Some girls enjoying there enjera for lunch at Great Hope Church in the Korah district.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Almost Home
On Friday, we took the day off, due to the Ethiopia's Memorial Day, and spent the morning at Great Hope Church in the Korah neighborhood. This church is the only evangelical church in the community of approximately 130,000 people. There is about 500-600 kids who attend the various programs that are put on by the church. Programs like a sports camp on Saturday mornings, after school teaching/training sessions, a school lunch program for the kids who otherwise wouldn't get any food or water at all. They also have a ministry to the kids who are living at the dump. The list of outreach programs that this church runs is endless. Sound familiar? We really had a good time helping out each day with the lunch program and so we spent several hours on Friday hanging out with the children. Some of the guys on our team pitched in and help sand the rust off of metal bunk beds that they are going to use to for the 30 orphans that the church is taking in from the dump. When we left the church amidst tears of joy, and sadness, we all truly believed that God is doing a mighty work through this small church.
The rest of the day was spent gathering our things to come home, and doing some last minute shopping of gifts for family and friends. We boarded the plane at 11:30 pm local time in Ethiopia. We made it to Frankfurt and had an 8 hour layover so we ventured in to town. We visited a local Cathedral that was bombed during World War II. During the bombing, an ancient Roman Bath house was unearthed, and is currently on display next to the Cathedral. It was nice to get out of the airport and get some fresh air. We got some coffee and pastries at a little downtown cafe and then made our way back to the terminal to catch our flight to Denver. While we were in route there was a medical emergency on the plane and we were detoured to Montreal Canada, to let the passenger off so that they could get her to the hospital. Everything that we know is the she was in stable condition when she left the plane. 33 Hours after we left Addis we arrived in Denver. So, consequently we missed our flight, the last one out of Denver, and are now staying in a hotel for tonight. Everyone is exhausted mentally as well as physically. They all did great throughout the trip, even though we had some adversity along the way. Thanks for praying for us. We arrive into Billings tomorrow morning at 12:48pm. Look forward to seeing or talking with everyone about the trip when we get home.
Sincerely,
Aaron
The rest of the day was spent gathering our things to come home, and doing some last minute shopping of gifts for family and friends. We boarded the plane at 11:30 pm local time in Ethiopia. We made it to Frankfurt and had an 8 hour layover so we ventured in to town. We visited a local Cathedral that was bombed during World War II. During the bombing, an ancient Roman Bath house was unearthed, and is currently on display next to the Cathedral. It was nice to get out of the airport and get some fresh air. We got some coffee and pastries at a little downtown cafe and then made our way back to the terminal to catch our flight to Denver. While we were in route there was a medical emergency on the plane and we were detoured to Montreal Canada, to let the passenger off so that they could get her to the hospital. Everything that we know is the she was in stable condition when she left the plane. 33 Hours after we left Addis we arrived in Denver. So, consequently we missed our flight, the last one out of Denver, and are now staying in a hotel for tonight. Everyone is exhausted mentally as well as physically. They all did great throughout the trip, even though we had some adversity along the way. Thanks for praying for us. We arrive into Billings tomorrow morning at 12:48pm. Look forward to seeing or talking with everyone about the trip when we get home.
Sincerely,
Aaron
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Sad when I'm glad.
“O LORD, You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways…” Psalm 139:2b-3
What a reassurance to know that God knows exactly what we are feeling as we complete day eight in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Today brought with it a huge mix of emotions: missing my girls back home, compassion for those with those little both spiritually and physically, joy, physical ailments, confusion in knowing how Christ wants me to respond, sadness in saying goodbye, all served with a side of EXTREME exhaustion.
