ETHIOPIA

Salam! That is Amharic for "hello"! For the past month I have had the most amazing opportunity to travel to Ethiopia, the second most impoverished country in Africa. In Ethiopia I taught 9th grade English in Tach Gayint - a small village in the middle of "no where" Ethiopia.
God really used this experience to teach me many different things. One of the the things that I learned was just how BIG our God is! I felt completely overwhelmed once I reached this village and had to figure out why in the world these students even have the desire to learn English. I felt like it was a pointless idea, but as I spoke to the students and the teachers I discovered that it was not only English that they wanted to learn, they wanted to develop their country. This seemed like an impossible thing for me to help with. As I stood on top of one of the mountains and looked down on Tach Gayint and realized how small it actually was and how little I was compared to that. This is when I realized that any change that I was going to bring to this place was going to have to come from God. I taught 2 classes and helped with starting up an English club for the students to develop their English better. Also, I taught computer skills to teacher. That was an experience, many of the teachers did not even know how to double click a mouse. But my friend Scott, another Go-Ed practicum student, helped and together we taught them to surf Encarta- b/c they had no internet! They really loved it once they got it figured out! Also, Scott and I helped with revising papers for some local Food for the Hungry projects. The picture to the top left is me with some of my students.

To the top right there is a picture of a beggar girl that lives on the streets of Addis Ababa- the capital city of Ethiopia. Many of the children are forced by their unemployed parents to beg for money. The children work all day asking anyone for change. I had a difficult time with this because I know that money will not solve there problem because they will just spend it and be righgt back to the same place. So, when I could I offered food to the families. Many times they were very grateful, but there were times when the children would just look at me and continue to beg for money. This was very disappointing. The children were only focused on money, they have been taught to accept only money. Please pray for the children in Ethiopia and all over the world that live difficult lives as these.

In this both of these photos above you can see just a little bit of the wild life in Ethiopia. There are wild camel that just travel in herds and then baboons. I also saw pelicans and hyenas. It was very cool. This was the Africa that everyone talk about when it comes to the scenery and animals. It is beautiful here, but it is very hot and dry. You can probably imagine just how excited I was when I saw all of these animals.

In these next photos, there is just a little bit of the scenery of in Ethiopia. At the left I am standing in the center of the two men, in the middle of a potato farm, directly in the middle of a beautiful valley. You can see the sun peircing through the mountains. On the right, I am standing in the middle in front of the Blue Nile Falls- just like what I imagine The Niagra Falls to look like. Here we saw some university students having a mud fight in the pools of the falls and decided to join them. They welcomed us in without question and we got as muddy as ever!!!

All in all I learned so much about my self and my relationship with God during this month long adventure. God is continually molding my heart and changing me for the better. I am so excited to now be back in Kampala, Uganda with Leah. We have been sharing all of our stories and we are excited to be with eachother again. Tomorrow we both leave for Rwanda, by bus, for 9 hours. It will be long and tiring I am sure, but praise God for this experience.
Continue to pray for both of us and we will try to stay in contact the best we can. Thanks and God Bless!!!

By the Power in Christ in Me!

Can you believe it...only nine more days until I have to leave Mbale! I am going to miss it here so much! The time flys when you are having fun! In the picture above is me and my good friend Livingston. Livingston left for Kampalla is might not be able to see me before i leave! Sadly to say this might be our good bye picture :( Livingston is a great man of God and ALWAYS has a smile on his face! Not to mention, he gave me motorcycle lessons!
Here are some pictures of my NEW Traditional African dress:

It is called a Gomez. You can where a gomez everywhere! Therefore i plan to where it all the time!

Besides a few pictures i also want to share something... while being here in Mbale I have been refreshed that the Lord dose not need me but, i am amazed to find that He wants me and is willing to use my for His purpose. Sometimes i get overwhelmed with how great poverty is in the world. Now Poverty is not just the person who is without food or a place to live but poverty lives in each one of us. How can I own or help something huge as poverty? But i was so relieved to know that God has it under control. With one breath God could heal the whole world, that is how much power He has....but how awesome it is that i can experience a glimpse of His glory but helping one person at a time. Therefore, I will stand on His Truth and I'll fight with His Strength until God will bring victory.

