Team Ethiopia is a short-term missions group from Central Church in Collierville, TN. They partner with our Ethiopian Team on the ground in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for about a week. Here is their daily update regarding their experience in 2017 and the way God moves in and through this ministry. We thank them for their service!
Written by Meme Allemen
Wow! First day done! There are no words to describe what an absolutely perfect day this was. It rained the first few days here, or it was overcast. But this morning,
we woke up to a beautiful, cool, sunny day.
As we pulled into the new location where our Bible School was to be held, we were looking at a non-descript aluminum gate, with no idea what was behind it. As the gate swung open we pulled into what could only be described as a ‘secret garden.’ Behind this gate, right in the middle of the loud, crowded city was an incredible oasis of trees, bushes and flowers. There were several buildings that we were going to use for our Bible School and a fabulous playground area with a volleyball court. When our 90 kids showed up, we had plenty of room to sing, play, make crafts, and study the word of God.
These children are beneficiaries of The Forsaken Children. Many of them are in the SAFE PROJECT in which TFC's Ethiopian team partners with the families of these children by providing school tuition, school supplies, family strengthening activities, and other resources to help these children and families succeed.
When the kids got off the bus, they came running towards us like we were celebrities. There was hugging, and loving all over the place. We had our opening, with songs and our theme introduction by Howard. Then the kids were divided up and the fun really began. Liz led the Bible Story group, with more specific details and life application of our story for the day; Starr had follow up sheets, and activities to reinforce taking ownership of what was actually learned; Karen and Diane led crafts, with several activities; and Howard was in charge of sports and games. He had the older kids playing volleyball and the younger kids running all over playing Duck, Duck, Goose. The kids were amazing. They were all really engaged (excuse my school teacher talk) and everyone seemed to be having a good time. We finished the morning with lunch with all the kids and we left with big smiles on our faces.
This afternoon we did some souvenir shopping, in the middle of a downpour. Notice, this was after Bible School was over. And, instead of eating lunch, we gave ourselves a treat, visiting the new Gelato place in town. And to cap it all off, we had an amazing dinner of lasagna and sambusas at the guesthouse with the entire Bridges clan followed by another awesome team debrief.
Did I mention what a great day it was??? There are no words to describe how blessed we were today. We know that there are many of you praying consistently and God is all over us. We are embracing the fire of the Holy Spirit and moving with boldness as we have been challenged to do.
Thank you for all the comments on this blog, the letters from home you have written and just the knowledge that you are lifting us up in prayer. We are moving with strength and conviction, working as a team, representing each one of you as we serve God.
