Everything always seems to change. People change, plans change, the world changes. I know that life back in Canada will be different when I come home, because things have changed. Even life in Germany will be different, because it has changed too. It will be summertime, and I will see leaves on the trees that I have only known to be bare. The last time I saw Canada, there was snow on the ground! More than just physical changes will be noticed, for I have found that people change more often and in deeper ways than the seasons. I have changed as well. It is just crazy to think of how much everything around us changes so much. 

Yet there is one thing that always stays constant, and I am so thankful for the consistency and faithfulness that this thing is. Though it is not a thing, but a person as well as a God. He is a best friend and a father, and all that we need. God is unchanging and everlasting. Even in the times that I abandon him, he never abandons me. In these past days, I have allowed myself to drift and to fade and to walk away from my commitment to God, without even realizing it. When I finally understand my faults and turn back to God, he does not shut the door in my face as I deserve, but always welcomes me back into his loving arms. We serve an amazing God, eh? 

There's my Canadian language coming out. :) Everytime I do something that is not regular or just anything really, my friends always say something about me being Canadian. It is funny actually, and it is just normal for Americans (which make up the bulk of my team) to be making fun of Canadians, and vice versa. It is all out of love though, don't worry; I am also not failing to represent my country in a positive way. 

I know I told you in my last post that I would be going on a five day travel to get back to Ethiopia from Uganda, but things have changed. Of course, for things always change, as we know. When my team and I got to Nairobi, Kenya, we planned on staying a day or two to rest and get our visas for Ethiopia from the embassy here. One must have a visa for every foreign country that one enters, so in every new country my team has had to get visas. Anyways, back to the point. We went to go get our visas, but once at the embassy, we learned that you cannot get a visa to Ethiopia from Kenya unless you are a resident of Kenya, which we are not. You cannot get visas at the border in Ethiopia, because for some reason Ethiopia likes to do everything different. This complicated things, for we were now unable to get visas, meaning we could not get into our destination country. Then we learned that we can get visas, if we fly into Addis Ababa. So long story short, my team and I are flying into Ethiopia tomorrow. 

So since we have not been traveling by road to Ethiopia, we have had a bit less than a week here in Nairobi. We have spent much of the last week resting and recuperating, for most of us have been quite sick with either a parasite, e. coli, or giardia, none of which are any fun. The timing of this visa complication and questions of mode of travel were definitely orchestrated by God though, because if we did not have these days to heal, the continued travel would have been excruciating. Thanks be to him who always has the best for us! For a few days, when some were feeling well, we went to an orphanage started by the family that is hosting us, which was a lot of fun. And tomorrow we fly and will meet the rest of our team for the last three weeks of outreach. 

There has been much changing of plans, yet everything is working out. God obviously blocked our way to travel by road, for reasons unknown to us, but we trust in him. He came through and provided a way for us to still get to Ethiopia. The flights were extremely expensive, which is the reason we did not originally plan on flying, because going by road was cheaper. Still, we know that God is our provider and continue to do our best to trust in him. 

Here I leave you, with the newest updates that I know. Things are always changing though, and I am sure more things will change within the last few weeks here in Africa. 
A huge thank you to my family and friends back home who sent me a video of love and support, that served as a reminder that some things will still be the same when I come home. I know that I am missed and and have always been loved, that will never change, and this means so much to me. Another huge thank you to my church family at Rehoboth CRC for your prayers and support, and specifically to the Sunday school class that took the time to pray for me in bless me in a way that touched my heart deeply. 


I continue to keep home in my prayers and I hope you all know I am very much looking forward to being there again, soon! 
God bless :) 


Love always, 
Fina

Hey all!

I was asked by a friend a question about my ministry work here, and I realize that I haven’t really told you all what kind of ministry I have been involved in. I apologize for that, but here is just a small tidbit of some of the work I have been helping with for the past few weeks.

This entire week in Gulu has been full of different ministry including: working with and getting to know girls from ages 8 to 14 who have been affected by the war and sex trafficking and who are now orphans or unable to live at home, helping people move, painting a house, organizing offices and necklaces, these necklaces are made by ten women who I have also gotten to know over the week who are from the Congo and have been affected by war in horrible ways and now make these necklaces to make money to support their families and livelihood. There is an organization here called the ZionProject, that started the Imani Woman, which is the women who make the necklaces (mentioned above) and who are also the ones that started the girl’s home (also mentioned above).

Every new place that I go has been completely different ministry opportunities, which has been really awesome! For example, in Kampala I worked solely with a school there helping the teachers with the kids and the lunch ladies with breakfast and lunches, and in Eldoret, Kenya it was a lot of preaching and teaching and encouragement to the church there. It’s all been really different, but really good because I am able to get a taste of what I really enjoy and what I found challenging and how I can grow in each new area I encounter.

So that’s a quick run through of ministry life here. Always different, yet always the same: always serving God. This is my purpose, and I am honoured to have so many ways to fulfill that.

Tomorrow my team and I head back to Ethiopia, which will probably be about five solid days of travel. We will go to Jinka, a town in the south and stay for about two weeks. I will hopefully be able to update you again once I am back in Ethiopia.

Until then, take care. Thank you again for your prayers, for I would not be able to be sustained while here without the help of God which comes through the support you give me. :)

Love always,

Fina