One word that would describe my month in Ethiopia would be surprise. Honestly, I wasn’t really looking forward to Ethiopia. Africa had been a hard two months, and I was just ready for it to be over. But Ethiopia not only blew my expectations out of the water, but it was also one of my favorite months of The Race.
Most of my squad was together working for an organization called HopEthiopia. The vision for this organization is incredible. They aren’t just tackling one issue, they’re practically doing them all. They have reforestation projects, offer healthcare to the villages, education programs, and orphan care. The orphanages are village style. There’s a group of a few house that will house a couple of widows as house moms for the children. Each village of houses also has a house for the homeless elderly. They act as grandparents to the kids, and the children give them the respect and dignity they’ve earned. Seriously, it’s an awesome organization, so check it out.
We lived in a gorgeous guesthouse all together in the middle of no where. We got hot showers, a kitchen, and western toilets. For sure a surprise for all of us. I also got my own bed this month which was great! I’ve learn to live without these things that I use to call necessities, and having them this month was a great surprise. We lived on basically an African savannah, and everything was gorgeous. Ethiopia has some amazing sunrises by the way.
My team’s main ministry was gardening for reforestation, and making gardens for all of the homes. We tilled the Earth, and finally got to plant seeds towards the end of the month. We did some painting too. Other teams did construction, taught English, worked with an Eye Doctor, and painted. Manual labor was exhausting, but it nice to see the progress we made as the days passed.
In the evenings, we did worship nights, bible studies, and movie nights. We went hiking a couple of days, horse back riding, ran a 5K/10K, and had our own camp out. We formed great relationships with the women and few kids who lived in the homes already built, and being disconnected from wifi turned out to be just another adventure.
Everyday was a good day, and once we got our routine down, the days flew by. I found God in the ordinary this month: when we watered seeds he would speak, his image reflected in my squadmates, and he never failed to show up in our worship sessions. But God loves showing off, and there are some pretty cool stories from this month. Like when we did a 24 fast and prayer burn for support raising, and that same day we got a HUGE anonymous donation for our squad. People were filled with the Holy Spirit during worship. And after a hike and a jump into the river, we were able to share the gospel with a whole village who came out to see what all the commotion was.
My month was great! It was a surprise almost everyday. The beauty of the country, the ordinary moments, and the stories I’ll never forget, we’re all surprises and showed me even more how loving and mighty our God really is. Ethiopia, I greatly underestimated you.
