we landed in Ethiopia at some ungodly hour of the night, and i somehow was filled with immediate joy.
this is going to sound super super weird, especially if you have never been to Africa before. but as soon as we walked into the airport and came across our first Ethiopian, i smelt it. the smell of the people. they have this very distinct smell, some might say it’s a bit strong for their liking, but if you ask me, it’s just the joy seeping out of their pours.
i knew one thing and one thing only: i was home.
Uganda has held a deep part of my heart ever since i went for the first time back in 2015 and again in 2017. this was Ethiopia, which is vastly different from Uganda, but still so close to what i know and love in Uganda.
life in Africa is so different than that of life in America. it’s simple. people live in intimate community. it isn’t fast-paced. people stop and have conversations with one another – intentionally asking how their family is doing and how their friends’ lives are truly going. there are animals everywhere – in Ethiopia it was donkeys, chickens, cows, goats, sheep, and the occasional horse. i could go on and on and on about the way of life in Africa, but it wouldn’t even begin to allow you to understand just really what it’s like.
it looks similar to America in some parts, and it really isn’t all that much different, but the way it makes my heart feel is what makes the biggest difference.
on our 4ish hour drive from Addis Ababa – the capital where we flew into – to Harbu Chulule where we lived for ministry for the month, that’s when all the feels started to hit me.
i would see a child’s face as they saw a van full of forenges (what they called foreigners), and they would stop what they were doing and wave unceasingly. i would see a mother with her child tied to her back, walking down the road. a smile from a man in the car next to us.
literally all of my surroundings started to hit me: i’m in africa.
and when i realized this, i could feel the knot in my throat and the burning in my eyes.
i can’t cry in front of all these people for no reason! i would think. but it wasn’t for no reason at all.
we finally arrived at HOPEthiopia, the orphanage and compound where we would spend the month, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. i just couldn’t believe that i was back in Africa.
something so small, but so surreal. something that has a deep, passionate root in your heart will do this to you.
we got in line for lunch and the silliest thing happened. i looked up and saw a banner that said “welcome home!”. that was the last straw. i was holding tears back so hard that my whole face was quivering.
i decided to go out back and just let it out. i had a nice, big, ugly cry in the field of the back of the compound, with only cows and goats to hear me. and God of course. i couldn’t stop praising his name. i couldn’t stop asking Him how i could possibly be back in such a place.
once i started letting my tears fall, it wouldn’t stop. they fell. and fell. and streamed. and poured. and my stomach cramped because i was crying so hard. i was not sad at all, not a single bit. literally just in awe of how loving and good our Father is to trust me to love the children of this place and to send me somewhere like Ethiopia to experience His love.
He’s a good, good Father. i was weepy all day that day, but i was okay with it. i knew that they were tears that the Father gave me to show me just how my heart breaks for his people of this part of the world, and that this truly is, where i belong.
now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back form the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. amen.
– hebrews 13: 20-21
all the blessings,
margaret rose xx
