In His Hands: Day 4 (Part I)...

I was so grateful to sleep until 10:30 this morning. I think I needed the rest!! We had another awesome breakfast of scrambled eggs, yogurt, fruit and homemade English muffins...and coffee too, of course! We were soooo spoiled with amazing food for our entire trip!!
After breakfast, we went to walk the market just outside of the Bingham compound. The market is apparently usually packed, but because it was Sunday it wasn't too extremely busy.

I LOVE all of the bright colors everywhere!!

This was one of several sewing shops we saw.

As we began to walk around we ran into Yallewo. He is a young man who is a part of the Bingham outreach program. I had seen him on the compound helping to coach a soccer game earlier but hadn't put two and two together yet. I don't know what his plans were for the day but after seeing Dave and Christy he dropped them and invited us to go to his house for coffee. I know I won't be able to do justice the time we spent with he and his brothers and sisters. They live in a mud a straw home with a tin roof(two rooms about 10x15ft each and a covered area with an injera stove). I didn't see any running water or plumbing of any kind and the floors were dirt except ares where they laid down pieces of old linoleum. Yallewo lived with two other guys in one room (that he call his brothers but I don't think they are all blood related) and three girls who live in the other room (he calls them his sisters). I can't be certain of their ages, but they all seemed like teenagers, and maybe even a pre teen. One of the girls was so overcome by emotions with us being there she kept hiding around the corner and crying. I'm not sure if she was painfully shy or just was feeling a lot of emotions at having visitors. They were all extremely humble and sweet. When we got there they were watching the Jungle book with Amharic subtitles. They quickly found a tape of traditional Ethiopian dance and music. It was obvious that they don't have much. They have a Mickey Mouse blanket hanging on the wall for decoration and a small strand of fake ivy with a small Ethiopian flag hanging on it (think of the kind of US flags we give kids to wave at 4th of July). There were two couches and a foam mat on the floor for them to sleep on, a small cabinet for their clothes and the TV/DVD player. That was it. The room was lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. Yallewo gave one of the girls some birr to go buy us some bread and coffee. Sadly, I didn't realize my camera battery was low (hence the out of focus pictures...my auto focus wouldn't work) and Matt and Dave had to walk all the way back to the house to get my spare battery! Christy, Andrea (Dave and Christy's oldest daughter) and I stayed and Christy spoke some Amharic to communicate with them. Soon, one of girls came back with the bread, coffee beans and some kind of long grass and the oldest girl began a traditional Ethiopia coffee ceremony. We watched intently as she laid the grass on the ground to make a sort of mat then hand washed the coffee beans and using a little coal stove began to roast them. She also burned incense for us while the beans were roasting. After the beans were dark roasted she put them in a mortar and pestle and ground them by hand. It was so amazing to watch her perform this act of friendship for us, I could tell she had done this many times before. After the beans were ground, she put them into a jebena (Ethiopian coffee pot) that she set on the hot coals to brew. She had a smile on her face the entire time and I could tell she was happy we were there and that she could do this for us!! (what a lesson there...HUH!!!). Once the coffee was ready she poured a cup for Matt and I, Dave and Christy and Yallewo and one of the other boys who was there. She also passed out the bread. She and the other girls didn't have any for themselves.

walking down the alleyway towards Yallewo's house

These children live next door to Yallewo and his family. I love this shot...which really irritates me that my camera battery was dying and the auto focus wasn't working! I could never focus manually...my eyes must be worse than I thought...LOL

Inside the door of Yallewo's home...

This is the door to tohe room where the boys sleep.

The kitchen...again forgive the blur.

the small stove they used to roast the beans and brew the coffee...

raw coffee beans...and our beautiful hostess...

washing the beans...

ready to roast...

ah...can't you just smell the aroma...

the jebena where the water is beginning to boil...

grinding the roasted beans...

into the jebena they go...

the incense...

hot coals...

I'm not sure of the significance of the grass laid out on the floor...

Now that is a FRESH cup of coffee...

After the coffee ceremony I asked them if I could take a picture of their family and send it to them. I also took a few pictures of the dog Yallewo rescued. He had even built him a little dog house. Apparently, most Ethiopians don't consider dogs pets, most dogs are just on their own on the streets so I think it was unusual for Yallewo to be caring for this precious puppy! He was so proud of him and the doghouse he had made!

sweet puppy...

Precious family...Yallewo's throwing the "hang ten"

I will never forget the love and humility this precious family showed us! They have such giving hearts and were so generous even though they didn't have much!! It was a truly humbling experience and I hope to allow God to use our time with them to remind me to be more like them!!
After we had spent a couple hours with them, we headed out for more shopping. Yallewo came with us for company. We were able to buy a very popular Ethiopian spice called Berbere and some raw coffee beans for Yallewo's family. Our last stop was to pick up some fresh fruit for smoothies! Yallewo walked us back to the compound and we gave our hugs and said our goodbyes! God brings them to mind often! I pray that in my abundance I have just an ounce of their giving spirits!!