Mocha Club Ethiopia Trip: December 2009-January 2010 from Kristi Kratzer on Vimeo.
Salem Friends!It's been 5 months since I returned from Africa. I can hardly believe it. Seems like just yesterday I was scrambling to get ready to leave while trying to fit in the typical craziness that comes with the Holiday season. A day hasn't gone by that I haven't thought about my time in Africa and the people I met there. I wanted to write sooner, but it just felt like I wasn't done experiencing the trip--even though I've been back for several months. I'm not quite sure if I ever will be done learning from my time spent there. It may have only been 2 weeks, but it was life-changing. The trip was nothing like what I expected it would be. And to be honest, for a while I was disappointed by that. But the more I reflect on the trip, the more I realize how much God is using that experience (along with so many others in my life) to teach me and mold me.
I think I went to Africa with these expectations that fit into this neat little box. I expected God to show me what "need" was. I expected to fall in love with Ethiopia and never want to leave. I expected my purpose to be revealed. But none of that happened. Rather, as I look back now, I see that what God showed me was so much better.
He showed me that His love is not defined by culture, race, or country. Worship in Ethiopia looks drastically different than it does in the United States. But the reality is that Christ came and died for the sins of all mankind -- not just 21st Century Americans. Christianity is not defined by the latest worship song on the radio or the latest inspirational book at the bookstore. It's defined by the free Grace given to us all by a Savior willing to take on the sin of man so that we could reap the reward we don't deserve.
He showed me that we all have "need" and that it looks different for all of us. I saw need when I was in Ethiopia. It's true. My heart broke as I saw the conditions that people were living in. It ashamed and embarrassed me to admit to all the material possessions that I own. I'd seen slums in movies before (Such as "Slumdog Millionaire"...if you haven't seen it...go, go, go and rent it!!), but always just saw those as made-for-movies type places. But they're not. They're real. And the people living in those places are real, too. They're people just like you and me. People that need clean water and food and a roof to protect them from the elements. And it's not just a handful of people. It's an entire nation devastated by poverty. At the same time, God showed me that there is need in the US, too. The need here looks a whole lot different, though. Although the Ethiopians had physical needs, I had never met people more alive in the Spirit than many of the Ethiopians we met. Many of them don't know where their next meal will come from or how they will pay bills, so it is truly an act of faith to trust in God to provide. They give selflessly trusting that the Lord will provide for their needs. But in the United States we are so used to being able to provide for ourselves. Sometimes we get to a point where we find ourselves thinking "What do I need God for? I can do this on my own." The need in the States is certainly more spiritual than physical. More than ever, I felt God tugging on my heart calling me to share his Love to my neighbors right here in the US. There's need all over the world--we just have to respond.
Finally, He showed me that I can have a heart for Africa and a heart for Stateside missions at the same time. While I was in Africa and even several weeks and months following, I felt so conflicted because I thought falling in love with Africa meant that I wouldn't want to leave. I certainly still felt called there in many ways and felt the desire to give, but I looked forward to returning to the United States. In fact, while I was there I felt even more convicted of my calling to serve Christ here in the States. But recently, while having some very good discussions with close friends, I've realized something. A heart for Africa doesn't mean I have to move there. It doesn't mean that I have to feel called to full time missions. There is so much I can do here that will affect the lives of people there. To begin with, I can give financially. And you can too. There are so many great organizations changing lives in Africa (and around the world). Start small. Give just $7 a month with the Mocha Club. You'll barely notice the money is gone. I can also pray. So often I fail to believe that God answers prayers, but he does. My heart longs for redemption for all people because I know that it is God's ultimate plan. He desires to see his Kingdom made whole and His people restored. As much as my heart aches when I see need, I know that my Savior's hurts even more. We live in a broken world, that will one day be made whole. Finally, I've felt a call to return to Africa. I'm not sure when and I'm not sure the details, but I know that God will reveal it to me all in His timing.
I'm so thankful for all of the support that was given to me. Whether you were able to support me with your prayers, finances, or with supplies our team needed, it all made a difference. I'm so blessed to call you all friends and hope that in some way, my story will impact you and your life.
