Ethiopia Reflections

Mrs. McGoo and I have been back from Ethiopia for a week now and one might think that we've had ample time to sit back and reflect on our visit. That being said, she and I sat down for the first time Saturday night for the first time to discuss. While I have been home sick (and watching the World Cup), Mrs. McGoo had to hit the ground running and didn't really stop at all this week to reflect on what going to Addis Ababa really meant and the impact it had on her. As we all know, life doesn't stop while we're gone, so it quickly met us as soon as we got back.

We were blessed with being able to discuss our trip with our Sunday School class Sunday morning and I know for me, it was a good way of getting off my shoulders some pent up frustration. Frustration because I hadn't really had a chance to tell people what went on over there as well as what God was doing in my life. Being sick all week forced me to sit at home and not get out much. So I was chomping at the bit to preach the news.

Our Sunday School has grown leaps and bounds in the last six months where I don't really know half the class now. Seems like we've added around 20-30 new people to our class. I was telling a friend Mrs. McGoo and I have been gone so much lately that the "new" people were coming up to us introducing themselves to us and welcoming us to the class. So it has been encouraging to see how God has started moving in our young marrieds class. However, I wasn't sure how my talk about our mission/journey to Africa would be met. Would they be like, "Who is this dude and where did he come from and why is he talking about Ethiopia?" Much to my delight, everyone at least laughed at my jokes and listened to my heart.

We presented to the class a little about the mission trip and the organization we worked with, then talked about what we did while on the trip with the kids and the staff members. Once we did that, we showed them the video that Joe Bridges put together. Let me say that I was fine until the video portion. He did such a good job on it and it brought everything back into perspective for me. Then I told the class a little about what Ethiopia represented to me. Here's my story...

About 3 years ago, I lost my job. Not knowing what to do, we fell to our knees and asked God to guide us in what direction we should go. Throughout it all, I felt his push for me to go back to school. It went against everything that "the world" tells us. 'THE MAN SHOULD TAKE CARE OF HIS FAMILY' is one of the things my pride kept telling me. Fortunately for me, I have an incredible support system in place with my wife. She encouraged me to follow the Lords desires for me and to not be afraid of what He had in store for me. I looked at it from the worldly perspective and my wife from God's point of view. So I decided to go trust the Lord and go back to school. When we decided this, we thought, "OK God, now how exactly are we going to pay for this? Not only do we not have money coming in from one half of the family, but now we've got to pay for it." We got on our knees, like we so often do, and told God that if it was his will, he would make it happen.

One day after church, I ran into the soccer coach at the University of Memphis. In talking with him, I told him of my desire to go back to school and we were following the Lord in it all and trusting that he would provide, since we did not have the means to pay for it. The coach looked at me and said, "Well, we're in the market for a new soccer manager, so if you are interested, we'd love to have you. It would pay for your school." I remember looking up at the sky after that conversation and saying to God, "You really do have your hand in all of this." Come to find out that not only did it pay for my entire schooling, but books as well.

Then came time to pick a major. I chose Sports and Leisure because I LOVE sports. I thought that I would work for a athletic dept or a pro sports team. God had other plans. Throughout my time working in this department, I've found that God is wanting me to go more towards the Leisure side of the major. Now I know what you are thinking...Leisure? You major in laying around? Not exactly. Leisure is the side that is more Non-Profit related and Youth Organizations. So think Make-A-Wish, Special Olympics, or YMCA. Or, Missions...

Anyone that knows Mrs. McGoo or has read her blogs, they'd know she was and has been on fire about going to Ethiopia for a mission trip. I, on the other hand, was a but apathetic about it all. I remember asking her why Ethiopia? Why did she have to pick the most expensive trip instead of going to say, Uruguay or somewhere else in South America. She looked at me and said, "Kelly, because this is where God has placed in my heart...I want you to come with me."

