Korah-Day 2

This man is known in Korah as "Creeper" because of how he manages to get around on his hands.




He plays the flute out on the streets of Addis Ababa. He is better off than most in Korah as he does get some income from begging.




This is the inside of his house. Remember, he is better off than most. The terrain is so difficult for a leper who has lost limbs to get around on. I would SURE love to find some all terrain-type wheelchairs for these people, some with big wheels that could go over the rocky roads in Korah. It is just so degrading for human being to have to creep along on the ground like this man does. Any ideas??

(Remember these pictures were taken when we were there in January;)


I talked with Blake and Katie today. They were waiting for Sumer's group to pick them up and they were all going to dinner together.

The summer camp did not begin today as planned. They still had work to do to prepare. Today they painted benches and built bunk beds. They spent time playing with the kids and once again, Katie received many proposals for marriage. One boy, after asking her to marry him, must have gotten a little hungry because out of the blue, he bit her on the arm! "Sort of hard," she said. She scolded him and he said, "But I want to marry you." Hmmmmmm.....not a cultural thing I've ever heard of in conjunction with a marriage proposal:)

She's fine...don't worry, Mom!

Blake and Zach had the opportunity to lead worship for the church today. I'm not sure who was gathered there and why but he said the church was full of people. They also began their guitar lessons with the church leaders and Blake reported that it went well!

Katie is assuming that the summer camp will begin tomorrow but was going to ask Sumer at dinner when they went tonight.

Katie's story of the day is that she told me that she held a monkey today! I'm like, "WHAT?" Aliya tells stories of feeding wild monkeys and she tells us that they are M-E-A-N! The story is that Alisha, Sammy's fiance who is in Ethiopia right now bought a monkey on the street today for 100 Birr (Ethiopian money). This is just over $7 (I was wrong on facebook...sorry, I looked it up now;) Katie got to hold it and feed it a banana. She said it's the cutest thing ever! She's keeping it as her pet and named it Rafika. Oh, my goodness!!

Again, don't worry Mom! Sammy wouldn't let Alisha buy it if it wasn't ok.

Right??

They were all exhausted and will hopefully get a great nights sleep for all the work that is to be done tomorrow!

Blessings,
Laura

Great first day in Korah

I had the opportunity to talk with De and Katie today. They were at a restaurant eating dinner with Zi and it was so loud! 3 of them were eating cheeseburgers and one eating Ethiopian food...guess which one was having Ethiopian food...yep, De the Ethiopian:)

They reported to me that they had a GREAT day today in Korah today. They spent time dancing with the children. The boys worked on moving some rocks and then they all did some painting. Katie said they actually made their own paint! They boiled water and put some black stuff in it, then put some coloring in it and they used it to paint! Crazy, huh?

Katie said that they had kids crawling all over them the entire day, holding onto them, hugging them, kissing them and just generally loving all over them. They LOVED every second!

Katie laughed when she told me that she was inundated with numerous 15 year old boys who kept telling her she was so beautiful, asking her if she was married and holding her hands everywhere she went! Not to be left out, she also said the boys were constantly surrounded by girls telling them how "hand-a-some" they were!

I could hear the joy in her voice and in De's voice about the time spent with these kids, just loving them and being the face of Christ to them.

Just some background on what they are doing...there was some land across the street from the church in Korah rented so that the summer camp could accomodate the 760 kids who were coming. The land needed some improvements and the men of the church have been working on them for the past several weeks and it looks great. Today they were just finishing up these improvements.

Remember Sumer visited Korah and the garbage dump in January? When she saw the horrible condition that so many children were living in there, she found a boarding school in Sheshamane that would take the kids, providing that they could learn how to hold a pencil, learn some English, learn to wash their clothes and learn to make a bed. Given that they have no beds in the dump, only one set of clothes and no where to wash them and no means to learn English or reading or writing, attendance in the summer camp program is required for admittance into the boarding school. The improvements on the new land include some dorm-type rooms with beds and desks for the children to learn the skills necessary for school.

Then if you remember, sweet Sammy opened up the summer camp up to all the kids who they (the church in Korah) has files on (who have or need sponsorship to attend school there in Korah...see hopemongers.com). This is what brought the number of summer camp attendees to over 750 kids!

So that begins tomorrow. I'm sure the anticipation is very high among the children and the workers! Will you pray with me for the kids and workers? Pray that the Lord would show up in the faces, voices and loving hands of the workers. Pray that the kids would know and see the love that they so rarely see from outsiders. And that they would KNOW that there is a God in heaven who loves and adores them and thinks they are precious.

Look at those faces in the picture above (that we took in Feb). Is there any question that they are precious in His sight?

Gorgeous kids!

