Now some pictures.

I hope you enjoy these photos of what the team experienced.

Clayton, 1st day, trying to understand what is being said.

With a couple of eucalyptus branches, nails, and able bodies, who needs a skid steer loader.

This was filled by noon on the first day!

By the end of the day, the wall started to take shape.

Some teachers at the school using the wheel barrel loaded with cement, during a break.

 

We also learned that we didn't need a cement mixer, although it would have been nice.

A portion of the wall.

Some interaction with the school kids.

How we got our water everyday to mix the cement.

The wall, really taking shape.

Some dancing at the thank you celebration.

What was completed on the wall before we left. Hopefully by Nov. 20 they we able to finish with the cinder blocks.

Back In The USA!!!!

All of us made it back to the US safely.  We parted ways with Kyle in Washington last night,  as he was heading on to Cleveland to speak at a youth conference this weekend.  And Ariel and I went on the Denver.  We made it in to Denver around 12:30 am and are now waiting at the airport to fly home.  Our flight leaves at 8:15 this morning and we will be back in Big Sky Country by 10:00.  We look forward to seeing everyone and sharing our adventures with you all.  Ariel is planning on posting some pictures of the trip when we get home.  In Ethiopia, it took an hour sometimes just to write the blog and get it posted so posting pictures was usually out of the question.

See you all Soon,
Aaron

The Sacrificial Lamb comes to life...

Hello everyone, Aaron here on blog duty tonight...

Over the past few days, since the team left, there has been an intense battle going on here in Ethiopia.  That battle is being fought in the remote regions of my heart and mind.  Daily I have been wrestling with the extremes that we have become accustom to seeing during our travels here.  Extreme poverty, living conditions, sickness, disease, and yet on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, extreme wealth, success, progress. And yet I find myself being drawn back to the former of the two extremes.  My heart is despirately waging war with the comforts of this life in an attempt to return to the poorer communities, whose lives have touched us beyond all comprehension.

During our trips to the Acacia Village site I have been thoroughly impressed with the level of professionalism that has taken place at this site.  It is truly a wonderful project and very much needed for their organization.  The job site is very much a commercial project site similar to what you would see in the states,  but much more primitive in their construction methods.  Everything is built out of concrete and reinforced with re-bar.  The scaffolding is built out of euclyptus branches.  It was quite the experience walking up three flights of scaffolding on branches.  Kyle and Ariel wouldn't try it the second time we visited the site, once was enough for them.  It has been very intriguing for me to see some of the construction techniques and procedures that they go through to build a commercial building here in Ethiopia.  

But during each visit my mind and my heart seem to wander back to our dear friends at the school and a simpler way of life.  Everywhere you turn there is need in this city.  Our prayer is that we are hearing God's direction clearly and providing aide where He wants us to, not where we desire to work.  Our conversations with the contractors at the Acacia Village have been very promising and they are open for churches like ours to send work groups over when the timing is appropriate during the different phases.  This was very encouraging.

This morning, we went back to the Bright Hope School project to see how the progress was going on the well and to work some more on the wall.  When we showed up, water was flowing freely out of the well.  They got the pump hooked up today and were getting ready to send some samples off to the labs to get tested.  Keep this in your prayers that the tests will return positive and that they will be able to use this for drinking water as it is greatly needed.  Today alone we began seeing how the well could save the other projects money as they now don't have to pay someone to haul water in for them to mix the cement.  Last week we paid someone $2 per donkey per trip to haul water for us.  There were 4 donkeys each of which made 6-7 trips per day.  That begins to add up quickly as all of you can imagine.  Our work today was kind of bittersweet.  It was wonderful to be back working at the school, however all of the men that we spent the last week getting to know and working with were not there.  We had a new set of workers to get to know and had to learn the process all over again.  We also missed having the rest of our group with us,  all of you were and have been truly missed this week.  You guys made this trip so much fun. 

As we were finishing up our work today, we were informed that we would be honored guests, again, in celebration of the completion of the well and what we accomplished on the wall.  A celebration such as this consists of buying a sheep at the market and bringing it to the celebration alive.  They then procede to slaughter the sheep, butcher it, and then cook it into a meal that is shared by all of the people at the celebration.  Kyle and Ariel were present in representatives of our group at the slaughtering.  And for all of you who are wondering, yes there is video footage of this event.  This event has brought new perspective for all of us on God's sacrificial lamb,  Jesus, was led to the cross.  He was beaten, mocked and bruised for our transgressions.  As the sheep was brought in to the school yard it was mobbed by children, who began to hit it and kick it.  It was then tied up close to our jobsite waiting to be led to it's final resting place.  Kyle helped drag it to the slaughtering floor.  So if you are into comparisons, and trying to compare this event to Christ's walk to the cross,  Kyle would be on of the Roman guards who led him to the Cross.  Just kidding.  But in all seriousness, this really was a real life depiction of what our Savior did on our behalf.  And without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.  It really did bring that verse to life for me today and I will never be the same because of it. 