I've always had a longing to go to Africa and especially recently, but that is because the World Cup is going on. I told her that I was looking into going on a study abroad trip with school. As luck would turn out, I got accepted for two trips. One was called the Great Western Trip and the other was a trip to England to work for some professional sports teams. I chose the Great Western trip and put the other as my secondary choice. When it came time to find out about the trip, I got a phone call from the leader and he said that the trip had been canceled. Then about 30 mins later I got a phone call from the leader of the other trip telling me that my application was perfect, but since I didn't put them as my first choice, they selected someone else. So there I was, left without a trip. Enter Africa.

We started raising money for the trip and again, I asked Mrs. McGoo how would it be possible that we would be able to raise $6000 necessary for the trip. She looked at me and said, God will provide. We were quickly humbled by the generosity by so many. People that we weren't even that close to donated support. I remember rubbing my eyes one day realizing that we had met our goal faster than anyone else on our team.

I say all this to explain to you that I was not overly shaken by it all. Until I stepped foot on African soil. It immediately all made sense when I got there. God had been preparing me all along for this trip. I said before in another blog that my senses were attacked when we got their. It smelled, pollution was everywhere, the smog overtook your senses, and it was so dirty. Yet when I got to the drop in center, I saw the children. I saw the beauty that was in their eyes and the beauty of the culture. It all made sense to me. This is exactly how God sees us. Broken, nasty, messy, dirty, smelly, and yet in it all, he still loves us.

I realized then how selfish I had been. I've lived my life, believing in a God that has taken care of me, yet done nothing to take care of others. I felt so small. I've been given it all, yet have squandered so much of my life. I just couldn't stop thinking about all that I have taken for granted and how I have envy in my heart for things that I do not have...new car, new clothes, new this, new that...



Since I have been back, I have had a little more clarity with my life and where God wants me. I love helping people, love kids, love activities...my major is Sports and Leisure...so why not put all these things to work for God's purpose. Without getting into any details, because I don't want to get ahead of myself, but God has some stuff working. Hopefully I can expand on it more later, but rest assured, He's working.

I say all this back story to show how it wasn't me asking for something and God delivering in a week or a month. This has been God's plan now for going on 4 years. It is pretty neat to look back and see Him working in us and knowing where He has us is right where He wants us. I can honestly say that I have renewed faith in him saying, "Trust Me."

So for me, trusting the Lord means starting small and dreaming big. My goals are to begin to pray more for my wife and how I can continue to be a man that puts the Lord first in our marriage. Pray for my family. Pray for my friends and begin to expect greater things from them. Pray for my community and start serving more in it. Once I can get those tackled, the rest will follow suit.

Here is the video from our trip to Ethiopia. Got the embed code to work. I love the song Joe put with the video. It hits me right where I need to be.

Wednesday Pics from Addis Ababa

Wednesday - the end of the school year celebration - we traveled over an hour outside the city with about 80 children to enjoy some larger areas of land to play in and experience the "end of school year" program that the staff and children had put together. Team Ethiopia put on ACTIVITIES & GAMES once the program was completed that afternoon and after lunch was served. Here is a glimpse of the day in pics:

Excitement about the day was even present in the kids from a bus window as we drove past!

A few pics of the local life on the way to the park

Housing

Teeth Kelly and the Nursinator

The kids choir

KC delivering a message on Zacchaeus

There were supposed to be bottles there...they moved them from me

The food for the day at the park. A TON of food

The Staff

Liz taking in some food and culture

Mrs. McGoo posing with the kids

Tom getting a photo opp

Jon and our resident kickball official

Getting some shade while the football match was going on

Leading the cheers for Team David

Jon scores. Brother Joe celebrates

Joe taking a break for celebrating

Team David relishing their win

Both teams take a photo. I think I got stuck in that position for an hour

I get the feeling he enjoyed that more than I did

Tuesday Pics in Addis Ababa

Kara teaching about David and Goliath. KC Playing Goliath

A whole bunch of Davids

Nega watching over his kids

Getting some sun

Biruk and I leading in "Nega Says"

Nurse Boonie patching up Telihun

Bonnie, Ruth, and Liz trying to cheer up Hannah

Grabbing a bite at Paradise

LAST CALL. Dawit is serving. You got ID?

