Greetings Friends and Family,
It has been an amazing past week since our last update. The Lord has really opened up doors for us lately in Addis, and we’ve been so encouraged with what has happened recently...
Last week we visited an orphanage called Hanna’s. We met with Hanna, the orphanage founder and director, and afterwards we were all really excited about what the Lord is doing through her organization. This woman began her mission by adopting the child of a woman dying of HIV. From there it has grown into a ministry that provides for over 200 orphan children across the country.
Hanna’s is unique from other orphanages in that they use a family model to provide for the children in their care. They place 8-12 children in a home under the supervision of a “house mother”. They currently have 26 orphan homes all throughout Ethiopia. It was incredible to see what the Lord can accomplish in the lives of so many through the obedience of one faithful servant.
Another place that has had a profound impact on us is an organization called Hulugeb’s. It is a center that trains and employs the blind by teaching them how to make basic household goods such as brooms, mops, welcome mats, and pastries. Many of the handicapped people in Ethiopia view begging as a viable means of earning an income. Hulugeb’s provides an alternative and meaningful way for them to sustain themselves without being on the street. Although Hulugeb’s is not as organized as Hanna’s, this place has an incredible amount of potential to reach a greater number of disabled in Ethiopia in the future.
This week has also been an emotional one because we had to say goodbye to the children of Berket orphanage. We were so blessed to spend almost a week there, loving and playing with those kids, but we will continue to pray for the Lord’s provision for them until we are able to see them again.
With only a few days remaining in our trip, we are down to only three members of our team: Ted, Cody, and Rob, as we had to say goodbye to Nicole and Andrew who flew out this past week. We already miss their fellowship. It has been an amazing growing experience for us as a ministry and as a team!
We are grateful for the fellowship we have experienced through our stay at the Cherokee house. Staying with other volunteers has allowed us to process through the events of our trip with like-minded believers, which has really enriched our time.
As our time in Ethiopia comes to a close, we are sad to say goodbye, but looking forward to seeing how God uses this vision trip to further our ministry on both continents!
Please pray for God’s continued wisdom and guidance for the rest of our trip, and that we finish strong!
-The Sports That Serve Team
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Salamnachu guadainyas!
Our last week has been action-packed and lots of fun! Since we last blogged, a majority of our time has been spent at a local orphanage, where Nicole spent 5 weeks in 2008. After raising money through our last four camps, we are now seeking to understand the best way to partner with them. It is a fairly small orphanage, with only 23 kids, and therefore it has been easy to get to know them these past few days. We have arrived every day a little after lunchtime, when the children are finished with school. We spend each afternoon playing games, hosting spelling bees, teaching volleyball & yoga lessons, giving piggy (or "donkey") back rides, and playing lots of futbol.
Our experiences there have been both overwhelming and challenging. However, through getting to know the kids, we have begun to see the hope and joy that is present in this place. We get excited everyday that we have the opportunity to spend time with them. We don't want to take a single day for granted.
We have also really enjoyed our nightly gatherings as a STS Team. Every night we gather in "The Outhouse" (where the boys sleep) to process through our thoughts and experiences, while studying Scripture together. This has been a great way to refocus and see the orphanage the way that Jesus sees it, since it would be easy to go there every day and only see the pain and poverty that surrounds these joyful children.
Continue to pray for us:
-maintaining our health
-developing international relationships
-being a light for Christ, sharing the Gospel
-living in the moment while not getting overwhelmed
-continued guidance as we make decisions with the funds the Lord has blessed us with
Our experiences there have been both overwhelming and challenging. However, through getting to know the kids, we have begun to see the hope and joy that is present in this place. We get excited everyday that we have the opportunity to spend time with them. We don't want to take a single day for granted.
We have also really enjoyed our nightly gatherings as a STS Team. Every night we gather in "The Outhouse" (where the boys sleep) to process through our thoughts and experiences, while studying Scripture together. This has been a great way to refocus and see the orphanage the way that Jesus sees it, since it would be easy to go there every day and only see the pain and poverty that surrounds these joyful children.
Continue to pray for us:
-maintaining our health
-developing international relationships
-being a light for Christ, sharing the Gospel
-living in the moment while not getting overwhelmed
-continued guidance as we make decisions with the funds the Lord has blessed us with
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Live from Addis Ababa!
Hello family & friends!
WE ARE IN ETHIOPIA!! Praise the Lord--we are truly grateful to be here! Our flight went smoothly with only a couple minor changes. We were re-routed through Senegal instead of Rome, due to the residual volcanic ash from Iceland. This delayed our flight and actually made it a little longer but nothing too bad. We arrived here safely at 2:30pm (Ethiopian time) on May 11th.
