Updates: Ethiopia
Thank you for reading and following my journey. There are many things I want to tell you. Honestly I wish to blog daily because living a “ministry lifestyle” is full of surprises everyday. I wish so badly to take all of you with me so you can see what I experienced first hand. Since it isn’t possible, I will just try my best to tell you what’s on my heart.
Our squad departed from the airport in Rwanda with only two of the teams (mine is one of them) were able to get the first flight due to some issues with the airline. We landed in Addis Ababa (capital of Ethiopia) in the early morning, we were sleepy and tried to look up places to stay. Thank God (and Airbnb) we were able to find a hostel that is within our budget as the manager was willing to give us a better price. We spent the first week in the city exploring, getting to know their culture and praying into God’s guidance. Even we didn’t have any specific plan right away, we already met many super friendly people who bought us free meals, gave us free rides, and spent hours just to show us around. On the other hand, two things that stood out the most in the city were legal prostitution and Orthodox churches. Everywhere I walk, people would offer me to smoke ganja. It is common to see massage places that are brothels on every street. I wanted to stay inside the city. I didn’t want to travel far away to the mountains and villages when many people in the capital need to hear about Jesus.
Dawit
The second day in the city I went out myself in the afternoon looking for food. A guy named “Dawit” (which is a very common name in Ethiopia) approached me and greeted me in Chinese. It was not unusual because there are many Chinese live and have business there; in fact, I took my team to a restaurant that their menus were all written in Chinese. Dawit said he knew a place of authentic Ethiopian food. We walked and talked for almost 30 minutes to an alley where it doesn’t seem like any restaurant is there. We entered through a gate and there was a building that looked like a house. I can see a few small rooms beside it, and in each room there was a woman sitting on a mattress. We sat down in a bigger dark room where 7 or 8 ladies came and greeted us. Finally I realized that was a brothel and I told Dawit that I need to go. He insisted to at least buy me a drink but I refused and determine to leave.
As we were walking back, I saw two of my squadmates and they were looking for a place with WiFi. This time Dawit actually took us to a hotel that has good internet access. We spent almost 3 hours to converse and got to know more about Dawit. He is a driver and has many part time jobs. He knows a lot of people and has many connections in the city. At the end of the day he even took us to get street food and drove us back to our hostel! I had the wrong first impression of him. The next day another sqaudmate told me a man helped them when they got lost. Guess who? Yup! It was Dawit! This happened almost everyday. We could be anywhere in the city and he would just show up and guide us where we want to go. He became our friend. We hung out at cafes and even watched a movie together.
I felt like he was our ministry. Perhaps I should have spent everyday sharing the gospel with him. I wanted to stay in the city.
Bahir Dar
When we were in Rwanda, we worked with a non-profit called Hope On A Thousand Hills. And one of the people in the group named John emailed us a contact (Jeremy and Andrea) which located in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia (about 300+km north from Addis Ababa). My team spent some time to pray about our direction and we all had peace about traveling there. The 11 hours bus ride was interesting. The driver would take off without confirming all the passengers were on-board. There were times people almost got left behind from bathroom breaks but thanks to my teammates stopped the bus by yelling “STOP!” multiple times. We spent one week staying with our host (Jeremy and Andrea). They are just two wonderful human beings with the things they do. They spent most of their days helping out sex trafficking victims, looking for job opportunities and doing Bible studies with them. It was heartbreaking to learn about the families that sent their children to middle east for better lives but ended up became trafficking victims. Many women were locked inside a room and forced to work. It was hard to learn about many people attend Orthodox Church believe that they have to do good works to earn their way to heaven. We followed our host around to see the works they do and helped out whichever way we could. My days could be baby sitting, leading worship in fellowship, or sharing testimony in front of students. Then I realized it wasn’t just the people in the city need hope, the whole country needs it.
The College Student
One day Matt met this college student who wanted to invite us to lunch. Matt, Walter, and I met with him one afternoon. He told us he needed to finish a test in school so we went to the college with him. Everyone in the college stared at us because no foreigner has ever been there. It took him 10 minutes to finish the test and he got 90%! (later we found out he is one of the best students in school) He took us to his “home” which a 12ft x 12ft room full of fridges of frozen fishes and there were a small bed and desk at the corner. He told us that he came from a town far away to study in Bahir Dar. A man hired him to manage his fish shop where he could stay and study. A hardworking young man! He hopes for a better life after receiving his degree in engineering. He used his half-functioning portable stove to make us a delicious fish meal which he didn’t eat because it was a time of Orthodox fasting. We prayed for him there and we still keep in touch during the remaining time we have in town.
Conclusion
Did I change any life in the past 16 days in Ethiopia? I don’t know. I am not sure if the people see Jesus in me when I love on them. Frankly I felt like I received more than I gave with all the free meals and generosities! The only thing I do differently this month is that I started to spend every morning listening to God for what he has for me. Seeking God isn’t seeking miracles. Some days could be just a lot of observing and silent. It is hard to tell you all these stories that don’t have a epic endings but I believe I am right where God wants me to be. I believe the most incredible story is simply based on obedience.
What is next?
