Ethiopia has been one big adventure. One of my teammates asked God for an adventure in Africa, and dang did we get an adventure. Our month started out with a bus ride down south to Hawassa, Ethiopia. The minute we stepped off the bus we were in a whole nother world, granted I was the only blonde person for miles (all my teammates have dark hair).
Our ministry was with a man named, Hizkias, and his family, we proceeded to their house and spent about two weeks preaching and teaching in different churches. Things got interesting on Monday, June 11th when our host asked us not to go out of the compound on Monday or Tuesday due to celebrations for their country. People were celebrating in Hawassa and there would be a lot of drinking and rowdiness.
These past two weeks turned into an experience I will never forget.
On Wednesday our host told me that we would be preaching at a church down the road, so my teammates and I piled into the car to go preach. As we drove the streets there were people everywhere, they were wearing tribal clothing and carrying bamboo sticks. Once we got to the church, Hizkias explained that it wasn’t open. He didn’t even know until we got there that the church would not be holding a service. So he turned around and continued to drive home. A little farther down the road there was a group of men blockading the road. They surrounded our car and were yelling, banging on the windows and shouting. I immediately turned and put my head on Tiffany’s shoulder, saying “Jesus protect us, Jesus protect us.” Hizkias continued driving and we arrived safely home.
Little did I know that the next couple of days would be a crazy adventure. But guess what? God was and is protecting us.
The next day Hizkias came to me explaining that we would not have ministry because everything was closed, he was going to drive his mother-in-law to another town. So my team and I decided to go get wifi and lunch off the compound, we were debating whether or not to go back to Haile resort. Maybe there was another place that we could go to, but nahh. Finally we just said lets go back there, so we went to the Haile resort. We spent the day hanging out there.
Around four oclock my teammate wanted to leave to go home. For some reason I felt really weird about leaving (later come to find out one of my other teammates felt the same way), so I ordered food. Around 5:30 pm I called our hosts wife to get us a ride back to the house, she told me she would call. After waiting for an hour on the front steps of this resort I went into ask the front desk if they could call us a taxi, they said “no taxis, it is to dangerous.” I walked downstairs and talked to a friend we had met a few hours earlier at the resort, Roberto, and he explained that there was dangerous rioting going on in Hawassa and that we shouldn’t leave.
So I told my team, called my squad leader, RJ, and then called my host. We decided to check into Haile Resort on Thursday night. After we checked in I found out that the military was dispatched to protect the resort and all the guests. This hotel was the safest place we could’ve been in the whole city of Hawassa, wow!
About an hour later I got a call from my host “Hey Sam, it’s good that you stay at the resort, someone just broke into our house.” My heart started to pound and he hung up. I walked back into the resort with a feeling that I have never felt before, immediately I told my team and I said “lets pray.” We thanked God and prayed that he would protect us. People around us watched us as we prayed, this was no coincidence, God was protecting us.
I went upstairs to the room that I was sharing with my teammate, Maria, and told her everything that had happened. We looked at each other and she had this look on her face of “dang I’m glad we are here.” As I processed what was happening, I could not stop pacing the room, the prescence of God was there. Maria looked at me and said “Are you okay?” I turned to her and said “yeah I’m okay, I just can’t believe what is happening. I can feel God’s protection over us more than I ever have in my entire life.”
That night there were many phone calls with family and leadership, there was no sleeping for me. My mind was awake. The next morning our WiFi stopped working, thankfully I have a “baby phone” that can make in country calls. Then the networks for the cellphones turned off, so I went downstairs to use the front desk phone and talk with them about any updates. They told us to sit tight, things were worse. Three people had been killed, cars burned and violence. Hotels were evacuating to Haile resort, because it was the safest place in Hawassa. My host moved his family to another house because the people group was targeting his family because they were not apart of them.
From what I understand there is a people group in Hawassa who want to be the only people group there. The reason this violence started was because they were attacking anyone who wasn’t of their people group.
I could not get ahold of anyone in leadership due to lack of service, so I checked our team in for another night. That day was just hanging out, there wasn’t anything we could do. Finally that night RJ got a hold of me, who explained that our host was trying to call us. I talked with Hizkias and we made a plan.
That night I heard loud explosions in the distance, sirens and yelling. I had Peace though, there was no spirit of fear upon myself or any of my teammates.