Memories and Stories from my trip
I have so many memories that I’m fond of from the trip and I thought I’d share with you some of my favorites and those that have left the biggest impression on my heart.
- The first day we went to an orphanage for children with HIV/AIDS called Little A Hope. On our way there, our group leader reminded us that we can’t contract HIV/AIDS just by playing with the kids and to remember to love these kids with all that we have. I remember thinking to myself, “sure that’ll be no problem.” But when we walked into Little A Hope there were some kids who had sores on their arms and faces because their immune systems were low and at that point I remember thinking “okay God, I’ll love all the kids and play with all of the kids except for those ones.” Well, God was certainly working on my heart during our short time there because by the end, I was laughing and playing with all of the kids and loving every second of it. The same kids that I told God that I wouldn’t play with were the ones that spent at least 30 minutes trying to teach me Amharic (The language spoken in Ethiopia.). They would point to different body parts and tell me the Amharic word for it and then quiz me. They would giggle nonstop when I would get the words wrong. Then they’d show off their English for me. They counted to 100 in English and would have kept going had I not stopped them. It was a great start to the trip. (We weren’t allowed to take any pictures here so unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of these amazing kids).
- On that same day we visited an orphanage called Hannah’s Hope. The moment we walked into Hannah’s, a little girl walked up to us with a little pink flower and insisted we all smell it. This little girl melted my heart. She was so lovingly and absolutely beautiful. We returned to Hannah’s Hope on our last day and when we walked through the door, the same little girl ran up to me and I picked her up. We sat down to watch the Christmas presentation the kids at Hannah’s Hope had prepared and the little girl fell right asleep in my lap for at least an hour. I wanted desperately to take her home with me...I’ll honestly never forget her beautiful face.
- We spent 3 days in Nazaret, Ethiopia with an organization called Women at Risk. The organization provides former prostitutes with holistic rehabilitation including job skills so at the end of their time at W.A.R. they’ll be able to work respectable jobs in the community to provide for themselves and their families. It was amazing to hear the stories of some of the women at W.A.R. and to see how God is working in their lives and redeeming them. On our first full day there we gave the women a spa day. We decided that since they have spent much of their lives (many of them entered the prostitution trade as young as 10 years old) being mistreated and abused, we wanted to shower them with love. We gave them facials, pedicures, and manicures. It was so humbling to be able to serve these women in such a simple way and to see the gratitude that they had.
- One of the other things that I really enjoyed about our time at Women At Risk was the adorable children (if it isn’t already apparent, I love kids!!). Women who have gone through the program in the past often come back just to hang out at the compound and they bring their children. One day I walked outside and saw a couple boys playing soccer in the courtyard and really just enjoyed kicking the ball around with them. And, of course, all of the children there were so incredibly adorable and precious. Such beautiful faces.
- On our last day at Women At Risk they held a special coffee ceremony for us. One of Ethiopia’s main crops is coffee. Let me just say that I typically despise coffee and I drank it quite a bit while in Ethiopia because it was SO GOOD! At the ceremony they roasted the coffee beans (which are green before they are roasted! Who would have thought?) over a fire and then they are crushed and then made into coffee (or something along those lines...). In any case, the women held this ceremony for us to show their gratitude for us and our time spent there.
- The countryside of Ethiopia was absolutely stunning. In my mind I always had this thought that Africa was just a big, barren desert. Not the case in Ethiopia. Ethiopia is rolling hills and amazing views. The pictures don’t do it justice, but hopefully it’ll give you a glimpse of the beauty that is Ethiopia.
- We spent the second part of our trip in Ambo, Ethiopia at a Compassion International school. The students there are sponsored by individuals who “adopt” children through Compassion International. We spent time doing crafts and activities with them, teaching them English, and sharing the Gospel with them. These kids were so adorable and of course I had my favorites. I worked mostly with the younger kids (probably first grade age) and they were so sweet. They were a bit timid on the first day but quickly opened up and showed their spunky personalities.
