Ethiopia is my final country in Africa and it wasn’t what I was expecting.
We arrived in the capital city of Addis Ababa, the population of 3.3 million. Addis is a massive city with tall building, nice restaurants and bright lights. You will however find the streets lined with homelessness, prostitution, street kids and extreme poverty. I fell in love with this city even though it broke my heart.
We spent one week in the centre of the city not really knowing where to begin. Myself and another team mate had it on our hearts to minister to the ladies caught up in prostitution. So as a team we decided to walk the streets at 5:30am. We seen bars still open, women still walking the streets, the homeless curled up sleeping in the corner. It was extremely heart breaking seeing this and not really knowing what to do. Then we met Marta.
She was a lady on the street caught up in prostitution. After chatting with her for a short time we arranged to meet for a coffee the following morning. I was so happy! The next morning we showed up at the coffee shop and waited for Marta to arrive, part of me thought that she might not show but she did! Together we sat and had coffee and chatted about our lives. She shared about her family and showed us photos of her beautiful children. We got to buy her a coffee, pray with her and tell her how beautiful and loved she is. I don’t know the ins and outs of her life and that is none of my business. All I know is she is an amazing lady and God loves her.
The following day we were meant to meet again but she didn’t show. I thought I would have been disappointed but I wasn’t. Of course I would have loved to have chatted more with her but I am so thankful that I got the time I did with her. God also reminded me of this: Are you willing to show up even when there is a chance that the person you are meeting won’t be there? My response, I sure am! I want to be the person that shows up because there is a chance they will be there because that one person matters. This month I have learned that we need to see the people in front of us, and that even if it is just one person we connect with then it is still important. One coffee with Marta changed my life, you never know what will happen when you show up.
Ethiopia broke my heart over and over again but I fell deeper in love with the beautiful people, the city and of course their amazing coffee!! It has been some month and I can’t wait to share more stories with you all.
Mhairi 🙂
