Oct 30

Greetings from Ethiopia!!! We are here and all but one tucked into bed (that'd be me because I'm writing to all you)! This is my first journal entry, so please feel free to read on...

Oct. 30:
On the plane - it was LONG. The air is dry and the seats aren't lazy boys by any stretch, thus sleep is hard everyone. The team was on the road or in the air for 30 hours. Everyone did well, but we were all more than ready to get off the plane. We arrived in Addis Ababa at 8:30am Ethiopian time (10:30pm here). The sun was shining and it was about 75 degrees - perfect weather!

After getting off the plane, everyone was in good spirits. We drove through Addis Ababa and saw the beauty of Ethiopian people, but also the poverty that strangles so many of them. For many team members this is the first time they've seen true poverty and it is shocking. It's hard to believe that some people live like this. It's definitely a good reality check for everyone. As we meet many Ethiopians we are continually amazed by how gracious they are with their smiles and polite gestures. We visited Hannah's Hope orphanage today and again, it hit us all that these children are orphans. We throw that term around so loosely, but when you put a face to the term orphan, you become VERY aware, VERY quickly just how devastating it is for these children. They run right up to us with such a genuine desire to have us be their mom or dad. They all just want to belong to someone who will call him/her their own. It is an eye opening picture for all of us, realizing that we are adopted into God's family and we belong! He is SO good! We look forward to loving these children and filling them with love!

Tomorrow we are off to paint an orphanage as well as build some needed structures. We're looking forward to getting our hands dirty! I will let you know how that goes!

Thanks for all of your prayers and support - God is working in and through us!