Hey Everyone..

Ariel posting tonight.

Sunday we attended church with Haddush who is with CWA. The church is called Beza International. The time was very uplifting. The worship time allowed me to reflect on the week's events and pray for the Kore sub-city in Addis, where we did our work this week.

In the afternoon we toured the National Museum. After this we went to the Lion Zoo. Which has 6 breeding couples and 4 cubs. There was an extra charge for me to carry my camera, interesting. But once inside the area a gentlemen, the trainer who feeds the lions, took me personally around the park He put me in specific places to get the best pictures and get the most for my money. Very cool. They also have a rabbit from New Zealand and monkeys. We also got a chance to try some ice cream. After this we drove way up above the city of Addis, to the old city of Addis. We were at about 10,000 ft. You have to even pay to walk down the path and all along the way there are kids planted that have memorized certain facts about the area. They don't leave your side and want to be paid as you get ready to leave. This area up on the mountain is full of farming areas, much colder, and had refreshing air to breath. It was neat to see the city from above. I just wanted to go for a hike in the woods.

We have also located a little shop near the Guest Home that sells pop in a bottle. Awesome. Pepsi is much better in a bottle. Aaron and Kyle are really liking the Miranda orange soda. So we got to enjoy one with dinner. The chef here at the guest home has been blessing us with great food. He makes this spagetti sauce with some kind of chile powder stuff. Amazingly good. I plan on making it at home when we return. We have also gotten a chance to try avacado in a new way. First we had with pineapple juice for breakfast one morning. Very good. And for lunch one day we had a yogurt, banana, avacado pudding. Suprisingly delicious. Another recipe for me to make when I return home.

Monday, today, we went back to the Acacia Village building site to speak with the contractor. It was a good visit and helped us understand where in the future it may be possible to help with the project.

While here in Addis, we have developed many friendships with the staff at the EGH. They have become dear friends of ours. We taught them how to play dutch blitz and now they are beating us at the game. I can't begin to tell you the amount of good conversations we have had and laughter we have shared. For example the birthday party they arranged for Aaron. We hope that these friendships will only grow as we continue to do work in Ethiopia. But yesterday we received news that one of these friends had received tragic news. His sister had been killed while living in America. He has to find some way to bring her home to Addis. He hopes he can obtain a VISA and go the U.S, but this can be very hard for an Ethiopian. Praise the Lord she knew the Lord as her Savior and is now with Him in heaven and we will all get to meet her someday. The Lord has also provided a friend of hers in America to help our friend in Addis with the logistics in America. So we went and saw him today at his home. To try to offer some encouragment and to just be with him as he suffers through this confusion and pain. Thankfully we were able to just that. He needs our continued prayers as he wrestles with the confusion in his mind and the task of bringing her home. We also are praying that through this tragic situation his own family, that does not know that Lord, would be able to see His blessing and come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. May he give our friend the strength and discernment to lead his family. Will you please pray with us?

Wrecked....Everything

Hello everyone, Kyle here again posting the blog....

Again for those who want the quick short and simple of what happened today here you go. Today I saw a man die, I meet a future neighbor, and lastly I was kissed by a leper.

Now for the details!

Today we started our journey by visiting Christian World Adoptions (CWA) Acacia Village. It is currently under construction and will soon be a brand new compound consisting of a 300 bed orphanage, a guest house, a medical clinic, and a chapel. They are currently finishing the orphanage house so we got to tour the construction site, it was impressive to say the least and will be a great place for kids someday. After we finished our tour of Acacia Village we headed to CWA's two childrens home, one is for the females and infants, and the other for boys. After touring both childrens homes we headed over to CWA's office to talk about adoptions and how our paperwork was doing for the Harvest families that are in the process of adopting, it was their that we found the info on a future neighbor and soon to be resident of Billings, MT; his name was Asrat. After realizing that he was at the boys home, the one we just visited we quickly made a U-turn and went to find him for a more personal and meaningful greeting.  As soon as we entered the gate we received the same warm welcome as before, several young boys ran up to us arms wide open desperately seeking a touch or any form of affection, what else would you expect from the fatherless. We asked the attendant were Asrat was and she informed us that she would get him, moments later a beautiful, bright eyed  6 year old boy popped his head out from the door immediately my heart sank, it was as if i knew him. I didn't know what to do next so I just waved him to come and he came running with a look of confusion and joy on his face, then Haddush, the CWA coordinator began to tell him that we knew his future parents, as the words sank in you could see Asrats face change from confusion to excitement, he then turned to us and gave each of us a big hug and a very energetic high five, it was awesome! The best part is, he was wearing a cowboy shirt with mountains and horses on it, Asrat will be a great addition to the harvest family and to Montana.

