Woooo… where do I even begin? First off, sorry it has been so long since I have posted a blog (3 weeks to be exact). But once you read this blog you will understand why.
It started on the evening of Thursday, June 14th when my team and I were told to stay at the resort we had chosen to go to, for our free day– namely for some Wifi and food. Meanwhile our host went out of town with his mother-in-law for the day. It was supposed to be just like any other off-day.
A few days leading up to this day, there was a big celebration for the people group of Hawassa as it was an annual holiday for them. We were warned by our host to stay inside for those days as he was worried there would be lots of drinking out on the streets and wanted to keep us safe. For those few days we did just that, staying at home, with limited running water and electricity. After those days had passed, we were told it would be okay to go out for the day and so we went to a nearby resort. Hawassa is namely a getaway/resort city, as many Ethiopians come out here for a short vacation.
So we had chosen to go to Haile Resort. It was in the evening when we were wrapping up our day at the resort that we learned there were riots and looting going out in the streets. We would also learn that our host’s home was attacked through the use of stones simply because people who were not part of the original people group of Hawassa were being targeted. In addition, we also learned that the problems out on the streets were escalating and were told through a resort staff and an acquaintance we met, named Roberto (more on how we met him and others in the next blog) to stay at the resort for the night. And so we did.
We contacted our leaders and were told to stay put for awhile, and the necessary calls were made.
One night turned into two nights, and two nights turned into three nights.
On the third day of our stay at resort when our host was able to safely come and take a couple of us to go grab our belongings from his home with a police escort. Our team leader Sam, was able to be in contact with our host and heard that he was able to safely evacuate his family to another resort (praise the Lord!).
Finally on the fourth day at the resort, we were able to see our host again who was thankfully able to organize a private mini bus to transport us out of Hawassa and safely out to the capital of Addis Ababa. We were fortunate enough to have a couple come along with us; the woman being English-Ethiopian (another divine connection, more in the next blog). She was able to translate to the driver where exactly we needed to go.
About 5 hours later, with a detour around the ”dangerous part” of the city, where the riots and looting had taken place, all six members of my team made it safely to Addis Ababa on Sunday, June 17th.
Through another connection made through our squad leaders, we were able to stay the night at the home of a a U.S Embassy worker and his family, who just happened to be Christians (more on them in the next blog too!).
And so here we are, my team and I safe and sound in the city of Addis.
Reflecting back on this experience, I’ve been able to see God’s goodness amongst all the chaos:
- My team and I “just happened” to be at the safest resort, with military forces protecting the premises.
- Roberto and his co-worker, Isabel were some of the few foreigners we saw at the resort that day. Roberto was curious about us as well and started talking to us, through which we learned that he was connected to the UN through the World Bank, which he “just happened to” work for. He was our main source of information for knowing what was going on outside because of his connection.
- Peace that surpassed all the anxiety and fear surrounding us “just happened” to flow through my teammate Jaivie and I.
- My team and I “just happened” to safely make it to Addis despite some sketchy stops that were made. One of which included a policeman trying to take off the license plate of the mini bus we were in, so the driver couldn’t legally drive. The policeman was trying to make money by making the driver pay simply because he saw foreigners in the car, which to him meant money.
- Lastly, my team and I “just happened” to be given a place to stay for free for our first night in Addis in the loving home of an American, Christian family.
In the words of Roberto (a non-Christian), “I don’t know where all your guys’ luck is coming from.”
My teammate Maria replied, “I won’t say anything, but I think you know where it comes from.”
It was so obviously God 😉
