I got to go to school today!!!!!!!!!!! It was SO FUN!!!!!!!!!! MOCHA CLUB (the organization I went on this trip with) built a school specifically for a population of children who were being sponsored through Compassion International. This "school" is very nice and very small... 5 classrooms in a row..... The classrooms were concrete blocks...cement floors.... walls were painted a beautiful blue...but there was nothing hanging on the walls...the only thing on the walls was one single chalk board up front.....and the only thing in the classroom besides people were several long benches for the munckins to sit on...there were about 10-15 children in each class (a teacher's dream!!) The YOUNGEST children go to school in the morning (half day of school) and then the older children come in the afternoon (they only go half a ... read more

Today we visited the Mother Theresa Hospital for the sick, dying, and destitute, and the Mother Theresa Orphanage..... We were totally TOTALLY unprepared for what we were about to see..... I am not sure I can even think of a way to describe it besides it felt like we were in a horror movie..... it was just SO intense and surreal .... We walk in.....and it's a couple HUNDRED men...sitting very close together..... all wearing uniforms with numbers on them...it felt like we were visiting a jail.... we were walking in and the men were on all sides of us and started clapping.... it felt like we were zoo animals... I really didn't like it at all.....looking around I noticed how sick these men were....... imagine the sickest, most crippled person you have ever seen laying ... read more

Worshipping Christ.... wow...do these women take that to a whole new level for me... I don't think I have words to describe being part of worshipping with these women at WAR... Each girl is singing as LOUD as possible, holding NOTHING back..... clapping, dancing.....just SHOUTING to the Lord..... I swear...if this is even a GLIMPSE of what Heaven is going to be like... I can't WAIT to get there....... I just stood there with my eyes closed taking it all in....and God gave me this vision.... We were on one of the desert plains of Africa.... TONS of people were singing and dancing and praising Jesus... They were in a circle....and Jesus was in the middle..... And I was dancing with Jesus.... to the beautiful sound of their voices..... And everyone was smiling and just so ... read more

Wubetu is the name of a little 15 year old boy I met tonight... within 5 minutes, I fell in love with him and wanted to adopt him....He is SO SO SO SO SO smart and his english is BRILLIANT! He wants to be a TEACHER...either PHYSICS or MATH!!! He was telling me how he can study for 14 hours straight without a break..... wow... I def. can't do that.....He had the SWEETEST spirit Get this......Wubetu is the boy that BLAKE founder of TOMS SHOES sponsors.... A man named Surafel (spelling?) who works for Mocha Club AND TOM's shoes is taking care of him...... The story goes....about 4 months ago Blake was in Northern Ethiopia where some water wells were being drilled....and that is where Wubetu is from...Wubetu lived with his very very poor parents and ... read more

Hey everyone! Hope ya had a wonderful New Years celebration!! Congrats Brooke and Jeff!!! YOU ARE MARRIED!!!! My thoughts and prayers are with you!!! I am sure you had a blast! This morning we spent about 3.5 hours at "Little A Hope," which is an orphanage in Addis Ababa that takes care of orphans ages birth-12 who are HIV positive. They are schooled, and given all their ARVT (HIV medication). I was pleasantly surprised when we walked through the door how beautiful and clean and kept the grounds for the orphanage were! As SOON as we walked through the gates, the children were sprinting to us, hugging us, holding our hands, asking us to pick them up, kissing our cheeks, wanting us to throw them around, play soccer, climb on the jungle gym with them, and ... read more