AFRICA MISSION:

Matteos, the Campus Pastor, and I being silly

2007-12-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

swinging the kiddos

2007-12-02T16:04:00.000-08:00

The kids going crazy over the camera and trying to do Michael Jackson

2007-12-02T15:46:00.000-08:00

December 2, 2007: LEARNING TO LET GO.

2007-12-02T12:53:00.000-08:00

I Love Matteos!

The kids strangling me!

I love these kiddos.

---------------------------

I am home, safe and sound. And it’s been a whirlwind. I spent about 5 hours on the way home reflecting, looking out the window of the plane, moved to tears over the incredibleness of our God -- that He would bless me with such an experience and bless me with your love and support to be able to have this very experience in the first place.

An excerpt from my journal:

Dear Lord, it is finished, it is done, You are finished and done. Africa. I didn’t realize the impact at all this past month has had on me. I was leaving to go home yesterday for my flight and as I was hugging Hannah and Kidist goodbye, I just started crying…just holding them, being held by them. Completely caught me by surprise, snuck up on me…And it suddenly dawned on me: “I’m leaving this place. This place of love and grace, of humble people with so much to give…I’m actually leaving, and this place is so incredibly special.” I just sat in quietly on my way to the airport.

Africa, thank you. Thank you for your gentle grace, your loving people, for your children who smile with so little, for teaching me humility, grace, and the joy and power in feeling small, for teaching me that everything matters in life big and small, for your wonderfully endearing children at the feeding center who somehow broke through to my heart and taught me the graces of being able to love with nothing just for the sake of loving, for your amazing and vast Kenyan sky and hills that left me speechless, for Kidist and Hannah and how they touched my heart in a very gentle subtle way, for the wonders of what Hope Enterprise is doing, for being a land to go and serve, for giving me the chance to experience what it’s like to love fully, pure and unadorned love, on needy children, and for the hope and love you gave me by just being there.

Lord, I’m crystal clear, crystal clear. My life is made for making a difference. Your beautiful land of Africa spoke to me -- I am made for making a difference. Sure I’ve always wanted to serve before Africa, doing my bible study for my 6th graders, but it was almost out of duty -- something I “should” do as a Christian. When I get it now. I’m clear. I’m here to take part in your mystery of living for others. My journey in soccer trained me not necessarily in discipline for the Olympics but really for the Olympics FOR PEOPLE…All those monotonous silly sprints trained me for making a difference. And I am so thankful for this.

So grateful I am that God would teach me a gentleness and the art of letting go. You must know my fellow blog readers, and I think most of you know this about me, but I have been a master at holding on, at using my drive and ambition to create my life --doing my sprints behind the scenes as an athlete, eating the right foods with a hard-core discipline to make it all happen. And this whole past month was really, honestly, one of the first few times I was present to each day as it came and went, meeting each day as it came, listening for the wisdom in each moment. Little things too I noticed: I would sometimes wear my hair down (I’ve always worn my hair back), I gave Juice the big bed (oh this is something I’d never do), I ate whatever food we had to eat at the time (in the past I had to eat the “right” food) -- these are small things yes, but definitely symbolic of an inner letting go on my part. I remember one of my mentors once said to me “Callie you are an incredibly powerful woman, but you hold on so much. Just surrender Callie, surrender to what God has for you.” Africa has taught me and I’m still learning the art of letting go and truly surrendering to the current God has for me.

Thank you again for this experience. I love you and I bless you. May you know the difference you are, may you understand the difference you have made in Africa through your support of one small human being Callie. May God forever shine on you and bless you all the days of your life.

In the love of Christ,
Callie Withers

2007-12-02T12:39:00.000-08:00

The 3rd graders singing "Read Your bible everyday, pray everyday, so you can grow."