When i accepted Christ in my life i had no clue that so much power was living inside of me. If every Christan realized that they were walking around with amazing strength and power with world would be a different place. I will never get by on my own ability, how refreshing is that?

These Kids are some of my favorite kids in the world! there names are Peter and Faith. They are Moses Kids and they are a BLAST! Every chance I get i play with them! Peter is 3 and Faith is 7 (i think) they also have an older brother named Emma but he is not in the pictures...oops!






Pic #1 Kelly and I Holding Patrick's baby boy named Emma
Pic#2 Kelly, Me, Bruce, and his daughter Brooke they came to visit us in Mbale. Bruce works with Go-Ed
Pic#3 some cute kids from Makhai

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! It is hard to convey how much is going on here and how much God is moving here! Thank you again for all your prayers and support! I am having an experience of a life time for sure! I was really encouraged and happy to talk to my mom on the phone today! I miss everyone very much and you are in my thoughts daily! From today, i will see Jordon in 9days and i can not wait! but please keep on praying for him and pray for his travel back to Kampalla! below is a picture of Jordon and I before he left for Ethiopia! we went bowling in Africa! it was awesome. the first game i got 60 and the 2nd i got 27! but of course Jordon won by at least a hundred! lol God bless

Mbale Pictures and just a FEW stories

**This is a picture of a boy that fell in love with me at one of the home visits! before o picked him up his older brothers and sisters were betting up on him and no one was doing anything about it! Therefore, I picked him up and hold him in my arms until we left! I was very sad to leave this home because he was so cute!

Greetings to all! I love the weather here in Mbale! On the average it is about 90! Although it hot during the days it is cool in the mornings and evening since we are near the mountains! Some days I feel like i am getting more tan but, i think i have came to the conclusion that it is just dirt!

God has really be working in my life. Every morning the staff dose Bible devotions! It seems that every morning the staff and I hears from God in such a direct way. Yesterday, It was Moses turn to do devotions. The question that he ask: How can you know what do during difficult times in your life if you don't know the word of God?

Through out this whole trip I have found the major importance of the Bible and seeking God with your whole heart. It is really encouraging to see how much the African people depend on God as much as they do water; they can not live without Him.

*This picture is a poster hanging up in Makhai Village. It is showing the results of there school since FHI has been there. Since FHI has been there there school has improve 100%! Before the Child sponsorships and before FHI, they did not have a building for the classrooms, they taught school under the tree. In addition, this community has a health clinic (however, they don't have a nurse or a doctor), and the children has food to eat for lunch. Which no other school in the area has a meal plan for the children. Normally the children will go 6:00 am to 5:30 pm without eating anything. THere is about 90-120 kids in each classroom. The Makhai staff is praying for more teachers since there are so many children. It is so encouraging to see how much FHI is impacting the community. Here in a couple of years FHI will be pulling out of this community. FHI dose not want to create a welfare plan, but to help an community to there feet so that they may walk by themselves. I think that this community will be ready in a couple of years to do so but please be praying for them.

This is a picture of me and Paul in Makhai! He picked theses flowers for me! Paul works for FHI and he lives in Makhai! He is really good with the children and will be the first one out to play with them! His favorite thing is just to love on the children and smile all the time. I am pretty sure i have never seen him without a smile on his face. I think that it is Amazing to see how a huge NGO like Food for the Hungry hires amazing people. I am so proud of America and how we support an effort such as what Food for the Hungry does around the world. The staff here in Mbale has the FHI missions statement written in there hearts and minds and tries to live it out everyday!

"To walk with churches, leaders, and families in overcoming all forms of poverty by living in healthy relationship with God and His creation"

Here is a boy from Makhai- is makes me so happy! one day he pointed at my cross necklace and said... Jesus is living!

Thank you again for all the e-mails and facebook post they are truly encouraging! I hear That Jordon is having a good time and he will be back in to communication in about 11days! I am looking forward to see him!

Gretings from Mbale

Hello everyone! i am sorry that we have not updated the blog in A LONG TIME! Jordon is in Ethiopia and he really dose not have communication to the outside world. However, I hear he is doing great! He loves the food, the people and is teaching 9th grade English! Please keep him in your prayers!

