God is moving!

I sit here thinking about what I am going to write about. I ponder all the things that have been going on in my life. There has been so much that God has been showing me lately and sometimes I don’t know how to handle it. He has been showing me things about the future and even about time now. Since I gave up almost all of my social media up for lent this year, I have learned that I do not need it and I spend more time on it than I really should. I think the biggest thing that God is teaching me right now is that He has a big plan for me.

I have learned that there is something that I am supposed to be doing in the future, but to be honest I have no idea what. I just had my final spring break and I was heading back to school on Easter to finish out the semester. I was driving on 74 when everything happened so fast. I had been on the road for no more than thirty minutes when it happened. I was in an accident and this time it wasn’t my fault. To be honest, I was lucky to walk away with a couple scratches. You may ask what happened? I was trying to pass a van and I was in the van’s blind spot. They started coming into my lane once but then went back to their own. Then they came back to my lane when they actually hit me and I didn’t realize it. I got off onto the shoulder as much as possible. I hit a gravel patch which I lost control of my car, I proceeded to overcorrect and it spun my car to face the field next to 74. As it spun me, I made contact with the car a second time and then I went across the other lane of traffic. I then went into the ditch through a barbed wired fence into a field, where I realized my foot was still on the accelerator and that’s why I wasn’t stopping.

Dad checking out the car in the field. 

As I called my mom, I definitely didn’t have some pretty words for her and I was so shook up. It took the whole night and part of the next day to calm myself down from the accident. I struggled with blaming myself for the accident and telling myself that I could have prevented the accident, but to be truthful I couldn’t. I honestly have just been thanking God that I am still here and I wasn’t hurt. Having to deal with everything throughout the whole week has been a little stressful, but we have been very blessed with how things have worked out. I still question how I wasn’t hurt more or how I wasn’t even killed. I ask why did it have to happen and how was I so lucky to walk away with a bruise on my neck and my leg from walking in the field.

Throughout dealing with everything from this second accident, I have learned that God has a big plan for me. There is something that He wants me to do, but honestly I have no idea what it is. I know that I have been blessed to walk away from both accidents. I have learned so much from the accident and I’m thankful mom and I have been able to joke around about it. She has said that we are going to get blow up bumpers for my car and a neon sign that says, “I’m in your blind spot.” Throughout the laughter and many tears, I can see God moving in my own life. I can see Him working and it is pretty incredible to see.

I volunteer in the prison every Monday and we are teaching the women practical information for when they leave. I was in there this last Monday for the last time of the semester, maybe even the last time ever. I had several women ask me how I was after my wreck and I even had one say that she had been praying for me. It is hard to see how fruitful our work has been in there, but I know that He is working in there. I know that every trial or every thing that I have done in my life has prepared me for what God has planned in my future. I am absolutely terrified to see what God is going to do with my life, but I am also super excited. I am ready for the journey.

After towing it to a gas station

I am going to leave you with this verse. 

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  -Romans 5:1-5


Blessings, 
Ally

New Year... New Blog!

I truly hate that we haven’t been keeping the blog up since we came back from Africa. A lot of things have happened since we have returned. I have finished my third semester at Lincoln Christian University and I have enjoyed a nice long break at home. When the semester ended, I knew that I had a good month at home and during that time I had some things that I needed to decide on. As I have written about before, I have an opportunity to spend my summer in Zimbabwe for an internship. I need to be honest; I have been dragging my feet about it the whole semester. I never really knew why I was dragging my feet on it, but I was. Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited about the opportunity, but something didn’t seem right about it. When I came home, my mom said that I needed to make a decision about Zimbabwe by the end of my break.

Since I have been back from Africa, I have known that I left my heart back there. Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that there was something about Africa, but I never knew what it was about it. I have to say that it is the people there and the kids are a huge part of it. One child can have the biggest smile on their face, but you can see how absolutely broken they truly are. Those kids do not have a lot. They try to hide their brokenness. They make the most and are thankful for what they have. I can say that I was more blessed by the people there than I feel like I was a blessing for them. I learned so much while I was there and I would take any opportunity that I could to go back. Being able to learn from the people there was something that God had been preparing me for. To think that God has been preparing me since I was a little girl is even more mind blowing.

God prepares us for something long before we even know about it. He has been preparing me for a life of missions ever since I was a little girl. I have known that I wanted to help people. I still don’t know exactly how God is going to use me in that way, but I know that He will. I know that He has some great plans for me. During my break, I was able to contact the people that I talked to about my internship. I have learned that God has shut the door for my internship. It is just not the right time for that internship. Mark had told me back in September “That the door may be open now, but that doesn’t mean that it will be open later.” There was a reason why I was dragging my feet on applying for the internship and I have learned why. I hope that in the future I might be able to go to Zimbabwe and serve along side of Zimbabwe Outreach Ministry. They are doing some great things there.

