today my team went to Korah. those of you who follow my blog have read about this place- Korah is the poorest part in Addis Ababa, and is the trash dump (literally) where over 100,000 people live. every time i visit this place my heart breaks...never have i seen such poverty. we split up into three groups and visited families living here, hearing their stories, passing out donations and praying over them. families who are blind, have leprosy, suffer from mental shock and illness....their living conditions make my stomach turn upside down. it completely blows my mind to see these beautiful people hurting in every way- but seeing their strong faith in God blows my mind even more.
after Korah, we visited the second drop in center of Hope for the Hopeless, where mostly pre-teen boys and a
few girls live...they are seriously the best bunch of kids you will ever meet!! i stepped out of the bus and was hugged by every one of them- smiling ear to ear. AND i was reunited with my dear brother, Eyob! man, i missed this kid!
he literally stuck by my side the entire time my team was there...even when we gave the H4H football (soccer) team new jerseys and cleets, Eyob refused to go play with his buddies and instead stood next to me and held my hand. really cannot explain how much i care for this boy....
Oh, sweet girl - I know how this poverty and pain breaks and frustrates your heart. There are so many things in life that seem unfair to us, and things are are just simply cruel and in-humane. The plight of a fallen world. These things will always exist here, even as Jesus told us "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." But when you are there with them, they DO have the hands and feet of Jesus, loving and caring for them, just as he did when he was here on earth with the poor and hurting. Even as we walked the streets of NYC, in the midst of all of that excess, there were so many suffering poverty of the soul, loneliness and pain, those who possibly hadn't eaten for days - people we walked right next to on Fifth Avenue or rode the subway with. It can be overwhelming. But, as you said, you are loving one child at a time. That is what we are called to do as the people of God - reach out to one person at a time. If we ALL did that, the world would be impacted in an incredible way. YOU are impacting YOUR world in an incredible way by being where God is leading you . . . whether Africa or New York City. :) So blessed to call you friend and see your heart for God. Much love <3
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