But as for me! I am having the time of my life! Right now i am Mbale, Uganda which is about 12 miles from Kenya!During the week I work (more like play) at the the Child development program in two different village! The Child Development Program (CDP) works with children, teachers, and parents in the community to help raise a new generation. Therefore, during the week i make home visits to children's homes who are sponsored. When going on a home to visit, we make sure the child is going to school, ask them about the child's health and ask of we can pray for them. This experience has been amazing. Just to be able to see where theses children come from can be heart breaking. On the other hand, really rewarding because each family has a story on how God is working in their lives.

*These pictures of Home visits In the first pic the little boy gave us an egg for coming

In addition, I help children write letters to their sponsor, file paper work, play with them at break. go to meetings, and act like a goof ball by riding bikes and learning how to ride a motorcycle!

In Mbale I have met some amazing Godly people that has impacted my life as I know it! One man in particular is named Moses! Moses is the CDP coordinator for the Mbale district and he has the Food for the Hungry missions statement written all over his life. In short, he knows what it means to fully serve Christ and to everyday rely on God for his strength to help shape his community for the better. I feel like i can not write in words how much i look up to him! when I get home i want to tell you more about him!

*This is a pic the CDP staff went to a wedding them one sitting by me is Moses

I feel like i can not express everything that has happen within two weeks! But, I have learned how to cook tons of African dishes, learned how to hand wash my clothes, begin to speak another language.

* Vicki and i cooking!

Also the village community gave me a new name: Nakumitsa - which means planting and growing season. So now I introduce myself in the community: Malembe, Coma sinta casa Nukumitsa Layah. translated means: Peace, my name is planting and growing season Leah!


To end this blog I will just tell one of the many stories that i have.
This last weekend i went to church at the Salvation Army. And before church I was playing on this spin thing with the children. While i was playing I happen to break my favorite pair of flip flops that i bought here in Uganda! I was kind of upset! but there was this girl who took me and my shoe to go get it fix! The shoe Guy fix my shoe for free and i was so happy because nothing is free for a white girl in Africa lol . Since i was so happy i gave the man and the little girl a tip. While sitting in church that same girl who i gave a tip to sat by in church! when it was time to give the offering, I went up and gave some offering and so did the little girl! She gave everything that I gave her. This act of Kindness and Faith floored me because i knew she did not have any money or food for lunch or dinner yet she still gave it all to the Lord! I think this is how people should live. How much more can i give when a little 9 year old African gave everything she got?

I am sorry about not writing on the blog! internet and power is always hard to come by! But i miss you all! Thank you for all your support and prayers! I can not wait to share more with you all! But i have to go before the power goes out!
Love you Leah

Peace

White Water Rafting!!!!

It's not everyday that you get to experience life in a way that feels like death; but instead of pain you experience the adrenaline rush and constant excitement created from fear! This past Saturday, that is exactly what we encountered on our adventure. Along with the other 10 students in this study abroad program, about three Ugandans, 4 guys from Europe, 4 girls from Sweden and 3 other students working here in Kampala we traveled by bus headed towards the Nile River! Unfortunately, we did not bring our camera's in fear that the large waters of the Nile would engulf them. Fortunately, for us the Rafting company takes over 300 pics of the rafters and also takes an awesome video; which we bought!
Starting off, as we drove to the rafting company on the mountain next to the Nile there were monkeys jumping everywhere. It was very exciting! We finally arrived after about a 3 hour drive in a crowded bus on dirt roads. Taxi rides are always fun here in Africa! The best part is that when you stop at a gas station or rest stop tons of people come right to the windows to sell you things....you don't even have to get out! It's great! Like walmart on wheels! And Fried Grasshoppers are sold as a delicasy here!
Alright, lastly I will get to the River! It was like the Father of all rivers! Its rapids were as large and as frightening as a Semi-Truck headed straight for you on the highway! Well...maybe not that frightening, but they were BIG! At the beginning of our White Water experience we started off with some easy rapids, then by the end of the day we went on a killer of a Wave. It knocked the breath out of us! One of falls that we went on was a 18 foot waterfall! It was completely insane! That is the one in the photo! Funny story is that we got stuck in the root of the waterfall! It was hysterical and thrilling! We got thrown out of the raft on others and sucked away by undercurrents and whirlpools! Sounds dangerous, but honestly they staff they have working for them know each and every current there is! They do the river every day! One of the very last ones that we went on was called the "Bad Place" and it was! Our entire raft flipped! We had the time of our lives and there is so much more to tell you! We are sorry that it took so long to update the blog, but the internet is a little sketchy here and does not alway want to cooperate with us! Anyways, for the next month we will be going to different areas! Leah will be in Unganda; in just another area working with Children in hopitals and going on home visits to see children and I will be going to Ethiopia to teach High School English! Scary, eh!? Well, fortunately for Leah she will have full access to internet and have electricity. Sad thing for me is that I will not. I am completely roughing it! So for now I am saying "Good Bye" until a month from now! We love you all and Leah should update this a couple of times before I will talk to you! Thanks for reading the blog and God Bless!

