Brent's Trip

I know that everyone is curious to hear some stories from Brent's trip. I asked him if he would mind invading my blog and posting some pictures/ write some comments. So many of you played a huge roll in making sure this trip was possible, and we are so thankful. One of the ladies who went on the trip is a professional photographer, so there are literally thousands of pictures, but here are a few, along with Brent's comments:

The kids were lots of fun to be with. Saturday morning we were able meet about 80 kids and we had a blast. They loved to get their picture taken...can you tell?

The last day some of us were able to meet our child we were sponsoring from Ethiopia. David, who is just to the right of me, started a child sponsorship program that is top notch, and he is really doing great work for the kingdom in his community. We really got to know David on the trip and his heart for God and the way he took care of us was amazing.


To you...this may look odd...which it is...to an Ethiopian this is normal for guys. We would see guys holding hands all the time when we drove around Addis. We couldn't help but pose for the picture...even though it felt extremely odd.


We brought 9 soccer balls to give away...this was the last little guy we gave one to.

This was the van we were in most of the trip. We rode to see different projects in Addis, and we used it to go to another city, Debrah Berhan, 4 hours way. That was a long trip in the van for my legs...and knees.


The backyard of the house we stayed. This was early morning.

This is Injera. Their traditional food. The tan looking stuff is bread that is fermented and it is rubbery...you put meat and different stuff on top of it and you rip off the bread to grab the meat and eat it. It's like the bread was a big tortilla and you put mexican food on it and you used the tortilla to grab things.

This is Teddy. He was a driver for LIA...He's 25 and still going to school.

This is where we ate every morning, noon and night...we had a cook and she was great.

DeReggie and his family...his little boy isn't in the picture he is really cute. We all thought he looked like Obama; in his features.Here is his boy.

Off the main roads the streets are like this. And the houses are mostly this.

Just buying time.
Pepsi...i had a lot of pop during the trip, all out of bottles.


One day we spent with DeReggie's ministry in the community. We helped him hand out soap and school supplies for the kids. There was a big crowd. This is Steve Young ,the Children's Pastor at Southeast that went with us.
One day we helped rebuild a house for an old man just to the left of this picture...the kids just come from everywhere to see what these white people are doing.

This was on the way back from Debrah Berhan...it was pretty country and farms...it looks flat here but looking the other way was more mountainous.

This is a church we visited. Tarp-like walls inside the tin walls that are on the outside. This church also served the community with their school they ran.

Thanks for helping me on this trip and praying for Kelsey and I during this time. It was an experience of a lifetime and it definitely puts things in perspective. It was awesome to see the heart that the people there had for their community and it has made me really evaluate my own heart for people. On the trip God kept telling our team that he wants us to love Him and our neighbors...not that I have to sell everything, or give all i have to the poor, or move overseas...just reminded us that if we are Christians then our lives should be different and our love should be loud. Loud like Mother Teresa, Loud like Martin Luther King, Loud like Jesus. It's a lifestyle that people have to notice. I guess that is one thing that stands out about the trip and about what i learned from the people there. Thanks for reading and looking at the pictures.
Brent