thankful they are for us and the provisions that their sponsors send each month. They love to have their pictures taken and then to view them on the digital screen.
Last week when Brieanna and Brittany were here, we were able to take digital polaroid photos and give them to the children. The looks on their faces said it all; they giggle and touch/kiss the camera. It is priceless.
Also, while we've been in Korah, we have had the privilege of praying with a dear sweet woman who is very ill and needy. We went to one of the "sooks" (tiny kiosk shops) in their village and bought her juice and took it back. The second day in Korah, we went back to her house taking with us barley, oats, juice and a new blanket, to find her improved and sitting up in bed to greet us and thank us with their word for thank you, "Amuhsuhginaluh." We prayed with her and reassured her that she would receive juice until better and also her monthly provisions from AHFK.
The first day in Korah, we visited the home of a darling, 14-year-old girl, Alina, who really touched Doc's heart. She spoke quite good English and told us she would like to go the United States. However, when we were with her in her home, the connection between her and her mom was so evident and it was very clear how much mom loved her. They were so proud to have us come to their house.
It is impossible to express here how we could fall so in love with a place as poor as Korah, but we are. They smile with their whole face when they greet you and they bow as they shake your hand and only want to treat you like royalty. They love for us to come in and sit down (if anything to sit on) and talk with them and pray for them. We have seen the Amharic children's Bibles that AHFK has given them, as well as youth and adult Amharic Bibles.
We were treated to dinner last night for the second time by the board of Bole Baptist Church, who is the group through which we do our water projects. They have expressed how grateful they are for all we have done to date to provide clean water in Arsi Negelle and to provide clean water in a nearby village to that. We feel so blessed to be apart of getting clean water to so many children and their families. God has been miraculous in supplying the money we need for our next project; before we left the US, we had almost 85% of the money we need for our next project. We are believing God for the rest by the time we return home so that we can wire the money and they can begin the project, hopefully to complete it by the end of the year.
We also received messages today from our 5K organizers and we need you all to register so we can get the final arrangements made. ALL of the money raised by the race will be used to bring hope through water and food to our dear, precious people of Ethiopia.
Well, I am running out of energy, so will end this post. Tomorrow night, several of us are going to Yod Abysinnia, a traditional, cultural Ethiopian restaurant for dinner. It is such a neat experience and I am anxious to see our friends reaction.
May God bless you all as you share this awesome experience with us.
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Week 2 in Ethiopia
March 4 What do we say? So much has happened since we last wrote. We have reunited with some of our ministry friends here in Ethiopia and Brieanna and Brittany have returned to the US as of late Monday night.
Saturday, we went to Children's Heaven where they care for 120 girls from age 5-18. The girls go to school during the day and then come there after school to do their homework, get a snack and get some play time. While we were here, we did manicures, taught them the Rainbow loom, arts and crafts projects as well as taking Polaroid photos to give them. They served us lunch of injerra, chirro, spicy beef sauce and cooked veggies (cabbage, carrots, potatoes). After lunch, they all sang songs in Amharic. Doc and I support 4 girls there and brought them a new outfit and shoes; oh the expressions on their faces when we gave them their gifts. Also, our family pays the rent for a mom and her 3 daughters and she came that afternoon to see us. We just bought her a sewing machine and she brought us a beautiful gift of 2 embroidered table runners. We were so humbled to receive these from her.
We went to church on Sunday with our new friends (Josh and Heidi Kelley from Nashville who are adopting a darling, 1-year-old girl) and staying at our same Guest House. The church is International Evangelical Church, pastored by Jerry and Christy Shannon from Lancaster. After church, we all went to Kaldi's for our first "Starbucks" coffee in Ethiopia. After that, our driver took us up on Entoto Mountain to visit the Historical Museum at the Orthodox Church. So interesting and the view of Addis was awesome. On the way back to the Guest House, we did some souvenir shopping at the Post Office area. We decided to try a new restaurant so ate dinner at the Nexus Hotel near our guest house. We had a wonderful day.
Our driver returned Monday morning to take us with Josh and Heidi back to Embracing Hope so they could be introduced to Christy Shannon and the awesome work being done there. The children are cared for so that moms can work and keep the family together. Some of the women work there making beautiful bead necklaces. We all bought lots of handmade items (beads, baskets, coffee) to bring home to sell as a fundraiser. We went from there to the scarf factory so Brit, Heidi and I could buy more scarves from the women who used to carry the heavy woodpiles down the mountain.
