The van bumped and jerked over the rough, dirt road as we drove farther and farther away from the busy city. I yawned and raised my head as I sleepily rubbed my eyes. I looked out the window and surveyed the landscape around me. The red dirt, scrubby trees, yellow haystacks and mud huts stood in contrast with the mountains looming in the background.
“Where are we?” This was the question on my mind. The farther we got from the city, the more my heart felt calm, peaceful, and weirdly ‘at home’.
Ok…so this all may sound a little cheesy, but I realized that home really is where the heart is. There is something about coming home after a long day, kicking off your shoes, and sitting by the fireplace with coffee in hand- the perfect picture of peace and contentment. This is the place where the heart is at rest. And this is the feeling I had arriving at ‘home’ in Ethiopia.
It is no secret that I loved Africa and left a huge part of my heart there, and Ethiopia is a huge part of this.
The larger part of our squad was working with Hopethiopia for the month. This organization is providing homes for the widows and orphans in the community that cannot support themselves. Malise and Abite are two little guys that are living there, and are responsible for stealing a chunk of my heart. Not only are they ridiculously adorable but they are genuinely the sweetest kids who said every day ‘I love you so so much’! Then, there was the Kindergarten class that we taught an English class to a couple times a week, and every day was heartbreaking to leave as they covered us in hugs, kisses and tickles. Oh…and did I mention- Ethiopian coffee!?!? Well that kinda stole my heart too!!!
Seriously though, the day I got to meet my sponsor family was the icing on the cake! One of my prayers before leaving home was that I would fall in love with a kid that I want to sponsor- and the Lord gave me a family! Legit! I was so excited to meet a young widow and her two boys with electrifying smiles. The mother and the oldest son are both HIV positive. She showed me how to roast, grind, and make coffee and then we enjoyed a cup together. It was amazing!
Home is where there are people I love, people I care about. And that can be anywhere.
Disclaimer: You may read this and think I am about to pack my bags and go back to Africa (which may be true!!! sometime in the future- I don’t know). But, the main point is: home can be anywhere! And I have discovered that I can be at ‘home’ in any country with brothers and sisters in Christ.
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