Reading class

2007-11-26T09:45:00.000-08:00

Laughing with the girls

2007-11-26T09:43:00.002-08:00

Playing musical chairs

2007-11-26T09:43:00.001-08:00

Making gingerbread houses

2007-11-26T09:42:00.000-08:00

Ligit's hand in mine at Abraham Girls' Home

2007-11-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Dancer at Ethiopian restaurant

2007-11-26T09:40:00.000-08:00

The band for the dancers at an Ethiopian restaurant

2007-11-26T09:39:00.000-08:00

All of us together after making gingerbread houses at the Abraham Girls' Home

2007-11-26T09:37:00.000-08:00

Old Woman coming out of her hut in Rogue Village

2007-11-24T16:01:00.000-08:00

Nati-one of the kids at Hope

2007-11-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

Me with the kids at the Hope Feeding Center

2007-11-24T15:59:00.000-08:00

Intently listening to Zenebe

2007-11-24T15:58:00.000-08:00

Beautiful pic of the Rift Valley in Kenya

2007-11-24T15:57:00.000-08:00

Beautiful pic of the local market near Tumaini Children's Home

2007-11-24T15:55:00.000-08:00

A Mother in her hut in Rogue Village

2007-11-24T15:50:00.000-08:00

November 23, 2007: Humbled by the God I love

2007-11-24T15:49:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe that I return home in a week. I have
entered such a rhythm here and I will truly miss it.
I go to bed pretty early, I wake up early, I go to
Hope school to serve, teach kindergarten, and laugh
with the kids on their breaks or free periods, or I go
to the Hope feeding center to serve, fold angera’s,
and laugh and play soccer with the kids.

Today, Julie and I went to Rogue Village. Before MPPC
(my church) impacted this rural village, there was no
school nor any healthy running water. With the
support of MPPC, they funded the building of a school
along with a well with clean water. This happened 2
years ago and Julie and I were able to see the fruits
of their labor today. It was so incredible to see.

Ethiopia has been a truly incredible experience so far
-- I came with so many expectations of the people, the
culture, what God would teach me while here, what I’d
be doing while here, and it seems almost as if God has
turned my ideas completely upside down. I thought I
would come to impact the people here, do big things,
and it seems as if I have come to see that I am just a
small part (still powerful and important) of what God
is already doing here. Last night, while Julie and I
were having dinner with Zenebe, the head of Hope
Enterprises, my eyes welled up with tears as he was
explaining what MPPC has done for the children at
Rogue Village. I had no idea the mind-blowing impact
MPPC has had on Hope here. And it suddenly dawned on
me while listening to Zenebe that it’s not about me
here, trying to make a difference (although I am), but
that it’s about God and things already going on way
beyond me. It occurred to me that I am just joining
in. I am here to witness, observe, see, rather than
be the one doing the doing for God. I am here just to
take part. Before I came to Ethiopia, I was trying to
control every little detail of how I will do this and
that -- where I will be for this, and what I will say
to this child, that child. But after talking Zenebe,
I thought, “wow, I am just here to see God work.”
It’s beautiful. And I was deeply humbled by all that.

The last time I was in a 3rd world country, I was in
India seeking God, exploring what my life was all
about and what I wanted to live for, and I ended up in
2 monasteries, discovering the grace of Christ. And
although that was an amazing experience, I was
constantly anxious in search of completing some
longing I had for a deep meaning to my life. And I
contrast that with my time here -- I am not so much in
a place of seeking but a place of just being here
where God already is, joining in with His kingdom,
just doing simple things and serving His kingdom. My
awareness here has been so much more focused on being
here -- not on what I will be doing 5 years from now,
not on what job I will take when I return, or not on
some deep question about what the meaning of my life
is. I have just been here, here for what it’s been --
the simplicity of it all, and this simplicity has been
beautiful to me. And I prayed for this -- that God
would give me eyes to see the beauty of simplicity as
my life can get so wrapped up in busy unimportant
complications not so much in all my tasks for the day,
but more so in the cluttering of my mind.

What a humbling experience so far -- I’ve been deeply
humbled by the grace of the people here -- their
tender ways with people, their loving embrace of any
stranger, and their incredible desire to serve and
give even when they literally have nothing. Every
time Julie and I return from our day back to the guest
house, Kidist and Hannah -- 2 servant girls for the
guest house-- embrace us as if we are their children
coming home from a long trip. They truly love us.
And that love has been so powerful and humbling.

God is moving in my life. Teaching me to be of
service. Even with something as small as my desire to
give the big bed to Julie when she came (yes that
sounds silly, but you must know that prior to a
missions trip like this, my sleep would be so
important that I would selfishly take the big bed or
some better “thing” for MY sleep for MY training for
MY soccer.)

I am so blessed to be here. So incredibly blessed.
And this wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t for you
and your support.

