One of my husband's favorite stories of the first Shoe Day, involved this man, my driver, Yordanos. He had been quiet the night before. Now, he is normally quiet, but this was different... I could tell. I took a break from the washings, and went to find out what was up. What he said caught me off guard.
First of all, he was sad, because he had noticed that two of the tubs were maned not by visitors, but rather by the boys themselves. It saddened me that he noticed, but it brought home a point I can easily overlook, myself... Our actions speak volumes to those around us. You never know who will be watching, or when. Second, he said this, "I've never seen something like this before. This is a so good for me to see this. This is God working. I am so happy to watch this."
Yordanos is a staunch Orthodox. Just 2 months before, he had his first experience driving a believer around town, and doing things other than tourist activities. (My friend Jennifer and her family opened his eyes to a whole new world!). That week, and this week, monumentally touched this man's heart. Jesus is working friends, Jesus is working.
When I got back to the guest house that first shopping night... I was on a high. It had been an amazing day, and I really didn't think it could get better, but it did! I came back an turned on fb, thinking I would update everyone on the day we had spent. I had NO idea what was waiting for me. All the people that had been sleeping when I asked for money the 1st time? They responded when they woke up... and they responded BIG!!!
When I got back to the guest house that first shopping night... I was on a high. It had been an amazing day, and I really didn't think it could get better, but it did! I came back an turned on fb, thinking I would update everyone on the day we had spent. I had NO idea what was waiting for me. All the people that had been sleeping when I asked for money the 1st time? They responded when they woke up... and they responded BIG!!!
12 people responded with pledges ranging from $25-$50 each. As I paged down through all of the comments, I began to cry and literally shake with excitement. I ran into the other room to tell the gals I had traveled with. I dropped to my knees in their room, and we prayed right then and there, thanking God for providing another day's worth of shopping money. Having done that, I ran to my room to find someone, anyone from Kolfe who was on-line. I needed to know who was free to shop the next morning!!!
When, Yordanos arrived the next morning, he was there to pick up the other gals, I had hogged him long enough, and they needed him to drive them on their special mission that day. When I hugged him and told him I had more shopping to do, he was sad once again. He wanted to be a part of day 2, but he was needed elsewhere. This sweet man had felt the joy of giving, and he wanted to be a part of it again! I love that! No worries, though... I already have him booked for the Pillow Project delivery this summer!
Arriving at Kolfe, I asked the boys, what shall we do with the new money? Beds? Shoes? They all said in union, "SHOES!!!" And then came the secret they had withheld from me the previous night...."Tahmahra, (♥ how they say my name!) we didn't want you to know last night, so we kept you from seeing... but the new boys who didn't get shoes? They were sobbing last night. They really wanted to get shoes too!"
How naive I was in my thinking? The other 45 boys never entered my mind... UGH!!! Thank you JESUS, that you KNEW the need, you SAW the hurt, and you had NOT FORGOTTEN these other boys!!
And so the process began again, line them up, take their name and sizes, grab some cash... oh, now that was funny. Ethiopian money feels a bit like Monopoly money. $6 in USD translates to 100 birr, so I had a big lunch to buy, shoes/socks/underwear to buy, some computer equipment to buy for another boy, a schooling registration to pay for Ayal, and my end of the week bills to pay, among other things...
so Sintayehu and I went to the bank and cleaned house... Literally... I had to take him in with me, because I needed so much cash that it wouldn't fit in my money belt. It was hysterical thing to watch, and we laughed and giggled the whole way to the car. 200 of the 100 birr bills, stuffed in every pocket, my money belt... you name it, we were loaded!
The end result of day two was.. 45 pairs of tennis shoes, 141 pairs of socks, 141 pair of underwear, and a whole lot of these....
Happy, smiling, and thankful children!
No, sadly, we didn't get to wash feet on day two. I ran into some unexpected issues with one of my boys, that had me *ahem!* busy :o( for an hour or more and left the boys handing out the shoes on their own without me. Sigh... sad that I had to miss most of it!
There you have it... the shoe story, in just 5 posts! I know, I am long winded...
The experience, was amazing, our God is so AWESOME, and the work HE can do in, and through us together???? Well, it gives me goosebumps!!
Want to be a part of the next story? We leave in 3 + months, and this time, we are packin' 300 Pillowcases, and shopping for Pillows and Blankets when we get there!!! If this story has touched your heart in even a small way, be a part of what HE is doing this summer at Kolfe... Scroll down for posts on our Pillow Project!!
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