Now, it was time to go back to the guesthouse and pack for the trip home. The packing was quite a project, but we were able to get everything packed. After a light dinner at the guesthouse, Fekadu came to pick us all up to take Brieanna and Brit to the airport for their trip back to the US. We were sad to see them go, but know that it was the right time. We are not sure what God has planned for our remaining time.
As of Tuesday afternoon, we know that one part of His plan, is for us to visit A Heart for Korah, a ministry in the dump/slum area. We know it will be difficult to see, but necessary to be able to even better feel God's heart. We will write more tomorrow, I hope.
Continue to pray for us that we will know God's desire for us and how to best do His work. It has been harder this time due to some health issues, both GI as well as altitude sickness. But, we are determined to trust God for His protection and strength to experience the depth of the situation here.
The poverty and needs are many, but there are many people around the world who are catching the vision and coming together to love and aid the neediest of people here. We love being a part of all that He is doing here in Ethiopia. We are hoping that those back home will be open to us sharing what we have experienced and what we all can do to help.
Saturday, we went to Children's Heaven where they care for 120 girls from age 5-18. The girls go to school during the day and then come there after school to do their homework, get a snack and get some play time. While we were here, we did manicures, taught them the Rainbow loom, arts and crafts projects as well as taking Polaroid photos to give them. They served us lunch of injerra, chirro, spicy beef sauce and cooked veggies (cabbage, carrots, potatoes). After lunch, they all sang songs in Amharic. Doc and I support 4 girls there and brought them a new outfit and shoes; oh the expressions on their faces when we gave them their gifts. Also, our family pays the rent for a mom and her 3 daughters and she came that afternoon to see us. We just bought her a sewing machine and she brought us a beautiful gift of 2 embroidered table runners. We were so humbled to receive these from her.
We went to church on Sunday with our new friends (Josh and Heidi Kelley from Nashville who are adopting a darling, 1-year-old girl) and staying at our same Guest House. The church is International Evangelical Church, pastored by Jerry and Christy Shannon from Lancaster. After church, we all went to Kaldi's for our first "Starbucks" coffee in Ethiopia. After that, our driver took us up on Entoto Mountain to visit the Historical Museum at the Orthodox Church. So interesting and the view of Addis was awesome. On the way back to the Guest House, we did some souvenir shopping at the Post Office area. We decided to try a new restaurant so ate dinner at the Nexus Hotel near our guest house. We had a wonderful day.
Our driver returned Monday morning to take us with Josh and Heidi back to Embracing Hope so they could be introduced to Christy Shannon and the awesome work being done there. The children are cared for so that moms can work and keep the family together. Some of the women work there making beautiful bead necklaces. We all bought lots of handmade items (beads, baskets, coffee) to bring home to sell as a fundraiser. We went from there to the scarf factory so Brit, Heidi and I could buy more scarves from the women who used to carry the heavy woodpiles down the mountain.
Now, it was time to go back to the guesthouse and pack for the trip home. The packing was quite a project, but we were able to get everything packed. After a light dinner at the guesthouse, Fekadu came to pick us all up to take Brieanna and Brit to the airport for their trip back to the US. We were sad to see them go, but know that it was the right time. We are not sure what God has planned for our remaining time.
As of Tuesday afternoon, we know that one part of His plan, is for us to visit A Heart for Korah, a ministry in the dump/slum area. We know it will be difficult to see, but necessary to be able to even better feel God's heart. We will write more tomorrow, I hope.
Continue to pray for us that we will know God's desire for us and how to best do His work. It has been harder this time due to some health issues, both GI as well as altitude sickness. But, we are determined to trust God for His protection and strength to experience the depth of the situation here.
The poverty and needs are many, but there are many people around the world who are catching the vision and coming together to love and aid the neediest of people here. We love being a part of all that He is doing here in Ethiopia. We are hoping that those back home will be open to us sharing what we have experienced and what we all can do to help.
Friday, February 28, 2014
Quick Update - 2/28/2014
Greetings, all! Apologies for the delay - it has been a busy couple of days! Our trip to the south of Ethiopia was fantastic. We saw the completed water project, which included a water faucet facility at a school for children and a shower facility located at the bus station nearby. The children at the school where the water faucets are located were waiting for us and due to our late arrival were headed home until they saw us coming - then they all turned around and escorted us into the school and surrounded us and yelled, "Thank you very much!" It was a very special moment for us.
