Ethiopian Adventure Review: DAY FIVE

Thursday, June 19, 2008.

We went to the airport today to retrieve ONE piece of luggage. We took 'bets' on what we thought it would be--I vote the guitar! *I* was correct. lol There was an armed guard & he would not allow all of us to go into the luggage area, so Larry & Brent went in.

They did tell us they found all the bags & the rest would arrive tonight, which means--which means it will follow us to Jimma on Ethiopian Air & meet us there.

I am seeing a lot of familiar plants & flowers: fern, palms, vincas, hibiscus, morning glory's, ivy & other familiar plants that I can't remember the names of.

I mostly feel homesick @ night when I am cold & uncomfortable. But it's ok & not that bad.

There is some construction going on but the scaffolding is made of sticks & thin logs.

We drove 7 hours to Jimma. Along the road I saw traditional round huts made of mud & sticks w/ thatched roofs. Appears to be much more agricultural living. I saw women & young girls washing clothes in muddy water. We passed by the beginning of the Rift Valley & a river that leads all the way to Kenya.

While we were driving & passing the homes & huts, in the 'window' of one of the huts I saw a very evil face--not a human face though, it was larger & when I looked again, it was gone. Then I had thoughts (heard thoughts) of a threatening nature--to leave, don't go, turn back & w/ a 'threatening' tone or feel to them. I began to pray & then, in my mind, saw an image of an angel above our car & then it sped off ahead of us & was fighting things that were coming in it's path--w/ a sword. Then I felt @ peace.

We went straight to a church & Larry spoke, it was very inspirational.

There is a graduation this weekend from a big University, so all the hotels are booked. We are staying in a lesser motel. Angela & I lucked out & got a room w/ an actual toilet, that is nice. The first room they were going to put us in was filled w/ extra 'guests': lots of cockroaches & mosquitoes & only had a squat toilet.

They wanted to put us in separate rooms, we said NO WAY! lol They don't keep Gideon Bibles in the nightstands---there is a box of condoms instead. We have to prepare our testimony & I feel @ a total loss. We are not even sleeping under the covers--we are sleeping on top of the bed, in our clothes.

We spread out our new jackets & I spread out my new skirt & slept on top of those. I used my Bible as a pillow...Larry told us to expect bed bugs.

Ethiopian Adventure Review: DAY FOUR

Wed., July 18, 2008

Today is Berty's 6th birthday...& I'm in AFRICA!
We went to a museum, a historical, national museum. The artwork was 'painful', of war, famine & genital mutilation. There were many ancient artifacts & I was sad to see it displayed in a way that left the items not so well preserved.

We passed 2 palaces today, of a prime minister & a king.

We also passed a beautiful park w/ a nice & new looking playground. But it was empty. Our guide said that no one plays @ the park because they are afraid of terrorists. :-(

We went to the Light & Life 'study center'. It is a center where children come in the middle of the school day for lunch &/or tutoring. All of the children are orphans of Aids. I did not know what to do w/ myself @ first....then we found the kindergartners.

They were taking a nap in this concrete room, on mats, but as soon as they saw us, they lit up. They immediately got up & said hello & began to touch us, hold our hands, hug us & want us to pick them up.

My dd Berty is very physically 'needy', she is very touchy. I felt like her personality had somewhat prepared me for this moment...it was a mob of kindergartners that could not physically get enough. I felt like this was the perfect way to 'celebrate' my dd's birthday, by ministering to these 'littles', in this way.

They loved my hair, they were fascinated by it. @ one point I was bending down & told them they could braid it...so they did, I was surrounded & afraid if I actually sat down, I would never be able to get up again...because they would sit on my lap & be so crowded around me

The children had ill-fitting clothes (school uniforms) w/regular clothes under. Their front teeth had black spots, sores around their mouths...& yet they seemed to be some of the most beautiful children I had ever met.

It was all quite overwhelming & I did not realize how draining until we left. Although, I wished we could have stayed longer. I could have felt content to spend the entire 2 weeks just HUGGING those children & filling up their physical need for love, every day.

Looks like rain again & no electricity in the city today.

We went to a business building to check on the status of our luggage. Brent & Angela went to have coffee...TJ & I walked around & went up these nice stairs...all the way up. We saw an emergency exit & i wished I could exit it & take pix of the view of the city...then we saw one more set of stairs, followed it up & there happened to be a door being held open by a rope. We went out & were on the ROOF! The view was amazing--you could see all of Addis!!! It looked beautiful from afar. I took pix of the bird's eye view.

I learned a few new words today: Jesus getano---Jesus is Lord.