Reading with the children at Tumaini in Kenya

2007-11-22T10:50:00.000-08:00

Pastor Matteos-the wonderfully lovingpastor at Hope

2007-11-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

My classroom at Hope

2007-11-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

Callie and Kalkidan pretending to me models

2007-11-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

Folding angheras at Hope

2007-11-22T10:42:00.000-08:00

More kids

2007-11-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Kids, kids, kids-------everywhere!!!!!

2007-11-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

Where we are

2007-11-22T10:39:00.000-08:00

Callie and Juice

2007-11-22T10:33:00.000-08:00

11/19--Another Day

2007-11-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

Whoohoo- I now got this blog posting down pat (except
for the pics- can’t do that til I return home). I
email the posting to pops, and then he updates it for
me. For some reason, I can’t do much with the blog
site here in Africa- I can never get through??

Anyhoo, so the latest:

Tomorrow I start teaching Kindegarten at Hope School.
They are terribly adorable. When I spoke with the
supervisor for kindergarden in their classroom to
organize the lesson plans last week, they all ran up
to me and kissed my hand and cheek. At first, I sort
of winced as they all have nose goo running down their
face, but the fellow Americans here that are teaching
English gently nudged me and said that it was ok. So
I let them kiss away. Millions of kisses all over.
And immediately, what do you know, I got sick with a
cold. But it was worth it:).

Today I laughed and giggled with Kalkidan (it
translates into Promise – they all have beautiful
names here in Amharic btw- they all translate into
Bible names, promises, visions, hopes etc), a 5th
grader. Last week, I asked her what she wants to do
when she is older and out of school -- she explained
that she wants to be a model. So every time I've seen
her at school I take out my hair band, let my hair
flow down, and strut towards her with my shades tipped
pretending to walk down a runway like a model. She
just laughs and laughs and laughs, a hearty laugh from
the depths of her belly. If there’s certainly one
thing I was born to do, it was to make kids laugh and
smile, even if it’s because I am being a little crazy.
I just want them smiling. We even took pictures with
my camera joking around pretending to be models. I
kept telling her that she needs to start practicing
today:). I will have to post them later.

3 weeks here at Hope school is way too short to make
the difference I want to. I will just start to be
having open conversations with these kiddos about life
and God just before I go I know it. I am envious of
the 4 Americans here teaching for 1 full year, however
I just don’t know if that’s my calling. So, while I
am here, I am giving it all. I’ve got 10 days left to
rock the world for impacting these kiddos.

Bye for now! Tomorrow is time spent at the feeding
center.

11/15/07--My 1st week in Ethiopia

2007-11-18T17:48:00.000-08:00

So I am sitting here in the guest house I am staying
at, thinking. Thinking hard about all that’s going
on. Today I went by the Black Lion hospital to see
what Operation Smile was all about – it’s a non-profit
with a mission to repair as many cleft lip genetic
defects of children as they can. These past 2 weeks
has been their 25th anniversary so doctors, nurses,
volunteers from around the world are paying and taking
time to serve for 2 weeks in 40 different countries.
I was able to see the whole pre-op and post-op and it
was incredible. It was extremely moving to see the
all sorts of different people around the world
gathered here in Ethiopia committed to making a
difference. Some of the parents and older children
were in tears thanking the American doctors. It was
extremely moving to see. I hope that I can someday be
in a position of influence to give back in an
incredible way like that.

It has now been officially 2 weeks today for my time
here in Africa. It’s been one week in Kenya and now 1
week in Ethiopia.

My schedule has been so this past week in Ethiopia:
Mon, Wed, Fri -- serve at the Hope school (a school
for underprivileged kids, orphans) – teaching English
in some classes, playing/teaching soccer sports in
their PE class, helping other Ethiopian teachers lead
their classes.
Tues, Thurs -- serve at the Hope feeding center. In
the early morning, we feed about 15 homeless orphan
children about 5 years old. Beautiful hearts they
have. Dirty and scruffy but beautiful to see God in
them. Matteos, the campus pastor for Hope gives a
little sermon to them, and then we play soccer
together, and then we feed them. Later in the
morning, about 700 homeless people gather at the
feeding center for food. Truly incredible to see the
never-ending line of people who come. It’s so
heartbreaking to see and I offered up a little prayer
to God for them. I don’t quite understand how such
poverty can exist in this world.

Since I’ve been here in Ethiopia, I truly love the
country. Because the British never colonized it, there
are so many unique and different traditions and perks
the country has kept. It is truly different- it’s
calendar year, it’s time, it’s culture, and even it’s
incredible food!

