Monday, March 25 by Shannon Davis

 Logan Morrison- in a rare moment- sitting down!  A constant jungle gym for the kids!

New bathroom building will hopefully be built next year to replace the current one at Kind Hearts!  We are halfway to our fundraising goal!

 Caleb Dahlgren hanging out with the kids during free time.

 Madison Nigus and her new pal!

 Sarah Gregory and friend skipping and singing along!

 Mintesinot- he has grown since last year!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture was what made me desire to come to Africa. It was a picture of a young boy atop the shoulders of my high school cousin, both were full of joy. That picture was worth a thousand words. 

Here I am today finishing my second day of our trip here.  My feet are dirty, my arm is punctured by a nail holding the lock of the tin bathroom door, my heart is heavy, my body is tired, my camera full of pictures. Pictures that will soon come back to the states, pictures that are real, that captured the moments of our day. But to be honest, those pictures will never truly be able to tell the story of our experience. The experience that God has blessed us with is something that is hard to capture by a picture and hard to put into words. The experience here is one that everyone needs to have. 

As we left Kind Hearts school a young boy was standing alone crying. His heart ached, he knew we were leaving.   How can we, in our English language, be able to explain to him that we will be back?  A promise that we're able to keep for this week. It's a reminder to me, of Christ's death on the cross, the sadness, the darkness, and the emptiness. Christ was gone, to that little boy we were leaving, never to come back. Christ fulfilled the promise that joyous Easter morning when he rose from the dead, he conquered the death, the darkness, the emptiness. 

During this short week I pray we can bring hope, and continue to bring joy to the children. The same way Christ brings us hope, provides us joy, and loves us unconditionally. The children here need love, they are loved by their teachers, by their families, and by God. They need your love, our love, always. Maybe some day you'll see that picture that tugs on your heart, and you're then soon off to Africa. Whatever it is, I pray that you'll soon be here to realize that a picture really isn't worth a thousand words, but rather an experience of little hands touching you, big wet sloppy kisses on your face, smiles that go on for miles, voices of young little children singing praises to God and the love they have to share with us. The love God has for us, being poured out through young children in Ethiopia. 

Joyfully serving,  Shannon
1st grade teacher at St. Paul Lutheran school