Jordon's rural visit and more!

Hello Everyone!
Leah and I have chosen to write separate blogs this time because we thought it would give you a larger insight of our experiences and of Africa. Starting with a field trip that both Leah and I went on last Wednesday I will tell you the events. We went to The Falls and Shrines on this day. “The Fall” refers to the place that in African Tradition is very sacred and is centered on a waterfall. People, to this day, continue to bring offering and come to receive blessings from the Supreme God, through ancestral spirits. It is a very abstract thought in which they perceive God. It is said that the very same God in which we believe, they also believe in. But the reason they pray to their ancestors instead of directly to God is because, similar to the Catholics belief through saints, they are not worthy enough to directly speak to God; therefore, it must be done in a channel. Here at this waterfall there are shrines set up and people come and place there offering near the shrine in order to receive there blessings.
Also, near the waterfall was a small village. There were many children which came out to see the muzungus, the white men that had come. We were able to visit with the children and play with them. They also to us to there mud homes with thatched grass roofs. In one of the photos there is a picture of a girl crying! While we were playing this small girl fell and hurt her knee, I carried her back to her home and she stood in the door way watching us play as tears fell down her cheeks. Her mother was very pleased to see us, although she insisted that we pay her to take photos at her house.
Next, our class visited the Shrines for the Martyrs. These men whose memorials we visited were very courageous men of God. Being some of the first Christians in this area they faced harsh penalties. The leader of a Christian group was being forced to walk to his place of persecution and once he became too tired to go any further his persecutors tortured him by cutting off his fingers, hands, then arms….toes, feet, then legs. Then if that were not enough because this man would not renounce his faith in Jesus Christ, even then, he was skinned alive and burned. This is the story of a man that suffered greatly on Earth, but now stands with Jesus Christ dancing in Heaven. Sorry for the graphic detail, but I believe that it is important in order to understand the power of that testimony. We had the privilege to visit his site of death, as well as the death of 22 other men who believed. These other men were wrapped in bamboo sticks then burned alive starting with their feet and burning to their heads. All of this happened to the first believers in the Ugandan area.
All right…On another note and much happier note I also went on a rural visit! (Wow, this blog is ending up being much longer than expected, I am sorry, but a lot happened since our last blog entries. I will try to sum up the rest!) On my rural visit I went to a place named Ngogwe. It was quite the experience. It rained all three day! I lived in concrete, tin roofed house, with no electricity, running water or plumbing. I use squatty potties and drank boiled milk. My group visited Lake Victoria, which is the source of the Nile River….which we will be going White water rafting on this Saturday! There was a small village next to the lake where we were greeted by around 40-50 kids that wanted to touch and see our white skin. One boy asked me to give him money. I told him that I was there to be his friend and he replied, “If you can’t give me money take me home with you!” This is the cry of most African children. It is very sad to see, but in it all there is God which can provide hope for these children. One last note concerning my weekend! When leaving to go to Alice, my Cornerstone assistants house which we stayed on my rural visit, we witnessed a riot on the street. It was stupid really…a man accidentally bumped into a police vehicle. This angered the police extremely and he pulled the man out of his vehicle and began to beat him. Then he took the man to a taxi driver and insisted that the taxi take this man to the police station. The taxi driver refused so the police officer had his men come and drag that man out of the car and beat him. There were hundreds of people that surrounded this riot. Maybe you can kind of see the pic with the cars and people, that is the one. It is really frustrating how corrupt the government and worker are here in Africa. There is so much more to say, but I will end on that note! Sorry that I just unloaded a ton on you! Hope you enjoy it! Love you all, Jordon

Leah's Rural Visit!