Mrs. McGoo with three of my favs at the Halfway House

KC and Teeth Kelly getting ready for patients

Desse and Mandela. Smile!

My favorite photo of my wife

My future's so bright...gotta wear shades

A Few Pics from Monday in Addis Ababa

Here are just a few pics from our first day at the Drop In Center

One of THREE 'puna' (Coffee) ceremonies by Fitula the house mom

The Drop In Center kids singing us a welcome song

Mrs. McGoo teaching the kids 'Nega Says' (Simon Says)
(You can see the area and surface that these kids work with playing games everyday)

The Drop In Center kids showing off for the camera
(Asrat, Yared, Tamrot, Sintayehu, Addisu, and Tamrot)

Trying to help the little one spike it on the boys

Kalaab (GREAT KID) and Mrs. McGoo

Playing 'Nega Says'

Kelly and KC using Ruth in a demo

Little Nati getting those teeth cleaned

Liz offering up some comfort for little Nati

The Dream Team

Before we made the trek halfway across the globe to Africa, Mrs. McGoo and I signed up to be part of a team. Now, having the football background that we both do, we're no strangers to team play. That being said, neither one of us knew most any of the other members of the team we were joining. About half the team was comprised of another Sunday school, so they had the advantage of knowing one another beforehand. Anyone that has ever joined an "existing team" knows that it can be rather difficult.

I must admit, and Mrs. McGoo will attest, I was a little concerned after we had a few of our meetings. Number one, we were behind a bit in training because Joe, our trip leader, was still in Africa and had not yet moved back to the States. When we finally did meet, it was a little bit of a get to know you session for some of us and what I saw, I wasn't crazy about. What we had was, what I perceived to be, a clique of folks that knew each other and others that appeared to me to demand a lot of time and energy.

Once we finally got to get to know one another one the trip, my tune changed quite a bit. Here's our team and some of my thoughts:

The Scatterbrain:
Our fearless leader, Joe. Joe took on the unenviable task of trying to take this rag-tag group of folks and mesh them into a well oiled machine. All without the help of his better half. Poor Joe had to deal with travel, organization, introducing us to the culture and city, all the while trying to get some business done while there. And I haven't even mentioned having to miss his family while doing so. I found Joe to be a lot like me. We both operate better when we've got our brides by our side. I wasn't sure things were going to go off well when I first met him because we were a bit behind in training because of him being in Ethiopia, but it turned out just perfect. I hate that the Bridges are moving away in Aug, because Mrs. McGoo and I have talked about how much we would like to spend more time with them. For what it's worth, I am glad my first ever trip was led by this guy.



The Trekkie:
KC and I have a mutual friend, so I knew a little bit about him before we left for the trip. I was lucky enough to leave early for Addis and KC was one of the ones that was with us. It allowed us to get to know one another before the hustle and bustle of the trip and stop having all our conversations revolve around Steve Riser. I wasn't sure what to expect with KC at first because it seemed like in our early meetings that he had a sarcasm that was similar to mine, yet when I tried to playfully jab, it fell on deaf ears. So it wasn't really until I found his "cross to bear" (He's a Star Trek fan) that we started to connect. I somehow got blamed for my wife teaching the kids the Vulcan Death Grip....I swear it wasn't me. All that said, I bonded the most with KC during our trip. He reminds me a bit of myself in that he's very hard on himself and doesn't seem to like people to help him. ;) In the end, he reluctantly let up, but his heart for these kids was something to be seen. I always tell Mrs. McGoo that I'm not a very good "group prayer" and after this trip, I think I want to be like KC. He's good.


