Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Korah

Ya'll I've been trying forever to get these pictures downloaded to my blog and put them in the correct order but I'm running out of patience with this thing so they are staying in the order they are. Hopefully you won't be too confused!


On the plane leaving for Washington DC with Sara and Dad. We were excited!

Here we are in the DC airport waiting to get on our plane to Ethiopia! Jason Root, David Root, Chelsea Jacobs, Glen and Daria Leland and Billy Pope(photographer extraordinaire!)

Chelsea won the luggage award. I don't really think there was a luggage award but we made one up and gave it to her. Most of these bags were filled with donations to the orphanages we were going to! Awesome stuff right there!!

When we got to Addis Ababa we went to the guest house to check in. We were supposed to have a few hours to sleep and then head out to Korah but our guest house wasn't ready yet so we went over to wait in another guest house. We didn't get in our rooms until it was time to leave for Korah so off we went. We were exhausted but the Lord was so good to give us that supernatural energy we needed to continue on! Once we got there we forgot about being so tired!


I wish I could fully describe what being at Korah meant to me. Its a community that literally was formed in the trash dump right outside of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I wasn't prepared really for all we would see but I'm so thankful they allowed us the opportunity to be with them. Being satisfied with all that they have is a lesson I need to learn. We all need to learn it. They craved physical touch. They were so happy that we were there to love on them, hold their hand, look into their eyes, and tell them that they were loved. There were moments when any one of us would have 5 kids hanging on our arms and legs. I remember at one point thinking to myself..."THIS is why I'm here". There are so many people who wonder if it really matters or if it really does any good to go on trips like this. And when I looked into those eyes of those precious people (young AND old) and realized how much they loved being talked to and valued and played with and cared for I found my answer. I attached a YouTube video down below. Its a short look into Korah. But the answer is also there...they ARE important. They are!













We were able to pick out 5 sheep and take back to Korah so the people could make up a stew and feed the kids. Meat is a real luxury for them and they normally only get it on special occasions (if even then). We happened to be there on a Saturday and they are not normally fed on Saturdays either. We were able to feed 250 people that day!



Trying to decide which ones to pick...hmmm...


Jason found one! Not gonna tell you what he did to it but it involved a knife. That's all I'm gonna say...




Sara and I were a little sad about it though...


They sheep had to ride IN the van with us back to Korah. That was a first for me!


The end product. Sheep stew with injera. I did not try this but a couple of our group members did.





My dad handing out plates of food.






What a blessing to see this...



Look at these two sweet precious girls!!


My dad with two sweeties!



Sara and her new friends!



Jason and his sweetie for the day....or one of many!!


Some of our group walking the streets of Korah...(Billy, Taylor, Chelsea, and David B)










Our group debriefing that night...
Some of the other things we got to do at Korah was do a VBS lesson with them, sing songs, listen to their songs, play soccer, face paint, etc. It did get crazy at times but I was so thankful that God had allowed me to be there at that exact time with those exact people. Next up...'the state run/not state run orphanage'....








2 comments:

Kristi said...

Oh wow Amy! Thanks for sharing. I have a dear friend who was in Addis last summer on an adoption trip, but most of her photos were from Gimbe. I long for the day that I can experience something like your trip!

Cassidy Gates said...

this was really interesting! thanks!