The day started off with breakfast at our hotel followed by our daily devotion and prayer. This nicely set the mood for the short bus ride to the Carepoint, which is the first one that Hosanna started, and now sponsors over 300 children. Parking the bus 200 meters from the facility, which is amazing that we can get that close with the road conditions, hats off to our great bus driver Yelika, we start our walk. In front of us on our decent down the hill is the beautiful countryside of Hosanna, Ethiopia. You walk in amazement of the beauty this part of the world offers. Rich green trees, fields, and the gentle mountainous hillside is an image that will be engrained in my mind forever. And by the way, here come the kids.
From every direction, the kids come running to us and in no time we are surrounded by God’s children of Hosanna, Ethiopia. Our hearts melt. Each child either wants to hold your hand or give you a hug. After we get to the building with our massive entourage we meet the leaders and prepare for the day. We start off with short plays, first Jonah and the Whale, followed by Noah and the Ark, and then lastly, David and Goliath. The plays are a lot of fun and the kids seem to enjoy them, really liking their involvement with the different animal sounds as the ark was filled 2x2. After the skits, we put up a mural on the wall that the kids put their fingerprints on. Each one stuck their little thumbs, sometimes twice, in colored ink pads and put their fingerprint on the cloth sheet. They were skeptical of this at first but once the first few went a nice single file line turned into an all out bull rush of beautiful Ethiopian children very quickly. Easy to imagine why because one word can some up the kids, excited. Next we all gathered around outside, shared some bible verses, played games, and ended the morning with candy bracelets, a group picture, and prayer. The team walked back to the bus, with our entourage which was even larger than when we arrived, and ate lunch back at the hotel. 1.5 hours later we drove back to the Carepoint and repeated the morning with the other half of the kids.
After a quick shower and change of clothes we were blessed to be invited to attend church service at Emmanuel Church. We were greeted by the church leaders and escorted to the front of the church, where we were seated facing all the members. Worship songs were played by a gifted group of singers and soon turned a calm night of worship into an electrically charged building ready to explode with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The energy, dancing, singing, and participation of the church in their worship and praise was an experience that I wish everyone could see. This was followed by an introduction of our team and finally a sermon by our own Pastor Karl Kruse, translated by our friend Nebiyu. He delivered a great message on Daniel chapters 9 and 10 about the power of prayer and New Testament scriptures about the unfailing love of Jesus Christ. At the end of the service we shared our greetings with members of the church and then walked 200 meters uphill in the dark led by the lights of our cell phones. Made it back to the hotel, and what a day it was.
In closing, this day was a very special gift from God. The love felt as the kids surrounded us, hugging and clinging to our arms. To the heartaches caused by seeing the kids who watch from outside the Carepoint fence wanting to join in on the activities, wishing we could help every kid in the world. To the support provided by our great team members at just the right time when you feel like crying tears of joy and sorrow. Brought together perfectly by the Holy Spirit, blessing us with electrical energy of the proud and faithful members of the Emmanuel Church in Hosanna, Ethiopia, with worship and prayer. Finally, we were guided back safely to our hotel for a night of rest, preparing us for the day ahead.
Matt and Katy for The Team
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