The Clumsy Jamaican:
I don't believe I've ever met someone that drops more things than Liz. I'm serious...she drops something all the time. Walking to the bus, she drops her glasses. Teaching a lesson to the kids, she drops her pencil. Putting her purse down for the evening, her phone drops out of it. She seriously needs a bungee cord for everything in her hands. I told Liz after the trip was over that I was worried initially about how I would get along with her. There were many things about us that are just different in the way we do things. However, the more the days went by, the more I saw her heart and how much love she has. I also witnessed a missionary (South African) that was horribly rude to Liz one night while watching football. Seeing how Liz "tamed" her tongue with that situation when she could have gone "Jamaican" on her, was very impressive to me. Taught me a lot about how to handle conflict. In the end, we had a lot more in common than I had anticipated.



The Unsuspecting Comedian:
Kara was the one familiar face that I knew of on the trip. She and her husband lead the Sunday school class that Mrs. McGoo and I attended a few times when we started going to Central. We decided to not stay with that class and join another one only because we felt like the idea of starting a new class instead of going into an existing one with established relationships would be better for both of us. Because of that, I was never really able to get to know Kara. I wasn't sure what to think of her at first because she seemed to be very quiet, so somehow I got the impression that she didn't care for me. Be that as it may, as the trip went on, I got to interact with her more and more. She's got this poker face sometimes and then out of no where she'd pop this joke that was incredibly funny. I felt like it took her a couple of days to adjust to the trip, but once she did, I got to know a lot more about her. Her heart for Christ is unmatched. That says a lot in my book.



The Muscle-Bound Nurse:
Take Jillian Michaels and make her a nurse and you've got Bonnie. Or should I say, "Nurse Boonie" which is what most of the kids called her. The girl has some guns on her and she wasn't ashamed to show them off. Then again, I wouldn't either if I had those guns. I remember telling one of our team members in the airport, don't make fun of Bonnie, I think she can take us both. I had a good conversation with Bonnie at lunch one day that helped me get to know her more. However, it wasn't until our evening devotions that I realized how alike we are. Like me, she wore her emotions on her sleeve and it was easy to see who was bothered the most by leaving. I think her fears are a lot like mine...once we get back to America, what then? Aside from being the Nursinator, she has a laugh like Betty Rubble.







The Other Kelly:
I'm beginning to learn that the name Kelly comes with responsibilities. Annoy people, make people laugh, say what everyone else is thinking but won't say, and cry. These are pretty much my characteristics to a T and I kinda think that "Teeth Kelly" has some of these as well. At any moment she's got something witty to say or cracks a joke to lighten the mood. I didn't see "Teeth Kelly" too much during the day because she was busy working on the kids teeth and giving them hygiene lessons, but when I did, she never seemed too tired to lighten the mood. I was also amazed at her passion for the kids. While you'd never see it during the day, she would really allow herself to be vulnerable during our devotions and really talk about the things that were affecting her the most.


The Dancin' World Traveler:
Tom was the one guy I didn't get to know much of until the end of the trip. All I knew of him was that he was the guy that works for a company that takes him all over the world. He's very soft spoken and made it clear early on that he wanted to assist Kelly with the dental screenings. A couple of things you should know about Tom. One...he traveled with four women all the way across the globe...and NEVER complained. Two...he's a ham. He got up on stage one night and danced an Ethiopian dance with some performers and we were all like, "WOAH, where did that come from." As I wrote, I didn't get to know Tom as well on the trip, but it was on our ride back to the states that I got a chance to visit with him and learned a lot about his heart and his life. While he is 15 years my senior, I told Mrs. McGoo that I would love to be able to hang out with him some more. Maybe he'll make me feel younger than I do now.


So there you have it. The Dream Team of our trip. I can honestly say that in the beginning I was a bit worried about our trip. As I said before, I felt like people had their own agendas and it seemed like we had a hard time coming together to get things done. However, it has become very apparently to me that God blessed those children with the perfect mix of disciples to bring on the trip. We had a steady blend of Leaders, Administrators, Healthcare, Athletics, Teachers, and Counselors that followed God's plan accordingly. It was an incredible trip and a great group.


I heard this somewhere the other day and it resonated to me with this group....

"Some times you've got to dive deep into the barrel to find the juiciest apple."

God picked a good harvest with this group.