You should have seen us at the airport... each of us (14 travelers) had our own luggage with our stuff, as little of our stuff as we could manage, + another large piece of luggage pretty much all things we were bringing to donate or use for crafty things, our carry on packed to the brink and possibly another small carry-on. We were quite the site trying to maneuver ALL of that throughout several airports, with people... um, may I say God bless these people... who shove their way in front of anyone and everyone no matter how long the lines are or how long you have been waiting. Just doesn't matter. So, we had to put aside our southern charm and step it up or we might still be waiting in lines!! :) Wish I had my own picture of this. Now in several of these large pieces of luggage were strictly SHOES! It was awesome. Laurie, our wonderful coordinator of all things donated or crafty, laid them out in the middle of the floor of our guest home. This is the picture and I love it. These are the shoes that were left even AFTER we had donated some to several orphanages already!
Speaking of shoes, on the first day we visited the area called Korah, in Addis Ababa, we met this sweet young mother named Byuayehu and her 10 mo. old son Abenezer. She is a double orphan and has this little one to provide and care for all by herself. She loves him very much and is a good mother, but she also wants to go to school. She asked several of us if we would take her baby back to America so she could go to school, or take her to be our "baby" so she could have a family, go to school and have she and her son cared for. So, she and Abenezer are obviously ones we are continuing to pray for. She cannot attend school with her baby, so she does what she can and finds her food at the city dump daily. We were giving her a ride home this first day, and she was sitting behind me. I was doing my best trying to communicate with her, but she knows VERY little English and I know even less Amharic (sp?). We established that her son was 10 mos. old and she was 16. She has no parents, and the "father" is not around (I believe she was raped). Abenezer wasn't wearing any shoes and I asked if he had any. He isn't walking, but will be soon. She shook her head that he had no shoes and RIGHT after that we stopped next to a very small shop. I looked out the window and sure enough, there were little shoes for sale! I jumped out and bought some we thought would fit him. Everyone in the van also scrounged in all of our backpacks for any snacks and gave them all to her. It was emotional for me b/c I can NOT imagine being 16, all alone, and responsible for this child and myself! I prayed for her as she went on her way and continue to do so. I hope you will too.
Speaking of shoes, on the first day we visited the area called Korah, in Addis Ababa, we met this sweet young mother named Byuayehu and her 10 mo. old son Abenezer. She is a double orphan and has this little one to provide and care for all by herself. She loves him very much and is a good mother, but she also wants to go to school. She asked several of us if we would take her baby back to America so she could go to school, or take her to be our "baby" so she could have a family, go to school and have she and her son cared for. So, she and Abenezer are obviously ones we are continuing to pray for. She cannot attend school with her baby, so she does what she can and finds her food at the city dump daily. We were giving her a ride home this first day, and she was sitting behind me. I was doing my best trying to communicate with her, but she knows VERY little English and I know even less Amharic (sp?). We established that her son was 10 mos. old and she was 16. She has no parents, and the "father" is not around (I believe she was raped). Abenezer wasn't wearing any shoes and I asked if he had any. He isn't walking, but will be soon. She shook her head that he had no shoes and RIGHT after that we stopped next to a very small shop. I looked out the window and sure enough, there were little shoes for sale! I jumped out and bought some we thought would fit him. Everyone in the van also scrounged in all of our backpacks for any snacks and gave them all to her. It was emotional for me b/c I can NOT imagine being 16, all alone, and responsible for this child and myself! I prayed for her as she went on her way and continue to do so. I hope you will too.
1 comment:
Look at all those SHOES! I love it! The sad thing is, there are many, many people who have that many shoes in their own personal closet!
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