In my time away so far and here in Ethiopia, I have
been sensing God’s gentle nudge to be a difference
maker back behind the scenes. I love the crowd, being
social, and connecting with people -- which I think is
one of my gifts, however I have been sensing God
teaching me His humble ways through service away from
the crowd and the applause for being such a noble
servant. Like today at the Hope feeding center, I
folded 100’s of angera’s (this is their staple food
for all meals in Ethiopia and especially easy to make
for the homeless Hope feeds) for hours. There was
nothing spectacular about what I was doing -- I wasn’t
talking and connecting with the people, I was just in
the back, folding, and folding, and folding those
angera’s. But folding for God. Folding for the sake
of folding those silly little angera’s. For some
reason it was very moving for me in its beautiful
simplicity. In the past, I would casually avoid doing
a service project that entailed doing busy work behind
the scenes. I wanted the real juice of knowing I made
a direct impact right then and there, out in front,
connecting with people, laughing, singing. And
folding angera’s is anything but that. But God
somehow made His way through my heart to speak freedom
and love in those little moments, just folding angera
after angera, making little wedge pizza shapes to put
on the plates.

Perhaps it moved me too because I expected to come to
Africa parting the red sea, being in relationship with
all the children I interacted with so that they might
come to know and love the God I love, and ironically,
I’ve been doing a lot of busy work behind the scenes.
And I sense God saying: Callie it all matters. It all
matters in My Kingdom. I sensed His freedom today
folding those angera’s and talking small talk with
some of the children at the Hope school this past
week. Nothing grandiose. Just little acts of service
in my heart to strive to honor God in all I’m doing
here. Very difficult but with the time I have here to
reflect, I am striving to come to God each day in
prayer with cleans hands and a humble heart.

I am learning patience as everything is slow and
people tend to run behind here and I see how impatient
I can be!, I am learning humilty in the way people
interact here, I am learning grace from the natives
here in the way they freely extend their hearts to
strangers, I am learning even that I don’t think being
in full-time ministry is where I am called to be, I am
learning how I don’t pray as often as I’d like to --
thinking my prayers to God don’t really matter in the
end with all the poverty and sickness around me, and
then I am also learning that God is everywhere, even
in folding angera’s.

May the goodness of God forever reign in this world.

Prayers requests: for the children I am with on Tues
and Thurs mornings at the Hope feeding center, the
children at Hope school, the homeless we feed at the
center – that they all may come to know the deep and
all-pervasive love of God the Father. Also, I ask for
prayers for health for me. I am sick with a bad sinus
infection and so tired at the end of the day. I need
my strength these next 2 weeks.

11/9/07---My 1st week: the Tumaini Orphanage in Kenya

2007-11-18T17:45:00.000-08:00

My typical day this past week:
7am: rise to the loud sound of children singing,
showering and getting ready for school.
715am: yoga or lectio-divinia with T-bone, Shimmers,
and Jonathan
8am: breakfast
9am: quiet time with God
10am- 3pm: read, check email, write friends, spend
time with Shoshoku, Eunice, people who work at
Tumaini. Build relationships. ON weekends, we play
with the kids
3pm: the kids come home from school. Play, talking,
building relationships.
4pm: reading in the library (every other day)
5pm: running, sometimes it is soccer
6pm: dinner with the kids
7-9pm: more time with the kids
10pm: lights out

It has been such a wonderful week at the Tumaini
Children’s home. It has truly left mark on me as a
very special place. It was an honor to be a part of
their family for even just a short time. The children
there were truly beautiful and so eager to love on us
wuzingos (white people). Just today before I left for
the airport to head to Ethiopia, I decided to run
around the field at the school to get a quick jog in,
and with some of the kids being on their break, they
just swarmed around me to run beside me. About 40 5-8
yr old kids ran beside me, surrounded me, cheered for
me, and breathed hard as they tried to keep up as I
ran my 11 laps around the field. Such a heart-warming
experience with the children running right beside me,
competing with each other to run the closet to me,
their big eyes and smiles looking up at me, wanting to
be a part of what I was doing. So amazing.