After spending some time at the CWA orphanages we returned to the guest house for lunch and then headed back to the Bright Hope School to give the workers pictures we had developed of them and us, unfortunately they were not there, I am sure they were as exhausted as us and needed a break. So on our way back to the guest house we stopped in the community the school was located in to give clothes and shoes to some people that we heard were in need. The clothes and shoes came from the our team that returned early this morning, most of them left all the clothes they brought and their shoes, truly a sign of how impacting this place is and can be. What happened was something I have been dreading for months and months. For a long time I have known about this trip and have spent hours and days wondering how it will effect me, I am a very selfish person and I liked my life, I didn't want it to change.....but when you serve a God as big as ours and as crazy, you can almost expect a good shake up!

Now keep in mind the following...the only thing the bible promises is that it will cost you everything!

As we pulled up to houses made of sticks and mud, and then climbed out of the van with clothes in hand we proceeded through the door into a world of injustice and redemption! As we winded through the walls of mud and rocky paths we peered into homes barely five feet wide and into the lives of those who are in need the most we found ourselves in the home barely suitable for many of our pets. The house maybe 10 feet by 8 was the home of a lady suffering from aids and her 4 children also victims of the HIV virus. The women then proceeded to tell us her story of how she was raped and the impending result of that was HIV and how all her kids now have it but it was not beyond the reach of God's grace and how for her that was enough. After giving her and her family some of the clothes we then proceeded into another home this one 15 x 15 home to 13 people, yes 13 people. This is where our lives were wrecked, the home was not just a family but a community. See there was blind women with leprosy, and a elderly man with one leg who also had leprosy, another man was handicapped and blind, and then there was a man with elephantiasis in his leg, the list goes on. All of them beggars, living together, eating together experiencing the love of Christ together...it was a beautiful collision! After giving them the rest of our clothes and shaking their hands, we left broken and with a new holy discontent for the injustice of this world, tears in our eyes and our hearts heavy with the love of Christ we left confused and burdened.

Now I know you wondering when I am going to talk about seeing a man die, well here you go, that man was me! Today after experienceing the injustice of the world I lost myself to the battle of discontentment, the battle of consumerism, the battle of envy, the battle of greed, the battle of ungratefulness...today I died to myself. As I was leaving the house I spoke of earlier, I realized that I had to be like Jesus and touch people....not love at a distance but embrace those who need it the most! I hugged a man with Aids, I held a child from the slums, and I embraced a victim of rape, but most importantly I was kissed by leper! A man so hidious, so dirty, so forgotten, yet so beautiful, so tender, so grateful, so in love with Christ that he honors me by kissing my hand. Today I watched a man die, and that man was me, today I took up my cross and now with tears and heart burdenend for change I will follow....will you!

Ethiopia Hope is just that, its restoring hope to us and them! What will love make you do?

cho
kyle

Blood, Sweat, Tears and More of the Truffle Shuffle

Hello to all of our friends and family back in Montana and across the rest America.  This blog comes to you from Aaron, I will try my best to explain in detail today's events.  As Kyle said in the previous blog "Tell it like a Girl."  I don't do that very well but I will try my hardest.  So here it goes...

It's Midnight here in Addis and we just dropped the rest of the team off at the airport for their journey home.  They leave the Addis airport at 2am and fly to Frankfurt, Germany.  From there they will fly directly to Denver and will be home Saturday evening.  Ariel, Kyle and I will be here for a few more days, as we go to see the Acacia Village project that CWA, Christian World Adoption, is doing here in Addis.  We will miss having the team with us as we have become one big happy family. I am so very proud of the work that this team has done.  Harvest Church and Billings Mt, can consider itself honored to have men and women with the character and convictions such as these. 

