Today has been an extremely long day physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It was the last day we had with the children at the Drop-In Center. Thus, I wanted to make it a special one.
We started with our normal routine of lessons and medical needs. Then we took the kids over to a park and played football and volleyball with them. All in all a fun day.
Leaving was very difficult. All of us got up and spoke to the kids and I spoke to them about being a mustard seed and how if they have that small of faith, there is nothing that is impossible. I let the kids know that I came here thinking that I would help them, but have learned that through God, they helped me. We said goodbye to the children, and got a ton of hugs, around 3:30 as we had to get home and get cleaned up to have dinner with Nega.
About midway through the day, I started feeling pretty crummy and it got worse throughout the day. By the end of the day, and now, I feel pretty miserable. We went to eat dinner at Nega's and watched the US come from behind and tie up the match 2-2. Then we headed out after a bit. Once we arrived back to the guesthouse, we had a debriefing with K.C. leading the group. It was a tough debriefing to say the least. Kara looked as if she was going to pass out in her chair, Liz looks to be coming down with what I've got, and of course, I'm not feeling well. But I made a decision to press on through it, as K.C. spent valuable time planning it and I wanted to get as much out of it as I could. God will let me know when enough is enough. We talked about the activities we most loved and what were the basic message we learned from them.
I need to get to a couple of prayer requests, but let me say this. Often times I've put God in a box and said to myself that he wasn't as big as he is. God is so much greater than I can imagine and he continues to amaze me with his grace, blessings, and mercy. I got a taste of what God sees in all of us this week. Addis Ababa is a dirty, smoggy, poor, and ugly place. Yet, in spite of it all, I can tell you that all I see in it is beauty. Everything about this place is beautiful. The culture, the love, the affection, and the children. This is how God sees us. We are a messed up wreck of ugliness. Yet in it all, God meets us right where we are and tells us we are beautiful, made in his image. It's breathtaking to see if you allow yourself to. Why? Because God loves ugly.
Prayer requests:
1. Pray for our team members. Kara, Liz, Tom, and I are all battling nagging issues. Sickness, exhaustion, or other issues.
2. Pray that this isn't some youth camp retreat and that we come home and get back to our normal lives and put this on a bucket list.
3. Pray that we are allowed safety back on our flight tomorrow evening. We leave here at 10pm Sat night and arrive back Sunday (Memphis time) at 6pm. Keep in mind we lose 8 hours. So it's going to be a long flight back.
4. Pray that these kids understand what true love is. It doesn't come from us or the staff or their parents, but only from Christ.
Will try and blog tomorrow if I get the chance, but if not, I'll see some of you when I get home and try and recap everything I can remember next week.
Thank you for all your prayers, support, and faith.
God Bless
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