“And the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:7
The next day at breakfast, Roberto came up to us and said that things were worse, that we should get out of there as soon as possible. Immediately my mind started working, okay how can I get us out of here? Do I know how to hotwire a car? Okay there are boats down on the lake, we can drive across the lake? I’m not kidding, these thoughts went through my mind! I called RJ and explained what was going on with a little panic in my voice, he said that our host was doing the best he could, he was in contact with the US embassy and Jeremy, and the adventures offices back in the states. So everyone knew back at home and parents were starting to worry. This was Saturday morning. I had no idea what to do, but the roads were not safe, so yet again I decided to check us back in for a third night.
That day around two pm my host showed up at our hotel, he explained that things were calm and that the military had control over the roads. So my teammate Tiffany and I hopped into the car as I prayed “Lord keep us safe, do not let anything or anyone harm us.” Our host explained that he was going to pick up one of his friends who was a part of the people group that was rebelling, this nice pastor would help be a mediator, just in case.
About five mins down the road, two special forces officers pulled us over and opened the door. I was in the front seat and looked at Hizkias saying “What is happening?” The man proceeded to try and get in and sit on my lap, I immediately dove head first into the back of the car, confused, at what was happening. We drove them about two minutes down the road and they got out walking away. Hizkias explained that the men reeked of alcohol, he looked at us saying “corruption.”
Driving through the streets there we burnt cars in the middle of the road, dead animals, trash everywhere and everything was closed. On every corner there were military troops, it was like the aftermath of a war zone.
Once we got to Hizkias house, the front door was completely shattered, his children came running up to us with eyes of terror, hugging us and holding onto Tiffany and I. We hugged Selam and Anut, two women who worked and lived at the house. My heart broke as Selam held onto me a little longer than normal. Then I walked into see Frei, Hizkias wife and there three week old baby, she smiled and said “How are you?” I couldn’t help but feel so much love for this woman because she was asking me how I was when she had four young children and her home was dangerous to be staying at, yet she wanted to know how I was doing.
We proceeded to pack up six woman’s items, and this is not an easy task, throwing things here and there, shoving things into any place we could find. The children and women came into help us pack, sadness that we had to leave like this. It took us 45 min to pack up our stuff as quickly as we could. Right before we left we prayed for Frei and her family, this was all we could do.
We proceeded back to the hotel and all of my teammates came down and grabbed their stuff. I hugged Nani 3 years old and Shalom, 9 years old with a heavy heart because I was leaving and they were not. That night I heard explosions and people yelling way off in the distance. At one point the Hotel staff asked us to all go inside for safety precautions.
My host booked us a private bus and the next morning my team and I checked out ready to leave in the morning, because we didn’t know if the situation was going to get worse. Everyone was ready at 10 am, and my anxiety kicked into high gear around 11 when the car was still not there. Earlier I had met a couple who was trying to find their way to Addis, they asked if there was room on our bus and I said yes of course. Around 11:15 Hizkias pulled up and then the bus pulled up. There were five other men in ther car trying to leave Hawassa, and I said no way am I getting into this car. Hizkias went into action talking with the bus driver saying he ordered the whole bus. Our bags were not going to fit with everyone else and who knows who these people are. Yet again there we were trying to figure out what was next. About ten minutes later all of the men were kicked off the bus, and we were piled in with the couple I had met earlier.
We said goodbye to Hizkias and then were on our way, about fifteen minutes into the ride Tigist, the Ethiopian woman who I had met earlier turned around and said “we are out of the dangerous area.” Praise God! The rest of the ride was eventful for sure, we went through police checkpoints and arrived in Addis Ababa four hours later. We were dropped off at one of our leaders friends house, a family whose husband works for the US Embassy. We spent the night in a highly secure house and finally made it to the capital.
Theres a lot more to the story and a lot more I want to share, but for now this is all I can share. Our leadership is doing everything they can to support us, keep us safe and communicate.
My team and I are safe in a hotel in Addis Ababa. Please pray for our hearts and our minds as this past week and a half was really hard. Please pray for Hizkias and his family as they try to find housing in Addis because they do not feel safe in their own home. The many prayers, texts and calls have already been so amazing! I love you all!
God protects and will continue to protect me and you.