I wish I had more time. 1 week was too short to
develop any long-term relationships at Tumaini. I was
just beginning to get to know them and their hearts.
I bonded with a few: Grace, Awoi, little Rhoda, little
Jane, Dominique. But there are so many: 170 of them
in that home. I was originally planning to stay for
2.5 weeks, but I felt compelled to change my flight to
Ethiopia to an earlier time. I have 1 month in Africa
and I thought: “I didn’t come to Africa to spend 4-6
hours of the day reading, resting, doing quiet time
and doing my own thing with my friends here…I came to
give my heart and serve all day, to be used up by God
in as many ways as I can.” And in Ethiopia, I will be
put to work in several different ministries all day.
Because Jonathon, Emily, and T-bone are at the
orphanage for 6 months, they need the time alone so
they can give their hearts to the kids over a long
time. I have just but 1 month and I don’t need to
come to Africa to spend part of my day resting and
reading. I came to be in action around my desire to
make a difference.

So I left for Ethiopia today. As Boniface was driving
me to the airport today, I was able to spend a lot of
time processing and reflecting on my time this past
week. I was thanking God for the beauty and pure
innocence He puts in these children and for the grace
and generosity of the natives that lived there at the
orphanage. And I realized something- that it’s not
the kids or Africa that are the source of my making a
difference. It’s not that Tumaini is where I must be
to make a difference. It is me, it is in me, it is
God’s spirit in me and His mark on me. It’s His
goodness and selflessness in me that wants to reach
out to see and spread His kingdom. By just being here
in Africa, in action, I get to see this and it reminds
me of my true greatness in God, of the true impact I
really can leave people with.

I got tears in my eyes sitting in the car realizing
that I really do make a difference, and I was thanking
God for allowing me to see my difference making heart
in action. Yes, intellectually I can grasp that I
make a difference as an individual, but this past week
I really got to see it in with those kids, even with
my fellow housemates as I was talking with Emily about
some personal things she was dealing with.

And what’s so cool is that the more I see who I really
am in God, the more I see my difference making
possibility in Him, the more I’m not willing to settle
and stand for all that is not God in me – all my
impurities, all my selfish habits and pride that only
hinders forward movement in the kingdom of God. All
my pride -- my pride in “my being so noble to serve
here in Africa,” my pride in “having the intellect to
reflect like this about God’s kingdom,” and my pride
in thinking I’m so great and make such a difference.
Crazy. But I’ve always heard that humility is
recognizing one’s own place in this world, and ego
aside, I know my potential for greatness, for being a
great leader who makes a difference. But so subtle
the pride is. C.S. Lewis talks about this in his book
The Great Divorce: that the further one progresses on
the path towards light and Christ, the more subtle
one’s sin or bad habits are, and if those sins aren’t
dealt with properly, the more they can damage one’s
personhood in Christ.

I am truly inspired by this past week to continue on
with my desire to impact my 6th graders I have with
the church when I return home. I am inspired to
further my development in my self in relation to God.
Amen.

I made it!

2007-11-04T05:28:00.000-08:00

So tired but excited. After 30 hours of traveling, I finally made it to the orphanage!

Today I got to meet the children. They are beautiful- big smiles, big brown eyes, eager to love on us. I love em already. After we had church this morning, we hung around, laughed and joked around. I learned many of their names. I got to meet Rhoda - she is a 6 yr old girl who is adorable. She is posted above.

I am staying here at Tumaini Children's orphanage with Michael (T-bone), Jonathan, and Emily (Shimmers)...pictures to come. They are here for 6 months to teach the children soccer, how to play the guitar, cooking, health-related classes, running, and reading - impacting these kids' lives in so many ways. I'm so jealous!

In 30 minutes we go out to play soccer with the kids.

I'll be back with more.

Additional Bloopers

2007-11-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

Some Bloopers :)

2007-11-02T05:26:00.000-07:00

What Callie and Juice hope to accomplish

2007-11-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

What Callie and Juice will be doing in Africa

2007-11-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

Why Callie and Juice are going to Africa...

2007-11-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

15 Donated Stanford Soccer Shirts...the kids will love these!

2007-11-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

Julie and Callie, aka Juice and Callie Pants...going to AFRICA!!

2007-11-01T14:51:00.001-07:00

Donated Soccer Balls

2007-10-30T23:14:00.000-07:00

Check out all the soccer balls the Stanford Soccer Program donated that I'll be taking over. 24 golden top-notch balls. The kids are going to go crazy with joy.

My World Vision Child Abigail

2007-10-30T23:05:00.000-07:00

This is the child I sponsor through World Vision that I will be seeing while I am in Kenya. Her name is Abigail. She lives in Nairobi, Kenya and is 4 yrs old. It supposedly makes all the difference in the world when the child gets to meet their sponsor.

