Leavin' on a Prop Plane...Oh wait...that's now how that song goes!

Our first day out and about we took a prop plane to test out the landing strip that was made in the airfield. The view was amazing. It was a nice 45 minute flight and we could see little huts the whole way. When we got close to the airfield we could see people running out of their huts and toward the airfield. By the time we landed we had hundreds of people there to greet us. It was very surreal to me....I was like a modern day Jim Elliot flight (not as dangerous though). It was quite unbeleivable to me, an experience I'll never forget.

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Ashley our team leader and I boarding the plane

Some of the locals that planned things for us

A view from above...how beautiful

The welcoming committee :-) Many came

to see the plane and the people it carried.

Some cuties

From the airfield we went to visit the Hospital in Hosanna. There were lots of people there ready to see American doctors. The conditions of the hospital was unlike anything I've seen. We all had a good laugh when the surgeon asked us to take our shoes off and put the sterile, wooden, hospital clogs on to enter the surgery room...I think you'll chuckle too when you see the pics!

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Hospital Clogs we had to wear when entering

the "sterile" surgical area

A Hospital Room with approximately

12 patients in it...this was not rare.

Operating Room

After we visited Hosanna Hospital we went to the medical clinic in Angancha to check things out and figure out the work flow of the clinic. This clinic was located in the midst of sheer beauty...every direction was absolutely breath taking (I'll post pictures of the clinic in another post).

We hopped back on the plane and went back to Addis Ababa...we made it back safely...it was such a fun flight and day!

Washington D.C. Here I Come!!!

I had the great pleasure of an overnight stay in Washington, D.C. on my way to Ethiopia (Thanks Ethiopian Airlines for changing my connecting flight time so I could see Our Nation's Capital). I have a dear friend Angela and her amazing boyfriend, Christian that took time to walk with me (very slowly, I might add) around D.C. It was such a beautiful place and I was thrilled to finally see it. We ended the evening with some delicious BB-Q and Sweet tea, Mmmm-mmm!

I met up with our team leader, Ashley, that evening and we hopped on the plane the next morning for our 16 hour flight to Ethiopia (one stop in Rome for refueling... at night, boo, hoo)

I know the Lord has called me to go, but that doesn't stop the enemy from trying to stop me from going. The morning before I was supposed to leave for Ethiopia, I woke up and both knees were unbelievably swollen. They were very stiff and I could barely walk. Thankfully, it wasn't too late for me to go to the Walk-in clinic where I work. The doc came in and ended up draining fluid off of my right knee. He then had both knees ace wrapped and perscribed some anti-inflammatories. I spent the rest of the day laying on the couch with my knees propped up and iced when I should have been packing. Now, this isn't the first time the enemy has tried to do this. In college I was going on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade for Christ and I tore my ACL three days before I was supposed to leave and in India my right knee swelled up and it was very hard to walk or function, for that matter, in the type of setting we were in with lots of walking and lifting going on. I now know my weak areas and we'll have to start praying against these attacks in the future.

Hebrews 12:11-13 (New International Version)

11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13"Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.

The Beginning....

It all began March of 2007 on a plane from Yantai, China to Beijing when the Lord clearly told me that He would take me many places and to just be ready. Since then, I've been following His lead and boy has He taken me all over the World. China-March 2007, India-January 2008 & most recently, Ethiopia- October 2008.

The Lord has blessed me with very generous family, friends, colleagues and even strangers that are willing to give their financial and prayer support. The Lord used them to send me and all together we were able to be His hands and feet to the people of Ethiopia. I realize that each person plays a major role in reaching the Nations for the Lord. Some are senders and pray-ers and others are go-ers...I'm humbled that I've been able to be a go-er the past year and a half and I thank you, my senders and pray-ers, for partnering with me on these trips. What a huges blessing it has been!

I hope you enjoy this Journal I've created of my experiences in Ethiopia.

Many Blessings & Thanks,

Alecia Shannon