Friday, August 15, 2008

It has been a unique experience this week, not only seeing the Projects that Compassion International helps to fund, but the way people live and DRIVE as a whole. I believe these people could be some fantastic NASCAR drivers. It is more or less, whoever can make it into the intersection first, has the right-of-way and they are within inches of each other. What should be a two lane road suddenly becomes a four to six lane road. Or a two way road will all of a sudden become a one way road. Not counting the animals in the center of all this chaos. They all seem to know what they are doing, so we duck our heads or hide our face in our hands and pray for the best. It is amazing that I have not seen one crash site. I do know the most important safety feature on a vehicle - THE HORN!!!!

It has been a fun, heart breaking, heart warming, loving, hugging, crying, eye opening experience for not only me, but also the men that are on this trip. The Project today (Friday) seems to be one of the really nice ones, but that is only compared to the others. This does not say they do not need help, because they need many things to help the children grow. The children we saw today were all three years of age and under. There were 50 mothers and 50 babies. These children and their mothers live in an industry area where the mothers are actually not married and some make their living by prostitution. They may have four children, all who are by different fathers. Therefore, the children grow in that kind of environment and when they get to be early teenagers and see what their mothers are doing, they see that as being the way of life and begin their journey in the same direction. Compassion not only tries to find funding (by way of sponsorships) for these children, but they also teach them about Christ. They do not force the issue, but they do teach the children and talk to the mothers about coming to know Christ and how He can make an impact on their life.

I have heard many times this week by older kids, that if it had not been for Compassion, they would probably not be living. A couple of these kids have just graduated from college this year and have already found jobs. One is a Veterinarian and the other is a Water Supply and Environmental Engineer. Both have been sponsored since they were very young. One of them got to meet his sponsor on graduation day. Is that not an awesome ending for a great life rather than no opportunity and no life? Please continue to pray for us as we travel home! Hope to see you soon!!!

The Lord God is my Strength, and he will give me the speed of a deer

and bring me safely over the mountain. Habakkuk 3:19

Cindy Davis (WBFJ)

LIVE from Addis Abba, Ethiopia (Africa)