Wednesday we traveled around the region of Arsi Negelle to view additional water projects that have been constructed - they included a water power plant, 84 water kiosks where water can be purchased, a 300 cubic meter reservoir, a school, a biogas mini-plant, and a health facility that focuses on women's health. These water projects serve at least 137,000 people, with the goal of a maximum distance of 1.5km to access water - a great improvement, especially for this rural region. We were received with great honor everywhere we went, and we especially enjoyed interacting with the children. At one of the most rural locations, we were able to take Polaroid pictures of 6 children and their family and give them copies of the pictures immediately - it was so neat to see the wonder on their faces. :)
We were also able to distribute about 45 children's bags to orphans and vulnerable children, which was really special. (We will post pictures when we can.) They were so appreciative, and we took lots of photos with them, especially when they figured out about putting the sunglasses on. Doc also gave them a quick tutorial on how to use a yo-yo. It was very endearing.
We enjoyed the trip to and from Arsi Negelle and had some real adventure spotting numerous creatures - the highlights included monkeys, camels, ostriches and baboons, although we saw numerous mules, cattle, chickens and horses, which enjoy traveling on the main highway with all of the other traffic. On our return trip, we encountered an entire herd of camels walking toward us on the main drag - we slowed down as they surrounded us. A first-time for experience for all of us, I think. We also enjoyed seeing the change in climate and landscape - we went from the urban highlands to desert to lake region. The climate and vegetation seemed to change every half hour or so, and it was very interesting to observe.
We have also enjoyed experimenting with the language, which continues to amuse the Ethiopians we practice it with - we must be very funny because they laugh whenever we say anything. We have learned the basics, like "thank you" and "ok" but we also learned "delicious" and "no problem," which is probably the most common thing said here. Chigger yellum!
Today we visited the post office shopping area to pick up a few souvenirs, and then our driver took us to a scarf factory where older women who used to gather firewood on Entoto Mountain now make scarves as a means of income. Thus, they no longer have to climb up and down the mountain to do this rigorous work. It was very neat, and the scarves are beautiful!
Although our guest house is not necessarily 5-star, we have been treated like royalty, and our guest house host, Nati, has been a gift from above. We would love to bring him home with us - he has been fantastic! We enjoyed teaching he and the other helper, Latera, play gin rummy tonight. It was a lot of fun. :)
So, all is well here - we continue to venture around, and we have a few things on the docket for the weekend. We'll try to update you all again soon!
Wednesday we traveled around the region of Arsi Negelle to view additional water projects that have been constructed - they included a water power plant, 84 water kiosks where water can be purchased, a 300 cubic meter reservoir, a school, a biogas mini-plant, and a health facility that focuses on women's health. These water projects serve at least 137,000 people, with the goal of a maximum distance of 1.5km to access water - a great improvement, especially for this rural region. We were received with great honor everywhere we went, and we especially enjoyed interacting with the children. At one of the most rural locations, we were able to take Polaroid pictures of 6 children and their family and give them copies of the pictures immediately - it was so neat to see the wonder on their faces. :)
We were also able to distribute about 45 children's bags to orphans and vulnerable children, which was really special. (We will post pictures when we can.) They were so appreciative, and we took lots of photos with them, especially when they figured out about putting the sunglasses on. Doc also gave them a quick tutorial on how to use a yo-yo. It was very endearing.
We enjoyed the trip to and from Arsi Negelle and had some real adventure spotting numerous creatures - the highlights included monkeys, camels, ostriches and baboons, although we saw numerous mules, cattle, chickens and horses, which enjoy traveling on the main highway with all of the other traffic. On our return trip, we encountered an entire herd of camels walking toward us on the main drag - we slowed down as they surrounded us. A first-time for experience for all of us, I think. We also enjoyed seeing the change in climate and landscape - we went from the urban highlands to desert to lake region. The climate and vegetation seemed to change every half hour or so, and it was very interesting to observe.
We have also enjoyed experimenting with the language, which continues to amuse the Ethiopians we practice it with - we must be very funny because they laugh whenever we say anything. We have learned the basics, like "thank you" and "ok" but we also learned "delicious" and "no problem," which is probably the most common thing said here. Chigger yellum!
