So I’m in Nicaragua! It’s been lovely here. My squad is currently in the middle of our Parent Vision Trip, which means a bunch of the squad has their parents with them here in Central America for the week. That said, I do not have my parents here, along with 14 others from the squad. Instead of having us hang around all of the big parent-child-reunions going on, our leadership team has shipped us off from the city of Granada to the small town of Masatepe for the week. But that’s not what this blog is about. That blog will come soon. No, this blog is about saying goodbye to Ethiopia.
Being a Gap Year racer means that we have far longer in most of our countries to dig into relationships with the people we meet and our ministry hosts. What that also brings to the table is some goodbyes that are… not fun to say the least. That’s what happened to us at the end of our time in Ethiopia. I think I speak for most of my squadmates that we did not expect to create the kind of relationships that we did during our time in Africa. From the children that we lived with and the women who took care of them, to our cooks, to our ministry hosts, each one of us had very unique and very powerful connections with them.
So yeah. Goodbyes stink.
But if they weren’t hard, was it really worth it? Would those relationships have been worth it had I not shed a tear when saying goodbye? I would say no. So we embrace the tears and our friends and give a hard goodbye, knowing it won’t be forever. Whether it be here on earth or in heaven, a reunion will come, and I can’t wait.
Shout out to my brothers Mengistu and Margersa. I love you both more than you know.
And check me out! TWO BLOGS IN ONE DAY. Told ya I’d get better.