As we began our day, I (along with others on our team) am fighting a cold, so I’m pacing myself pretty well. When the kids came out for recess, I decided that I would break from the work and hang out with them. After about 20 introductions of names I will never remember, we played a game of Ring Around the Rosie. This, I have found out is a girls’ game. The boys don’t like it. (There’s a surprise, I only know girl games.) We played some hand-jive games. Then I started getting requests for singing. They loved the five bars of Michael Jackson’s, “Man in the Mirror,” and then requested Beyonce and Shakira. The next obvious transition was, could I dance? I got lessons on how to dance Ethiopian style and then attempted to teach them the Macarena (after a refresher course from Ariel).
After returning to work, I showed two of the women we have been working with pictures of my girls. They kissed Aliya’s picture and told both Derrick and I they were “koinjo” (beautiful). When I showed some of the kids, one boy said he wanted to marry my daughter… I told him that only God knows about that.
After lunch, our team treated all the hired workers with cokes. It was a huge hit and ended with them all being photogenic. We took lots of pictures and got hugs, amesayganalus (thank yous), and I love yous. Mantuwa, one of the women, gave the HUGEST, LONGEST hug. I felt like it was a testimony to the relationship we had built with them throughout the week…all without a translator for the most part. Ariel had the pictures we took developed and every one of the workers treasured it.
At 3pm, Aaron found out that it would be our last day at the job site because tomorrow is a holiday. The emotion was mixed for most of us. I was slightly relieved because I am so exhausted, but also so sad to say goodbye. These are people that I may never see again and I wonder, did I do enough to show them Christ’s love?
I was excited to see Betty, a 12-year-old girl from the church we’ve been serving lunch at, after school was dismissed (most of the kids stay on the school grounds for at least another hour). She told me she and her family were Protestant, that Jesus loves her and she loves Jesus. She and her friends all sang “Jesus Loves Me.” She also tattooed me on my arm: I love you.
After a long set of hugs and good-byes, we left the school and for dinner were entertained by authentic Ethiopian dancers while trying out authentic cuisine.
“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost part of the sea,
Even there Your hand shall lead me.
And Your right and shall hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10
Grandma, tell my koinjo girls, momma’s on her way home!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
A day without rain...
Kari writing:
Today was our first full day of work after being rained out early the last 2 days. We could see the rain clouds but thankfully they went around us. The wall is beginning to rise up out of the trench, which is very exciting. We are continuing to build relationships with the Ethiopian ladies we are working with. They are warming up to us more every day. Please pray for our “sistahs” (which is what they call us) and their families: Mentuwo, Cabinesch, Alum, and Dinkay are their names.
Today was Ryan’s birthday so the school surprised him by some of the classes marching down to the worksite, clapping and singing Happy Birthday. They made a circle around him and he was expected to make a speech, which he did admirably. Tonight the group is going out to ice cream in honor of his birthday.
At lunch, we again went to Sammy’s church to help serve lunch to the children in his feeding program. We heard some of the kids’ stories today and they are amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Two sisters, 8 and 10 years old, traveled 500 kilometers after their parents died of malaria, to end up in the Kori district of Addis Ababa (where we are working). The church took them in and are caring for them and sending them to school.
We also toured the buildings the church has just acquired to begin an orphanage. When the buildings are redone they will house some of the children who now live at the dump. Looking at the buildings through American eyes it is hard to believe that they will be suitable to house children. The buildings have a disreputable past and are now being redeemed by God’s people for God’s work. We prayed for the project in the room that will become a classroom for the children to learn the social skills to be reintegrated back into society and to learn to sing and play and learn how to be children again.
Today was our first full day of work after being rained out early the last 2 days. We could see the rain clouds but thankfully they went around us. The wall is beginning to rise up out of the trench, which is very exciting. We are continuing to build relationships with the Ethiopian ladies we are working with. They are warming up to us more every day. Please pray for our “sistahs” (which is what they call us) and their families: Mentuwo, Cabinesch, Alum, and Dinkay are their names.
Today was Ryan’s birthday so the school surprised him by some of the classes marching down to the worksite, clapping and singing Happy Birthday. They made a circle around him and he was expected to make a speech, which he did admirably. Tonight the group is going out to ice cream in honor of his birthday.