Today, was a day filled with too many emotions to describe.  It was a joyous day, as we were able to complete the almost all of the final rock layer by noon today at the school before we had to leave.  I am quite certain that the contractors were able to finish the last 10 meters, 30 feet, this afternoon.  To put this in perspective for you all.  This morning was full of joy, laughter and tears.  On previous mornings when we would pull in to the school to begin our work the contractors would wave at us and then go back to shaping the stones we would use to complete the days work.  Today however was different.  Each of the men dropped their tools as we pulled in to the school grounds and greated us as we piled out of the vans.  Their faces were still glowing from last nights events.  Our presence in this community half way around the world has left an eternal mark, which was evident on the faces of five men this morning.  We exchanged hugs and handshakes, said Endemena derachu, Good morning in Amarhic, and laughed with eachother about the previous nights celebration.  All of this ocurred naturally without any help from our translators.  The language barrier had finally been reduced from a large hurdle to overcome to small obstical that everyone on our team nimbly stepped over and kept on going.  We truly do serve an Awesome God!!!  The relationships that we have developed here are truly amazing.

This week we have had cuts that made us bleed, pour out gallons of sweat and today their were tears.  Tears of joy and sadness.  Throughout this day we were bounced from ceremony to ceremony, all of which were in honor of the work that we had accomplished this week and the hope of the future.  The Bright Hope School faculty presented us with two different certificates of appreciation this morning.  We definitely felt honored and humbled to be chosen to be a part of this project.  We worked until noon at the school, and then had to say our goodbyes to the contractors.  After a round of hugs, thank yous, and many tears, we hopped in the vans and left to go to another coffee ceremony at the CHI House of Hope.  On a side note,  friday is literally called TGIF here and many of the schools let out at noon.  It seems that they work very hard for four days and then on friday they kind of take it easy.  Everyone still goes to work but their is a more relaxed atmoshpere around the work site.  Once we got to the House of Hope we were treated to another celebratory meal and the traditional coffee ceremony.  It was all wonderful.  We have truly been honored guests of our brothers and sisters here in Ethiopia.  When we finished our lunch and tour of the guests house that CHI has we headed off to the market. 

Instead of going to the Mercato, Africa's largest open air market, Sammy one of our interpreters who had been helping us throughout the week,  suggested that we go to the Alert Hospital to buy some souvineirs.  The Alert Hospital, is where many of the disabled, and lepers go to get treatment.  It is literally a stones throw away from the school.  Many of the men and women at the hospital have children who go to the school.  At the hospital, they make all kinds of woven wares, purses, table clothes, shirts, dresses.  And then hand carved crosses, animals, and a varity of other souvineirs.  This place was very near and dear to Sammy's heart as he grew up in that area and work at the hospital shining shoes as a young boy.  Sammy's Dad was a leper and Sammy went to school at Bright Hope.  He has seen more in his young 26 years then any of us will ever or should ever see in three lifetimes.  God has done an amazing work in his heart and life. Throughout the day I was able to spend some more time gathering information about his life.  His life gave me a brief glimpse into what God is doing here in Ethiopia on a personal level.  As we were saying goodbye for the night,  Sammy told us that when he wasn't working for the Guest Home, he would go back to the school and work with the contractors on the wall.  I asked him if the contractors knew Jesus as their boss.  He said that most of them are Orthodox Christians but they may not be walking with the Lord.  I asked him to water the seed that we have planted in their lives.  He was so excited and said, "yes I will water and grow into a big tree for the Lord."

From the hospital we went to the Post Office area market and finished our shopping.  We then returned to the Guest House before going to dinner.  As I walked in the door I was greeted with a joyous,  "SURPRISE,  HAPPY BIRTHDAY."  Everyone has conspired together and picked up a birthday cake and card,  and another coffee ceremony.  It was the best birthday I could have asked for.  I have made some amazing friends this week.  God has truly blessed this trip and will continue to bless the work that will continue here while we are away for a period of time. 

Aaron Koenigsberg

Sweet I got to do the truffle schuffle

Hello everyone,
Brian blogging for the first time, ever, not sure how this will go but I will do my best.

For those who have little time I will summarize the day.  the wall is coming along nicely, hope to post some more pictures tomorrow is what I am told.  All of the team is still healthy, very tired, but healthy.  Today we mixed 10 batches of cement, laid another 60-70 feet of wall and Brian L has became proficient at cutting rock with the rock hammer.  It really takes more skill then it looks to pound a rock with a hammer and get it to break in a certain spot.  We also had our first coffee ceremony, it was provided by the teachers at the school to show their appreciation.  Then after work we went to a cafe where we were told the sub-city leadership wanted to do a coffee ceremony as well, but that turned out much larger then expected.  It actually turned out to be a huge celebration which included fresh cooked lamb and traditional dancing, where we all danced, Patrick and Rachel got the honor of dancing in front of everyone the rest of us got to stay at our tables till the end of the celebration.  The thing I pulled away from today is, if hard work is a universal language then celebrations are the fruit of that labor, and today we saw fruit, and you at home need to be rejoicing with us, because we are making an eternal impact that we might never fully realize.

