Our trip to Ethiopia made an impact on me in so many ways. One of the biggest things that struck me about the people in Ethiopia was that they seemed to have a genuine care for one another and really enjoyed each other.
Someone from Ethiopia said that we (Americans) measure a day by how much we get done, but in Ethiopia they measure a day by how many people they get to talk to and how many lives they touch. This was evident throughout our stay there. They understand the art of "one anothering". I realize there is a balance, but all too often we in America fall prey to the to-do list and forsake relating to one another.
I recently finished reading the book "Authentic Relationships, The Lost Art of One-Anothering" by Wayne Jacobsen. It is an absolute must-read in my opinion, but an Ethiopian would probably be completely befuddled as to why someone would write such books, especially in "Christiandom", about how to make time for relating to people. We in America have allowed productivity to eclipse relationship, and the church is sadly no different in many cases. Church is not a task, not an array of programs, not a meeting, nor a place. We are the church. A group of folks walking along side one another in a journey. This was just another opportunity along the journey for Him to show me more of what that looks like.
The first day, as our friends prepared a feast to celebrate our arrival, they invited the taxi driver to share the meal. He stayed and ate as if he was just another member of the family. We spent 2 days visiting some of our sponsored children with Children's HopeChest. During our travels with them, the driver was out along side us, spending time with the children as well. At one place, our child didn't speak Amharic but spoke some other dialect, but our driver was right there with us and able to translate for us!
We had an issue on what was supposed to be our last night. Our flight was canceled, but since we had a late checkout of 6pm, we opted to spend the day as planned and ask the hotel when we returned to just give us another night. But when we returned late that afternoon, we were told that the hotel was overbooked and we would need to get out. With news that we were to get out of the hotel in an hour, our new friend of just 24 hours took it upon himself to go out with the driver and find a place for us to stay. He told us, "Just relax, this is Ethiopia - there are plenty of places to stay." Those words burned in my ears - just relax? But that is what has been reiterated over, and over, and over to me in the last year - just relax. Relax into a life lived loved with our Father in heaven. Over the next hour, it was one of the finest examples of "carrying one anothers burdens" that I had ever experienced, as our friend tried finding us a place to stay.
God was showing me in such small ways how He orchestrates things and makes things work out. My wife and I noticed a woman on our flight headed to Africa wearing an adoption t-shirt on the flight - and lo and behold that woman and her husband just happen to be at the guest house we ended up at that final night. Or I met a woman at the money exchange counter at the airport, and we met again on the flight home. They may have simply been coincidence as it seemed nothing of great significance came as a result of these encounters, but what struck me was that even in the midst of the busy-ness of a city of 6 million people, He is at work orchestrating things if we just slow down enough to make time for one another and to see His hand at work in our lives.
He is amazing! In such a brief trip, it was overwhelming all the things He was showing us. The purpose was to meet our little guy we're adopting, but it was so much more. We enjoyed conversation. We made some new friends. We got to know those around us - I hope we can retain that back here in the states!