At lunch, we again went to Sammy’s church to help serve lunch to the children in his feeding program. We heard some of the kids’ stories today and they are amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Two sisters, 8 and 10 years old, traveled 500 kilometers after their parents died of malaria, to end up in the Kori district of Addis Ababa (where we are working). The church took them in and are caring for them and sending them to school.
We also toured the buildings the church has just acquired to begin an orphanage. When the buildings are redone they will house some of the children who now live at the dump. Looking at the buildings through American eyes it is hard to believe that they will be suitable to house children. The buildings have a disreputable past and are now being redeemed by God’s people for God’s work. We prayed for the project in the room that will become a classroom for the children to learn the social skills to be reintegrated back into society and to learn to sing and play and learn how to be children again.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Tuesday's adventures.
This morning we loaded up in the van and headed out for the jobsite. We noticed that our driver had among other things, a postcard hanging from his rearview mirror that read “Drive it like you stole it.” Very fitting for Sarafel (our driver); he definitely doesn’t waste time on the road! It takes special skill to drive the streets around here and we are glad Sarafel is handling that for us.
Things were a bit calmer at the work site today with just the Harvest team working and all the hellos and goodbyes from yesterday behind us. We spent the morning working on the wall and interacting some with the kids when they were on break or recess. Most of the kids can speak some English so we can ask each other questions and learn a bit about them.
We ate a quick lunch and headed over to Sammy’s church in the Cora district a couple of blocks from the school to serve lunch to a group of 50-60 kids. For many of these kids, it will be their only meal of the day. We call it Sammy’s church only because our main contact at the church is named Sammy. Just last night we had the opportunity to hear from Sammy and Pastor Antenue about their stories and what they are doing in and through their church. This helped give us some background about what challenges they are facing as well as what type of circumstances the kids are growing up in.
Now we have seen unending poverty on this trip, but walking through this part of town on our way to the church was witnessing a whole other level of extreme poverty. What a place – like nothing I’ve seen before. Yet, it was a great time at the church serving the kids lunch and chatting with them to and fro. This church is the only Christian church in this neighborhood of 130,000 and most definitely shining the light of Christ in a dark and hopeless place. Please pray for them.
We had to wrap up work early today because of the rain that cruised in around 2:30. We were bummed out by this but plan on getting to the jobsite earlier tomorrow to try and get a little more time in.
For dinner tonight we wandered over to a local establishment called Sister’s Café (I think). We went a little crazy with the bottled sodas and wracked up a tab for 17 pops! I guess we were thirsty. We are looking forward to tomorrow and seeing God work. Peace-
-Ryan
Things were a bit calmer at the work site today with just the Harvest team working and all the hellos and goodbyes from yesterday behind us. We spent the morning working on the wall and interacting some with the kids when they were on break or recess. Most of the kids can speak some English so we can ask each other questions and learn a bit about them.
We ate a quick lunch and headed over to Sammy’s church in the Cora district a couple of blocks from the school to serve lunch to a group of 50-60 kids. For many of these kids, it will be their only meal of the day. We call it Sammy’s church only because our main contact at the church is named Sammy. Just last night we had the opportunity to hear from Sammy and Pastor Antenue about their stories and what they are doing in and through their church. This helped give us some background about what challenges they are facing as well as what type of circumstances the kids are growing up in.
Now we have seen unending poverty on this trip, but walking through this part of town on our way to the church was witnessing a whole other level of extreme poverty. What a place – like nothing I’ve seen before. Yet, it was a great time at the church serving the kids lunch and chatting with them to and fro. This church is the only Christian church in this neighborhood of 130,000 and most definitely shining the light of Christ in a dark and hopeless place. Please pray for them.
We had to wrap up work early today because of the rain that cruised in around 2:30. We were bummed out by this but plan on getting to the jobsite earlier tomorrow to try and get a little more time in.
