As you reach your hand out
My face turns away
As you reach your hand out
My heart aches in confusion
I feel hopeless
There are dozens upon dozens lined up on the street
Their hand reaches out for money as they shake loose change
They are asking for more than just money
Their desire is deeper
They cry for compassion and help
Why did such a lifestyle come about for them
They ask for food and to be recognized
To be loved and desired
To have more than the needs of food met
Thousands of people pass each day and their future still looks the same
But not just any people..people of their same culture, same color, same country
Some that are sympathetic and some that look down in disgrace
As they reach their hand out
They are reaching for so much more
The lame
The women with children
The blind
The limbless
The elder
The child
The special needs
The deranged
The hopeless
The rejected by society
The everything that they didn’t intentionally choose for their life
But they are all still human
The you and me
They want more than money
They are looking for a greater hope
As they reach their hand out
Their faces eager for a response
Distraught faces that have given up because they have faced countless rejection and people who refuse to make eye contact
As they reach their hand out
Their brokenness is buried so deep
Deeper than anything that we will ever see
But something that has become their identity
Their pain is masked for their basic needs
Masked by shame and knowing that they can’t be like me and you
As they reach their hand out and look at me
I need to see the person that The Lord desired them to be
He continues to love them no matter what
Faces that are never filled with joy
Hope that seems like it will never exist
Pain that never stops
Shame that takes their name
But a God that says one day all your suffering will be washed away
As you reach your hand out
May I see you as the same
Around the city of Addis there are hundreds of people in need that are found on the sides of the road. Yes, hundreds… And I wish it was an exaggeration. It is the first country we’ve experienced the heartache and seen so many people that are broken. Physical and emotional brokenness. We walk by them each day. Every. Single. Day. And it feels like getting punched in the face. Most of our day consists of traveling around the city by public transportation and foot. We spend at least 3 hours total making our way around the area. There are mothers with their little children sitting on the ground begging for money, men with missing limbs flailing on the floor, children of all ages trying to sell gum in tattered clothing and no shoes, the elderly curled up in a ball mumbling words that people won’t hear, mentally disabled abandoned on the street and even some people that I’ve looked down at and actually have wondered if they were laying their dead. It is a reality that seems to be normalized in this area. I feel guilty walking through the city each day and I don’t want to to be numb to it. This may be a time where people would ask, “How could you believe in God if you see this all around you?” I couldn’t give you an easy answer to it but I know it’s okay to wrestle with God in these questions and never understand pain and suffering in the world. I wish I had a solution for each person that I walked by. I wish the world we live in wasn’t so nasty and broken. I wish everyone would care a little more about what’s going on around them. As I walk through the city I feel frustrated and hurt. Wanting to do more but feeling incapable. Wanting to see Gods mercy in every situation but not being able to. I guess this is how I’ve been feeling these past few days in Ethiopia. A heart very heavy that is striving to seek the Lords face daily.
