Greetings from Africa! :)
So here I am. Sitting in an internet cafe in the middle of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. How crazy that I am here in Africa. Everything here is going so well, for God is good!
My journey began on April 7, taking a van from the Castle in Herrnhut to Lobau, a train from Lobau to Dresden, another train from Dresden to Frankfurt, then flying out of Frankfurt, Germany all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We arrived here Sunday morning, all very tired. My first African experience wasn't such a good one.. I went outside of the airport to get some fresh air and as I was going back inside, a man in a military uniform stopped me. He began to get frustrated and then decided to kick me out of the airport; I was not allowed to go back inside. I told him my bags and my friends were just inside, but he began to yell at me and would not let me inside. One of my outreach leaders, Corey, came over at the perfect time and tried to help me out, but the man was obviously angry, so Corey went outside with me. We went over to the visitors entrance and were graciously allowed back in after going through security once again. Thanks be to God for Corey for helping me out and for allowing us back into the airport. I learned my lesson to always stick with the group and just wait patiently for fresh air. It was not the best start to my time in Ethiopia, but God is good and he is gracious and everything else has been going really well!
The weather has been great! It has rained a few times, and it has not been nearly as hot as I expected, which is nice. The food is also quite good and the place we are staying is also much nicer than I was prepared for. My team and I are quite blessed with all that we have here!
During the last few days we have been spending time doing prayer walks, homeless ministry, working with YWAM Ethiopia and also working with a project that our YWAM Herrnhut base started. Our team is getting along well. One of us is quite sick, but hopefully he is on the mend. And one of our leaders is still on his way; he is just working out some finances. One girl on our team went home, back to Hong Kong, on Saturday instead of joining us in Ethiopia, because her father is very sick and she felt it was best to be with her family at this time. We are keeping these three in our prayers and are just continuing to do our best to follow God's leading in all that we do. Our mission here is simply to love God and love people. Prayers for a constant increase in that love and for deeper hearts for the people of Ethiopia would be amazing.
Know that I am keeping you all in my prayers and I hope all is well back home. I miss home, but being here is so good for me; it truly is a dream come true. Sometimes it is difficult being here for there are tough things to see and to be surrounded by, but I know that God is good and I am doing my best to share his goodness and his love with those around me. It is hard to express what exactly I am feeling whilst being in the midst of Africa, but when I can put to words what I am feeling in my heart and soul I will hopefully be able to let you know. I will have very little access to the internet during outreach, which is for the best, but I will try to update you here as much as possible.
Take care and God bless. I will hopefully be in touch sometime within the next three months! :)
Love always,
Fina
So here I am. Sitting in an internet cafe in the middle of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. How crazy that I am here in Africa. Everything here is going so well, for God is good!
My journey began on April 7, taking a van from the Castle in Herrnhut to Lobau, a train from Lobau to Dresden, another train from Dresden to Frankfurt, then flying out of Frankfurt, Germany all the way to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We arrived here Sunday morning, all very tired. My first African experience wasn't such a good one.. I went outside of the airport to get some fresh air and as I was going back inside, a man in a military uniform stopped me. He began to get frustrated and then decided to kick me out of the airport; I was not allowed to go back inside. I told him my bags and my friends were just inside, but he began to yell at me and would not let me inside. One of my outreach leaders, Corey, came over at the perfect time and tried to help me out, but the man was obviously angry, so Corey went outside with me. We went over to the visitors entrance and were graciously allowed back in after going through security once again. Thanks be to God for Corey for helping me out and for allowing us back into the airport. I learned my lesson to always stick with the group and just wait patiently for fresh air. It was not the best start to my time in Ethiopia, but God is good and he is gracious and everything else has been going really well!
The weather has been great! It has rained a few times, and it has not been nearly as hot as I expected, which is nice. The food is also quite good and the place we are staying is also much nicer than I was prepared for. My team and I are quite blessed with all that we have here!
During the last few days we have been spending time doing prayer walks, homeless ministry, working with YWAM Ethiopia and also working with a project that our YWAM Herrnhut base started. Our team is getting along well. One of us is quite sick, but hopefully he is on the mend. And one of our leaders is still on his way; he is just working out some finances. One girl on our team went home, back to Hong Kong, on Saturday instead of joining us in Ethiopia, because her father is very sick and she felt it was best to be with her family at this time. We are keeping these three in our prayers and are just continuing to do our best to follow God's leading in all that we do. Our mission here is simply to love God and love people. Prayers for a constant increase in that love and for deeper hearts for the people of Ethiopia would be amazing.
Know that I am keeping you all in my prayers and I hope all is well back home. I miss home, but being here is so good for me; it truly is a dream come true. Sometimes it is difficult being here for there are tough things to see and to be surrounded by, but I know that God is good and I am doing my best to share his goodness and his love with those around me. It is hard to express what exactly I am feeling whilst being in the midst of Africa, but when I can put to words what I am feeling in my heart and soul I will hopefully be able to let you know. I will have very little access to the internet during outreach, which is for the best, but I will try to update you here as much as possible.
Take care and God bless. I will hopefully be in touch sometime within the next three months! :)
Love always,
Fina
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