Today we visited the post office shopping area to pick up a few souvenirs, and then our driver took us to a scarf factory where older women who used to gather firewood on Entoto Mountain now make scarves as a means of income. Thus, they no longer have to climb up and down the mountain to do this rigorous work. It was very neat, and the scarves are beautiful!
Although our guest house is not necessarily 5-star, we have been treated like royalty, and our guest house host, Nati, has been a gift from above. We would love to bring him home with us - he has been fantastic! We enjoyed teaching he and the other helper, Latera, play gin rummy tonight. It was a lot of fun. :)
So, all is well here - we continue to venture around, and we have a few things on the docket for the weekend. We'll try to update you all again soon!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Day Two in Addis: Embracing Hope & Coffee Ceremony with Alayu, Kidist & Emmanuel
February 24, 2014
We are ending our first day in Addis Ababa, and it has been a very rewarding day. We went to Embracing Hope Ministry this morning, which is an adoption prevention ministry. Jerry and Christy Shannon, who now pastor the International Evangelical Church here, started this ministry in 2009 and have recently entrusted the directorship to our former guesthouse host, Alayu. Embracing Hope is a daycare for children of most-often single moms (there are a couple of fathers and uncles, but they are certainly the outliers) which allows mothers to work and keep their children with them as a result of this ministry providing child care, education and essential nutritional and medical care for both the moms and children. They have 122 children and are applying for approval to expand to having a capacity for 180 children. One fact Christy shared with us is that basic nutritional and medical care before the age of five can be the difference between life and death for these children, so there is a dramatic emphasis put on both of these aspects when children and mothers are admitted to the program. The program also requires the mothers to comply with two very basic rules - no prostitution and no begging. The program has grown dramatically since we were here in 2011. Today, we were able to observe the school classes and then participate in their corporate music class where they were singing and dancing and running up to us for hugs and high fives. They were beautiful and uninhibited. It was AMAZING!! Feel free to check out more of what they do at embracinghopeethiopia.com.
After visiting Embracing Hope, the director Alayu (our friend who hosted us last time in November 2011 at his guest house) took us out to lunch to welcome us to Ethiopia. We ate outside at an Italian restaurant, and it was great. The weather was perfect (70 and sunny, I would say), and we caught up over some pretty tasty food.
From there, we traveled to Alayu's home, where we reunited with his wife, Kidist, and their adorable 2 1/2 year old son, Emmanuel, and mother's helper, Alam. They were thrilled to see Doc and I again and excited to meet Brieanna and Brittany. Kidist had an entire coffee ceremony set up for us in their living room, and she honored our visit with a traditional coffee (buna) ceremony. She roasted the coffee beans, boiled milk, made popcorn, and served us coffee in beautiful tiny china cups and saucers. The coffee was fantastic! While we watched her make the coffee, Emmanuel warmed up to us and entertained us by rattling off in Amharic at his father and mother, dancing, and tossing a ball we had brought to him. When they mentioned that we would have to leave at some point to him in Amharic, he immediately stood up and went to his father and started crying. It was touching. Another touching moment was when both Kidist and Alam came out from the bedroom wearing the shoes we had brought to them from the States - they were thrilled with our gift, despite the shoes being quite simple. Kidist put on a pair of sneakers we also brought to her and repeated "so pretty so pretty" and she was so happy she hugged me and said "God bless you all. Thank you so much." It was a special afternoon, and we felt like honored guests in their home.
Today was generally interesting because we were able to see much of the city, as our guest house this time is across town from Embracing Hope and where we stayed before. We recognized the contrast between the more wealthy areas and as we got closer to Embracing Hope, which borders Korah (the slums next to the dump), we could notice the deterioration and poverty. The homes were more crude, the people more simply dressed, and the roads more bumpy. Despite this, the people we met were gracious and seemed happy. We encountered school children leaving school in their uniforms, and they sheepishly giggled at our "hellos." We also experienced our first traffic jam in rush hour in what we thought was Central Addis (we don't really know :) - we saw more people in half an hour than we've seen the whole time we've been here. Very interesting simply to observe the happenings around us.
