On our sixth day in Ethiopia we made the drive out to Shashemene.
The countryside, with it's mud and grass huts, and acacia trees, is simply beautiful! It is what you picture in your mind when you think...AFRICA!
We always take a day with our teams to experience Ethiopia in the country.
It is a whole other world out there.
Many of our young friends are attending boarding school in Shashamene,
thanks to Project 61 Ministry. This amazing ministry helps children from the Korah trash dump community attend boarding school through their sponsorship program.
We were able to visit with a few sponsored children of our past team members.
It's always so great to see some of our favorite little faces!
It was the highlight of my day to get to visit with my sponsored child, who I simply adore!!!
I ran into this young boy while walking through the compound. He was wearing his Ordinary Hero shirt he received from his sponsor and past team member :-)
This boarding school is really beautiful. If you could see where these kids come from, this place looks like a little paradise with all the flowers and cascading trees!
We kept running into friends and familiar faces.
As our time drew to a close, the hardest part is saying goodbye!
It hurts your heart, and it's not without a few tears, but it means the world to these kids to know that they are loved and that we travel across the world to visit them.
After we left the boarding school, we made our way over to the beach resort nearby.
It is a gorgeous place surrounded by a beautiful lake, literally in the middle of nowhere.
We made our way down to the lake and were all taking pictures, when I hear someone call my name.
It was my friend, Jodi, and her family!!!
Jodi traveled with OH on our very first mission trip in the summer of 2010. She has adopted from Ethiopia, and grew to have such a heart for this country that she and her family moved to Ethiopia to serve the needy. They were having some family time at the beach when we ran into them.
Small world!! Great to see you, Jodi!!
After our lunch at the resort, we headed out to start our Blessing Bag distribution.
As far as the three hour drive it is to get out to Shashemene, it is always one of the poorest places that I have seen. God had special plans for each blessing bag that we distributed to land in the hands of the children who need it the most.
As we made our drive back toward Addis, we would stop along the road each time we saw a child in need and give them a blessing bag.
Their sweet smiles were priceless!
This little girl was so excited that she simply screamed with joy and couldn't wait to run over and show her mother what she had received. These children live in the middle of the countryside without access to anything. They would never expect anything like this in a million years.
Thank you to all of you who send us Blessing Bags to be given out on our trips!
We were able to give out shoes thanks to all of you who have purchased the aqua shoes through the OH Store!
So we are driving along and then suddenly.....WAIT! There is a HUGE camel crossing the road!!
Just your random camel that is larger than a CAR! No biggie!! See how much bigger it is than the people to the right of it!!
PRETTY COOL!!
We continued on with our Blessing Bag distribution. Bira, who is like our Jr OH Rep, is from the trash dump community, himself. He travels with our team to help us on occasion. He has such a servants heart and loves to give as much as we do. It is awesome to watch how God is growing him into such a great young man!
And then Bissy, our OH Rep, ALWAYS loves giving out the Blessing Bags to the children in the countryside because he was once a countryside boy, himself!
The mothers are always SO grateful for the bags for their children. Who knows what she prayed for that morning for her children and then God provided it through a Blessing Bag!
Thank you, once again, for sending Blessing Bags to Ordinary Hero for these children in need in Ethiopia! If you or your group would like to pack and send Blessing Bags to OH to be given out by our teams, please email Melissa at info@ordinaryhero.org for more information.
We had a wonderful day in the countryside!
Now, Day 7, our last day in Ethiopia, coming next.......
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