Ethiopia

So it's been a while since the last blog posting. I was in Ethiopia and then recovering, and wanting to take sometime to think about and work through my experience there this time. We had an awesome time. The people there were great as always and the weather was amazing. The food was ... well lets just say we all were so excited to buy bread and cheese and make grilled cheese sandwiches. We spent a lot of time at the orphanage and the twins that stole Elisabeth and I's heart last time were there still and still as lovable, Nardos was there and clinged on, and one other little girl whose name I don't know - all I know is she was adorable, she talked and giggled all the time and that I got more exercise chasing her around than anything else.

But out of all of it good and bad (most of the bad was linked to the flight and Lufthansa being the worst airline I've ever flown with) there were 2 things that stuck out to me. First was my experience at HOPE ministries - a ministry that has a school and adult education facility, but also a feeding program that feeds 1000 people a day! They had already fed 300 kids in the morning, and we drove in around 11 to help with the lunch feeding. 700 people had already gathered, most with some sort of cane, and all with ratty clothes. I have trouble describing it 8 Canadians step out into this crowd and you feel like you are on another planet for a bit. The rest went down and got ready, while I got the chance to tell all 700 about God, they listened intently and when I was done begged for me to take their pictures. It was so weird after, they all just wanted to shake my hand, I've never felt so ... well weird is likely the best word, but valued might be another.
The I just pray that they accept the HOPE that only God can give them.
The second was while at a High school in Ethiopia. We had been in many classes and made our way to a class for the hearing impaired. They asked alot of questions about what kids like them were like in Canada and how they were treated. They gave an opportunity for us to share anything we wanted, and the rest of the team looked like the "deer in the headlights" I took the opportunity to let them know that God loved them and viewed them as equals to everyone else. It was amazing to me to see the look in their eyes a sense of relief a sense of amazement, not in what I had said, but in the love God has for them. IT was short, but it was a seed planted and our amazing God will continue to work on it.
These moments don't stick out to me because of my involvement, it makes sense I remember them because of it, but they stick out because of how God orchestrated it all and touched lives, and the looks in their eyes showed a genuineness in acceptence of what was said that we don't see nearly enough.