Happy New Year from Ethiopia!!!

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We made it here safe!!! All the teams bags made it except 2.... it's okay, they will be here tomorrow! So far we are all in good health, and have amazing translators.....

Africa smells EXACTLY what I thought it would smell like...... it's weird, but I almost feel like it's a familiar smell even though I have never smelled anything like this before.... I am SO humbled and excited to be here!

Addis is so much bigger then I thought it would be.... and there are SO SO SO many people...and SO SO SO much poverty..... driving is a bit scary (crazy really)....and there is SO much pollution and trash..... The people look and live in the exact way we see on TV.... There are random wandering GOATS, DONKEYS and DOGS everywhere!!!!

We are staying in a group home right across from one of the local public schools.....it's awesome to see them all WALKING to school in the morning in their red and blue uniforms...and they are LOUD LOUD LOUD.....like every child is buzzing and excited to be going to school! I SOOO badly want to slip into one of their classrooms and see their classroom!!! Praying I get that opportunity!!

Today, we visited the "Women at Risk" in Addis Ababa. This is the organization that rescues women from prostitution and enrolls them in a year long program (this one is a 7am-4pm daily program)....... It was awsome to sit down with the leader and hear all about these women and how they find them, and how the program works (12 step program)..... They go TO these women where they are, and work on building trust...and invite them to come spend the day with them at their facilities and then give them a choice to enroll or not!

We were able to meet all 25 women..... and we painted their finger nails (and they were SO excited for us to do this)......and talked with them...the boys on our team told them stories from the Bible and shared some of their own stories with the women..... .... it was really difficult to have a conversation because of the language barrier...but I am adjusting.....

We also were able to see where the FASIONABLE scarves through Mocha Club are made! They were in the process of being made and packaged.....SO NEAT!!! These are the scarves that the women who graduate from the program are making to make a living instead of going back into prostitution! You can actually buy them on Mocha Club's website! (mochaclub.org) They are absolutly beautiful, and the women who make them are BEAUTIFUL!

We were also able to play with these babies ages 1-2..... they were ADORABLE.... none of them were wearing diapers.... they were all bear butt....nobody got peed on so that's a blessing.... however, I wonder what happens when they do go to the bathroom?? Anyways... SO precious.....

We are gonna go back to the ADDIS WAR (Women At Risk) program later this week, where we will wash their feet and tell them the story about Jesus, and we will hand out the beautiful Jewelry all of my fantastic girlfriends donated!!!

Tonight we have reservations to go to an Ethiopian restaurant with dancing and singing to celebrate the new year!!! Gonna be cultured 😊 and learn some new moves to incorporate into my line dances 😊 hahaha

Sorry for the randomness and any spelling or punctuation errors....I am in a hurry because I only have a few minutes!!! LOVE YOU ALL!! Happy New Year......it's gonna be a good one.....

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Comments

[jess]

wow
Ashley! This is amazing! I almost feel like i can see everything from the way you describe it! We're praying over you and your team and cannot wait to hear more! love~jess and jd

[Leslie]

Amazing!
Funny how you spoke about the smell and it's as you thought. Thanks for sharing your trip and the experiences God is putting you through! You all are such a blessing to these women for sharing your love and concern...you are helping to give them hope! Looking forward to your next blog!

[Amanda]

YAY!
So happy you were able to get on and blog. How exciting!! So you wrote a lot and I LOVE all of it... but... GOATS DONKEYS AND DOGS EVERYWHERE!! OH MAN!!