July 5, 2008

Today we drove to Ambo. After breakfast at the guest house, we had devotions. We discussed the first few verses of Mark where John the Baptist baptises Jesus, Jesus goes to the desert, adn he calls on His first deisciples. They went iwth Him immediately without hesitation. How difficult must that have been? Being called to Ethiopia I even questioned God to see if He was sure. Me? You want to send me? Are You sure? I couldn't imagine going immediately.

The drive to Ambo was pretty intense. I never realized the amount of people there would be. All the numbers from my research have now become people. It is starting to hit me, but I'm still waiting for the big hit. It was a long drive. Ethiopia is gorgeous. Green and beautiful. Greener than I thought it would be. Some of the things I saw on the drive I will never forget. The children just standing next to the shacks on the side of the road wearing just rags. Their clothes are so worn there is hardly anything left. Chidren gathering filthy water to drink made my stomach turn. I can just see them getting sick from a parasite or a disease and it breaks my heart, but what other choice do they have?

When we arrive in Ambo we checking into our hotel. It was really nice and for the 2nd time in 2 days I feel awful about it. We then drove to a Compassion International site. We were told the children were waiting all morning for us, but left before we got there. These plans were not set in stone so there was some miscommunication. While there we heard people singing and were invited to listen to them. There were about 10 teenagers practicing for Sunday worship. You would have thought the room was full because they were singing so loudly. It was amazing. I had no idea what they were singing, but it was beautiful! It may sound different thanmine, but both are worship to an amazing loving God!

Once we left there we went to a church/school. The children rand to the bus! They were so excited. As soon as I got off the bus, a little boy named Ganalah took my hand and would not let go of it all day. At one point I couldn't even walk around because he put my arm around him, held my hand, and wrapped his other arm around my leg and just laid his little face on my stomach. It was awesome!

We did our skit for the children which went very well. We did some singing and dancing and just had a great time. We did craft stations with them. By the third group I was shot. I'm actually glad it started raining because I just couldn't do it anymore. I was so drained physically and it was affecting my attitude.