Awesome, 3:30am we awake to the prayers over the loud speakers. It's Sunday, so the hypocrites have to wake us up at 3:30am to let us know they are praying. I am getting resentful if you can't tell. After putting our ear plugs in we eventually fall back asleep for a few hours.
After a great breakfast of pancakes, bananas, and coffee, we head to A Hope for our field trip adventure. Today we are taking orphans out hiking in the bush!
A Hope is an orphanage for children infected with HIV. Whatever you were taught about HIV in the 80s and 90s, just forget it. You are more likely to get hit by debris falling from space than to contract this disease by living with someone with it. Education on this would go along way to improve the lives of these people globally. The issue in Ethiopia is access to the appropriate medicine. Most of the families would love to have their children stay at their homes, but would not be able to keep them alive. To send these children to this kind of orphanage in many ways improves their quality of life. (Remember this for later)
We pick up the kids, 3 boys and 3 girls, and head North to Debralebanos. Our destination is a canyon area of the Blue Nile where the Portugese have built a bridge in the 1500s.
The van ride was so much fun! Aside from the beautiful scenery of the Ethiopian country side, we enjoy our ride with the children, goofing off, making ugly face pictures, and getting to know them.
We arrive at the Blue Nile Canyon area where the Portugese bridge is. It is beautiful. It screams out to the world that their is a mighty creator. Does anyone else hear it?
"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. " Psalm 90:2.
I have not been to the Grand Canyon, but I cannot imagine it is this grand, this vast. Where we are it must be at least 5 miles rim to rim. It is at least 3000 ft deep ( these are both guesses) I feel small before a huge God. People don't go to the Grand Canyon or climb large mountains and then think... "Man I am big"... No, when we glimpse the magnitude of our God through his creation, when we gaze into the depth of him in the Blue Nile Canyon, we think "I am so small, he is indescribably massive", yet he loves us more than we can comprehend.
We enjoy our 2 mile hike where we see the Portugese Bridge.... And wild baboons! To see the baboons we have to hike up through the bush. Our guide Thomas lives within a mile or so of where we are. These are his stompin grounds, literally, and he is the guide. I follow his lead. He cuts ahead of the group to find the baboons. I follow. I think he was tryin to shake me, but I was too excited. We pull ahead of the group by a couple hundred yards. We stealthily crest a hill and the baboons are about 20 yards! This was incredible! Not the same adrenaline as a bear hunt but awesome none the less. I got some great video and pictures. The bridge was ok. The baboons were awesome!
The ride home was equally as fun as the ride there. About halfway back one of the little girls, yelled something to our driver in Amharic. Before I knew we were turning around. She was really excited about something. We got out of her that she thought she saw her family.... My heart sunk. I saw her joy and knew that couldn't be possible. What are the odds of the millions of people here that we would see her family an hour away from the orphanage? I was sick knowing her sweet heart just wanted to see her family and she was going to be devestated. To respect their culture we had to stay in the car. The driver walked with her to the row of shacks were she thought she saw them. They disappeared down a dirt path. Ten minutes later she came walkin back to the bus hand in hand with a woman, and the biggest grin on her face. She hadn't smiled all day or said much. I could tell from her stoic personality she had some deep wounds. Now she had the biggest smile I have seen. Of the hundreds of thousands of people, maybe millions, we had passed in our 2 hour drive, God had appointed for her to spend ten minutes with her family today! I couldn't hold back the tears. Words cannot describe this reunion. God is so good!
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." John 14:18 God reminded me of this truth that I am his son and one day we will be united forever. The joy in this moment must be something like that day when Jesus comes back for us.
The trip home continues and I my heart moves from the poverty and hurt caused by man, to all the good God is doing through his sovereignty and through his church here. I reflect on the unity of family here and their strength as people. For a moment I see only the good here..... Then the brakes slam and the hurt comes flooding back. Through the windshield I see a face full of hurt. A woman has stepped in front of our van to take her life. There is pain on her face. Our driver slams the brakes (they never use the brakes here), and swerves to the next lane over. As we pass she steps to the next lane to try again. More cars stand on the brakes and swerve. A man runs from the other side of the 8 lane highway to pull her from the road to safety. She struggles with him, and our van continues up the road. All this happened in about 5 seconds. Our driver continues on as if nothing has happened. He has seen this before. Infact, reliving this in my mind I realize out driver had seen that look before. He had anticipated what she was going to do. He had actually braked a split second before she stepped out. They never use their brakes here like that.
This country though rich in love for one another and strong in community is still full of hurt. Hurt from poverty, hurt from disease, hurt from loss. Those without Yesus Christos, lich Xavier, Christ the son of God, do not have hope of a future. (Psalm 9:18/Jeremiah 29:11) See, with all the great need here, the greatest need is Christ. It is no different anywhere in the world. The world needs a savior. Our God is so good. He has met this need.(John 3:16) His plan is to meet the other needs in and through his love poured through his church, his bride.
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