So long for now, as we head south tomorrow to visit our completed water project in Arsi Negelle. It will be an overnight trip until Wednesday, when we will visit villages for potential future water projects. We'll try to be in touch upon our return. Keep the prayers coming for continued safety, health and adventure! Amusah genalo! (Thank you :)
We are ending our first day in Addis Ababa, and it has been a very rewarding day. We went to Embracing Hope Ministry this morning, which is an adoption prevention ministry. Jerry and Christy Shannon, who now pastor the International Evangelical Church here, started this ministry in 2009 and have recently entrusted the directorship to our former guesthouse host, Alayu. Embracing Hope is a daycare for children of most-often single moms (there are a couple of fathers and uncles, but they are certainly the outliers) which allows mothers to work and keep their children with them as a result of this ministry providing child care, education and essential nutritional and medical care for both the moms and children. They have 122 children and are applying for approval to expand to having a capacity for 180 children. One fact Christy shared with us is that basic nutritional and medical care before the age of five can be the difference between life and death for these children, so there is a dramatic emphasis put on both of these aspects when children and mothers are admitted to the program. The program also requires the mothers to comply with two very basic rules - no prostitution and no begging. The program has grown dramatically since we were here in 2011. Today, we were able to observe the school classes and then participate in their corporate music class where they were singing and dancing and running up to us for hugs and high fives. They were beautiful and uninhibited. It was AMAZING!! Feel free to check out more of what they do at embracinghopeethiopia.com.
After visiting Embracing Hope, the director Alayu (our friend who hosted us last time in November 2011 at his guest house) took us out to lunch to welcome us to Ethiopia. We ate outside at an Italian restaurant, and it was great. The weather was perfect (70 and sunny, I would say), and we caught up over some pretty tasty food.
From there, we traveled to Alayu's home, where we reunited with his wife, Kidist, and their adorable 2 1/2 year old son, Emmanuel, and mother's helper, Alam. They were thrilled to see Doc and I again and excited to meet Brieanna and Brittany. Kidist had an entire coffee ceremony set up for us in their living room, and she honored our visit with a traditional coffee (buna) ceremony. She roasted the coffee beans, boiled milk, made popcorn, and served us coffee in beautiful tiny china cups and saucers. The coffee was fantastic! While we watched her make the coffee, Emmanuel warmed up to us and entertained us by rattling off in Amharic at his father and mother, dancing, and tossing a ball we had brought to him. When they mentioned that we would have to leave at some point to him in Amharic, he immediately stood up and went to his father and started crying. It was touching. Another touching moment was when both Kidist and Alam came out from the bedroom wearing the shoes we had brought to them from the States - they were thrilled with our gift, despite the shoes being quite simple. Kidist put on a pair of sneakers we also brought to her and repeated "so pretty so pretty" and she was so happy she hugged me and said "God bless you all. Thank you so much." It was a special afternoon, and we felt like honored guests in their home.
Today was generally interesting because we were able to see much of the city, as our guest house this time is across town from Embracing Hope and where we stayed before. We recognized the contrast between the more wealthy areas and as we got closer to Embracing Hope, which borders Korah (the slums next to the dump), we could notice the deterioration and poverty. The homes were more crude, the people more simply dressed, and the roads more bumpy. Despite this, the people we met were gracious and seemed happy. We encountered school children leaving school in their uniforms, and they sheepishly giggled at our "hellos." We also experienced our first traffic jam in rush hour in what we thought was Central Addis (we don't really know :) - we saw more people in half an hour than we've seen the whole time we've been here. Very interesting simply to observe the happenings around us.
So long for now, as we head south tomorrow to visit our completed water project in Arsi Negelle. It will be an overnight trip until Wednesday, when we will visit villages for potential future water projects. We'll try to be in touch upon our return. Keep the prayers coming for continued safety, health and adventure! Amusah genalo! (Thank you :)
Friday, February 21, 2014
February 21, 2014
Ready to go. Doc and I are sitting in Brieanna and Jon's living room finishing up preparation for our trip. We just repacked one of our bags to try to get in some last minute items.
Brieanna is at work and just texted that she went out to lunch and her associates ordered Ethiopian food. She sent a photo and it looks yummy to me, not so much so to Doc. But, he will do ok.
As we have been preparing for the trip, a couple of scriptures have stood out to us.
"Forget the former things -- do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now, it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43: 18-20
"But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend. I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant,' I have chosen you and not rejected you. So, do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:8-11.
We are claiming these scriptures as our beliefs for the trip and know that God is in all we are doing.