We just finished our first full day here (May 12th). We hired a private minibus to take us around Addis and help acclimate us to the city. We visited all the major stops including: The National Stadium, Addis Ababa University & Museum, and Meskal Square, where all big celebrations are held. We officially all love Ethiopian macchiatos and they are less than 30 cents a piece here...an inexpensive addiction! :)
This afternoon we got to go to Mother Teresa's orphanage in Asco, where Rob ("Rabash") served for 8 months in 2007-2008. It was like a huge party or reunion when all the kids saw him come through the gates. A 6'8" white guy with a big beard is hard to forget. We loved playing with them and got a tour of the compound, including their awesome new school, which will house over 1000 students! We spent a good portion of time in the clinic, holding sick children, and helping the nuns. There was actually a shortage on volunteers today so it worked out perfectly that we were there. We have already made promises to come back...how do you say no to a nun?
We are reading Colossians and 1,2,3 John while we are here together as a team, if you'd like to read along. We are thankful for your prayers and encouragement and are excited to see what the Lord does with the rest of our time here.
We'll be updating every couple days. Much love!
WE ARE IN ETHIOPIA!! Praise the Lord--we are truly grateful to be here! Our flight went smoothly with only a couple minor changes. We were re-routed through Senegal instead of Rome, due to the residual volcanic ash from Iceland. This delayed our flight and actually made it a little longer but nothing too bad. We arrived here safely at 2:30pm (Ethiopian time) on May 11th.
We just finished our first full day here (May 12th). We hired a private minibus to take us around Addis and help acclimate us to the city. We visited all the major stops including: The National Stadium, Addis Ababa University & Museum, and Meskal Square, where all big celebrations are held. We officially all love Ethiopian macchiatos and they are less than 30 cents a piece here...an inexpensive addiction! :)
This afternoon we got to go to Mother Teresa's orphanage in Asco, where Rob ("Rabash") served for 8 months in 2007-2008. It was like a huge party or reunion when all the kids saw him come through the gates. A 6'8" white guy with a big beard is hard to forget. We loved playing with them and got a tour of the compound, including their awesome new school, which will house over 1000 students! We spent a good portion of time in the clinic, holding sick children, and helping the nuns. There was actually a shortage on volunteers today so it worked out perfectly that we were there. We have already made promises to come back...how do you say no to a nun?
We are reading Colossians and 1,2,3 John while we are here together as a team, if you'd like to read along. We are thankful for your prayers and encouragement and are excited to see what the Lord does with the rest of our time here.
We'll be updating every couple days. Much love!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Why?
Guess what?! We are only 7 days away from jumping on a plane and heading to Ethiopia! We are so excited!! (if you didn’t know we were going…read here)
Lately, as a staff team, we have been reading the book When Helping Hurts to prepare our minds and hearts for this upcoming vision trip. After reading, discussing, brainstorming, and praying we have a lot of questions on our minds as we travel across the world to serve in a culture not only very different from our own, but with an incredible amount of poverty bombarding us from every direction. The need is great…and we know that we are not the Savior who can alleviate all their problems and change every life.
Reading this book together has helped us focus our vision for this trip and I wanted to share some of those thoughts with you here. In the answers below, you will find some important information about how we are paying for this trip (not out of our general budget), and why we feel called to go. Enjoy!
Why do we raise money for Ethiopia?
Three of our staff members who have been involved in Sports That Serve from the beginning (Rob Shields, Jay Falk, and myself, Nicole Keegan) have spent significant amount of time in Ethiopia, specifically in the capital, Addis Ababa. All three of us served daily in orphanages and/or schools for orphans. And all of us came back significantly changed. When we returned to North Carolina, we couldn’t shake off what we had experienced and been a part of. And we couldn’t forget the great needs we had seen, or the faces of the children we loved who had little hope for their futures.
Scripture draws our attention to the poor and calls us to care for them in several passages throughout the Old and New Testament (some of my favorites: Luke 4:17-19, Isaiah 58:10, Isaiah 1:16b-17). And while ALL of us are poor in one way or another (not just materially and economically), Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert in When Helping Hurts make an excellent point:
There are too many instances throughout Scripture which draw our hearts and minds to the poor for us to ignore their plight and not make some effort to love and care for them.