Now, the rest of the story.  Since Monday we have been doing our best to learn to make cement without the aid of mixer, in fact we are the mixer. Here's the process, you take about 1 yard of sand, 1 100lb bag of concrete, 2 shovels and water.  First you heap the sand, then spread the concrete on the top of the sand, then you turn the pile like your folding flour for bread, then you finally add water until it becomes a sand/concrete slurry.  Sound fun?? then add to that the language barrier, because the first day we did this we didn't have an interpreter.  the process was basically us watching then jumping in.  First day we did about 4 batches of concrete, yesterday we did 10 and today we managed to run 13 batches of concrete through what we now affectionately call the batch plant.  One big obstacle that we noticed today was Ethiopian's do not multitask, at all no matter what.  The contractors that are showing us the way of rock manipulation couldn't figure out why we wanted to get the concrete started this morning.  They were busy cutting the rock that they were going to use and we wanted to be ready with the concrete when they were done, but they just couldn't figure why we wanted to get concrete, their thinking was get rock done first then get concrete.  After we got it all straightened out, Clayton who we dubbed the mix master, fired up the batch plant and the concrete and rock started flying up the wall, when you see it in action it is a pretty cool sight. we had 9 of the batches of concrete done by lunch.  At lunch we were honored guests at a coffee ceremony the teacher's and staff of the school put on for us. The coffee ceremony is very interesting, they make coffee in a traditional pot over a smoldering fire, they also serve bread and pop corn, kind of strange but really cool.  After the ceremony we got back to work.  We broke at 4:45 and headed to another coffee ceremony, well that is what we were told anyway.  On the way the van I was riding in actually got pulled over, that is a weird thing to.  Ethiopia doesn't have traffic cops in cars, the cop stands by the side of the road and if you are breaking the law they give you a 2 finger wave, which consists of the first two fingers in the air and point to the side of the road.  we received a ticket for having a van with too many people in it sounds kind of trite, but I digress.  We finally made it to the sub city offices to find out the ceremony had been moved to the cafe at the end of the street.  When we arrived there were tables and chairs all set up and there was also a keyboardist and people setting up a PA system.  We thought that was kind of strange, but didn't think much of it until our interpreter, Sammy,  noticed they were getting a fire pit ready. Sammy got all excited and said they were making 'tips', and asked if I wanted to go see what they were preparing.  I said I did and we went around the cafe where the principal of Bright Hope school and about 10 other people were preparing fresh meat.  Turns out 'tips' as it is called is a huge celebratory meal reserved for holidays, weddings, or special occasions. The meat is fresh lamb that is seasoned like no other meat I have ever tasted and cooked over an open fire.  During the meal we were treated to 3 traditional dancers with music from the keyboardist.  the dance they preformed was called the Eskesta, which the closest I can describe is like doing the truffle shuffle from teh movie the Goonies.  Much to my surprise the dancers were working through the tables and picking people to dance with them, so in keeping with tradition, I got to do the truffle shuffle.  I was not the only one, Patrick and Rachel were taken in front of the group and danced with the 3 performers, while the rest of us got the security of dancing at our tables.  After the dance ended the sub city leadership was introduced, he read a prepared speach thanking us, C.H.I. and YOU for all the supplies and work being done at the school.  After the speach they called us all one at a time to the front to receive a gift, all of us was presented with a traditionally made pullover and a scarf, and here this whole time I thought we were coming to provide them with a gift, silly me. I, along with everyone else, was completely surprised and humbled by the outpouring of love and kindness from the community we are trying to help.  The best thing was the contractors,Ulubshet, Anmewu, Demle, and Yalew, that have been working along side us all week were invited by us to this event, they got to share in a meal that most don't have the money to prepare but once every couple of years if that often.  These men for the past 4 days have been all business, tonight we saw laughter, joy, and heartfelt thanks from not only the community but from these men as well. We ended the evening with all of us including Ulubshet, Anmewu, Demle, and Yalew, in a large group dancing hugging and laughing the entire time, what a great day.

