Dreams Come True... Ethiopia 2009

AFRICA WAS AMAZING! : )
This is the thank you letter I am sending out for all of the support I received for my trip
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I just returned from my trip to Ethiopia, Africa on Friday, May 29th. I feel like I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing it was! The two and a half weeks that I spent there was the best time of my life. My team and I stayed with an Ethiopian family in their home; their hospitality towards us was amazing. In the morning we worked at an elementary school founded by the woman we were staying with. As I mentioned in my original letter, the school is called Destiny Academy and aims to help students who cannot afford stable education. Our team was able to meet the kids, teach several classes and accompany the students on a couple field trips. The kids were so joyful and welcoming to us! They would run up to us with huge grins, hold our hands, give us hugs and kisses, and ask us handfuls of questions.
In the afternoons we went to a public school where kids from several local schools would meet for an English camp we put on. Each team member was in charge of teaching a different grade level (5th – 8th) through fun word games, conversational English and nightly home assignments. The turnout for the English camp was great and all of the students were so grateful for our help. At the end of our last day we presented the director of the host school with a large financial gift to enhance their library, which currently consists of a few boxes of dusty books. We hope that our performance during the English camp will open doors for the camp to happen annually.
Several times throughout our stay we were able to meet up with a handful of Addis Ababa University students. It was a lot of fun to meet them, compare and contrast our lifestyles, and get to know more about how their generation is being raised in the capital of Ethiopia.
Finally, my favorite part of the trip was our second weekend when we drove a couple hours west of Addis into the country. We drove through beautiful mountains to a town called Ambo, visited a local thriving church plant, spent a morning at Wenchi Lake where the view is breath-taking, rode horses, climbed around on Guder Falls, and attended a stuffy Sunday church service where everyone was more concerned about God than they were about the state of their meeting place or the clothes on their back.
The entire experience was such an exciting, refreshing adventure for me! My team members were so fun and encouraging to be around, our host family blessed us with their wisdom and funny stories, and our driver for the week was a great man of God whom we all loved having our meals and coffee with. The culture opened my eyes to the importance of placing human beings as the highest priority (after God) in my life. The people there are centered far more on relationships than work and can spend an entire afternoon with family or friends without constantly watching the clock and calculating lost productivity. It was seriously refreshing after being enveloped in the American way of overworking, rushing through life, and then wondering why everyone seems so disconnected.
Finally, I wanted to share with you part of my morning journal ramblings. This was after contemplating all of the uncomfortable situations I was going through while I was there.
(…) I appreciate the opportunity to endure these external misfortunes because I know behind them lays a blessing that many will never experience. Some will miss it by never stepping out of the known and some will forfeit it for their constant grumblings. But a soul that seeks to walk in Spirit rather than flesh, a body that denies itself every fleeting comfort, a heart that is set on the mysteries above… that man or woman will be given true joy in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. My experience in Africa is such a training course to becoming that person. My eyes have opened to see that even in America, where whatever I want is within arm’s reach and whatever I desire can be obtained, I can overcome disappointment or failures with more than a frown on my face or a tear in my eye. I can walk with joy from God because I know that every piece of my life can be used to further His Kingdom. Earthly discomforts cannot rouse my soul to negativity. Through Jesus Christ, there is power in my life and hope in my being, both of which Africa is teaching me to draw my source of joy from. (...)
So thank you SO MUCH for the blessing you have given me by supporting me, through money and prayer, to be able to go on this trip. It is something I will never forget and my prayers are still with all of the people that I met while I was there. I hope that God will bless you and give you similar opportunities to experience His Greatness! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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I will have plenty of pictures to share soon.