Be Love Boldly: Ethiopia: Day 2

Our day out started with us buying a sheep for the children at Korah. It was an experience. There were several "vendors" on the street corner of a busy road. We stopped at this one vendor who started showing us several goats. At one point I pointed to a sheep and looked at the guy shaking my head and said "no". He took it away and I started laughing... What was I thinking? I don't know anything about buying a sheep (I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once) and I'm not the negotiator here, ha! but when you see ribs on a sheep I'm thinking it's not going to be much for stew meat. Just saying-

There was much debate as to if they were sheep or goat. We were educated, something about the tail going up or down is the difference. Huh! We purchased 4 at the best price. They tried to load a sheep at our feet in the van, but we insisted they put it in another as one of our sweet friends couldn't travel with it.

It didn't take very long to get to Korah from town and I wasn't sure what we were going to see or how well I'd take it.

Korah: Korah is a small village just outside the capital city of Ethiopia. It was founded over 75 years ago by people inflicted with leprosy... seeking treatment. 30 years later over 100,000 people live in Korah. Most who have leprosy, HIV/AIDS, widows, and orphans. Their extreme poverty has forced many of the villagers to forage through the city dump to find enough food or items to sell just to survive. Please pray for the people of Korah. To find out more about or how you can help Korah go to: http://www.p61.org/.

I could not imagine 100,000 people living, eating, surviving out of the dump! Most of them... children. We didn't go to the dump... We went to the housing community on its edges. The children were at school, so we only seen them briefly as they came for lunch. They were told to skip school tomorrow if they didn't have exams, so we could spend the entire day with them. :)

We took a quick tour and then we were separated into groups with a translator to visit homes. We visited Ababachi's home. It was 8X8 room!!! That's it. 64 sq. feet. Everything she possessed in the world fit into her home with her and her 4 children. Basically, it had a door, a window, 3 twin beds, and a wire with a light bulb. Her only wall decor was a picture of Jesus, a Cross, and some VBS stuff her children had made. Visiting Orphans purchased some beans, sugar, macaroni noodles, and vegetable oil for each home that was visited. She told us, smiling ear to ear, her Christmas would now be good because of the food we brought. Wow! Her Christmas is better because of beans, sugar, macaroni, and oil... Could we say the same? Lord, forgive us for taking what you've blessed us with for granted. She sat on the floor in the middle of her home and made us fresh Ethiopian coffee. Ababachi boiled the water, roasted the beans in a little skillet/pan on a flame, hand ground the beans in a bowl with a wooden rod-like grinder, and fixed it with cream and sugar. She gave us her bread as well. As we sat and asked her questions, she told us how happy she is. She even apologized that she didn't have more bread for us and when she saw Cameron Yawn and that he was squished behind her, she put his feet on her stool and got a pillow for him to rest. Oh my gosh... Humbled...broken...renewed! I tear up as I write about Ababachi's faith, love, and hope in the Lord. It's so pure and untainted by what she doesn't have. The fact she has a relationship with God is all she needs. The beauty and love she possessed for us is immeasurable and indescribable.

Why is she so happy, when we have so much and are often so unhappy? Our translator said it was "because all of this [pointing around] is temporary." Oh, is she moving? "No, this is temporary because Heaven is our permanent home."It made the fact that we didn't have running water at the hotel so insignificant, so petty, and held us all accountable for our selfishness. Ababachi loves her children and was happy to show us pictures. she is not looking for a hand out, she is looking to give her children a future. A future that relies on the HOPE OF JESUS! She has 6 children, but her twin daughters were in the country attending school. Her husband passed away 10 years ago. We learned that she walks an hour a day for fresh water that the government charges her for. She pays 30 birr a month to live in her house. The community shares a bathroom and a kitchen. To do the math... she pays less than $2/month to live in her 8X8 home. However, she lives off less than $30 a year! That is $30 that her and her children make by forging through the dump to find items to sell or the HOPE OF JESUS to send sponsers through P61.

We feel that today's visit to Ababachi's home, the tour, and the history were essential before meeting the children... but with that being said... YES! We already have children holding our hands and waiting for us to come back tomorrow to love on them.