I am now back to square one of not knowing what to do for the summer. Right now I have many options that I could possibly do. I am in the process of checking on some other internships or possibly working for the summer. Whatever I may be doing for the summer, I know that God is going to guide me in the direction that I need to go in. I have started my 4^th semester at Lincoln Christian University. I am super excited about this semester and I also know it will be a challenging one. I am taking three different mission classes and a spiritual conflict class. I can’t wait to see what I am going to be learning this semester. These are going to be things that I can apply to what I do in the future.

Before I left to come back to school, mom had me read a devotional that she had read. It was something that I needed to hear. I have been worrying about what I should be doing this summer and about my future. The devotion was able to take me back a step or two. The devotion was about how we don’t see the whole picture but God does. He gives us a little glimpse of what we should be seeing at a time. It also gave a great analogy. The analogy was of stand still traffic. We don’t always know why we are in stand still traffic (life) but God knows and He is guiding us through it. It also talked about how we can get off at different exits to avoid the traffic, but we usually don’t do that. We don’t always know what is coming up ahead, but we need to trust that God does. Even if we don’t know it, He is always guiding us. Don’t get ahead of yourself when you are trying to figure out your future. Soon you will see what you are supposed to see.

I found this and I feel that it is true. People portray Africa from what they see in movies, but that's not all of Africa. If you are having a hard time reading it, here is the link: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/150941024985027724/

Here are some other pictures from the trip that we haven't posted. 

They were always taking care of the younger children. 

They were so excited when we brought them books! 

Some of the things that we saw when we did house visits in Uganda. 

This was on the side of the road. You can see that there is trash in this pile. 

We are truly blessed by the things that we have in the United States. We take a lot of things for granted and we don't even realize it. 

Happy New Year and Blessings,

Ally

A View from the Mountain Top

Today we visited our last orphanage for our trip.  We have one full day left in this beautiful country before we start our journey home.  We went to an orphanage today that is run by the Catholic Church.  I had asked Deanne early on about children with handicaps and if you ever see them in the orphanages.  I found them today!  Many of team members held the hands of these innocent children and just prayed.  God has not forgot these beautiful children.  He has provided a nice home filled with wonderful women to care for them.  We saw children with hydrocephaly, microcephaly, epilepsy, and spina bifida. 

 

I talked to one of the sisters and she told me that four of the children go to a special school that they pay for one time per year.  She said they are transported to and from school.  This little guy has an adventure ahead of him and will be adopted soon in the US.  Praise God!

 

I am thankful that I got to see this orphanage and that it was on the last day.  In the middle of all of this sadness in this country beauty can always be found.  Today, I found beauty in a rose blooming in the courtyard of this orphanage, the cross sitting high against the clouds, and innocent brown eyes that long to be loved!

We journeyed up the mountain today and witnessed some beautiful scenery.  The city below was beautiful and the drive up was breathtaking!  We sat on the roadside and had a picnic lunch of delicious pasta and bread.  After our lunch we went to see a church.  The church is over 120 years old and is filled with beautiful paintings.  We also went into the older church (over 700 years old), which was a cave and was able to see where many have worshipped long before us. 

We came down the mountain and witnessed a lot of children begging on the roadside.  It is heartbreaking to tell them no.  You have it in your pocket but if you give to one you will be giving to all because there are so many of them.  We went to Kaldi’s Coffee for dinner tonight.  Ally and I ate on $104.02.  Birr that is.  In reality, we ate for just $6.00 total!  Cheap dinner but oh so delicious.

Tonight Ally and I got a taste of home!  We were able to Skype with Adam and in turn he called Scott so we could talk to him as well!  It was nice to hear Scott and see Adam.  He also called my mom so I could check in on her.  I think we are missed just a little bit! 

 

Tomorrow we have church-for 2 hours!  We laughed at dinner and said that Americans would get up and leave after one hour!  We will shop tomorrow as well and start packing up our belongings.  Praying that tomorrow is another God filled day! 

Blessings from Ethiopia,

Tori

The Adventure Continues..

The adventure of the green shirt continues...

The green shirt some how found its way under the tire.. Thankfully we were able to save it! 

The green shirt said goodbye to the suitcase. This suitcase has had several trips in it, but this one did her in. She has been to Germany, Guatemala, moving me to college, Uganda, and the final destination was Ethiopia. 