The day is ending, it is now Midnight Addis time, I am very exhausted, but I wanted to share this before I turn in.  I will conclude with this, because of your support and our work on the ground, most families in the community of Bright Hope School don't go do bed with out talking about what we are doing.  In the speach tonight the gentleman stated what we have brought HOPE back to this community.  I stated earlier that Hardwork was the language used to bridge the gap, but the celebration that is going on over here should and needs to be felt at home as well, the fruit of our efforts will probably never be fully realized.  But know this, the people know we are Christ followers, they see the love we are pouring out on this community and asking for nothing in return, and most are asking the question, what kind of church builds a wall in an area that is still known as the leper colony. 

AMESEGENALEHU

The title of this blog has been on my heart all day.  It is a phrase we have all learned to say very well.  It is the Amharic word for "thank you".  I knew I would be writing this blog entry today and I struggled with what the title would be.  I was going to come up with something witty and clever, but I decided to make it simple and heartfelt.  So AMESEGENALEHU  for all of your prayers, love and support.  Today was a full day.  The past few days have been truly indescribable.  This morning I didn't know if things had fully hit me yet.  Then I wondered if my brain would allow me to process the magnitude of the poverty that we are surrounded by, then I wouldn't be able to sleep at night.  I wouldn't be able to function.  I woudn't be able to sit in the van while riding to the Bright Hope School each morning and not jump out and DO SOMETHING for the people I see sitting alongside the road.  It's hard for me to believe the things I'm seeing are actually REAL.  That I am not seeing things through a looking glass.  But now as I am writing this, I am starting to process the things I have seen.  I have seen terrible things and amazing things.  God is good, very good.

Word is spreading like wildfire that we, thirteen Montanans, are here.  The villagers are just baffled.  When we arrived on Monday to work, I don't think they knew what to think of us.  We are the first Americans most of them have ever seen.  We started working and they literally came up to us and took the tools out of our hands.  Not speaking the same language, we just thought it was because we were doing it wrong.  I have been fortunate enough to have cultivated a friendship with DeSalan, an 8th grade math teacher at the school.  The team has nicknamed me "Ambassador" because DeSalan and some of the other teachers have been seeking me out each day and he asks me question after question.  Questions that I know only the Holy Spirit has put in my mouth to answer.  DeSalan told me how the villagers are so glad that we are here to help them.  It has inspired more of them to volunteer to help in building the wall.  They see that we have come from so far away and they are honored and blessed that we would help them.  I asked DeSalan why the villagers are taking the work from us.  Is that a good thing or does it mean we're doing something wrong?!  He explained that when they take the rocks we are carrying or tools out of our hands it is a sign of great respect.  That is very humbling.  So today, we started reciprocating.  It isn't something our culture does, in fact it seems insulting.  But when we did it, they handed over their loads and tools with a smile.  So relationally, we made huge strides today to bridge the cultural gaps.  It seemed like we were speaking the same language even though we didn't understand some of the actual words.  They told us we were strong and hard working.  The school administrator asked our interpreter to tell the women of our team that he thinks we are very strong.  He didn't think American woman could work this hard but now he does.  We are shattering misconceptions right and left.  All of us are.  God is everywhere here.  He was there preparing the way long before we came and He will be working here long after we are gone. 

Remember how I said that word is spreading like wildfire that we are here?  Well, it has been spreading not only with the village outside the gates of the school, but in the city of Addis-Ababa as well!  As Derrick and I were carrying loads of sand in a "barilla", (which we built with the villagers and looks like a makeshift gurney) a van pulled up with the local news team.  There was a photgrapher, a videographer and a reporter.  The reporter asked Derrick if he could help.  So the reporter and I carried a load together and he started asking me questions.  Then he said he wanted to interview me on camera.  He said we were like celebrities.  I didn't want to be interviewed alone, so I grabbed Kyle.  Thankfully, Kyle did most of the talking.  It seemed like the reporter was astounded that we would travel so far to do this work.  I don't know if we were on the local news tonight, but I know that God's hand was in that interview in a way that we may never know.

I was also not fully prepared for the reaction the children have had for us.  They come out between classes to watch us work.  There are 2,400 children that attend this school!  So, if you can imagine being rushed by that many children.  Of course, not all of them come that close.  Some watch from afar.  They come down to where we are working and stand inches away, just wanting to be near us.  The villagers see them and that it hinders our work and they chase the children away with sticks, hitting some of them.  That is difficult to see.

In closing, I am eager and excited to see what tomorrow will bring.  Each day has brought change and has opened minds more and more.  Amesegenalehu Lord!