- Jumping rope was probably my favorite activity with the kids in Ambo. They would get so into it and it was something that we could all laugh about and enjoy without having to worry about language barriers.
- While we were in Ambo, we spent time with the orphaned Street Boy population. The few days that we spent with the Street Boys were so rewarding. On the first day we washed their feet. This was such an incredibly humbling experience for me. These boys walk everywhere on dusty, dirty streets and most of them just wear ragged old flip flops. They aren’t used to people serving them, rather most of them work polishing shoes so they are constantly serving others. Many of them were embarrassed at first and wouldn’t let us wash their feet, but slowly they gave in and allowed us to love on them. We shared the story of Jesus washing the disciples feet and it was so great to bring the story to life for them. We also spent some time teaching them English, doing crafts with them, and playing sports with them. Of course they LOVE soccer and are incredibly good at it. I tried to play with them and quickly realized I was out of my league. When I think back about our time spent with them, my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. I remember we were feeding them lunch one day and had passed out all of the food and one of the first things they did was offer us some of their food. On our last day in Ambo, my friend Sarah got extremely sick. I was back at the hotel with her so she could rest when it was time for us to load up the bus to head back to the capital city. Two of the Street Boys were there to help our group load our bags. Sarah was so weak that she had trouble walking to the bus. The two Street Boys went alongside her and basically carried her to the bus. Even now as I think back over that moment I’m overwhelmed by their kindness and their gentle hearts.
- One of the unique things about the timing of our trip was that it was over 2 holidays. The first holiday we celebrated was the New Year. I rang in 2010 in Africa. It’s strange to write that. Sadly, though, I was so exhausted on New Year’s Eve that I went to bed at 10:00 pm...and then was awoken by crazy fireworks at midnight. The interesting thing about Ethiopia is that they do not follow the Gregorian calendar (except for international business). I don’t entirely understand the whole calendar thing, but you can read about it on Wikipedia. In any case, it’s the year 2002 in Ethiopia and it started on our September 11, 2009. So 2003 will begin September 11, 2010. So the fireworks were basically celebrating the New Year for Western culture...oh and we had some glow bracelets (brought with us from the States) that we used to celebrate. :) Since the Ethiopian calendar is different than our calendar, their Christmas is celebrated on a different day as well. In Ethiopia, Christmas is celebrated on January 7th so we were able to be there for that celebration as well. Obviously, Christmas celebrations in a third world country are very different than Christmas celebrations in the States. I was told by most people there that Christmas would be celebrated with a nice meal. No gifts. In the Orthodox church, members attend church all through the night on Christmas Eve and then sleep on Christmas day. On Christmas Day we went to one of our translators house, Tadi, and his mother made us all coffee. We also went back to Hannah’s Hope to see their Christmas pageant.
- On our last day in Ethiopia we had a chance to do a little bit of sightseeing. Our translators, Surafel (who is also the Manger of TOMS Shoes in Ethiopia!) and Tadi (who is an aspiring break dancer and told us he learned English by watching Martin Lawrence movies!) took us to the Orthodox church in Addis Ababa where the royalty worship. It was cool to see and I learned some very interesting things (I’ll be glad to share more if you’re interested, just let me know!) about the Orthodox church. When we were given a tour of the church we were told that some children of a former king are buried underneath the church. We were also told that the Orthodox church still practices the Old Testament belief that only the High Priest can go behind the curtain once a year to present offerings before the tabernacle (there are replicas in most of the Orthodox churches, but it’s believed that the real tabernacle is in Northern Ethiopia). They still tie a rope around the High Priest so that they can pull him out if he’s struck dead because he enters while he’s unclean. One last fun piece of information...Rastafari (the Bob Marley religion) worships the former Emperor of Ethiopia who’s tomb is inside this church (they believe he is an incarnation of Christ). Bob Marley’s wife visits the church that we went to once a year to clean the tombs of the emperor and his wife.
This only scratches the surface of my experiences during my 2 weeks spent in Ethiopia. I know that my time there has forever changed me even in ways that still aren’t evident to me yet.