We fly from Phila to Washington Dulles at 7 am Sat morning, Feb 22 and then leave Dulles at 10 am for our nonstop flight to Ethiopia, arriving in Addis Ababa at 7:45 am Sun morning.
We covet your prayers for safety and great health and that God will direct our every step. We are excited for what He has planned for us.
Love, Doc & Helen and Brieanna and Brittany
Ready to go. Doc and I are sitting in Brieanna and Jon's living room finishing up preparation for our trip. We just repacked one of our bags to try to get in some last minute items.
Brieanna is at work and just texted that she went out to lunch and her associates ordered Ethiopian food. She sent a photo and it looks yummy to me, not so much so to Doc. But, he will do ok.
As we have been preparing for the trip, a couple of scriptures have stood out to us.
"Forget the former things -- do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now, it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43: 18-20
"But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend. I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you. I said, 'You are my servant,' I have chosen you and not rejected you. So, do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:8-11.
We are claiming these scriptures as our beliefs for the trip and know that God is in all we are doing.
We fly from Phila to Washington Dulles at 7 am Sat morning, Feb 22 and then leave Dulles at 10 am for our nonstop flight to Ethiopia, arriving in Addis Ababa at 7:45 am Sun morning.
We covet your prayers for safety and great health and that God will direct our every step. We are excited for what He has planned for us.
Love, Doc & Helen and Brieanna and Brittany
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Almost Ready
February 18, 2014
Well, we have just finished repacking 9 suitcases/bins, weighing them over and over again, and finally loading them in the Suburban for our trip to Philadelphia. Brieanna and Brittany came home the weekend of Feb 8th to help us pack all of the wonderful supplies that have been given. Well, there was a TON (almost literally) of fabulous gallon bags of goodies for children, 150+ bags.
We packed and repacked and then decided to start weighing. WOW!! It is so hard to pack that amount of material and keep the weight at 50#. I think we did it. Each of our containers weighs right at 50# and we are praying that they meet the requirement at the airport and that the person who waits on us is merciful.
We want to take this opportunity to once again thank Cindy Fitzgerald for ALL the wonderful work she has done to gather all these goodie bags. As well, we shout a big THANK YOU to Sarah Vickery and Wellsboro Home Page for the interview done on Jan 22 http://www.wellsborohomepage.com/ whereby we could share our vision with our home area.
We are traveling to Philadelphia on Thurs, Feb 20 so we can relax one day at Brieanna's and then be there to pick up our niece, Brittany who is traveling in from Pittsburgh to go to Ethiopia with us. We leave Philadelphia International Airport Sat, Feb 22 at 6am to Washington Dulles and then leave there at 10am for arrival in Ethiopia Sun Feb 23 at 7:45am. We are flying on Ethiopian Airlines.
We will try to update our blog as time and internet connection allows. We covet your prayers for health and safety and great work done for the Lord. More to follow!!
Well, we have just finished repacking 9 suitcases/bins, weighing them over and over again, and finally loading them in the Suburban for our trip to Philadelphia. Brieanna and Brittany came home the weekend of Feb 8th to help us pack all of the wonderful supplies that have been given. Well, there was a TON (almost literally) of fabulous gallon bags of goodies for children, 150+ bags.
We packed and repacked and then decided to start weighing. WOW!! It is so hard to pack that amount of material and keep the weight at 50#. I think we did it. Each of our containers weighs right at 50# and we are praying that they meet the requirement at the airport and that the person who waits on us is merciful.
We want to take this opportunity to once again thank Cindy Fitzgerald for ALL the wonderful work she has done to gather all these goodie bags. As well, we shout a big THANK YOU to Sarah Vickery and Wellsboro Home Page for the interview done on Jan 22 http://www.wellsborohomepage.com/ whereby we could share our vision with our home area.
We are traveling to Philadelphia on Thurs, Feb 20 so we can relax one day at Brieanna's and then be there to pick up our niece, Brittany who is traveling in from Pittsburgh to go to Ethiopia with us. We leave Philadelphia International Airport Sat, Feb 22 at 6am to Washington Dulles and then leave there at 10am for arrival in Ethiopia Sun Feb 23 at 7:45am. We are flying on Ethiopian Airlines.
We will try to update our blog as time and internet connection allows. We covet your prayers for health and safety and great work done for the Lord. More to follow!!
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
January 29, 2014
I am going to try to catch you all up on our lives since we returned from Ethiopia in Nov. 2011.
