Just when you begin to really fall in love with a place, it’s time to leave. That’s the most difficult thing about this year: the leaving. As I write this during the Sunday service, I feel sadness that I am leaving in less than 24 hours. I can’t imagine being home in America, while these new friends and loved ones are here. It’s something I’ve experienced all year, but the feeling grew because this time I’m leaving behind precious children. It hurts that I am leaving and I don’t get to see them grow up. I don’t get to meet them again (most likely) when they know more English, and I don’t get to see them on Facebook. I can only hope with all my heart that she keeps my painting and sends me an email one day in the future. I’ve been truly touched by the kindness of many people but one family in particular. S—for short is such a sweet little girl with the prettiest smile and eyes I’ve ever seen. In all my time here, I’ve seen her be so so kind, to other children, and also do all she can to befriend me. My team was blessed to have a fantastic meal in this family’s home and this was so special to me, to be invited in to this space of a family I admire and adore. I was continually surprised with the hospitality and generosity I was shown. This last week was amazing, truly. One evening we went to dinner with our friend Kejela, his wife, a cousin, and his baby girl. It was special to meet them and we were thankful to have been able to. My team was invited to eat in the home of our friend Abebe’s mother in law. Her joy just from being able to have us in her home was special. She made great shiiro, popcorn, and coffee; and we got to pray for her. We had befriended the woman who works at the “hotel” we stay at—Mimi. Mimi had us in her home, and in her parents home two separate nights. I literally can’t believe how fantastic the food has been! But also the good company, the first night with Mimi, she and her daughter sang worship songs to and with us and it was so beautiful. Their voices are not like ours but they’re incredible. Mimi’s older daughter Rosa told us about her dream to be a singer and guitarist. She had never played a guitar before, so Marissa let her try it out. It was clear that Rosa is a natural and already has a great strumming rhythm. Marissa gifted the guitar to Rosa and honestly I was so incredibly touched. Things like that (a lesser quality guitar bought for a trip like this) are somewhat valuable to us, but immensely valuable in helping someone else have a better life and work towards a dream! This act of kindness makes me question, what sacrifice is significant for me but so much more worthy for the one I am making it for? What can I do to help others towards their dream?
God led me to something else this week that was a turning point in my own Christian faith. Since that first week, I felt a conviction to write a letter to our friend who is the pastor. I was encouraged to sit down with him when I present the letter and I did. For more than a week, I prayed about how God wanted me to say these things, what scriptures to use, and asked God to give me confirmation about doing this. This month I’ve been somewhat of a leader for my group, probably because of my outgoing personality and decision to learn some Amharic and use it confidently; but for whatever reason, the community and church members continued to treat me differently. I feel this position was so God could use me to call this local church to His truth (our united Truth—the Bible), His commands, and to encourage and teach. When we sat down to talk, we talked for almost two hours and the talk literally could not have gone any better. The Holy Spirit was so evident. There was no disagreement, and he was thankful, saying he wants to use my letter as a teaching for his other leaders. I was in awe of God in that moment, and how well that information was received. He was thankful for my discernment and said others in the church had said similar things. Pride has kept them from acknowledging that human doctrines and man-made traditions aren’t biblical and shouldn’t be practiced. We prayed before, after, and even more and I know without a doubt that God called me to do this. My obedience will be rewarded with more opportunities to hear from God and be bold. I knew this was from God because I wasn’t fearful, I had confidence, and the fact that I was led to do it. Me—Rhianna— I don’t care enough to do something like this, but God does. God doesn’t want His people to be led astray, but to know the truth. I love this local church and what God is doing here; I will continue to pray for them and hopefully keep in touch.
