Ethiopia 2016: Coffee and Children

Chas starts our blog today:

Coming from the perspective of one of the five males on the trip and the oldest person on the trip, I am mentally and physically exhausted, but in a good way.

As a man, I would never have thought I could be broken down so far. This experience has broken my heart and soul. It has broken me down to uncontrollable tears, but with prayer and support from the other team members I have made it this far. It is amazing the love of Jesus Christ. He has healed me every night and renewed my spirit like in Isaiah 40:31, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint."

Yes, it has been gut-wrenching at times, but the Lord never forsakes us. Every morning I remind myself of Ephesians 6:20-30. I dust myself off and with a renewed heart provided by the Lord's grace, I armor up and head out for the next series of challenges.

Yes, we have had some weariness, so it was very fitting that this morning we got to visit the Robera coffee factory. This plant receives the raw coffee beans from more remote areas all over Ethiopia and processes them and ships them to markets around the world. They also roast some beans there on a smaller scale, for more local use. The sun shining on us, the smell of roasting coffee in the air-we were loving it! Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Thank you, Ethiopia!

We then had the privilege of visiting the Hamlin Fistula Hospital, a hospital founded 40+ years ago for the sole purpose of alleviating suffering from fistulas caused by birth trauma. This is a very prevalent and devastating problem in places where there is not access to trained birthing attendants. This particular hospital is the first of its kind in the whole world, and the work they have done and are doing is inspiring and amazing. Many thousands of lives have been completely changed by the care they received free of charge. The best part was walking through the maternity ward, where women who have had their fistulas cured surgically have now returned to deliver a baby by C-section.
pain, sorrow, stillbirth ---- physical damage, perpetual leakage and associated stench ---- isolation from all social interaction, hopelessness ---- surgery, cure, healing of body and of emotional pain ---- return of continence and confidence and productivity (reminds me of the garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair from the writings of Isaiah)

No, the day was not over yet! We spent the afternoon at the Tsion orphanage. We played and played with the children there. Soccer, beach ball volleyball, nerf rockets, bubbles, coloring, frisbee, jump rope, nail painting. Laughter and smiles and fun! Some of us held babies and amused the nannies with our attempts to speak Amharic. We were able to buy $600 worth of food for the orphanage. Thank you to all of you who helped with that!! The visit was a blessing to us, and we hope it was a blessing to them also.

We are not able to share photos from the orphanage so please enjoy photos of coffee, the view from our guesthouse and the food (bags of rice, pasta, lentils, etc) purchased for the children.