There is a great need to love the poor in Ethiopia…specifically the orphans (see statistics here ). And the Lord has drawn our hearts specifically to them, in crazy unexpected ways. So we are raising money, educating ourselves, seeking wise council, and working hard to love the poor in Ethiopia the way we believe that Jesus has called us to.
Why are we going to Ethiopia for 4 weeks?
As an organization, we feel we need to take this vision trip. We need to go over there and have meetings firsthand with people who can better explain to us the need. We want to better understand the need so that we can better meet it. The last thing we want to do is pour a ton of money overseas that is not helping Ethiopians long term and is just making us feel better about ourselves. We want to be the best stewards of the money that the Lord has entrusted to us. We know that this trip is necessary for us to succeed in the future.
We feel so strongly that we are called to go on this trip, that we are using 0% of the money we have already raised through camps, etc. this year. We had a separate fundraiser (see here) and Rob, Cody, Andrew, Ted and I have all been doing personal fundraising to earn our plane tickets, room & board, and transportation while we are there. This has been a big step of faith for all of us but we have seen the Lord provide abundantly! We have no doubt that He will supply us with all the money we need before we go. We want to make sure that YOU (our supporters, friends, and family) understand how we are funding this trip so that you know that the money that has been given to us is being used honestly and faithfully.
Thank you, as always, for your partnership with us in this ministry. We are excited about this next step and will keep you updated via this blog while we are there.
Lately, as a staff team, we have been reading the book When Helping Hurts to prepare our minds and hearts for this upcoming vision trip. After reading, discussing, brainstorming, and praying we have a lot of questions on our minds as we travel across the world to serve in a culture not only very different from our own, but with an incredible amount of poverty bombarding us from every direction. The need is great…and we know that we are not the Savior who can alleviate all their problems and change every life.
Reading this book together has helped us focus our vision for this trip and I wanted to share some of those thoughts with you here. In the answers below, you will find some important information about how we are paying for this trip (not out of our general budget), and why we feel called to go. Enjoy!
Why do we raise money for Ethiopia?
Three of our staff members who have been involved in Sports That Serve from the beginning (Rob Shields, Jay Falk, and myself, Nicole Keegan) have spent significant amount of time in Ethiopia, specifically in the capital, Addis Ababa. All three of us served daily in orphanages and/or schools for orphans. And all of us came back significantly changed. When we returned to North Carolina, we couldn’t shake off what we had experienced and been a part of. And we couldn’t forget the great needs we had seen, or the faces of the children we loved who had little hope for their futures.
Scripture draws our attention to the poor and calls us to care for them in several passages throughout the Old and New Testament (some of my favorites: Luke 4:17-19, Isaiah 58:10, Isaiah 1:16b-17). And while ALL of us are poor in one way or another (not just materially and economically), Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert in When Helping Hurts make an excellent point:
“The economically poor are singled out in Scripture as being in a particularly desperate category and as needing very specific attention (Acts 6:1-7). That fact that all humanity has some things in common with the materially poor does not negate their unique and overwhelming suffering nor the special place that they have in God’s heart, as emphasized throughout the Old and New Testaments.” (p. 71)
There are too many instances throughout Scripture which draw our hearts and minds to the poor for us to ignore their plight and not make some effort to love and care for them.
There is a great need to love the poor in Ethiopia…specifically the orphans (see statistics here ). And the Lord has drawn our hearts specifically to them, in crazy unexpected ways. So we are raising money, educating ourselves, seeking wise council, and working hard to love the poor in Ethiopia the way we believe that Jesus has called us to.
Why are we going to Ethiopia for 4 weeks?
As an organization, we feel we need to take this vision trip. We need to go over there and have meetings firsthand with people who can better explain to us the need. We want to better understand the need so that we can better meet it. The last thing we want to do is pour a ton of money overseas that is not helping Ethiopians long term and is just making us feel better about ourselves. We want to be the best stewards of the money that the Lord has entrusted to us. We know that this trip is necessary for us to succeed in the future.
We feel so strongly that we are called to go on this trip, that we are using 0% of the money we have already raised through camps, etc. this year. We had a separate fundraiser (see here) and Rob, Cody, Andrew, Ted and I have all been doing personal fundraising to earn our plane tickets, room & board, and transportation while we are there. This has been a big step of faith for all of us but we have seen the Lord provide abundantly! We have no doubt that He will supply us with all the money we need before we go. We want to make sure that YOU (our supporters, friends, and family) understand how we are funding this trip so that you know that the money that has been given to us is being used honestly and faithfully.
Thank you, as always, for your partnership with us in this ministry. We are excited about this next step and will keep you updated via this blog while we are there.
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