Merry Christmas!!! Today is the Ethiopian Christmas and it is eerily quiet outside. What were bustling and noisy streets all week are now all but empty as families gather together to celebrate the holiday.
As for us, our time here is almost done. Erin and I take off from the hotel at 1:30 AM tomorrow and Nadine and Brenda leave a few hours a later. It has been an amazing trip with so much to process in the days ahead. I am overwhelmingly thankful for the opportunity to be here and to see all that God is doing among the people here in Ethiopia.
Yesterday was a fairly quiet day. We had lunch at a traditional Ethiopian restaurant with Hanna, Yabi (Hanna’s right hand woman), Frew and his wife. We had injera. This is a fermented spongy pancake-like bread made of Teff flour, a staple in the country. It is served on a large platter with small piles of all kinds of things on top of it. You break off the bread and use it as your spoon to scoop up the toppings. I had never had this before and it was incredible! It was great to talk further and to meet Frew’s wife. After this we did a little shopping and headed back to the hotel. The 3 mile drive took almost an hour and a half! There was a huge celebration at the largest Orthodox church in the country and it seemed like all of Ethiopia was on its way there. We were stuck next to large buses that were packed like a can of sardines with people all dressed in white. Many of the people in the buses were singing and clapping as they made their way to the church. At the hotel, we could hear the continued singing from the streets and at one point we looked out and there were throngs of people, in white, walking and singing together. It was a sight to behold!
We had dinner at the hotel with Feven’s family. Her 11 year old brother, Sofi, ordered a huge burger and the look on his face when it arrived was priceless! He could barely get his mouth around it but he made short work of it! After dinner, we said good-bye to them; we won’t get to see them again. Sofi gave us all huge hugs. He is a very special kid and my prayer is that he will have some of the same opportunities in life that his sister has had.
And that’s about it. We’re now in the hotel beginning to pack everything up. We’ll have Christmas dinner at Frew’s home and head to the airport shortly thereafter. Like most of these kinds of trips, there are many mixed emotions. It is gut wrenching to see the poverty. It is hard to see the women who beg on the sides of the road with a toddler holding their hand and an infant strapped to their back. It is hard to see the conditions that so many live in and the lack of hope on so so many faces. It is hard to hear the stories of the government displacing thousands in the name of “progress” as they build out the city and attempt to modernize it even more. There are a lot of hard things. But then you see the good. You see the smiles. You see the love that so many have for Jesus. You hear the stories of those who were in hopeless situations that have been given the hope of Jesus and the opportunity to escape the clutches of poverty. There is no one person, organization, or system of government that can fix it all and make it right. But we do what we can for those we have the opportunity to help. Hope Church has made a difference in this country through our support of HOE and HOH ministries, as well as ETC. There are many who now know Jesus, who have jobs, who have homes, and who have hope!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! From the bottom of my heart.
Dan Richter