Whoohooo 2 days til I leave!!!!!!!!!1

I'M GOING TO AFRICA!!!!!!

2007-10-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

Whoooohooooo!

I leave in 3 days! Crazy.

I have felt so unprepared spiritually for this trip so this past Saturday night I stayed up until 3am prepping with a short-term missions trip book...asking myself questions, reading bible verses, solidifying all that is in my heart for why I'm doing this, what I hope to bring there, what I hope to give to the people of Africa, what I hope to learn about myself and God while there. It was good.

I'm ready. Sooooo ready. With the combination of getting prayed over by the church coordinator Dave on Sunday, staying up late on Saturday preparing spiritually, reflecting on my intentions of why I'm going during my free moments recently, I am ready.

Africa, here we come.

Pray for God to continue to prepare my heart for this trip, for God to speak to me and open my heart, and for God to breathe into me an ease to freely give my heart while there.

Wow, watch this!!!

2007-10-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below. It is a slide show of various pictures of Ethiopia. Please look at it. It is beautiful. When I watched it, it really hit home that I am really doing this and going to fall in love with Africa!!

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/gallery/0711_Ethiopia/index.html?jumpToPic=0

Reminded of this blessing

2007-10-18T00:38:00.000-07:00

Today I met with Bennie who coordinates many of the church mission trips. She was helping me go over logistics today. And goodness gracious, I've been getting so caught up in the flux and and flow of busy-ness, interviewing with companies, etc that I forget that I am leaving in almost 2 weeks and will be impaced in so many life changing ways while there. When talking to Benny, I remembered again what this was all about -- my mission, this opportunity, the blessing it all really is even though I want to be a blessing for the people I will meet there. It's all so exciting I can hardly stand it. But goodness do I tend to forget this as I go through my weeks.

So far 810$ has been raised out of 2360$. The support is coming in fast!

God bless
Callie

Hope Runs

2007-10-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

Watch the video above btw. It shows the story of how HopeRuns came to exist, the organization I will be a part of in Kenya the first 2 weeks in Africa. It is a refuge for AIDS orphans and is called Tumaini Children's Home -- incorporates running and sports to outpace poverty and keep kids off the streets. While there, I will be with a small team of people building relationships, loving on children, and even teaching them to play soccer.

Let the Games Begin!

2007-10-04T13:09:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to get nervous. Today I'm sending out my support letters. I leave in 1 month and know that I will be challenged. Being in the buzz of California gets under my skin and I know when I arrive in Nairobi, Kenya my first day, I will experience a bit of shock I'm sure.

But I am excited. So deeply excited. Being able to be vessel for God’s love and grace makes my heart sing. My personal mission while on this trip is to powerfully make a difference in the lives of youth, the dying and destitute, and the poor and needy, and to leave each and every human being I come across in Africa with the sense that they matter and make a difference on this earth. Amen.

So I will be in Kenya at the Outreach Foundation through the HopeRuns organization for the first 2 weeks. I will also get the chance to see the child (who lives in Nairobi Kenya) I sponsor 35$ a month through World Vision. The last 10 days I will be in Ethiopia with a friend Julie with an organization called HopeEnterprise, a non-profit missions center my church has set me up with that’s been serving the needy since 1971 – we will be a part of several different ministries -- such as feeding lines for the poor, building relationships at Abrahams Girl’s Home (a refuge for girls that have been sold into slavery or prostitution) and also at Mother Theresa’s Sisters of Charity (a hospital for the dying and destitute).

I'm so excited! Let the game's begin! Maybe not the Olympic games now but games for God! One last thing, here are some prayer requests:

Strength and resolve to serve in the face of feeling tired and worn out

Safe travelsUnity with Julie in Ethiopia and my team in Kenya

That God would make us His instrumentsConnections with the children of Abraham Girl’s Home (Ethiopia) and the Tumaini Children's home (Kenya) the dying of Sisters of Charity Hospital (Ethiopia)

Flexible spirits and smiles that would never fadeEase of logisticsThat God would prepare my heart and meet me in the challenges I will face

That our eyes would be open to see the blessing and joy in Africa, not just the pain and suffering

That as I seek to teach, I would be open to learning and He would change meProtection for Julie, my team, and I

Connections among the families

Humility and listening earsNew friends

Luggage that arrives in a timely manner

An easy re-entry home