Hi there,
Just wanted to send you a quick update while I have time.
This week we were in a place called Kore. It's the poorest part of Addis Ababa. It was originally founded as a colony for leprosy 80 years ago. I think it was Germany that established a hospital for leprosy there, and those with the disease came. Kore is also the location of the trash dump for Addis. We were working with project 61 as there is an orphanage there and a day program that teaches school over the summer. The poverty in that area was shocking. These children have nothing. The woman who started project 61 came to visit Kore and saw many of the children living there digging through the trash dump to find anything that they could eat or sell. As the dump frequently catches on fire there were ashes in the air and the kids were covered in ashes. She named it project 61 after the verse Isaiah 61:3 which says that the Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
While we were in Kore we had classes for the kids, arts and crafts, english lessons, bible lessons and games. Every time we got off the bus at project 61 we were mobbed by waiting kids who all wanted to be picked up and loved on. They would fight over who got to hold your hand and all of the girls had their hair braided repeatedly. The classrooms were small, and dirty with just a few benches in each. I couldn't help but think of the amazing potential for more. We went on a few home visits and got to see where some of the children whose parents were still alive were living. Although these people have SO little they welcomed us into their homes as honored guests and told us about their lives. One woman performed a coffee ceremony for us and I swear, I had the best cup of coffee I've ever had inside a small shack in Ethiopia.
During lunch some of the men from the community come to project 61 in order to be fed. These are men with Leprosy who have lost all of their fingers and are unable to feed themselves. One of them men, who wore an orange cap everyday would clap his crippled hands together and sing praises to the Lord. He was singing about how the Lord has richly blessed him. What an amazing testimony to have suffered so much, yet still have such a gentle and thankful spirit.
I love it here.
Next week we will be at women at risk, helping with a summer program for the kids and improving the factory and store front for the fashionable scarves. I'm really excited for both tasks. Please be praying for the team and myself, that we will be able to shine the light of God upon these people. Please pray that they will continue to be an unimaginable blessing upon us.
In Him,
Heather
Just wanted to send you a quick update while I have time.
This week we were in a place called Kore. It's the poorest part of Addis Ababa. It was originally founded as a colony for leprosy 80 years ago. I think it was Germany that established a hospital for leprosy there, and those with the disease came. Kore is also the location of the trash dump for Addis. We were working with project 61 as there is an orphanage there and a day program that teaches school over the summer. The poverty in that area was shocking. These children have nothing. The woman who started project 61 came to visit Kore and saw many of the children living there digging through the trash dump to find anything that they could eat or sell. As the dump frequently catches on fire there were ashes in the air and the kids were covered in ashes. She named it project 61 after the verse Isaiah 61:3 which says that the Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.
While we were in Kore we had classes for the kids, arts and crafts, english lessons, bible lessons and games. Every time we got off the bus at project 61 we were mobbed by waiting kids who all wanted to be picked up and loved on. They would fight over who got to hold your hand and all of the girls had their hair braided repeatedly. The classrooms were small, and dirty with just a few benches in each. I couldn't help but think of the amazing potential for more. We went on a few home visits and got to see where some of the children whose parents were still alive were living. Although these people have SO little they welcomed us into their homes as honored guests and told us about their lives. One woman performed a coffee ceremony for us and I swear, I had the best cup of coffee I've ever had inside a small shack in Ethiopia.
During lunch some of the men from the community come to project 61 in order to be fed. These are men with Leprosy who have lost all of their fingers and are unable to feed themselves. One of them men, who wore an orange cap everyday would clap his crippled hands together and sing praises to the Lord. He was singing about how the Lord has richly blessed him. What an amazing testimony to have suffered so much, yet still have such a gentle and thankful spirit.
I love it here.
Next week we will be at women at risk, helping with a summer program for the kids and improving the factory and store front for the fashionable scarves. I'm really excited for both tasks. Please be praying for the team and myself, that we will be able to shine the light of God upon these people. Please pray that they will continue to be an unimaginable blessing upon us.
In Him,
Heather
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