International Resolution

     New Years is just a day away. Have you thought at all about a New Years resolution? How about making your resolution being intentional about reaching out to others. Go a step further even, and consider taking it international . Here are a few ways you can help out the kids at the orphanage where I am working:

Kids Care Package Ideas

• Balloons
• Bubble Wands (we can make bubbles here)
• Candies (Smarties, lollipops, gummies)
• Gently used boy clothes (sizes 6 months-3T)
• Coloring Books & Crayons
• Bottles
• Get creative... (They are 6months - three years old)

Mail all packages to:

Hannah Cowfer

PO Box 131

Soddo-Wolaitta, Ethiopia



Ways You Can Pray

• Pray that the kids would grow up healthy, happy, but most importantly grow up to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior
• Pray that adoption opens up so these children can find forever families
• Pray for the nannies that care for these children, that they would exhibit love and patience, and that they would know the value of their work

Adventure at Twin Falls

     This morning we took an adventure to Twin Falls in a town about an hour from our home in Soddo, Ethiopia. The trip was full of fun. Getting there brought its challenges (unmarked detours, road blocks, and the bumpiest of unpaved roads), but once we got there the views were well worth the extra effort it took to get there. And really, living in Africa you come to expect hurdles in your endeavors. The sights of this country are absolutely stunning, and Twin Falls is no exception. God created a piece of art when He created Ethiopia.

 

A Christmas to Remember

Wow, first Christmas away from my family. First Christmas away from the traditions that have shaped my expectations for how things should go. It is hard to know what to expect in preparing to be away from your "norms" especially at this time of year, but things have gone surprisingly well for me! And how fun that now I can claim the age old tune "I had Christmas down in Africa."

Christmas Eve was spent baking cookies with our wonderful neighbors. The evening held singing Christmas carols and reading the Christmas story around a campfire, in t-shirts I might add! It held games with dear friends that have become like family and late night conversations that carried us right into the holiday!  

Christmas Day held a beautiful simplicity that is so easily lost in the states. Christmas caroling at the local hospital, dinner with our missionary friends, and overall just a time of celebration of the birth of Jesus and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ! I was reminded by a good friend that family is not always blood. This year I hold fast to that, as I feel right at home where I am even as far away from "home" as it is. 

I have definitely had my moments of wanting to be home for Christmas... There was even one day last week when I was plotting this great "fly home and surprise my family" scheme (don't get too exited guys, I didn't let that one get past the "that would be fun" phase). But really, I truly believe that God gives us the strength we need right when we need it, and He has given it to me this Christmas! Looking back, this will truly be a beautiful Christmas to remember! 

And my amazing Christmas present this year came from Baby E who I have talked so much about.... HE STARTED CRAWLING! 

Merry Christmas!!!! 

Photo Frenzy

3rd World Sick

Sometimes living in Africa means embracing the not so pleasant aspects of the 3rd world country life. Things like always having dirty feet, being a celeberty without doing anything, paying a bit extra for things just because that is how it works when you are "feringe", and then of course comes the illnesses! 

Since Thanksgiving I have been dealing with some pretty draining stomach "stuff". Over the course of time that I have had it I just assumed that, like most things I have gotten here, it would work its way out of my system and I would be home free. But when one week turned into two, and two into three we finally decided to check it out. It did not help that right in the middle of this I caught a stomach bug that took me down a few notches lower than I was. I may be 20, but being THAT sick and away from Mom is still quite a challange! But that's beside the point. What I was dealing with obviously had the physical affects of being sick, but it also carried emotional affects and had me not feeling at all like myself. My appetite was gone, I was tired all the time, and I thought that I was doing something wrong to be feeling so down. Turns out it was out of my control the whole time! 

On Friday myself and my amazing "sister" Jess spent the better part of our day at Soddo Christian Hospital (great place, you should totally check it out and consider supporting them as many of our missionary friends in the area live and work there). I actually have never been to a stateside hospital as a patient so I cannot speak to the process there, but goodness gracious... Going to the hospital here is quite the endeavor! First you go to a few windows to get in the system. Pay. Wait. Next comes vitals. More waiting.... Then you see the doctor.  Go to labs. Wait. Wait. Wait. Get results. Wait. See doctor again. Then FINALLY it's off to the pharmacy. 3 hours later we had a diagnosis. 

For those of you who are going there, NO. It was not milaria. NO, it was not ebola. 'Twas an amoeba! I have since named him Aaron the Amoeba (though his thousands of buddies will remain nameless). He has taken up residence in my for 3 weeks now and while I have been a gracious and patient host, I am ready to send him on his way. 

There are times when mission work can be draining as in all things in life, but this has been my most trying time yet. I am grateful to have faced this so I will know how to handle it next time AND am grateful that a 3 day round of medicine should take care of the issue. I am happy to have it resolved before Christmas so that I can welcome the joy of the season and prepare for the the most wonderful time of the year! God has been gracious and with me, even when I did not feel like Hannah, He was there! Now, as we prepare for Christmas and prepare to welcome 2015 I am glad to be getting back to myself and looking forward to all that the coming weeks will hold! 

My Hearts Prayer

     Just recently I decided to start praying for the hearts of the children I have the priveledge of working with each day. Right now, they are too young for me to personally lead to Christ, but that does not mean I cannot have a part in it. My hearts deepest desire for these 20 children is that they would find Christ and know Him more deeply than I could ever imagine. My prayer is that their hearts would be drawn to Him, that they would seek and rely on Him to carry them through their lives. My prayer is that they would be adopted in to forever families who love God above all else. My prayer is that my time here would be valuable for them, and that somehow, even thorugh language barriers and their age that they would feel the love of Christ in me. That the songs I sing to them and the prayers I pray over them would make a forever impact on their lives. 

     Part of the reality of mission work is that we do not always see the fruist of our labor. Rather, we plant seeds and pray that those seeds would prosper. For me especially, that is a reality that I had to accept early on. I was not going to be one of those missionaries that holds a revival and sees 100 people profess faith in Jesus, no not at all. But God knows my heart, my gifts, and His plan, and when all of those things come together I find that what I am doing here is the precious job of seed planting. A job as important at the next and as valuable as any other. After all, seeds that were never planted cannot prospser. So yes, I will spend my time here investing in these childrne never really know where life takes them. However, I get chills to think about how beautiful the day will be that I meet those that have chosen Christ in Heaven and know that God allowed me to be a part of their path to Him. 

Join me in praying for the salvation of these children as you feel called. What a valuable way to be involved from home. 

O' Christmas Tree

     Today I am celebrating the beginning of my 5th month in Ethiopia. Hard to believe. We took quite an adventure to celebrate: we went Christmas tree hunting. Now go ahead and put aside all of your preconceived ideas of bundling up, drinking hot cocoa, trekking through a snow-covered field of trees, and searching for the perfect one. Things here went down  just a little bit differently.
    Off we drove with our windows down fighting the heat of the sun trailing a guy on a motor bike. We bumped along a road that took us deeper and deeper into the middle of nowhere. Praise the Lord for 4-wheel drive cars because without one we never would have gotten to our destination. We finally arrived at a field and our motor bike guide informed us that "we are here". Ummm, excuse me sir, where exactly is here? After the drive was a short hike down a cliff (I mean, a steep dirt hill) and there we were, we had arrived at a plant nursery. Who knew they even had those in Ethiopia? Our expectations were not high, really all we were after was an evergreen, and here is what we got...

     This years Christmas tree hunt was unlike any I have been on before.  A 1 1/2 ft. cypress tree later our adventure goes down in the books for the most unique experience in searching for the bit of festive greenery. Ethiopian adventures for the win!