BreAnna's Journal from Saturday, Jan. 22 :
AM: We had the opportunity to hang out with Ephrem and his “soccer kids”. Ephrem has a soccer ministry to street kids. The day did not go exactly how we planned it. The area where they play soccer on Saturdays was packed with people because of a concert. Add a huge group of camera totting Americans with free t-shirts for soccer kids, and chaos ensues! We had “money” written all over us and the kids knew it. The soccer kids were okay, but the hundreds of other kids were out of control. I was told 3 times that my backpack had gotten unzipped…thankfully nothing was stolen. I was mobbed, begged of, and asked to be somebody’s girlfriend. J I’m not mad at the kids. This is their life, their reality; they have to steal and beg to survive in their world. They don’t have shoes, they are hungry, they sleep on the streets…they have no hope. I can’t be mad at them, but I CAN be mad at myself. Yes, these kids need to learn to be honorable, respectful people. They need to work hard and do all they can, but no one is teaching them how, or why, to do these things. I am frustrated at myself for not really caring about their plight. I hate who I appeared to be to them…uncaring, rude and selfish. What would Jesus have done? I don’t know, but I wish I did know. After a couple of hours watching the kids play soccer, we headed to Youth for Christ, a program for the soccer kids. All the kids who played soccer kept asking me for my tennis shoes. I knew I couldn’t give them away because it would start a huge riot, but I still felt super wrong keeping them. These kids have nothing. Most of them are orphans. Most of them sleep on the streets. Most of them still need to come to Jesus. I told them that if I come again I will bring shoes, but it felt like a shallow promise. I want to really make an impact in their lives. I’m praying that God shows me how, and that I will be obedient.
PM: We spent the afternoon packing, and then we went to Ephrim and his wife’s house 
for dinner. (This is a different Ephrim than the soccer Ephrem) Guess what we had? You guessed it, injera! I decided it was a good thing I liked injera because we ate a lot of it, and all the sauces that went with it were pretty spicy. I asked Ephrim if they had injera for every meal and he said “Yes”. I asked him if he ever gets tired of it and he said “He didn’t. All the Ethiopians like it and never get tired of it”. Ephrim and his wife were so generous, they had to borrow chairs and buy plates so that we all could come. We were squished in there, but it was worth it. They gave so much to us.
-We headed to the airport after dinner. Peter and Elza , along with all our translators and drivers came along. It was sad to say goodbye to them. Each one of them has become so dear to me.
-So now I am 5 hours from being home and returning to life as I used to know it. I don’t want it to be over. Ethiopia left a very real impression on my heart. In some ways I’m glad I’m going to be home; I’m not sure how much more my heart could be broken. You know how when you are taking in a ton of factual information you say you’ve had “brain overload”? Well, I’ve had emotion overload. I can’t take in any more, and yet, leaving is very emotional for me as well. I am not the same person even though it’s only been 10 days since I left. I will NOT let these past 10 days become a spiritual scrapbook…just something impressive to tell other people about. I WILL let Ethiopia affect my life, my passions, my goals and dreams. I will let Ethiopia “ruin” my future and my present. I will let what God taught me in Ethiopia change me, and in turn, to go back and change Ethiopia. Ethiopia changed my life. 
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