I had no idea what to expect in Ethiopia. We would be living on the property of a children’s village. It had several homes for orphans who were cared for by house mothers. I knew we would be spending virtually the entire month just on that property. I knew there would be no internet. Other than that, it was all up in the air, and I was honestly a bit apprehensive.
It was the first month with a new team. After North Africa we had team changes, so I said “see ya!” to Unknown Heights and “What’s uuup?” to Edge! This would have been super weird, but it was also an all-squad month so I still got to spend time with my old teammates.
V-squad was all together, which is always a fun, full, and crazy time. We got to celebrate so much together! We had a Halloween party and did reverse trick-or-treating. Everyone dressed up with the limited resources we had and I was seriously amazed. We had everything from conjoined twins to goat yoga to Justin (an alumni squad leader) and his cow! Then we went reverse trick-or-treating in the kid’s village. They loved getting candy, even though they had no idea what Halloween was. Then there was a ping-pong tournament, a Spades tournament, a lip sync battle, and FOUR birthday parties that were all so unique. It was a time of togetherness as we were all basically confined to the Hope Ethiopia grounds for a large portion of the month. We had no choice! Lol. But, we really did come together. Every night there was something happening after ministry, and to see the squad really mixing was a huge blessing.
On the opposite end of things, my new team met some tough times in its infancy. We began as a team of seven, but after the first week and a half or so a couple members really started to feel called back to the USA. We were there every step praying with them and listening and discerning as they sought the Lord’s guidance. It was tough to be in the midst of that uncertainty, but also very inspiring as I watched my teammates work through their own doubts and fears. In the end, they did head back to the USA, as did a squad leader, and watching how the Lord has worked through that has been so cool. It reminded me, and many others, that the plans He has generally seem to not at all line up with our own.
The work we did daily was incredibly varied. One day we were on our butts cutting grass by hand and the next we were organizing toy closets.The excitement as people found and created opportunities to love on the children and the house moms in the village was so beautiful. Two of my teammates decided to sew pillows for the daycare area while another group built a walker for one of the orphans in the village so that he could move around on his own. Team Nous Nous made bouquets for all the house moms. Another group planned a field day for the kids that included an obstacle course and parachute games.
Even while there was so much to do and so many people around, I felt like my time in Ethiopia was more about filling up myself. I started reading a book called In Season by Wayne Jacobsen, which I HIGHLY recommend. It put a stamp on all the Race has taught me about embracing the process of spiritual growth as well as how pivotal abiding in Christ is and what living that out practically looks like. There are so many lessons and I’ll probably write another blog on that soon. It was good to have the whole squad there so I could get many perspectives on what I was learning. But, it was also strange to not feel like I was really involved in the ministry that was happening around me. I know that I could have leaned into it more and probably had a more fulfilling month, but I’m also grateful for what I got to do and what I saw in my squad.
All that to say, God is good and faithful. He is at work everywhere we go and works through us no matter how we may be feeling. An all-squad month can bring up so much as people who have experienced things that are similar and, at the same time, so different come back together. There was laughter and there was tension. There were things both beautiful and difficult. I can’t say I’m glad for it all, but I can say that all of it was worth it.
