Day 1 in Ethiopia

After flying over the Atlantic Ocean, a few beautiful mountains and the Sahara Desert, I arrived safely in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tuesday night. In the U.S. it was somewhere between late morning and early afternoon, depending on location.

My first day was surreal and eye opening. To become more acquainted with the culture and the city, I went on a couple of home visits with some of the long term missionaries and the two girls working in Deborah House this summer. As we were driving through Addis on our way to visit the families, who are assisted by SIM Ethiopia programs, I got my first real look at the city. First, I was just thinking, “Can I really finally be here? After months of preparing for and praying about this place, am I actually in Addis Ababa… Ethiopia… Africa??” But more so I was looking at the people and the poverty. I’ve seen it before, but nothing like this. Nothing like children and old women repeatedly begging for money, guys my age shouting “Money come!” at me and the mentally ill lining the streets because there are no programs in this country that have the knowledge or ability to assist them. Seeing it all, I was struck by its reality. This is the reality for thousands in this city alone.

But I also got to see a little of what the Lord is doing through SIM in Addis. Feeding families, putting a roof over their head, sending children to school, equipping them to better provide for themselves and, the best part, telling them about the Lord. And that’s only what I saw in the lives of the families we visited! The missionaries living at the guest house work in fields from English education to HIV/AIDS clinical care. They do whatever they can to show the love of Christ and share the Gospel. It is so clear that the Lord has specifically placed these missionaries here and that He is doing great things in this impoverished city.

Thank you to everyone for all your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for me. Ask the Lord to make me alert to all the opportunities for ministry around me, not just the specific task that I am here for. I can have pretty bad tunnel vision sometimes!

I’ll post again and tell you about the girls as soon as I can!