We entered a new continent, a new country, with new teams.
I was so excited for Africa!
We arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as a squad of 48 at 2:30 AM. Traveling for 24 hours.
(Do not drink the water).
We had a place to sleep that night- but only that night.
Our team of 7 needed to find lodging for the entire remainder of the month. Our budget: $5 per person, per day.
But guess what?
Ethiopia is not cheap.
As the new team leader, I was responsible for making sure the 7 of us had a safe place to stay for our time here.
No pressure…
No Wi-Fi either.
And no luck.
Turns out our tight little budget wouldn’t cover what we needed and no one would lodge us (Top photo).
Our food budget is also $5 per person, per day.
Hello Ramen & PB&J’s.
I absolutely hate cities.
I don’t like visiting the city, I don’t like being in the city, I don’t like anything about cities.
Over the last 8 months, I have been SO blessed not to have to live in any cities! Woohoo!
I’ll take the villages, the jungle, the woods, and the deserts any time.
I selfishly wanted to try as hard as possible to find a place to stay outside of the city of Addis Ababa.
The Lord asked me to do the opposite.
“I need you here”, He said.
Do you ever have one of those “why God, why?!” moments?
Like the other day, when we walked over 4 miles to get to a grocery store to buy the Ramen & the PB&J’s & the only drinkable water.
And the grocery store power went out.
So I couldn’t get rung up.
A kind man offered me a stool to sit on and wait for 20 minutes.
Then it poured rain on us as we walked back.
And I got a splinter from a spikey dangerous pineapple while helping a man pick up his tipped cart of pineapples.
…”why God, why?!”
It is quite common and very normal for the power to go out in Ethiopia a couple times a day.
You learn a lot of patience.
I sound like I’m complaining I think.
I’m not one to stress out or ever worry and I actually really love the rain and power outages.
But there I was, stressed out and worried, pineapple splinter and all.
And I learned quite a bit in the first 3 days of our time here.
I was reminded once again who’s in control. (Hint: it’s not me).
I was reminded to literally lean completely on God’s strength and not my own.
I was reminded to suck it up and humble myself because I am not here for myself; I am here to serve and to love others, even in smelly cities.
I was reminded that the Lord provides, always, always, and always, every single time.
Our team found housing for the month, we have food (we were even able to buy meat for dinner tonight!), and we’ve been blessed with so much more than we asked for.
God continues to blow my mind with His greatness and faithfulness.
I love being His kid and this beautiful country is amazing!
(Update: I got the splinter out!)