For dinner tonight we wandered over to a local establishment called Sister’s Café (I think). We went a little crazy with the bottled sodas and wracked up a tab for 17 pops! I guess we were thirsty. We are looking forward to tomorrow and seeing God work. Peace-
-Ryan
Monday, May 24, 2010
You say "Goodbye" and I say "Hello".....
Derrick here writing the blog tonight. Although this is my second time being in Ethiopia to work on the Bright Hope School Project, I’ve been able to manage avoiding the blogging duties up until now. As my wife can easily attest, I’m not the blogger of the family.
As I’ve come to expect while being in Ethiopia, today was very rewarding, a little bit random, and somewhat unexpected.
First of all, it was very awesome to see all of the progress that has been accomplished at the school over the past 6 months first-hand. They have completed the section of the wall that we started in November, are in the process of completing the construction of the 2 chicken houses, and have completed another significant portion of the foundation for the wall on the back-side of the school. It was also very good to see some of the folks that I met on our last trip and how excited they were that not only were we there, but that we had come back for a second time.
As the title suggests, today was a day of hellos as well as goodbyes. While it was the first day at the jobsite for the team from Harvest, it was the last day for the team from Journey, as they will be leaving for home tomorrow. We spent the morning working on the wall and re-aquainting ourselves with the process, which was very similar to the activities we did during the last trip; hauling rock, cement, sand, and mixing cement (just for the record, the rocks have NOT gotten any lighter!). The first day on the jobsite was significantly more efficient than the first time around, as the team from Journey has been able to get the process streamlined over the past week. After lunch, the staff of Bright Hope School held a coffee ceremony in honor of the team from Journey for the past week’s work, which we all participated in (complete with popcorn, music, collo, and of course coffee). We then got back to work for an hour or so, before we were forced to quit due to a tremendous downpour. We took advantage of the downtime to participate in an hour-long lesson in Amharic from one of the teachers (complete with handouts, quizzes, and classroom speaking).
After work, we came back to the Guest House and were fortunate enough to have dinner with our friend Sami (who we met on the last trip here) along with the pastor of Bright Hope Church, which is located very near the school we are working at. Sami and his pastor both shared their story on how they came to the Cora district and how they came to know Jesus. They also shared some of the ministries their church provides to that community. It was very encouraging and also very challenging on a personal level to hear how they are meeting the needs of their community in a very real and practical way.
Well, I need to get to bed, so I’ll end. Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Oh, and a very special hello to Madison, Breanne, and Aliya. Mommy and Daddy love you very much and can’t wait to see you again in a few days!
Derrick
As I’ve come to expect while being in Ethiopia, today was very rewarding, a little bit random, and somewhat unexpected.
First of all, it was very awesome to see all of the progress that has been accomplished at the school over the past 6 months first-hand. They have completed the section of the wall that we started in November, are in the process of completing the construction of the 2 chicken houses, and have completed another significant portion of the foundation for the wall on the back-side of the school. It was also very good to see some of the folks that I met on our last trip and how excited they were that not only were we there, but that we had come back for a second time.
As the title suggests, today was a day of hellos as well as goodbyes. While it was the first day at the jobsite for the team from Harvest, it was the last day for the team from Journey, as they will be leaving for home tomorrow. We spent the morning working on the wall and re-aquainting ourselves with the process, which was very similar to the activities we did during the last trip; hauling rock, cement, sand, and mixing cement (just for the record, the rocks have NOT gotten any lighter!). The first day on the jobsite was significantly more efficient than the first time around, as the team from Journey has been able to get the process streamlined over the past week. After lunch, the staff of Bright Hope School held a coffee ceremony in honor of the team from Journey for the past week’s work, which we all participated in (complete with popcorn, music, collo, and of course coffee). We then got back to work for an hour or so, before we were forced to quit due to a tremendous downpour. We took advantage of the downtime to participate in an hour-long lesson in Amharic from one of the teachers (complete with handouts, quizzes, and classroom speaking).
