Travel Post #1

To kick things off for the day, I have a surprise for you all! We will be having a guest blogger post sometime within the next week. I'm not going to tell you who it is yet because I want it to be a surprise! I promise you, it will be awesome. Be excited  - because I am! =)

I would attempt to create a super fun post, but I know that it would not compare to Esther's, because that is her specialty. =) So you all will just have to wait a few more days. Also, I would like to say that Esther's post entitled "Well, Hello There" was the first post on our blog to reach one hundred page views. So exciting!!

Well, I promised you all a travel post a long time ago. My apologies that it has taken me so long to get around to doing it! My first travel post will be about my trip to Ethiopia, which took place last summer. About eight of us from my church went with a wonderful organization called Hope In View, with which we have a strong connection. Our primary purpose in the trip was to teach Sunday school teachers how to teach Sunday school. Long description, yes I know. Try saying it to everyone who asked you why you were going. In Ethiopia, children have a rather low place in society. They are not seen as very important, and if there is not enough room in the church for them (a common occurrence), they are sent outside. We taught over one hundred teachers using a curriculum created by Carolyn Claus, co-founder of Hope In View. We sought to show the people that Jesus values children and that they are so important to Him. By the grace of God and His working, we have seen a positive impact, as over ten thousand children are now receiving Sunday school teaching. 

Me and my sponsor child

Another sweet sponsor child

My family and I are blessed to sponsor a couple children through the Hope In View Sponsorship Program. It was wonderful to get to meet them! It completely changes the dynamic from pen-to-pen to face-to-face. *Please note that not every child in the program is infected with AIDS.

Along the road going  South

Once you get outside of the big cities, these are pretty much the only homes that you see. It really makes you appreciate your soft bed, warm food, etc., huh? Ethiopia has a widely varying climate. In the south, it is tropical. In the east, it is desert. In the west, it is mountainous. In the north and center, it is rather a mix of everything, and has a fair amount of trees.

Our Sunday school class

Playing games with the class

Our team while we were teaching

We were privileged to be able to not only teach the teachers how to teach Sunday school, but to also be able to use the lessons that we were giving in order to teach a couple Sunday school classes ourselves. It was such a blessing, and the children were so precious!

The choir at a church that we visited

The church - and this is just in the first building. There are two buildings/covered areas for additional seating outside, which are also packed. 

 This church was wonderful. The people were so welcoming and friendly. The church encompasses about six thousand people. They have been building a new sanctuary for some time, but are not completing it as quickly as they could be because they want to invest more into the children's ministry. What a wonderful thing!!

One of the guest houses at which we stayed

This little bungalow was super cute, and we stayed in it when we were in the southern part of Ethiopia. While we were here, we had a bit of free time, so we took a boat out on the lake and saw about twelve hippos! It was so exciting. My favorite part about visiting this city was spending time at the orphanage. I took more pictures there than anywhere else on the trip. Unfortunately, due to the children's security risks, I am not permitted to share any of them on the web in any way. Sorry!

There are a lot of cows in Ethiopia...

A roadside market

On the way to the south of Ethiopia, there are many roadside markets.

Flash flood!

On our way back to our "home base", we got caught in a flash flood. It was certainly a new experience for me, and was a bit frightening. The water was moving faster than we were! I have videos, but am not sure how to share them....

Out west, everything is greener

Teaching at a small Bible school

Out west, we taught about seventy-five to ninety people in a tiny Bible school - think one room. They were so hungry to learn. It was such a blessing to meet them!! These people represented nine communities, and each of them has seen significant impact in the area of children's ministry. 

Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia. It means "New Flower". Behind this sign, you can see the hotel that I stayed in when we were out west. Actually, it wasn't even finished yet and they opened it just for us. So there were still people painting and doing construction while we stayed there.

This is a view of the town from our hotel. No joke, the town is only quiet from about 2:30am to 3:30am. 

A group of kids who captured my heart

This is a town in the south/central part of Ethiopia

We spent the last two days of our trip on a debrief time. We went down to this town and stayed a bit away from everything in order to try to sort out everything that we had seen. 

This isn't everything, by any means. But it should give you a bit of an overview of my trip. If you have been on a mission trip or are planning to go on one, I would love to hear about it! Just leave a comment or drop me an email, and I would love to talk about it! Also, if you ever need some what-to-pack/travel tips, I would be more than happy to share what I know!

This trip was not an easy trip, nor was it meant to be. It was challenging, tiring, and uncomfortable. We ended many nights in tears because of the great need that we had seen. I believe that we would all go back in a heartbeat. Our eyes were opened to the fact that food and water may satisfy the body temporarily, but only Jesus can truly fill us for eternity. Many people in this country are broken and hurting. Please pray for the restoration of their bodies, but even more so of their souls. 

Blessings,

Hannah