Greeting!

I am so sorry that we have not posted anything on our blog for a LONG time. The Internet has not been down. Lol! However, it has been really exciting in Uganda! Now Since the last blog we have done a million things! Therefore, I thought that this entry will solely be about this past weekend. This last weekend we went on our rural visit. I went to a little village an hour out side of Mbale. Which is about seven hours outside of Kampala. Now, let me introduce the people that i went with on my visit! They are super super stellar! The first one in the picture is Justin, Me, Britney and Florence.

Now, I don't know where to start......ok Now, we stayed with Florence family and they where so welcoming! This is a picture of all of us outside their house.

The next day when we arrived Florence took us on a hike to the waterfalls and the caves. This place was the most beautiful place i ever been to in my life! This place was really neat because we would stop at the different waterfalls and caves and after playing they would tell us different African stories!

Then after we explored we got to see a play of an actual circumcision; it was very interesting....anyways, boys get circumcised between the age of 16-20. When it is time for this ritual to happen there are tons of dancing and singing! and the boys can not show any signs of emotion! If they do show emotion the father of the boy will have to pay money for his son because he not a "real"man! lol However, this ritual is a sign that you are now a man so this is very important! This was an experience of a life time!

So first picture is of the boys getting ready for the ritual, then the other picture is of me dancing in the ritual. However, Florence was just laughing at me the whole time! lol

The rest of the day we ate dinner, miked a cow, and we looked at all the bright stars! I swear that the stars are brighter here in Africa! I have never seen them sooooo bright!

Then, on Sunday before church we helped start lunch. Let me tell you what, we had to kill a chicken! well i did not kill the chicken b/c i was a chicken! So Justin did the honors for us. In Uganda it is considered an honor to kill a chicken. Now this is an experience that I will NEVER forget!

Then we went to an small village church that was on fire about God. However, the sad part about going to church was that the preacher said that to receive blessings from God one must give money to the church! This made me feel really sad for the people in the small village who are trying everyday just to meet their basic needs! However, the preacher had a great heart and talked about the blessing it was for us to go to church! We met his family and he had three children of his own and he adopted four other children. His hope is someday to build an orphanage in this community because there is not one any where around.

Pretty much that is the quick over view of my rural visit! But let me tell you there is more to the story! But i should save that for another day.

now....as a part of this blog I truly feel like I should share what I have been going through personally.

Now after attending classes and being apart of the culture, I have truly realized that American and others who come over to Africa with good intentions of helping them out, teaching them about Jesus has actual has hurt them and their culture. I am struggling if I should ever become a missionary in fear that i may make a culture fall apart just b/c I "think" I know what is best! I found out the God can look a little different than what He looks like in the States. So thank God that i am here at Go-Ed because I am learning WHAT NOT to do in a culture that is not your own! So Becca and i came to the conclusion that maybe the best thing we can do is to start a NGO or something that would tell different ministries how to effectively minister to their community or something! lol However, it is really cool to see that Food for the Hungry is taking the to time to educate students like us who is getting frustrated and passionate about missions!

Also, Jordon and I found out where we are going to do our practicum. I am going to Mbale, Uganda. There i will be working with a child's sponsorship program. In addition ill be working with after school program, hospitals, going to their houses, and such. Please be praying for me b/c Mbale is somewhat near Kenya! it is safe b/c FH would not send me if it was not safe. But Please be praying for Kenya because it is starting to get worst! However, we will be leaving in less than two weeks. Now, Jordon is going to Ethiopia teaching English to "10th grade" students! he super excited! anyways this is a long blog but, believe me it is very short and brief of what is actually going on!

Thank you for all your comments! Everything is going amazing! We Love it here soooo much, i think i am having the time of my life! I am learning so much and i truly believe that God is taking this time to truly shape Jordon and I lives! Oh we are going white water rafting this weekend YEAH! oh one last note! Jordon and I would like to extend a thank you to Bradleyville church for donating for our African trip! I can not express how much this church means to us! You guys are amazing and are an true example of what a church should be! Thank you again and may God bless you! Well miss you all. Hope to do more post soon.....if the Internet works lol