Our hearts had been changed forever and our vision for the future included returning to Ethiopia and helping to bring clean water to as many people as possible. We did not know how, but we knew we would.
We returned the week of Thanksgiving and several of our children and their families came home to share the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with us. It was challenging for me to prepare that meal for our family when we had just been in a country where food was so scarce. It was humbling for us and our children saw a dramatic change in their parents.
In Feb 2012, Doc had several TIAs (otherwise known as mini strokes) which left NO residual effects, but did terminate his lifelong profession of being a large animal veterinarian. He was forced to stop practicing instantly and this was a difficult change in his and our lives. We did not know what to do. It seemed that now we had the time to go back, but his health would not permit. We spent the next year and a half trying to find our way and timing to return. In the summer of 2013, the doctors cleared Doc to return.
However, in this same time frame, Helen's 91-year-old mother needed more of our presence as her health started to decline. She was still independent and caring for herself, but we needed to spend more time with her. The summer of 2013 found Helen in Florida with her most of the time, and then in Sept, the Lord chose to take her home on September 15. This was a very difficult time for us, as Nana had been a very crucial part of our lives and our biggest supporter of our call to providing clean water and help to the dear people of Ethiopia.
After Nana's passing, we began to make plans to return to Ethiopia. We finally purchased tickets to return from Feb 22,2014 to March 16, 2014 and to take our youngest daughter, Brieanna and our niece, Brittany with us. They will be staying only until March 3rd due to their job situations.
So, we are busily preparing to go and to take gallon bag care packets with us to the children we will visit and to travel to the village where our completed water project is. Also, we will see a couple villages where our next water projects will be built.
Also, we are planning a 5K Walk/Run on April 26 in Mansfield, PA to raise the monies for our next water project. Please visit Doc's Well of Hope on Facebook for more details: https://www.facebook.com/docswell.
We will update as more details of the trip and fundraiser become available.
I am going to try to catch you all up on our lives since we returned from Ethiopia in Nov. 2011.
Our hearts had been changed forever and our vision for the future included returning to Ethiopia and helping to bring clean water to as many people as possible. We did not know how, but we knew we would.
We returned the week of Thanksgiving and several of our children and their families came home to share the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with us. It was challenging for me to prepare that meal for our family when we had just been in a country where food was so scarce. It was humbling for us and our children saw a dramatic change in their parents.
In Feb 2012, Doc had several TIAs (otherwise known as mini strokes) which left NO residual effects, but did terminate his lifelong profession of being a large animal veterinarian. He was forced to stop practicing instantly and this was a difficult change in his and our lives. We did not know what to do. It seemed that now we had the time to go back, but his health would not permit. We spent the next year and a half trying to find our way and timing to return. In the summer of 2013, the doctors cleared Doc to return.
However, in this same time frame, Helen's 91-year-old mother needed more of our presence as her health started to decline. She was still independent and caring for herself, but we needed to spend more time with her. The summer of 2013 found Helen in Florida with her most of the time, and then in Sept, the Lord chose to take her home on September 15. This was a very difficult time for us, as Nana had been a very crucial part of our lives and our biggest supporter of our call to providing clean water and help to the dear people of Ethiopia.
After Nana's passing, we began to make plans to return to Ethiopia. We finally purchased tickets to return from Feb 22,2014 to March 16, 2014 and to take our youngest daughter, Brieanna and our niece, Brittany with us. They will be staying only until March 3rd due to their job situations.
So, we are busily preparing to go and to take gallon bag care packets with us to the children we will visit and to travel to the village where our completed water project is. Also, we will see a couple villages where our next water projects will be built.
Also, we are planning a 5K Walk/Run on April 26 in Mansfield, PA to raise the monies for our next water project. Please visit Doc's Well of Hope on Facebook for more details: https://www.facebook.com/docswell.
We will update as more details of the trip and fundraiser become available.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Update
Greetings at long last from Doc and Helen.
We realize that it has been a long time since we last posted and a lot has transpired in that time, so we will do our best to update and let you know what is us for now.
I must admit that I am having some computer difficulties so I am going to post this first to see if it posts, and then I will write a followup post.
We realize that it has been a long time since we last posted and a lot has transpired in that time, so we will do our best to update and let you know what is us for now.
I must admit that I am having some computer difficulties so I am going to post this first to see if it posts, and then I will write a followup post.
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