Good morning from Addis!

We woke up to a beeeaaautiful morning in Addis, which we are all so thankful for. Although rainy season has passed, it has been very soggy most of our time here. We have woken up most mornings to heavy skies, damp air, and cool temps. So, it was encouraging to wake up to blue skies and sunshine today! We are able to see all of the beautiful mountain peaks and hills that surround the city. Surely the sunshine is indicative of the beauty and light that God has in store for us today as we return to the Merkato Street Kid project to have a time of fellowship and sharing with the hard-core boys. We will be spending our morning encouraging the hard-core boys with our own testimonies, hopefully showing them that we are alike in more ways than we are different. The rest of the team is off purchasing Amheric Bibles for us to gift to the boys this morning, so they will each have their own personal copy of God's Word. So exciting!! We also plan on sharing injera (a traditional Ethiopian food) with the boys as we fellowship.

This afternoon we will be heading back to the Merkato Compound to fellowship and share with the Community Health Evangelists (CHE) from the community. These are leaders that have been trained and equipped to provide wholistic ministry to their communities. We are eager to get to know them more, and share in a time of encouragement with them. I am sure God has many blessings in store for us today!

Just to recap our day yesterday...We started off our day by joining the LIA staff for the weekly prayer time (they fast and pray every Monday morning as a group from 9-1). I have never seen people pray and worship with such humility and sincerity. When we entered the room everyone was either on their knees, covering their faces, or turned towards the wall in complete worship to our Savior. They intermingled prayers, singing and scripture as we all joined in worship together. Peggy had been asked to prepare a word of encouragement ahead of time, and she had been led to 1 John 3. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence". Amazingly, right before Peggy shared this, Dr. Yared told us that their prayer focus for this month is "loving in action". It was incredible when Peggy shared this word of encouragement and scripture that went perfectly hand in hand with LIA's focus for the month. We see God working like this all over the place here!! What a blessing to be able to share in this time of fervent prayer and worship. There was laughter, tears, and a clear presence of the Holy Spirit. Prayer is truly at the core of LIA's ministry, and we were so glad to share in a piece of it. What is even better is that we can continue to participate in LIA's ministry through prayer all the way from the U.S!

Our afternoon was spent visiting the ALERT hospital, which specializes in treating/serving leper and tuberculosis patients. Aside from treating the patients physical conditions, they also provide a trade/craft for them to do (embroidery, loomwork, woodworking, etc.) We were able to witness several affected women and men (and a few children) joyfully crafting and creating beautiful pieces of art. They are given these trades as an alternative to begging. Their pieces of art are then sold in the ALERT giftshop, and all proceeds go back to the hospital and supporting its patients. It was so incredible to see the joy and sense of value these "cast-offs from society" have been given at ALERT. We serve such a creative God, and to see his creativity at work in these people was amazing. We could have stayed there much longer - such a special place!! We are looking forward to returning there on Thursday!

Following our ALERT visit, we went to LIA's WASH project, which focuses on water sanitation and personal hygiene. To hear the statitics of the number of people here who do not have access to clean water is staggering. This factor contributes to much disease and premature death (most often due to preventable diseases such as diarrhea, and most often amongst children under age 5). It was so encouraging to see the hope that is brought to the people through clean water supply and education! We visited the community that the WASH project is beginning with (it is in its very first stages, so the team that returns next year will be able to see how much this project has grown and impacted the community). They have built latrines, wash stations, and showers, and are also equipping people to be community educators regarding hygiene. So awesome!!

After our WASH visit, we headed back to the Merkato church to share in their Monday teaching service. We were able to join them in their time of song and worship, and then we were able to share some words of encouragement and worship with them. A few team members shared scripture and words of encouragement, and then we led them in two worship songs (Lord Reign In Me and Holy Is The Lord). What an incredible thing to share in worship that stretches across language and cultural barriers. We serve such an enormous and amazing God!!

We are in the home stretch of our visit here. We have learned so much. The next two days are really focused on the service element. Tomorrow we will be painting at the Merkato Church, and spending the afternoon providing health education and focus groups with the women of the community. Thursday we are doing a little shopping at ALERT, packing, and heading to the airport for our long journey home (we will be heading to the airport about 11:00 a.m. Central time on Thursday, and return home Friday around 5:00 p.m.). Please continue to pray for our health and strength as we finish up our time in Ethiopia. May God use us to the very last minute we are here!! We can't wait to see you all again, and share more stories and faces of Africa with you.

Much love,

The Africa Team