A year ago we got an email after waiting for nearly ten months. It wasn't their fault. It was all about timing. Perfect timing.
When we had returned from Ethiopia in January of 2011, we knew we wanted to do something. We knew our hearts had been changed. We knew there was something more. We just didn't know what that "something more" was exactly. So, we waited. We searched. We read. We dreamed. I had dreams of the country we had grown to love. I could not get Ethiopia out of my mind, out of my heart. We knew, we both knew, there was something more.
Before we left Ethiopia at the beginning of the year, a not-so-random guy approached us in the Addis Ababa airport. His name is Mike. He's an outgoing guy, passionate about what he is doing in Ethiopia. He shared his story with us. His story is about building a school north of Addis Ababa in a small village named Ekodago. He encourage us to do something more. We agreed. We knew even then our lives had been changed.
We got home a few days later, exhausted from twenty-four hours of airplanes and airports. It was Super Bowl Sunday. We were nauseated by the grand consumerism pushed into our faces. Anyone who has traveled to a third-world country might relate. It can be overwhelming to even go into a grocery store after a trip abroad. Reverse culture shock to the extreme. It can be sickening. We couldn't forget those we had left behind. The people who walked along the road. The women who carried their children on their backs. The children who were to young to have the responsibility of watching their younger siblings and their families livestock. The livestock too skinny and weak to give the work and the food it needed to provide. We couldn't forget the beautiful people, the proud people we had met. This country we have grown to love is poor, but there is so, so much more than that to this country. It is beautiful. It is rich with a deep, deep culture. It is proud of its history. It is so much more than I could ever imagine.
So we waited.
We sought out the executive director of the organization Mike's school was built through--The Tesfa Foundation. Nothing in response. It isn't his fault. The timing wasn't right yet. We wondered if building a school wasn't it. We wondered if the something more was with coffee instead. So, Jon did research, a lot of research--fair-trade coffee, roasting coffee, importing coffee, coffee history, coffee culture. Everything coffee there for a while.
We went back and forth--schools and coffee, just schools, just coffee. Both. Nothing. We waited.
Then we shared our dreams and desires with our small group. We shared what we thought we were being called to do. And, they prayed. They prayed this prayer, "God, unlock the door."
The very next day we received an email from the president of the board of directors for Ethiopia Reads. And, the next day after that we received an email from the executive director of The Tesfa Foundation, who is also the executive director of Ethiopia Reads. That was a year ago.
Perfect timing.
A lot has happened since those first emails. And, this is what this blog is about, sharing the story of something much more beyond ourselves.
Here's a preview of what's to come...it is about schools and coffee in Ethiopia.
To Ethiopia with love.
When we had returned from Ethiopia in January of 2011, we knew we wanted to do something. We knew our hearts had been changed. We knew there was something more. We just didn't know what that "something more" was exactly. So, we waited. We searched. We read. We dreamed. I had dreams of the country we had grown to love. I could not get Ethiopia out of my mind, out of my heart. We knew, we both knew, there was something more.
Before we left Ethiopia at the beginning of the year, a not-so-random guy approached us in the Addis Ababa airport. His name is Mike. He's an outgoing guy, passionate about what he is doing in Ethiopia. He shared his story with us. His story is about building a school north of Addis Ababa in a small village named Ekodago. He encourage us to do something more. We agreed. We knew even then our lives had been changed.
We got home a few days later, exhausted from twenty-four hours of airplanes and airports. It was Super Bowl Sunday. We were nauseated by the grand consumerism pushed into our faces. Anyone who has traveled to a third-world country might relate. It can be overwhelming to even go into a grocery store after a trip abroad. Reverse culture shock to the extreme. It can be sickening. We couldn't forget those we had left behind. The people who walked along the road. The women who carried their children on their backs. The children who were to young to have the responsibility of watching their younger siblings and their families livestock. The livestock too skinny and weak to give the work and the food it needed to provide. We couldn't forget the beautiful people, the proud people we had met. This country we have grown to love is poor, but there is so, so much more than that to this country. It is beautiful. It is rich with a deep, deep culture. It is proud of its history. It is so much more than I could ever imagine.
So we waited.
We sought out the executive director of the organization Mike's school was built through--The Tesfa Foundation. Nothing in response. It isn't his fault. The timing wasn't right yet. We wondered if building a school wasn't it. We wondered if the something more was with coffee instead. So, Jon did research, a lot of research--fair-trade coffee, roasting coffee, importing coffee, coffee history, coffee culture. Everything coffee there for a while.
We went back and forth--schools and coffee, just schools, just coffee. Both. Nothing. We waited.
Then we shared our dreams and desires with our small group. We shared what we thought we were being called to do. And, they prayed. They prayed this prayer, "God, unlock the door."
The very next day we received an email from the president of the board of directors for Ethiopia Reads. And, the next day after that we received an email from the executive director of The Tesfa Foundation, who is also the executive director of Ethiopia Reads. That was a year ago.
Perfect timing.
A lot has happened since those first emails. And, this is what this blog is about, sharing the story of something much more beyond ourselves.
Here's a preview of what's to come...it is about schools and coffee in Ethiopia.
To Ethiopia with love.
