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The Stonewall Inn
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
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Product Placement
NASA
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Origami Around
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@ethiopiavisiontrip
WE ARE HOME!!!!
Hey, All! We made it home Tuesday morning from a fantastic trip to Africa! We have so much to share with you so be looking for an August update with all the details!
Thanks for all your support and prayer!
Love - ben and regina
As you drive along the Ethiopian countryside, you come across towns that have ping pong tables outside along the road with people playing. I asked our Ethiopian hosts if we could stop and play as I grew up playing and still love to play it to this day. What an experience and memory to play with these people. We had quite the crowd gather to watch an American! So much fun!
Ethiopia is a beautiful country. But the city of Awassa takes it up a notch. It's built on a big lake which includes an abundance of wildlife, including hippos and monkeys. We ate lunch at a restaurant near the lake and let's just say monkeys are quite crafty when they get hungry. We witnessed several food hijackings where they would just jump up on a table and grab people's food. Talk about entertainment!
While we were in Awassa, we visited two potential CarePoint sites in a close town called Shone. The team was very impressed with the Church leaders and all that they have accomplished even without sponsorship. It was refreshing to hear church leaders talk about investing in the people in their community versus investing in new church buildings or upgrades. The team had great fellowship with the kids and I (Ben) was able to sit down with four kids and learn more about their lives, challenges and hope for future. Very impactful stuff, all of which we'll be sharing as we package up our experience here in Ethiopia.
We visited our first CarePoint today in Awassa and were greeted with about 100 enthusiastic kids. While the staff at the CarePoint are doing great work, they are forced to care for just the basic nutritional and health needs of the kids as they are short about 90 sponsors. We had a great time playing with the kids and were amazed at the number of them who could speak English well.
We visit two potential CarePoint sites tomorrow, spend one more night in Awassa, and then head back to Addis on Friday morning.
A little less than two years ago when Hannah and I were in Ethiopia, we went into an extremely poor neighborhood. We took food to and prayed with many who had leprosy or were HIV positive.
As many of you know, one woman captured my heart. I have thought about and prayed for her often hoping to see her again. Never dreaming in a city of over five million people with over 1000 women participating in this ministry would I ever see her again. With many of you praying, help from a dear friend here, and the local ministry Ben and I saw and spent time with her! Praise God!
Thanks to all who have been praying for this reunion!
One thing that caught my eye on my first trip to Addis was how they construct buildings. They use raw logs to build scaffolding. It's seems crazy to me that people would trust this system but it works! Can't say you'd see me up there anytime soon! btk
Phase one complete
We just landed in Toronto and have a short delay before departing to Addis. It was an early morning but excitement is carrying us through the day (a lot of coffee never hurts either.)
We had dinner tonight at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant. What you see pictured here is tibs firfir and injera. Injera is a spongy sourdough flat bread that you use as a spoon to pick up the meat. Eating here is a kid's dream as forks are rarely used! We have one more day of exploring Addis on our own before the Hopechest team arrives and our real trip begins! Miss you all! Ben and Regina
We spent our first day with a friend we met during our last visits to Ethiopia. Nebiyu had us over to his house for dinner and we were spoiled with a coffee ceremony from his wife! Coffee ceremonies are a well known ritual where guests are made really good coffee. It starts with roasting the coffee beans (shown in the video) and continues all the way to brewing which they do in a decorative ceramic pot right on the coals. Such a cool tradition!
We are on the ground in Ethiopia and will have a constant stream of caffeine. No sleep on the plane is going to challenge us today!
It's Almost Time...
Hi, All! Can you believe we are leaving in less than a week? It seems like we just started this journey yesterday, and now we are packing up and getting ready to head to Ethiopia! It is exciting to think the children we meet could be the children we sponsor and start relationships with through our Connect Group.
Many thanks to all of you for your support to us and the children in Ethiopia! I cannot wait to share with you all Ben and I learn!
Love - regina
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
It's about to get very real!
Excited. Scared. Curious. Amazed. Blessed. These are all emotions that pop into my head as I think about our upcoming trip to Africa. I know that God calls us to live with meaning and purpose, but that, for me, has meant being a little uncomfortable or left wondering when to get to it (I’ve got lots of yard work to do :-)). It’s refreshing to know that God shows up and blesses the work of those that are willing to step out and get uncomfortable. Here comes our first step!
ben
Prayer requests for the upcoming trip
Regina and I would welcome your prayers for the following items as we prepare for and go on the trip to Ethiopia:
God's wisdom and guidance in all we do and say.
For all those we meet and spend time with.
Safety for us (the whole group) as we travel.
Good health.
Unity as Ben and I look at what CarePoint might be a good fit for our Connect Community.
For our girls, Hannah, Grace, and Ryan, while we are away.
The Trip
The trip will last a total of 10 days and will largely be split between the capital city of Addis Abada and Awassa. We'll even get to say hi to some hippopotamuses in Awassa while we're there. Did you know hippos are often referenced as the most dangerous animals in Africa?