Lydia- My Reflections!

Aug 21, 2021

It’s hard to describe the emotion that comes from spending time with children and mothers at the Addis Jemari Family Empowerment Program (FEP) center, but the best word for me is “honoring.” Overall, traveling to Ethiopia is a tough experience. It’s tough getting there, tough adjusting, tough processing the culture and the poverty, but the FEP center is a place of hope and love, and the privilege and honor it is to be able to serve is humbling and overwhelming. We were able to spend  the latter part of our trip teaching the FEP kids Bible School at camp, which was amazing!

Before we left for Ethiopia, our friends and family donated money to make it possible for us to take 22 FEP children to Unity Park in Addis Ababa. Heartfelt for us…life moments, laughs, and smiles for them! Even in the rain and cold, these kids experienced so many “firsts.” They saw real live tigers and giraffes, as well as other animals, and they visited the palace and got to see history right in front of them. Many ate at a restaurant for the first time and even rode in a van for the first time! This day gave us a relational starting point. We were in love with all 22 kids by the end of the day and they loved us, and it paved the way to a special Bible School experience. 

So thankful to our friends and donors for giving us this gift with them, and giving these children the gift of stepping out of a hard everyday life and getting a glimpse of the great big world we know they will each impact in their own special way. ~ By: Lydia Johnson