It's a New Year!!!

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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 wanting to show us where they lived. THEY WERE SO HAPPY, SO SWEET, SO HEALTHY LOOKING, AND SO CUTE... I wanted to take all 30 of them home with me....and I am pretty convinced that a few of them wanted to leave with me as well 😊 I wish I was able to post pictures of these children to just give you a glimpse of how blessed and humbled I feel. These children who were born with HIV, are just normal children. They don't look or act any different...and just like any human...they want to be loved and wanted.

Everyone on the team, including translators, walked in with TONS of silly bands on our wrists! These were a HIT! They LOVED THEM! We handed them out throughout the time we were there, and taught them how to trade them....and it actually turned out to be an EXCELLENT English lesson as they were trying to figure out what shapes they were in and then used the English word. They were also spreading them all the way up their arm and counting in English from 1-20! Some of the kids spoke EXCELLENT English...some didn't speak any at all! By the time we left every child had wrists full of Silly Bands... it was very cute.

While we were there we also were able to enjoy the children singing Christmas Carols in Amharic, and praise songs to Jesus with sign language. I can't wait to show you the videos! The children wanted to take picture after picture...not of themselves...but they wanted my camera and they wanted to walk around and take pictures of everything for me....

I was able to play soccer with some of the little boys. And played specifically with a little boy named Tesfaye! He was maybe 8 years old. We played for a while...I was teaching him to juggle..... then he was glued to my hand the rest of the morning. He didn't speak any English, so that was difficult...but when I had a moment with the translator she told me he was asking me if he could show me where he lives. OF COURSE!! So he took me by hand into the orphanage..... and showed me his bedroom, which was about 10 bunk beds all together for all the boys. He showed me the girls room, the toddlers room, and the infant room. I am VERY happy to report everything looked VERY clean and HAPPY! He then took me by the hand out to the school room. It was adorable. He then wanted to wear my sunglasses and pretend he was in the military...and he marched around and saluted me over and over again. hahaha. He was ADORABLE and I wanted to adopt him on the spot!!!

It was time to go..... and I was hanging out with another little girl (I can't pronounce her name I'm sorry) who was clinging to my arm. She hugged me, kissed me, and told me she loved me with tears in her eyes..... I told her I loved her too, and Jesus loves her. Leaving was very hard, but at least we know we are going back!!! Tomorrow, and Christmas morning!!!! I can't WAIT. I want to spend more time with these amazing children.

The encouraging thing is.... since the last time my team members were at AHOPE 31 of the 34 children HAD BEEN ADOPTED!!!!!!!!! This was like candy to my ears and heart!!!! So encouraging to see an orphanage that is properly caring for the children, keeping it clean, and the kids are SO SO SO happy..... and they are successful.... because kids are being adopted!!!

After we left Little A Hope we went to a church in Addis that was going to be serving food (full meal to celebrate Christmas which is Jan. 7 for Ethiopians) to about 40 street boys (orphaned boys who live on the street with nothing). The church had dirt floors, a few benches, and tarps as walls. Wow.... I loved it.
One of my team members and I had the amazing honor of washing the hands of all these street boys and greeting them! We also were able to sing "This little light of mine" and they kinda thought we were funny..... In rolled a CAKE to finish the celebration..... not a cake like Americans make cake...but a HUGE round loaf of bread that literally tasted like nothing. (They don't like sweets here!!!! That is my MAIN food group!!) We sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JESUS in AMHARIC which was so special..... and then passed around the bread and ate together.

So far...today was my favorite 😊

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Comments

[Nicole Hunsicker]

Happy New Year!!!!
So so sweet and fun!!!! I am so thankful that you are loving it and that you are able to write about it to share with all of us!!! So proud of you!!! So amazing to hear what God is doing!!! LOVE the silly bands!!!! Miss you!!! Can't wait to see the video and hear more about it!!!! Love to you and Meg!!!!!

[Amanda]

Oh my goodness. I read this and cried. I can't wait to see all the pictures.