Love and Blessings,
Heidi Scheie

Hard work is Universal!

Hello everyone Kyle here posting the blog tonight...hope you enjoy!

Well today was quite interesting and quite life changing....so for those of you that want the quick, short, and sweet here it is! Hard work is universal and its speaks even when language doesn't, meeting was crazy and lasted 3 hours and I now have several sermon illustrations. And lastly we're all beat and now schooled in Egyptian construction methods!

Now for the nitty gritty, or as my wife would say "tell like a girl!" so here you go!

Woke up today dreading what seemed to be an unimaginable task for 13 people to do in 5 days, so we prayed and trusted and as a group came to the conclusion that we're all called to be here so God going to show. So we ate breakfast and set out to build a wall with our quasi-positive attitudes, what happened next changed everything. As we arrived to the school after driving through the "ghetto" of Ethiopia a country where the upper class lives on $100 a year, so you can imagine how the word "ghetto" can be redefined as we Americans know it. We pull into the gate and were greeted by 55 eager and smiling Ethiopian adults from the community who showed up to help us. So we quickly mobilized and went to work creating our 86m 8ft tall wall a task that we all thought would be impossible in 5 days. By the time 11:30am rolled around we had the entire footer foundation in place and ready for concrete, yes folks God is crazy! Know let me blow your mind...no power tools, no wheelbarrows, no machinery. Here's what we did have, 4 sledge hammers, 12 regular hammers, 1 saw, some sand, some eucalyptus tree sticks, and corrugated tin roofing and last but not least 10 tons of boulders that needed to be broke down. As you can see we had a daunting task but an unbelievable God! We did it and we did it together...land, culture, an ocean, or even language could stop a group of people wanting to make difference in one of the poorest countries in the world, so now we stand in awe of the what else because God is not done we have 4 more days left.

Here's what else. If you are following the blog you know that we visited the school yesterday (Sunday) so there was no kids. Well today was different , quite different. Bright Hope school is a school of 2400 students, it has now running water, and does not have a cafeteria...process that with me 2400 students and no running water, its crazy. Anyway we showed up to work and didn't really know the kids were there, they were in class until it recess, what happened next cannot be described in words but I will try. The students came out all 2400 of them in there bright teal uniforms and shiny white teeth and there sparkling big eyes of curiosity. Being scared or confused of what 13 white people were doing there they just stopped and stared at us forming an wall of cultural divide, it was at this moment that my heart was tugged. After working so hard with there parents and neighbors and tearing down the ocean that separates us I couldn't believe it was happening again with the students so I grabbed Sarah Kennedy and I said lets go do this, so we walked right up to them and said hi and smiled, the universal hello.They smiled back and the wall came tumbling down. For the rest of the day we struggled to keep the students away from us and the staff struggled to keep us working as hearts were squeezed through the 100's of hugs and hi-fives we gave and receive,  I know its safe to say that we all saw the face of God today whether it was in the eyes of a vagrant or the smile of a child today heaven scraped the pavement!

Finally we closed out out day with the team closing out the day at Bright Hope school, while Aaron and I travel downtown to be honorary guests at the Sub-City planning conference. The Sub-City planing conference was the meeting of the all the schools that operate in the slums of Ethiopia, totaling 23 elementary schools and 7 high schools, there was close to 200 people in attendance. Aaron and I were guests of the minister of education, a friend of Tsegey and a man amazed that someone somewhere cared like he did. The meeting was very interesting it lasted 3 hours and not one word of it was in English! When we first arrived we found seats in the back, that quickly became unacceptable as honorary guests we were moved to the very front of the room and proceeded to take it all in, judging what was frustrating and what was exciting by there inflections we can only imagine what was said. After 3 hours, Aaron and I were quite ready to be done because of our exhaustion and because of our confusion, it wasn't till we debriefed with Tsegey that we fully understood what happened. Bright Hope School has never been to this before, they were a forgotten place lost in the slums until this year. Because of dedicated teachers, faculty, and some crazy church in Montana; Bright Hope was back on the map and has become a model of restoration and commitment to education. The meeting ended with an award ceremony celebrating individual, and various groups refusal to give up or give in, today Bright Hope received 8 awards and including the final and most prestigious I don't know what the award was for but it was last and it was a beautiful trophy, harvest because of your faith and your commitment we helped but Bright Hope back on the map, a small forgotten school in a one of the poorest slums in the world had something to be proud of today, and you helped make it happen.