After work, we came back to the Guest House and were fortunate enough to have dinner with our friend Sami (who we met on the last trip here) along with the pastor of Bright Hope Church, which is located very near the school we are working at. Sami and his pastor both shared their story on how they came to the Cora district and how they came to know Jesus. They also shared some of the ministries their church provides to that community. It was very encouraging and also very challenging on a personal level to hear how they are meeting the needs of their community in a very real and practical way.
Well, I need to get to bed, so I’ll end. Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Oh, and a very special hello to Madison, Breanne, and Aliya. Mommy and Daddy love you very much and can’t wait to see you again in a few days!
Derrick
Saturday, May 22, 2010
We have arrived!!
We safely arrived Friday evening after 28 hours on 4 different planes, each offering a different experience. We were very happy to get to Ethiopia and be on solid ground. Aaron greeted us at the airport. We had no problems with our VISAs, passports, luggage or customs. Praise the Lord!! Today we were able to get out and take a drive into the countryside. It was really neat to see another side of Ethiopia. It was very green due to all the rain they have been getting and very beautiful. We drove to a resort type place to see a bridge that was built by the Porteguese during a war. It looked over a wide valley filled with terraced farming. We were all bummed because it had heated up and the baboons had moved up into the higher hills to graze. After a picnic in some random field, we headed back into Addis to do some more site seeing. Some of us visited the National Museum, which offered a little history into the kings and emperors of Ethiopia. We ate some very good ice cream and had pizza for dinner. Tomorrow is the election, so we will be staying close to the Guest House for the day. We have been informed that venturing out could be dangereous, so we figure it is better to be safe than sorry. We will try to post again tomorrow, but the internet has been working very sporactically. Thanks for praying.
Friday, May 21, 2010
First Week is in the Books...
Here are some more pictures from the work that we did this week. Most of the week was spent working on the wall; however, one afternoon we went over and helped cultivate the garden. Everything here is done by hand. The workers in these pictures are from the community dump and are able to send their children to school while they work on the projects. They are also paid for their daily work. We are all very tired physically, but spiritually and emotionally our hearts are full of joy. We have spent five meaningful days rubbing shoulders with children and workers who have taught us what it is like to be filled with joy.
Tonight the team from our team arrives at 6:45pm local time. I am pretty excited to see everyone and can't wait for them to experience some of the same things that we did this week. Stay tuned for more news from Africa. Oh by the way my Ahmaric is improving, but probably not as fast as the workers English.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Leaving on a jet plane....
The Harvest team leaves tomorrow for Ethiopia to join Aaron and the Journey Church team. We are all very excited and ready to get on the ground to start working. Thanks to all you who have faithfully been praying for us as we prepare for our journey and who have supported us financially. I have to say that the 20 some hours traveling does not sound like much fun, but I am happy that I am traveling with a great group of people. I am not sure how Aaron survived. Thankfully he is not as much of a social thriving individual like I am. Please be praying that the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland does not impact our journey and we do not get held up traveling to or from Ethiopia. Keep checking back and depending on electricity we will write whenever we can and get some pictures posted.
Resting in His Provision,
Ariel Koenigsberg (and the rest of the team)
Resting in His Provision,
Ariel Koenigsberg (and the rest of the team)
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Day Three
We are getting ready to head back to the school for our third day of work on the wall. To this point the physical progress on the wall has been slower than in November. But the relationship building, kingdom impact has been much quicker this time. It has really been awesome to see God's hand at work in the Kora district. It has been a great reminder for us that God loves the least of the least and so should we.
I've got to go. I will post some pictures tonight, Lord willing. The power and internet has been prettty scetchy over the last few days. It has been raining every afternoon for a few hours each day. This causes the power to go out most of the time.
Thanks for your support and Prayers.
In Him,
Aaron
I've got to go. I will post some pictures tonight, Lord willing. The power and internet has been prettty scetchy over the last few days. It has been raining every afternoon for a few hours each day. This causes the power to go out most of the time.