Blessings,
Laura

It's 10:15 in Addis Ababa... *update at bottom*

So why have the kids not emailed yet?? :)

They should have landed at 7:00pm their time. How fun! I can just imagine them going down the escalator, then through the Visa line for their Ethiopian Visa then on to collect their bags (which can take a while!) then through the x ray machine and through the doors to see Zi and Sammy.

Sumer's group of from her church were on the same flight! So they had lots of bags to gather up, load up and get back to the Guest Home. Then get to their room, get situated and get their cell phone which is given to them for their use while a guest at the Ethiopia Guest Home. Best place to stay while in Addis Ababa, by the way!

Then to the office to use the computer to email me the phone number of their cell phone so I can call them. Hmmmm....this could be the problem. With 15 other people who want to do the same thing for their families who are waiting at home and with the slowest dial up in the East ;) it could be tomorrow before we get to talk to them.

I spoke with Sumer a couple days ago and she told me the church is SO excited to have the guitars! She also told me that the summer camp starts on Wed. and on Tues. they will be painting and working on last minute things to get the site ready. She reported that the additional land that was rented for this reason by Korah looks wonderful! It needed some improvements made to it, like some buildings built, bunk beds and desks built to get ready for the kids who are coming to the summer camp from the trash dump. Can't wait to see pics of that!

She also reported that the latrine/toilet that was to be ready is not quite ready. Maybe they can get that completed on Tues, too. I asked her where she was going to the bathroom in Korah and she didn't answer that one! There are no bathrooms there otherwise. Oh, well...when in Korah...

I meant to take pics of the stuff the kids bought to give away but didn't get a chance. They bought 4 soccer balls, 4 frisbees, those little parachute guys, matchbox cars, soccer ball pumps, recorders (like a flute), etc. The plan for these things is that they will probably give them individually to a child who is all alone or in a small group, like the 2 boys we saw playing soccer with the ball they had made from old plastic bags and string up in the Entoto Mountains. (picture above) There are just not enough for all the kids in Korah and if they give to one child, there will be so many sad kids. Can you imagine their faces if you pulled out a brand new black and white soccer ball and gave it to them?? Ahhhhhhhhh, have I mentioned how badly I want to be there?? There is pretty much nothing I'd rather do than that right now. It just thrills my heart!


I will update when I speak to them, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for praying for them.

Blessings,
Laura

Don't you just love Facebook?? I was on and Zi came on so I got the kids' cell phone number from him. So I talked with them and they all sound like they've been up for 2 days...oh, I guess they have been practically! The flight was fine but no one slept much. So they are exhausted. They are staying in the same guest house we stayed in while we were there in Feb. (there are 4 separate houses there)

They put the boys in a room and Katie in another room. She was freaked out so they moved all their luggage into that room and she climbed in with her brother in his bed. So hopefully they will be out cold and get rested.

They need to be up for breakfast by 7:30 and ready to leave by 9am for Korah. Should be an exciting day!

Until tomorrow...

They're on their way to Ethiopia!

Katie and De after graduation celebrating at TGIFridays with some dessert. Don't they look gorgeous?




The oldest kids at graduation. We left the little boys at home. Need I explain that decision??




Just 2 nights ago they were graduating and today they leave for Ethiopia! We don't do things half way, do we? We're gluttons for stress!


Blake, Katie, De and Zach are off on the first leg of their journey. We left for the airport at 4:45 this morning! Of course, we had to make a quick trip back because they forgot their travel pillows. We weren't far from home so no big deal. But when we were almost to the airport, Blake says, "We did get the Baby Taylor, didn't we?" (this is a small guitar he was carrying on) Nope, we did not have it. So Blaine's mom graciously woke the little boys up, loaded them and the other Baby into the car and brought them to the airport. Thank you Grandma!

I guess there IS a benefit to gathering all your luggage and belongings and putting them into one pile so the night before so it's easy to gather them up in the morning;) Hmmmm...lesson learned?? Listen to your mother.

They called from Dulles an hour ago when they landed. De's ears were hurting but Katie has Sudafed so he should do better on the next leg. Zach is coming down with a sore throat, so pray for him. Katie and Blake were doing fine. Blake said that De was already stuffing his face with a burrito so I guess things are pretty good:)

People keep asking me if it worries us to put them on a plane to go half way across the world. I have to say that is really doesn't. We know that God goes before them. He has a plan for them while they are away. He had a plan for them while they were here working and raising funds. He has a plan for them when they arrive back home. They already have been asked by a friends' church to come and share their trip with the congregation.

I know he has a plan for the people they whose lives they will touch in Korah. I know they will be a blessing to the church there. It will be a church with musical instruments, something they've never had before. I wonder how many people in the community will come to the church for the first time ONLY to see what strange thing is making such music. Guitars are not common in Ethiopia. I wonder how many of them will hear the gospel for the first time.