Yesterday, I had crackers with peanut butter and jelly, packed up most of my stuff, and relaxed with good music. In the afternoon, our friends Abebe and Kejela came to take some of us to the National Park (our only “adventure day” option here). Averi is really sick 🙁 so she couldn’t go—Marissa stayed back with her, and Mallory chose to rest. So myself, Meg, Elise, and Lauren went with the guys in two bajaj (tuk tuks) to the Awash National Park. It was about 20 mins away. Where we are to go in the Park is about 11 km inside so you’re supposed to drive, but we arrived before 5:00 and it gets dark at 6:45. We were advised to come at this time as this is when more animals will be visible. We found out that only four wheel vehicles can go inside (so no tuk tuks). It took us about 40 or so mins to flag down a van to take us in. Once we were in, we mostly just drove back to the lodge and waterfalls. We saw all sorts of animals: a tortoise, a few warthogs, some deer like striped animals, and over 100 camels of all sizes and they were super duper cute. The camels were with the local tribal people in the area. When we got to the target area, it was the largest waterfalls I’ve ever seen in my life!! The water was brown but there were like 8 waterfalls all horizontal to one another and the water falling was huge and fast! There was a huge mist in the air. We were told it’s the dry season but at other times the most is so big you can’t see! When we got down to the area where it falls into the river, we saw so many crocodiles it’s unbelievable! They were all over the place. Some were quite freaky showing us their teeth. I guess there were probably 30 in sight. In the distance on the other side of the river, we saw some monkeys! A little family of monkeys! I wish we had seen more animals and maybe closer but I’m thankful for this fantastic experience! Then we headed back, and learned that the invitation from church women to have a meal on Sunday became a Saturday night invitation. It seemed like this was the only option being offered to us, and we were sorry the others couldn’t be there. But, when we arrived to the church, there were 12 women and about 12 children just waiting for us. There was a beautiful set up, branches of leaves used as decor for the coffee setup and a great meal was waiting for us. Abebe asked Kejela to lead a preaching, and Kejela had us lead prayers. We were prayed over and I was asked to stand in place of Averi for a prayer of healing. Then we had the injera with a really great spicy tomato type sauce (amazing flavor) and some rice with potatoes. It was one of those eat until you’re stuffed type of meals. They kept adding more food to the dish which we were sharing family style. Injera is a meal eaten with your hands, so messy, but very tasty. I had been craving shiiro since the night before! When I ate it, I thought it was a type of shiiro, but it was something else I loved too. It’s been my luck that I’ve only been served meat once all month, and only a tiny bit (since I’m vegetarian but will eat whatever I’m served at this time). These sauces are more chickpea based with vegetables and spices and wow, I’m gonna miss this food. I want to try and make this stuff when I get home. After dinner, there was popcorn and coffee (seems to be the way every traditional meal is served). More people had showed up, men and women and we had an opportunity to share messages with the people and be translated. We shared our memories or experiences, things that touched our hearts, and encouragements. I cried while telling them that I see Christ in their eyes (it’s so true the love I see in them), telling them that it’s the special meals and times in people’s homes that have made my time here special. It would have been only average if we only ate meals at the one restaurant and if we had never seen the inside of a home aside from our hotel. I thanked them and mentioned thanks for the people who aren’t there. This was my first experience of Africa and it was truly great. I saw tears in the eyes of many of them as well. I’m so thankful for the ways we’ve touched the lives of each other, how our decision to come to Awash inspires their faith, and their faithfulness in prayer inspires me.
This morning I had my breakfast—powdered milk made with cold bottled water (hallelujah) and corn flakes with simple syrup I made. We went to church, and I had one of my favorite experiences. The electricity went out during worship and there was some acoustic worship and it was incredible!! So many lovely voices! After church I took pictures with and said goodbye to my favorite friends from church. When we walked back to our hotel, some friends hung out with us, had some food delivered and we discussed travel plans and said goodbyes. In the evening, a van came to help bring one of my teammates to the doctor again and I was able to get a couple things sewn in that time. When I got back, I was amazingly and pleasantly surprised to find my favorite little girl and her sister. I couldn’t believe I had the opportunity to see them again!! After I said goodbye, I found myself crying which doesn’t usually happen. So it was really special. I felt like I was supposed to give my “key” to the older sister–my key says faith and I was given it at the beginning of my World Race. The older sister told me that after we had said goodbye, her sister was crying saying she was going to miss me so much. Even with their limited knowledge of English I cried while telling them how they’d impacted me and how I was going to miss them too and that I wanted to hear from them in the future. I wanted to continue to hang out and connect a little more so we played Uno and they went home. Seeing them one last time was such a pleasant surprise, and to know that the interaction with me was as special to them as I felt it was for me meant a lot.
We left at 5am for Addis Ababa, and that’s where I am now as I post this. We head into Rwanda in three days!
**There are so many pictures I want to post, but no matter where I’ve been, the internet connection hasn’t been strong enough. But I’ll keep trying and add pictures to these older blogs in the future.**