Thanks for your support and Prayers.
In Him,
Aaron
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Bright Hope Reunion
Howdy,
Today we spent the morning at Bright Hope School. We got the grand tour and update of the progress on all the projects. It was a very encouraging time. When we walked up to the new chicken houses, I saw one of the workers, Yallo, whom we worked with on the last trip. I went up to shake his hand and he by passed the handshake and gave me a great big hug. Friends don't shake hands the hug. It was the same with my greetings with Tefera, and Musgabo, both men whom we developed a good relationship with last trip. I was able to get some good pictures of the progress on the wall, and of the chicken houses, as well as the completed section of wall which we started last fall. They have finished the base layer on back side of the property. For those of you who have been here that would be the hill out behind the outhouses. We will be working on the remainder of the footings across the back section of the property over the next two weeks. They are working on the second/third chicken house. Some prayer requests that they have are that the cost of cement has doubled and is getting pretty hard to purchase, so we could be praying for stability in the markets especially the construction industry. God has definitly been at work in this project. Today I saw some of the fruits of our labor in the on the heavenly side. Musgabo thanked us for all the work we have done and he said that he could tell that we were true Christians, that we would come to help them because God loves them and He loves us. It was very neat to see.
Today we spent the morning at Bright Hope School. We got the grand tour and update of the progress on all the projects. It was a very encouraging time. When we walked up to the new chicken houses, I saw one of the workers, Yallo, whom we worked with on the last trip. I went up to shake his hand and he by passed the handshake and gave me a great big hug. Friends don't shake hands the hug. It was the same with my greetings with Tefera, and Musgabo, both men whom we developed a good relationship with last trip. I was able to get some good pictures of the progress on the wall, and of the chicken houses, as well as the completed section of wall which we started last fall. They have finished the base layer on back side of the property. For those of you who have been here that would be the hill out behind the outhouses. We will be working on the remainder of the footings across the back section of the property over the next two weeks. They are working on the second/third chicken house. Some prayer requests that they have are that the cost of cement has doubled and is getting pretty hard to purchase, so we could be praying for stability in the markets especially the construction industry. God has definitly been at work in this project. Today I saw some of the fruits of our labor in the on the heavenly side. Musgabo thanked us for all the work we have done and he said that he could tell that we were true Christians, that we would come to help them because God loves them and He loves us. It was very neat to see.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Back In Ethiopia
Hello from the other side of the world,
I finally made it, safe and sound. After 27 hours of hopping from one plane to the next I arrived safely in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. I don't reccommend making this trip by yourself. The layovers are quite boring without anyone to talk to, or share a meal with. When I arrived in Addis, I was greated by our friend Gecho, the driver for the Guest Home. It was finally good to see a face I knew. It was raining pretty good when I landed, which could make for some interesting days at the jobsite. Please pray for good weather for us. As well as safety in our travels and good health. Ariel will be bringing the rest of our team over on Thursday, May 20th, so you can be praying for their safety, also. I will be here for the next week helping the team from Journey, get their feet wet, literally, at the jobsite. I'll keep you posted throughout the week on our progress. Well, I don't have much else to say about such an event fill time of sitting on an airplane for that long.
Aaron
I finally made it, safe and sound. After 27 hours of hopping from one plane to the next I arrived safely in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. I don't reccommend making this trip by yourself. The layovers are quite boring without anyone to talk to, or share a meal with. When I arrived in Addis, I was greated by our friend Gecho, the driver for the Guest Home. It was finally good to see a face I knew. It was raining pretty good when I landed, which could make for some interesting days at the jobsite. Please pray for good weather for us. As well as safety in our travels and good health. Ariel will be bringing the rest of our team over on Thursday, May 20th, so you can be praying for their safety, also. I will be here for the next week helping the team from Journey, get their feet wet, literally, at the jobsite. I'll keep you posted throughout the week on our progress. Well, I don't have much else to say about such an event fill time of sitting on an airplane for that long.
Aaron
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