The shirt made it to the traditional Ethiopian dinner. The things that I tried weren't bad, but we didn't know that there was cow stomach. Anna tried it not knowing what it was and she didn't like it. She spit it out right away. 

The green shirt has been at the Ethiopia Guest House for the week. (Lulu's)

The green shirt was going into the place where they would burn incense at the old church. 

We are now inside where they would burn the incense. 

We have now laid the green shirt to rest.. She won't be coming back with us to the states! See ya later shirt. 

Just kidding.... We kept the shirt! Kaldi's was like a Starbuck's but they had food and ice cream too. It was very good! They had real french fries and we had Sambusa. They are a deep fried pocket filled with meat or vegetables. Mom and I have really enjoyed them and will miss them. 

Happenings Abroad

      A lot has been going on since we last posted!  We have changed countries, watched a traditional Ethiopian dance, played soccer and Frisbee with children, and almost hit a motorcycle.  Yes, I said, we almost hit a motorcycle!  People drive like crazies over here!  Even if there are lines marking your lane-no one abides by them.  The motorcycles or scooters dart in and out of traffic and are not careful at all.  There are cows, horses, goats and people crossing the road all of the time.  I have never seen anything like it! 

    Ethiopia is different when compared to Uganda.  This is more of an urban area and the elevation is much higher.  I noticed that difference the first day.  Even though I had drank 1 liter of water upon arrival that still wasn’t enough.  I woke up with a severe headache and nausea.  Needless to say, I missed the home visits and the first orphanage here.  I finally felt better in the evening and joined the team for dinner.  We always have a debriefing at the end of supper so I was able to hear the stories from the day.  It was heartbreaking and I was sorry that I missed it. 

   Today, we traveled to two homes that are run by Hope for the Hopeless.  The first home is a short-term home for children taken off of the streets.  They try to reunite them with their family if possible and if not they are moved to one of the orphanages.   This home had eleven children and the majority of them were boys.  When I say “home” I am not talking about houses like what we live in.  This had a small space that they worshipped in and small little areas with doors used as bedrooms.  We went prepared with soccer balls, fingernail polish, and jump ropes.  They loved all of the items but just like Uganda they loved our cameras and phones the best.  They love to have their picture taken and want to see it right away.  Several team members have Temple Run on their phones and that is always a big hit.  We spent a few hours at the home and they were very proud to show us their neat rooms.  One thing that we have noticed is that all of the rooms are always neat-beds are always made and pride is taken in their space.  The children are always well behaved and they don’t ask for anything.  Our time and love is enough for all of them!

     Our second stop today was at the bigger home.  This home has 22 children living in it.  Again, 18 boys compared to 4 girls.  It was a very spacious home and the first “home” that we had really been in.   It had a large living and eating area.  There were three boys’ bedrooms and one girls’ room.  Again, all neatly kept! 

We arrived before they got home from school so as they would enter the gates their faces would light up with excitement.  Again, we were armed with Frisbees, soccer balls, fingernail polish, phones, and cameras.  I started playing Frisbee with several of the boys.  They were so much fun and loved trying to throw the Frisbee high so that I wouldn’t catch it.  They love to try and teach us their language and Micah mastered counting!  Since Micah is a fireman they wanted to show us the Fire Department that is in their neighborhood.  We took a walk and while there one of the little guys, “Bob”, gave me a gift.  It amazes me how they have so little and yet are willing to give you something to remember them by.  Bob gave me a scripture card with Matthew 25:40, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.”  Wow, tear moment for Tori! 

Here is a picture of me with Bob. 

   They always ask great questions about America and they have no idea how big it is.  This young man asked me how many universities were in America!  I tried to explain that we have a lot of universities!  They are always amazed at how long we traveled to come here. 

    Before we left, the director wanted all of us to pray together.  We gathered in their living area in a circle and joined hands.  They first sang a song to us in their language.  Deanne said a prayer in English and my friend above gave the prayer in their language.  The director asked us to gather in the middle of the circle and they said, “God Bless You” three times.  Again, they have so little and appreciate so much!  They had us write our names on paper so they could look us up on Facebook.  They followed us out to the van for final goodbyes and we started our journey back to Ethiopia Guest House. 

    Our dinner tonight was a traditional Ethiopian dinner.  It was very interesting and entertaining.  The food was good and spicy.  I didn’t try everything but I kept an open mind and tried a few things!  Towards the end of the night they pulled Ryan, “Bob” up on the stage to dance!  Great job, Bob!

    

    Tomorrow we will visit an orphanage and go up the mountain to see a 700-year-old church.  We are all looking forward to that.  We are all staying healthy and enjoying our time here. 

Blessings from Ethiopia!

Tori