As I write this blog the smiles of the people the students and even the presenters of the awards, penetrate my soul to the core. In the rhythm of life I feel that for once in my life i am in total sync with the heartbeat of God. Again thank you harvest for being a church that matters, I hope this post inspires and motivates you to find how you can let your heart beat with God's.

peace
Kyle

PICTURES

Part of the 260 ft trench, this was Sunday.

The foundation for the wall, Monday morning, after 2 1/2 hours with about 60 community people

Sunday, Nov. 1

Today's was a day of encouragement from the church service and amazement at the extreme poverty of the area where we will be working. Tsegay, from CHI took was to a evangelical church that many missionaries attend. The message was in English and was truly needed as we later saw the project we will undertake. The worship was refreshing and really neat to sing some of the same songs we sing with you all back at Harvest. We were even able to share in communion together.
After church we returned to the Ethiopia Guest Home (EGH) and rested before lunch. The food from the EGH has been very tasty. Everyone especially enjoyed the fresh mango juice this morning and strawberry smoothie for lunch. After some more naps, (it was the middle of the night in Billings) we then met with Tsegay to see the job site at Bright Hope School.
As we have been driving around this day we have seen many sites that make us take a second look. For one the driving, I think it was many times today that we almost took out a another car or a person. But we all made it safely to our destination. And to be perfectly honest we all trust our drivers very much. All the kids along the roadside, not with a older adult. Then we all drove into the region of the school, called Kore. We thought we were seeing poverty earlier, but this far exceeded the concept of poverty that any of us have seen. We got a lot of looks as we drove on a very bumpy, rocky road. For some of you, similar to the road to Blue Lake.
At the school we came to the understanding that we will not be repairing the wall, but actually building the wall. On Friday this past week, 200 people, mothers and fathers from the surrounding community, came to the school, moved the existing fence out, and proceed to dig 258 ft trench. This trench is where we will start tomorrow to put in a foundation with rock and cement. (I hope to have pictures tomorrow). This example from the community has been a blessing to encourage them and to help them feel like they have ownership in the school their children attend. And it is an example to their children of service to others. The officials hope this will pass down to future generations. We also found out today that we will not being working under a contractor, but we are the perceived porfessionals . So please pray that we will have courage for the task before us. God has already started to show us He has it all worked out.  We all took a tour around the rest of the school grounds. It was very exciting and helpful to be putting the pictures we have been viewing the past months to the actual place. We saw the site for the well, which will start drilling Monday!!! Please be praying that when they get to the water and take it for testing, that it will be drinkable right away and they will not have to raise money for a filtration device. This prayer item is huge for the purpose of the well and how it will serve the school kids.
Lastly, some members got to have some neat interaction with some children that walked in the gate at the school. They loved having there pictures taken, posing and smiling. They loved Edna Mae's gray hair and Kyle even taught them how to pound it with their fists. Which one of the boys took it up a notch by pounding fists, then hitting his chest, all with sound effects. Very funny and cute.
 Tomorrow we start work, so please be praying for unity with the team and with the Ethiopians we will working alongside. Pray for the well, continued good health for the team, and stength working in the elevation and heat. Thanks, Ariel

We have arrived.

Exactly 24 hours later, we walked off the plane in Addis Ababa. 2 hours later we were at the guest home. The guest home had dinner waiting, so after that we headed to bed. We are headed to church soon, so  will write more later today. Thanks for your prayers. Ariel

Leaving on a jet plane...

In Feburary Harvest Church made the decision to send a team to Ethiopia. By August we had 13 people who were ready to make the journey.The team's objective is to help Bright Hope School in Addis Ababa repair a wall and start construction on some chicken houses. On October 30th we will all board a plane and start the journey. It is a group, who is committed to serving the community in Addis Ababa, as well as waiting to see how God is going to change their lives because of what they will experience in Ethiopia.  Here's the team, Carol Cusson, Edna Mae Duncan, Rachel Kennedy, Sara Kennedy, Patrick Bickford, Kyle Reynolds, Brian Buehler, Derrick DeWilde, Clayton Zerbe, Brian Longenecker, Heidi Scheie, Aaron Koenigsberg, and Ariel Koenigberg. Please be praying for safety in our travels, for a healthy plane ride and  that we will stay healthy while in Ethiopia. Pray for God's direction in our work, communication within the team and the community we will be serving. Pray for wisdom in the decisions made by the leaders for the team. 
Stay tuned as we will try to update each day that we are in Ethiopia.

Gate of Bright Hope School

School Children

Neighborhood around the school