Be Still & Know

Hello, friend! My squad arrived to Ethiopia on June 30th and spent 6 weeks there doing ministry. My team, Still Waters, partnered with an organization called HopEthiopia!

HopEthiopia is an organization that is committed to the restoration of Ethiopian people and land. This looks like participating in reforestation, working with agriculture, providing clean water to the community, and trying to be as self-sufficient as possible. HopEthiopia also has a children’s village on site where 30-40 children between the ages of 6-19 live year round. They care for the children and provide a safe space for them to grow, and teach the children different life skills and about Jesus!

The project site, as they called it, was 3 hours away from the city in any direction. After spending the first half of the race in major cities, as I’m sure you can imagine, our time in Ethiopia felt like a little oasis from the hustle and bustle we had been used to! There was just a covering of supernatural peace that covered the entire compound that was so evident from the moment we stepped onto the property!

While we were in Ethiopia, my team helped with reforestation efforts and with the children’s village. We did morning devotionals with the kids, did a 3 hour VBS with them each day, and spent every spare moment that we had loving on them and discipling them. This would look anywhere from having a conversation, discussing the Bible/faith, playing volleyball, soccer, marbles, or card games, dancing, worshiping, coloring, or having movie nights!

The kids from the children’s village were truly the sweetest kids ever! They were so easy to love. We built such deep relationships with each of them, loving them as sisters and brothers or even as our own kids! I will truly never forget them and will cherish those six weeks we were blessed enough to share forever!

For VBS, my team divided the children into three groups. High school aged kids were with Brice and John, middle school and upper elementary were with Sarah and Ella, and 6-12 year olds were with Alex and I. The seventh member of our team, Coby, floated between each class helping wherever there was need.

VBS was always such a sweet time full of laughter and joy! Alex and I would start off class with a prayer, share a Bible story, lead the kids in doing a craft or worksheet, teach them a dance to a worship song, play some games, and then end with a prayer circle in which we would hold hands and each child would take a turn at praying out loud! Prayer circle at the end of class was one of my favorite times! It was so precious to hear each little voice take a turn and pray over each other and to see them grow in boldness as time went on!

As there were not any printers available, my team had to create, by hand, each worksheet and craft. Because of that, VBS prep took anywhere from 2-4 hours a day.

The ten kids that we taught every day hold such a special place in my heart! During those six weeks, the Lord stirred my heart deeply for each of them and I loved them as if they were my own children or younger siblings. It was such an honor to be able to pour into them and to see their little hearts grow for the Lord!

During our last week of ministry at HopEthiopia we had an opportunity to do a VBS with kids from the community. Our team started off the week having just over 30 kids attend, and by the end of the week, we had over 70! Praise God!!

It was so beautiful to see the kids excitement and to be able to share the gospel with them!

Each morning at 7, our team would split and the three guys would head to one of the boys’ houses, and the four of us girls would go to one of the girls’. There we would lead the high school and middle school aged kids into morning devotionals! Each of us would take turns sharing! This was such a beautiful time of intentional discipleship every day!

To end our devo time, every morning we would do a dance battle with the girls! We would take turns on who would perform! As I’m sure you can imagine, it was always a time full of giggles and silliness!

Every Friday, my team would invite the children into our house to do worship and then all cram on the couch, cuddle, and watch a movie! This was one of my favorite nights ever!! It was always so sweet!

My team also had the chance to preach and to share testimonies at two of the local churches! Both times, there were at least 300 adults gathered! The first time we went, I had an opportunity to share a testimony of how the Lord set me free from anxiety and fear!

Planting trees around the property was also a super cool experience! We would take little trees that had already begun to grow, and plant them in the holes that we had dug. This process was so reflective of our time in Ethiopia and what the Lord was doing through us! We weren’t starting from scratch and planting new seeds with the kids, but were ministering to seeds that had already been planted and had begun to grow!

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A verse the Lord continually put on my heart throughout my time in Ethiopia was Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am Lord.”

This verse was so reflective of our time at HopEthiopia. In the stillness of Ethiopia, my team really encountered the sweetness and gentleness of the Lord, whether it was through our slow mornings of spending time in His presence or pressing in with the kids or each other.

Those 6 weeks will always be a time that I look back upon fondly and I miss all of the kids there dearly!

If you would like to pray, here are some prayers points:

– For HopEthiopia, that the Lord would continue to send teams and provide for their needs;

– For the kids at HopEthiopia, that they would continue to grow in their faith and that they would have fresh revelation of the Father’s love for them; and

– For revival in Ethiopia and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Thanks for reading!

Joyfully His,
Areonah