My sister in law, Pam has spent well over a month gathering materials for 760 kids to make a wordless bracelet. She has been to every craft store in our area, coupons in hand, sometimes having to put an item and coupon in her 7 year olds hands, to purchase all the beads and leather it requires to make the bracelets. If you haven't seen a wordless bracelet...they are made with a leather string and 5 beads...a grey or black one, a red one, a white one, a gold one and a green one. Each bead tells a story.

Grey or black represents sin...because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Red represents the blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed to save and cleanse us from our sins.
White represents that when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, our sins are washed as white as snow.
Gold represents heaven and how the streets there are made of pure gold!
Green represents new life and how we grow in our relationship with Jesus.

I wonder how many children will go home with these bracelets and share the wordless story with their families and they will hear the gospel for the first time. And even though they cannot read a word or speak English, their families will understand about a Savior who loves them enough to die for them.

To be honest, I'm more than a little jealous that they get to go do this and I don't! I'd love to be there but this is their time.

Thank you for your prayers, support, love, interest and encouragement. You have blessed them!

More as I hear...

Love,
Laura

They graduated!

Katie and De graduated last night! It was a very nice ceremony and I will share pics probably tomorrow when I get a little more time.

Today will be spent helping the kids get packed up and other last minute things. No they haven't started packing AT ALL! I told them they really need to get the suitcases out and get started but that has not yet happened:) They have been busy getting ready for the trip and graduation so I guess I'll have to give them some grace.

I did want to ask for prayer for De. He has a pretty bad sore throat and is feeling not great. Pray that he will get better before he has to get on a plane for 23 hours and also please pray that no one else will get sick. De never gets sick either. So hmmmmm...kind of weird.

They leave bright and early tomorrow morning and then spend the day in Dulles...a 10 hour layover! It was that or leave a little later and transfer planes 3 times before getting to Dulles. So I chose the 10 hour layover. Better than coming up and down so many times! They definitely have PLENTY of time there!!

Thanks for your prayers as they get ready to go serve the people of Korah in Addis Ababa, Ethioipia! They are getting very excited.

Blessings,
Laura

Great open house for Katie!

Aliya wearing her "Remember Korah" bracelet. Isn't she pretty? (Remember Korah bracelets are for sale if you want one!)




Grandma Joani is so clever with gifts! De got a box filled with money, all taped together. So when he pulled it just kept coming and coming! He LOVED it! So funny.




The beautiful graduate and her mommy:)




De, Katie and my mom.




When we were trying to assemble the crew, Misganaw grabbed my face and kissed my nose and Jenny caught it on camera. So sweet!




We finally got a new family picture that includes everyone:) De is included because he really is part of our family.

We had a wonderful open house for Katie. The weather didn't cooperate too well but that didn't stop the fun! Five years ago, rain on an open house day would have really upset me but we've been through much worse since then so now it barely fazed us. This is a good thing!

I have to say a few things about my little graduate, Katie. She has been a parents' delight from birth. She has always wanted to please us as parents and cannot stand to ever let us down. Therefore, she's been easy to parent. She's grown into one of my very best friends, someone I can always confide in, someone who knows exactly how I feel at every given moment, someone who gives me wise advice. She loves the Lord, seeks to follow Him, be a good example to her friends and school (earned a character award this year in her senior class), puts others ahead of herself and is a kind and thoughtful person.

We are so proud of her and thankful that the Lord has heard our prayers over the years on her behalf!

Blessings,
Laura

Pontoon and puppies

We spent the Memorial Day weekend up north at our cabin. We had amazingly warm weather for this time of year and the kids even went swimming in the lake! Most years, a person would get hypothermia from doing that:) Aliya got a turn driving the pontoon boat and loved it.




So our new puppy was born 3 weeks ago and the other night we went as a family to go visit the puppies. Misganaw is holding one of them. How cute is that? We will wait a couple more weeks before choosing one so we can see more of their personality as they get a little older. Right now, they all seem the same to me!




Here is Mihiretu with another puppy.




Katie with yet another puppy.




After the puppy visit, we stopped off at Dairy Queen for a little treat. Aliya just learned that in eating an ice cream cone, eat from the top down, not from the bottom up! I CANNOT believe it didn't make a huge, drippy mess and it stayed together!

Life is a little crazy right now as we are preparing for Katie's graduation open house here on Saturday. Praying for good weather! Then after that, we concentrate on getting the kids ready for their trip to Korah and getting Katie and De through their graduation in a week. Lots to do, lots to be excited for!

Blessings,
Laura